231 



leaves. It is a native of Vera Cniz 

 and Martinique, where it ascends to 

 the summit of lofty trees, hanging 

 from branch to branch in graceful 

 festoons, and producing its flowers 

 in great abundance. In England, 

 though it has been introduced since 

 1733, it is rarely seen in flower for 

 M-ant of proper management ; but 

 to make it flower freely, it only re- 

 quires to be pruned like a common 

 grape-vine — that is, to have the 

 leading shoots stopped at the second 

 joint to make them throw out side 

 shoots, and to have these stopped in 

 the same manner, in order to have 

 what the gardeners call spurs dis- 

 tributed over all the branches ; for 

 it is on these spurs only that the 

 flowers are produced. The plant is 

 called in the Antilles the Easter 

 flower, because it flowers about 

 Easter ; and it is used for decora- 

 ting the Spanish churches at that 

 season. In England it generally 

 flowers in August. It should be 

 grown in chopped turfy loam, mixed 

 with a little peat to keep it open ; 

 and it is propagated by cuttings 

 struck in heat. 



Petty ^YHIN. — Genista dnglica. 



Petu^nia. — Solandcece. — Per- 

 haps no plants have made a greater 

 revolution in floriculture than the 

 Petunias. Only a few years ago 

 they were comparatively unknown, 

 and now there is not a garden, or 

 even a window, that can boast of 

 flowers at all, without one. P. 

 nyctaginiflora, the common white 

 Petunia, was first brought from 

 Brazil in 1823, and as it was 

 thought very nearly to resemble the 

 common Tobacco, it was called Pe- 

 tunia, from Petun, which is the 

 Brazilian name for that plant. This 

 plant was cultivated but sparingly, 

 and only in greenhouses, as a pe- 

 rennial, till 1830, when P. violacea 

 or P. ph(£nkea, as it is sometimes 



called, was introduced from Buenos 

 Ayres by Mr. Tweedie ; and from this 

 species, hybridised with P. nycta- 

 giniflora and P. Mcolor, most of the 

 innumerable hybrids now in our 

 gardens have been produced. All 

 these kinds are found nearly hardy, 

 and they may either be treated as 

 half-hardy annuals, being raised on 

 a slight hotbed and planted out in 

 May, or they may be sown in the 

 open ground as soon as the seed is 

 ripe, or in March or April, or suffered 

 to sow themselves ; care being taken 

 in all cases in the open air to choose 

 a sheltered situation, and to lay a 

 few dead leaves over the bed if the 

 weather should be severe. When 

 treated as greenhouse plants, these 

 Petunias all become shrubby, but 

 they will not live more than two or 

 three years, and they should be cut 

 down as soon as they have done 

 flowering. When they are wanted 

 to grow to a large size, and to cover 

 a trellis, &c., like climbing plants, 

 they should be planted in the free 

 ground, in the conservatory, or in 

 the open air, in a light rich soil ; or, 

 if they are kept in pots, allowed 

 plenty of room for their roots ; as, 

 unless this is done, they will become 

 drawn up with long weak stems, 

 bare of both leaves and flowers to a 

 considerable height. When they are 

 wanted to form strong bushy plants 

 for setting in a window or keeping 

 in boxes under a verandah, the end 

 may be attained by planting them 

 first in very small pots and shifting 

 them into others, gradually becoming 

 larger and larger, always pinching 

 off the flowers, and tips of the shoots, 

 till the plants have attained the de- 

 sired form and size, when they may 

 be allowed to flower, and A^ill form 

 splendid objects. When Petunias 

 are wanted to cover a bed in a regu- 

 lar flower-garden, they are not cut 

 in at all ; but their long rambling 



