182 



Greenhouse and Stove Plants. 



GARDENIA. 



require a plentiful supply of water when 

 growing freely. Pot tliem firmly, and 

 place them where they will receive plenty 

 of light in a temperature of about 65° by 

 night, allowing 10° or 15° more in the 

 daytime. Give air as required in the 

 early part of the day, and shade from the 

 sun during bright weather. Close early in 

 the afternoon, and syringe well overhead. 

 As the shoots extend pinch out the points 

 of the strongest, so as to cause them to 

 break back ; they will then grow rapidly 

 and make roots fast. By the end of June 

 the stronger growers will have filled their 

 pots, and should be at once moved into 

 others 2 or 3 inches larger. The treatment 

 just given will apply to all the varieties 

 hereafter recommended to be grown, except 

 the small G. citriodora, for which 4 or 5 

 inch pots will be suthcient the first season. 

 Let the soil now used be somewhat more 

 lumpy, and add to it a proportion of rotten 

 manure and sand similar to that previously 

 employed. 



After potting do not give quite so much 

 water to the roots until they have fairly 

 got hold of the new soil ; pinch out the 

 points of all the strongest shoots, and tie 

 them down in a horizontal position, which 

 will induce them to break back as well as 

 push additional growth from the points ; 

 continue the treatment as already re- 

 commended, closing the house in the after- 

 noons through July and August, so as to 

 cause the temperature to rise for a couple of 

 hours to 90°, and give liquid manure every 

 other time they are watered. Managed 

 thus, they will grow both vigorously and 

 rapidly. At the beginning of September 

 the temperature may be reduced a few 

 degrees both by day and night ; they may 

 also have more air, shade being only needed 

 in the middle of the day when the weather 

 is very clear. None of the species require 

 much support, but during the latter part 

 of the summer it will be found advisable 

 to apply a few sticks, so as to open out the 

 shoots a little — treatment which will much 

 assist them in ripening the wood and in 

 inducing the formation of flower-buds ; 

 reduce the heat as the power of the sun 

 declines, and for the two concluding 

 months of the year they may be kept in a 

 night temperature of 55° with 10° more 

 warmth during the day ; this will stop 

 them from making much progress. 



If required in flower early, a portion of 

 the plants must be placed at the commence- 

 ment of the year in a night temperature of 

 65°, with an increase of 5° in the daytime, 

 keeping them near the glass and the soil 

 moderately moist ; this will soon induce 

 the bloom-buds to swell, and they will 



then open in succession, those on the 

 strongest leading shoots being the first. In 

 cutting the flowers, no more of the wood 

 than can be avoided should be taken, as 

 generally from both sides of the bloom- 

 buds they Avill push growth, which will 

 set and produce a second crop of flowers. 

 The same plants will keep on opening a 

 succession of flowers for a considerable 

 time, but others should be brought in at 

 intervals to keep up the supply. Such as 

 are wanted to bloom later on in the 

 spring must be kept at a temperature 

 similar to that recommended for the end 

 of the year until the days begin to lengthen 

 in March. They may then be placed 

 where they will receive an increase of heat 

 similar to that suggested for the early 

 flowering portion. As they go out of 

 bloom, both those that flowered early and 

 those that bloomed latest ought to be well 

 cut back, and if they have any insects 

 upon them they should, when thus denuded 

 of soft growth, be thoroughly washed with 

 or dipped in some insecticide strong 

 enough to kill both the full-grown insects 

 and their eggs. This washing may with 

 advantage be repeated two or three times 

 in the course of a fortnight before they 

 have commenced to make fresh growth, 

 and they should be kept in a temperature 

 sufliciently high to push them on. As 

 soon as they have broken freely turn them 

 out of their pots and remove as much soil 

 from the balls as can be taken away without 

 destroying many roots. Give a 4 or 6 inch 

 shift, according to the size required, increas- 

 ing the temperature as the season advances, 

 shading when needful, and giving air and 

 syringing daily as in the preceding summer. 

 When the pots get filled with roots 

 manure-water must be liberally supplied, 

 and any shoots that take an undue lead 

 should be shortened. They will not require 

 stopping this season, as they are naturally 

 of a bushy habit, and if the shoots are kept 

 tied out they will generally break of their 

 own accord as well as push up numbers of 

 strong growths from the bottom. In the 

 autumn, as before, keep them drier, and 

 discontinue both the use of the syringe 

 and shading, giving more air and less heat, 

 and wintering as previously advised. 

 After flowering they may again be cut 

 back, the soil partially removed, and new 

 material substituted, using larger pots ; if 

 smaller plants are considered preferable, 

 the old ones may be destroyed and others 

 of less size selected ; but to accomplish this 

 fresh stock should be struck each year and 

 grown on as already recommended. 



The following kinds are all good and 

 well deserve attention : — 



