TO THE FLOWER GARDEN. 



J 23 



GARDOQUIA. [Labiatoe.] Greenhouse evergreen sub- 

 shruljs, remarkable for the abundance of their flowers, which 

 are tubular, and open all along the branches. Soil, a light 

 mixture of peat, loam, and sand. Cuttings strike freely in 

 sand under a bell - glass in a moist heat. G. Hookeri — 

 which we retain here on account of its being popularly known 

 by this name, though it is more coriectly Calamintha cocdnea 

 — is by far the handsomest of them. The cuttings, when 

 rooted, should be potted into three-inch pots, in a sandy mix- 

 ture of three parts peat to one of loam : they should be grown 

 near the glass in the greenhouse, with a liberal supi)ly of 

 water ; but the drainage must be perfect, for stagnant moisture 

 would soon destroy them. As they fill their pots with roots 

 they must be changed to those a size larger ; and until a 

 sufficiently large plant is formed all the young shoots, when 

 two inches long, must have their points nipped out : this will 

 make them come bushy. When they have grown so as to fill 

 a thirty-two sized pot they will flower abundantly. 



GARRYA. [Garryacese.] One of the most graceful of 

 evergreen shrubs. Its chief beauty, however, consists in its 

 long catkins, which in the winter hang down in elegant tassels 

 from the ends of all the shoots : these catkins, which, in fact, 

 consist of the male bloom, are of a greenihh-yellow colour. 

 It is hardy, grows shrubby, and is manageable under the knife, 

 so that it may be kept bushy and short, or allowed to grow 

 more pyramidal and elegant. It prefers a loamy soil, not too 

 adhesive, and is propagated best by layers, which, if put down 

 one autumn, will secure plants by the next. The layers 

 should be cut off in autumn and potted, placed in a cold 

 frame to establish themselves, and may then at any time be 

 planted out where they may be seen to advantage, for they 

 would be lost in a crowd of brighter shrubs. They may also 

 be increased by cuttings planted under hand-glasses towards 

 the end of summer. One of its claims to attention is that it 

 blooms while very small, and looks very well in a pot. Its 

 blooms, or rather catkins, remain for some time in perfection. 

 G. elliptica, G. laurifoUa, and G. macrophylla are the best. 



GASTERIA. [Liliaceae.] Greenhouse succulent peren- 

 nials, forming one of the divisions of the well-known genus 

 Aloe. Soil, sandy loam, well drained. Increased readily by 



