Greenhouse and Stove Plants. 



27 b 



for growing in small pots for standing 

 about in the stove or Fern house, where 

 their prettily-marked variegated leaves are 

 seen to advantage. They strike readily 

 from bits of the shoots, or from single 

 joints with a leaf attached ; if these are 

 prepared in spring and put 1 inch or 2 

 inches apart in good-sized pans filled with 

 silver sand, kept warm, a little moist, not 

 wet, and shaded from the sun, they will 

 root readily ; they must not be confined in 

 a propagating frame or under a glass, for if 

 so treated, they are very liable to rot. 

 When sutficiently rooted move them to 

 3-inch pots filled with sandy peat or good 

 loam, placing them where they will get 

 plenty of light ; keep the soil in a healthy 

 state as to moisture, but not so wet as it 

 should be for many stove subjects. A 

 temperature that will answer for the 

 generality of stove plants, say 64° to 66° in 

 the night, and 75° or 80° by day during 

 the summer, will suit Peperomias, giving 

 air and shade in the heat of the day. By 

 July they will want putting into pots a 

 size or two larger, the treatment being as 

 hitherto until September ; then give more 

 air with less moisture in the atmosphere, 

 and dispense with shading. A heat of 

 about 60° will answer through the winter ; 

 they will require moving to 7-inch or 

 8-inch pots in the spring, giving the most 

 room to the strongest growers. Those 

 that are to be grown in baskets may be 

 placed sevei'al together, according to the 

 size of the baskets to be filled ; they do 

 well hung up where they can have an 

 abundance of light, with just enough shade 

 to keep the leaves from getting discoloured 

 by the sun. When the plants get shabby 

 they may be shortened in, which will 

 cause them to break back, and in this way 

 their heads can be renewed, or, if preferred, 

 young stock can be grown up to take the 

 place of the old. 



The following are worth growing : — 



P. argyrea variegata. This has oval 

 leaves, red leaf-stalks, and the margins of 

 the leaves are broadly banded with white. 



P. mirophylla. A Mexican species, 

 with trailing shoots that branch freely ; 

 the leaves are obovate. 



P. nummularicefolia. This species is of 

 a trailing habit and the leaves are nearly 

 round ; it makes a pretty basket plant. A 

 native of the West Indies. 



P. prostrata. This also is suitable for a 

 hanging basket ; the leaves are almost 

 round and prettily variegated. 



P. Verschaffeltii. A dwarf-growing species; 

 leaves cordate in form ; deep green, with 

 white bands running longitudinally ; of 

 compact habit. It comes from Brazil. 



Insects. — Thrips and red spider some- 

 times gain a footing on Peperomias if the 

 atmosphere is too dry, but with attention 

 to syringing and sufficient care to see that 

 the water gets well to the undersides of 

 the leaves, they can easily be kept down. 



PETR^A. 



In these we have a small genus of ever- 

 green stove plants, well adapted for grow- 

 ing as climbers. They are not so much 

 grown as their distinct character entitles 

 them to be. 



The method of propagation is by shoot 

 cuttings, which if put in in a brisk heat 

 during spring, and subjected to the usual 

 conditions of moisture and shade under a 

 propagating glass, will strike ; when they 

 are well rooted place them singly in 3 or 4 

 inch pots, after which keep them in a 

 moderate stove heat, giving larger pots 

 about the end of June. They should be 

 shaded slightly in bright weather, but have 

 plenty of light and a moderate amount of 

 air when 1-hey begin to move freely ; 

 syringe them daily until autumn, when 

 keep cooler on through the winter. In 

 the spring, if to be grown in pots, they 

 should have a liberal shift, if to be planted 

 out they must have a well-prepared bed, 

 with an extra amount of drainage ; the soil 

 should not be too deep, 8 or 9 inches is 

 enough ; good turfy peat with some lotten 

 manure and a liberal addition of sand will 

 suit them. 



The following are desirable kinds : — 



P. creda. A shrubby sjiecies that readily 

 adajats itself to clothing a pillar. The 

 flowers are blue, and usually appear about 

 the middle of summer. From South 

 America. 



p. rugosa. This is also a scandent shrub, 

 alike suitable for using as a climber. A 

 summer- blooming, blue-flowered species 

 from the Caraccas. 



P. voluhilis imrpurea. A twining-habited 

 kind with beautiful purjjle and blue 

 flowers. A Mexican species. 



Insects. — Red spider is often trouble- 

 some on these plants during summer if 

 they are not kept freely and regularly 

 syringed ; for aphides fumigate. 



PETUNIA. 



Greenhouse evergreen herbaceous plants. 

 In recent years they have been so much 

 improved hy the careful selection of seed- 

 lings that have sprung from the original 

 South American species introduced in the 

 early part of the present century, that a 

 good strain of seed may be depended upon 



