Greenhouse and Stove Plants. 



343 



at the bottom of tlie tank, on this place 

 the seeds, and nothing more is required. 

 They will soon vegetate, and when large 

 enough to be conveniently handled the 

 little plants should be put singly in shal- 

 low pots in which they are to be kept until 

 the leaves are a f(jot in diameter, after wh ich 

 the strongest plant ought to be moved to 

 the tank in which it is to flower. In the 

 centre of this a mound of good ordinary 

 loam must be placed 7 or 8 feet in diameter 

 and about two and a half feet deep in the 

 middle where the plant must be turned 

 out ; the water should have been intro- 

 duced sufficiently long before this to admit 

 of its becoming clear and getting warmed 

 up to the point before mentioned. It is 

 well not to have the water in the tank to 

 the full depth at first when the plant is 

 turne'l out of the pot, for as it grows it 

 will rise above the soil, after which it 

 becomes necessary to increase the water so 

 as to keep the crown covered to the depth 

 of about a foot. Provision should be made 

 for a continuous regular supply of water 

 to the tank ; this is best effected by a pipe 

 and tap introduced at one corner, the tap 

 regulated so as to just keep the water trick- 

 ling, with an overflow to allow of a corre- 

 sponding outlet ; by this means the water 

 will be always clear, alike conducive to 

 the well-being of the plant and agreeable 

 to the sight. Nothing further will be re- 

 quired except regulating the ventilation so 

 as to keep the temperature of the house 

 right, in the night it should be from 66° to 

 70°, by day from 75° to 90° according to the 

 state of the weather and the season. AVhere 

 the conditions are such as to suit it the 

 plant is a rajiid grower, attaining a large 

 size by the end of June, soon after which 

 the blooming should commence and keep 

 on through July and August ; the flowers 

 are proportionate in size to the leaves, 

 varying with the greater or less vigour of 

 the plants— from 12 to 15 inches in 

 diameter is about their usual proportion. 

 They are short-lived, lasting only two days ; 

 on the first day the colour of the petals is 

 white, on the second they change to pink. 

 The plant is virtually a night bloomer, 

 the flowers opening towards evening, and 

 closing in the morning, opening the second 

 time similarly for the night and closing 

 the following morning, after which they 

 sink below the surface, where they re- 

 main during the development of the seeds, 

 as in the case of many other aquatics. It 

 is a native of Guiana. 



VINCA. 



These are amongst the most easily man- 

 aged of all stove plants ; they are con- 



tinuous bloomers all through the summer 

 and autumn, producing their cheerful-look- 

 ing. Phlox-like flowers from the points of 

 the shoots in unbroken succession from 

 June to October. They are easily propa- 

 gated, not much subject to the attacks of 

 insects, and deserve to be much more 

 generally grown for ordinary decorative 

 pui'jjoses than they at present are, for, save 

 where cultivated as exhibition specimens, 

 they are seldom met with except in a half- 

 starved condition. Cuttings will root at 

 any time of the year when the shoots can 

 be had in a young state. Plants that have 

 been cut back in the winter and have 

 broken into growth with the extra heat 

 api^lied to them as the sun's power in- 

 crsixses will produce shoots in March fit 

 for cuttings ; take these off when about 4 

 inches long and put them singly in small 

 pots in sand, cover with a propagating 

 glass, keep moist and shaded in a tempera- 

 ture of 70°. They will soon root ; then 

 remove the gla.ss, and directly they begin 

 to grow move them into 5-inch pots. They 

 will do in either peat or loam, but for 

 quick-growing plants such as these we like 

 loam best, as in it there is less disposi- 

 tion in the shoots to draw up weakly. 

 '\Anien fairly established, place the plants 

 near the light ; this is of more consequence 

 with quick-growing things, such as these 

 Vincas, than it is with subjects that make 

 slower progress. As soon as the tops begin 

 to extend cut out the points to make them 

 break several shoots ; this should be re- 

 peated when further growth has been 

 made, and when the pots are moderately 

 full of roots move into others 8 inches or 

 9 inches in diameter. The soil ought to 

 be ordinary fibrous loam, to which add 

 about one-seventh of sand and a moderate 

 quantity of rotten manure sifted. 



A temperature that will answer for warm 

 stove plants will suit them ; give a little 

 shade in exceptionally bright weather, with 

 air in the daytime, and syringe them over- 

 head every afternoon at the time of shut- 

 ting up. A few sticks will be required to 

 keep the branches open and to support 

 them, especially towards autumn as they 

 get larger. Plants struck at the time 

 named and treated as above will flower by 

 by the end of July and go on as long as 

 there is enough warmth to keep up growth, 

 as the blooms are produced from the ex- 

 tremities of the shoots while they continue 

 extending. As the autumn advances give 

 more air and less water, so as to get them 

 to rest. Through the winter apply no 

 more water than will keep the soil slightly 

 moist, or the roots are apt to perish. This 

 is the only weakness that these Vincas 



