150 GL?:NNY S HANDBOOK 



terminal buds the strongest beads, some of tbe most promising 

 cuttings may be taken off and struck in sbgbt bottom beat 

 under a beU-glass, and grown in tbe stove at once. Tbis will 

 give a cbange of season, as well as a difference in growtb, but 

 all will be fine. Tbe plants may be grown into good-sized 

 busbes by sbifting every season into large pots or tubs, wbicb 

 may be wintered in a cold house free from frost. Wben 

 growing as an outdoor shrub the Hydrangea must be pro- 

 tected in some way, either by matting or covering with litter, 

 otherwise the points of the shoots will be killed, and with 

 them the incipient bloom-buds. It is, indeed, sometimes in 

 severe winters killed down close to tbe ground ; but it will 

 spring up from the roots, and grow vigorously to make up for 

 its lost wood. It should have a moist sheltered situation. 

 The potted plants struck in July should be bloomed in the 

 greenhouse, but any of them may be turned out into tbe 

 borders in May. The Hydrangea, like many other plants, 

 blooms finer wben young than when it has grown three or 

 four years ; for though the plant is larger, and has more beads 

 of flowers, the heads and the individual flowers also are 

 smaller. The plant forces well, and is one of the prettiest 

 forced flowers in spring. The H. Japonica is very distinct, 

 and though it does not bloom in such large heads as the other, 

 its appearance is more picturesque, especially when grown 

 as a bush. H. Japonica variegata is grown for its foliage. 



HYDROPHYLLUM. Watee Leaf. [Hydrophyllacefe.j 

 Hardy herbaceous perennials. Soil, peat and loam in moist 

 situations. Increased by division. H. Canadensis, white ; 

 and H. Virginicum, blue, are the principal, 



HY^MENOCALLIS. [Araaryllidaceae.] Fine stove and 

 greenhouse bulbs, related to Pancratium. Soil, rich sandy 

 loam. Increased by offsets. There are many species and 

 varieties. 



HYMENOPHYXLUM. Film Fern. [Polypodiaceae.] 

 Delicately beautiful ferns. They should be fastened to a 

 damp sandstone or log of wood among fine moss, and kept 

 quite damp in a close glazed case. Increased by division, but 

 the less they are disturbed the better. The principal are 

 H. dilatatimi, greenhouse evergreen ; H. Timbridgeiise and 

 H. unilaterale, half-hardy evergreen ferns. 



