65 



EXTRACTS. 



On the Cultivation of the Bauvardia trivhytta. By Mr. John 

 Mearks. 



I have at this time (April 13th, 1829) 100 plants of it which will hlossom 

 strong this summer in the flower garden here, £0 of which are only from 

 roots of last year's propagation ; and many of these flowered the same season, 

 although not planted till April. This year they will become strong flowering 

 plants towards the autumn, after the first bloom is over. My method of 

 treating them is as follows :— about the middle of April, I collect all my 

 Bouvardias together, from the places where they have been kept through the 

 dormant season, some among my orange tubs, others in cold frames, and 

 others under the stage of the green-house; I turn them all out of their pots, 

 shaking the soil from their roots ; I trim off most of the large roots, yet 

 retain as many of the fine fibrous ones as possible; I likewise at the same 

 time cut down all the former year's shoots, retaining only two, three, or four 

 eyes on each, according to the strength and age of the plant; I then plant 

 them in pots suitable to the size of the plant, taking care neither to overpot 

 them nor to cramp the roots by confinement. When I have got all potted 

 and watered to settle the earth about their roots, I place them in a cold 

 frame, which I cover with hay and mats at night; I keep the lights close 

 during the night, and even in the clay, unless the sun is very strong upon 

 them, till they begin to grow, when I give them portions of air according to 

 the day, and their advance in growth. Subsequently I leave the lights off 

 through the day, and at last do not put them on at night. About a week 

 after they have been thus exposed, I plant them finally out for the season 

 either in dumps to themselves, or distributed among other plants, when they 

 are soon in fine bloom, and continue to flower till Christmas. By the 

 autumn some of the year's shoots will have attained a yard in length, and 

 will be crowned with 'fine luxuriant clusters of their splendid trumpet-like 

 flowers. The beauty of the plants thus treated, has been the admiration of 

 those who have long" known the plant, but have only seen it managed in the 

 usual way; under which one or two of them are kept stinted in pots, in 

 which its flowering season soon terminates, and its blossoms are not so 

 attractive as those of the scarlet Trumpet Honeysuckle. 



As soon as I apprehend frost, I take up the plants with balls of earth 

 attached to the roots, and place them carefully in pots, with good mellow 

 soil. When they are thus replaced in pots and watered, those which are in 

 luxuriant blossom I mix among the greenhouse plants, where they make a 

 splendid appearance till January. 



I continue the treatment of them as above stated, and it may be continued 

 for many years, for the application of fresh soil, the trimming of the old 

 roots, and "the great luxuriance gained by growing in summer in the open 

 ground, renovate the plants, which could not be done by any other means of 

 culture. 



I propagate the Bouvardia by cutting of the roots. I fill some large 

 fruiting pine pots with good fresli mellow loam, well blended with either 

 thoroughly rotten dung, or vegetable mould. I plant my roots all over the 

 pot, beginning in a circle round the outside, opening the soil, and planting 

 them with my finger, and continue filling up one circle within another, till 

 I finish in the centre of the pot, or pots, leaving no more of the roots visible 

 above the surface than just the top. I then water and place them in a hot- 

 house at from 60 to 70 degrees of heat by night. As soon as the shoots get 

 to between four and five inches high, I transfer the plants singly into pots 

 of a small size, and by degrees harden them after they have got established. 

 When they have made some progress, I plant them out into a bed four feet 

 wide, eight inches between the rows, and four inches in the row; where, if 

 the soil be good, many will soon be in flower. I pot them again before 

 frost, and treat as done to older plants. — Tram. Hort. Soc. 



VOL. IV. K 



