ABUTILON. 



Gretnliouse and iStoce PlauL 



Bo ale de Neige, is one of the most lovely 

 flowers grown, possessing the advantage of 

 blooming in a very small state ; plants of 

 this sort, in 4 or 6 inch pots, flower from 

 the axil of every leaf. 



Abutilons are easily propagated in spring 

 from cuttings of the young wood, if taken 

 off when some 4 or 6 inches in .ength — if 

 with a heel all the better ; insert these in 

 sand in small pots placed in a temperatm-e 

 of 60°, and covered with a bell-glass. Here 

 they will soon make roots, and should then 

 be moved into 6 inch pots. They will suc- 

 ceed in either peat or loam, but with tliese, 

 as with most other free-growing plants, 

 peat has a greater tendency to promote 

 leaf-growth than loam has, and it is not 

 well to encourage too much development 

 in the foliage. This should rather be re- 

 stricted, as foliage, when present in too 

 great quantity, is prejudicial to free- 

 flowering. Let tlie loam be of good 

 quality, and mix with it enough sand to 

 keep the whole in an open, healthy state ; 

 if, whilst they are in the younger stages of 

 their growth, a little leaf-mould is added, 

 it wiU assist them. As soon as they begin 

 to grow, pinch out the points so as to in- 

 duce them to break back. The free-root- 

 ing disposition of the plants will cause 

 them to soon require more room ; they must 

 have larger pots before the roots become 

 matted. By midsummer they will need 

 moving. The stronger growers will bear 

 a 4 inch shift, using the loam in lumj^s as 

 large as pigeon's eggs ; but at this potting 

 add no leaf-mould, as they will flower 

 more freely without it. Stop the points a 

 second time, and keep them well syringed, 

 both on the upper and under sides of the 

 leaves, every afternoon ; place them where 

 they will be fully exposed to the light. 

 They will require only a very slight shade 

 for a few hours in the middle of the day 

 in the hottest weather. After they have 

 again broken into growth the shoots will 

 flower as soon as they acquire strength 

 sufficient. As the autumn approaches 

 they will show signs of going to rest, and 

 must not receive much water. During 

 the winter keep them in a temperature of 

 not lower than 45"^ in the night ; by the 

 beginning of March they should be kept a 

 little warmer, and when growth has com- 

 menced they can be moved into larger 

 pots — 13 or 14 inches diameter will not be 

 too much if large specimens are wanted. 



When Abutilons are required to be 

 grown as trained plants their natural 

 disposition to spire up must be counter- 

 acted by regularly stopping and opening 

 the shoots well out ; so managed thej- 

 make good decorative plants for the con- 



servatory, and, as such, are very useful. 

 After flowering they may be put anywhere 

 where a temperature such as advised for 

 the preceding winter can be maintained, 

 and here allowed to remain until the 

 spring. Then they should be cut close in, 

 the heads reduced to within a foot or 15 

 inches of the pots, and, as soon as they 

 have made a little growth, turned out of 

 the pots ; one-third of the soil should be 

 removed and replaced with new, and the 

 plants treated through the summer as 

 before. 



If the plants are required for the purpose 

 of coveriiag a wall, they may at once be 

 placed where they are intended to be 

 grown, and either planted out or kept in 

 pots as deemed advisable for best attaining 

 the object in view. If a large space has to 

 be covered it will be better to plant out in 

 a border prepared by, in the first place, 

 sufficiently draining the bottom with a 

 few inches of broken bricks, or something 

 similar ; over these j)lace some suitable 

 material, such as pieces of fibrous turf, on 

 which put the soil, like in chararter to 

 that advised for pot culture. Turn out the 

 plants in this, making the soil firm round 

 the ball, and at the same time training the 

 branches so as best to eft'ect the covering of 

 the allotted space. Nothing further will 

 be required than to attend to training and 

 stopping, with a legular use of the syringe 

 to keep in check spider, which they are 

 subject to. A portion of the shoots will 

 require shortening back at dift'erent lengths 

 each spring, which will cause their break- 

 ing into fresh growth, so as to keep the 

 whole space regularly furnished Avith 

 young flowering wood ; if this is not 

 attended to, the bottom will get bare and 

 destitute of both leaves and flowers. For 

 clothing a pillar or rafter when the room 

 to be occupied is somewhat limited, it is 

 Avell to confine the roots to a pot, as, so 

 managed, their naturally \agorous dispo- 

 sition is kept in bounds. For the purpose 

 here under consideration the plants will 

 not need stopping so eaily, but should be 

 kept to a single stem until they have 

 attained the height where they are wanted 

 to branch out. For such uses as these 

 they ought to be groAvn in not less than 15 

 inch pots ; into these they may be trans- 

 ferred from 8 or 10 inch ones in the spring. 

 The drainage must be ample, and well 

 secured against the washing of the soil into 

 it by the large quantities of water required 

 through the sumuier. Keep them as they 

 advance in growth well but not too closely 

 trained in the places they are wanted to 

 fill, and regulate the stnppint,' according to 

 the number of shoots requisite to furnish 



