264 VICTORIA REGIA. 



IN THE GREENHOUSE, STOVE, &-c. 



If the stock is not housed it ought to be done immediately, and much 

 judicious attention is necessary in properly placing a mixed collection 

 of plants. Care must be taken so that one plant ma}' receive something- 

 like its proper treatment without interfering materially with the well- 

 being of its neighbours ; and whilst the tender ones must be placed in 

 the best part for protection from cold wind, &c, as Polygalas, Pimeleas, 

 Leschenaultias, Aphelexis, Boroneas, Gompholobioms, and Diosmas, 

 are injured by being placed where there is a current of wind. Let 

 each plant have all the space possible, and the robust large-leaved kinds, 

 and the very slender delicate sorts, should be kept as separate as can 

 be arranged, so as to allow a due circulation of air. Be careful that 

 the pots, &c, be perfectly clean before arranged for their winter situa- 

 tion. Re-pot Cinerarias, &c. Let Camellias which are to bloom early 

 be placed in a warmer situation, also any Chinese or Indian Azaleas, 

 so that they may be gradually advancing. In watering the stock of 

 plants, let it be done in the early part of the day, so that any excess 

 may be dried up before evening, and damps be avoided, otherwise 

 mouldiness will ensue. Thin away the flower-buds of Chrysanthemums ; 

 water occasionally with liquid manure. Calceolarias strike root freely : 

 now pot off seedlings to bloom next season. 



Pelargoniums. — The plants headed down some weeks back, now 

 have pushed shoots an inch or two long ; these should be thinned pro- 

 perly. The plants must be repotted in order to have the roots well 

 established before winter. Shake off the soil, and shorten some of the 

 long roots, so that young fibres be promoted, which is essential to the 

 vigour of next bloom. Have a free drainage in the pots. If a com- 

 post, sucli as is recommended by Mr. Cock in a former Number, is not 

 possessed, then take turfy loam well chopped up, with an equal portion 

 of sandy peat and well-rotted leaf-mould, and half the quantity of well- 

 rotted dung. Give air to the plants in the day time, and be careful not 

 to give over-much water at the roots, for if saturated they will be in- 

 jured. Young struck plants should have the tops pinched off to cause 

 the production of side shoots, to render them bushy for next season. 

 Repot some of the Scarlet Geraniums (so called) to bloom during 

 the autumn and winter ; they are charming ornaments. So with the 

 new Tree Carnations, of which there are near twenty varieties. 



VICTORIA REGIA 



We again called at Mi-. Weeks' Nursery to see this fine plant in the 

 open-air bason. It was in most robust health, having nine large leaves, 

 but which do not turn up at the edges, as is the case when grown in 

 high temperature. There were, too, sixteen flowers, expanded or un- 

 expanded. The one in bloom was fifteen inches across, being larger 

 than any we have seen either at Kew or Syon House. 



