80 PfliEDKAXASSA CHLORACRA.. 



blue and white blossoms. Bicohr is figured iu our last volume, aud is hardy ; fulgens has also stood 

 the late frosts with us in the open border ; the others require a little protection, rich light soil suits 

 them all. 



Scutellaria. — The 5. macrantha is a handsome dwarf hardy plant, with pm'ple violet flowers ; it 

 succeeds very well in a shaded border ; S. japonica is not quite so hardy, but is too pretty to be 

 omitted. S. coccinea, with bright red flowers, is a taller species, requiring to be protected in a frame 

 during the winter months. All succeed in ordinary friable soil, and may be multiplied by seeds or 

 division. 



Senecio. — The double varieties of S. elegans are favorite plants, and of the easiest management ; 

 there are white, rose, and purple varieties, and also one of an ashen tint, all increased readily by 

 cuttings, and requiring protection in winter. 



Stevia. — The S. Lindleyana is valuable for its abundant white flowers, produced in heads, but is 

 not quite hardy. Scrrata we find quite hardy, and we believe most of the species are less tender 

 than is supposed, especially in dry soils ; they will not bear transplanting well, and should be raised 

 from seeds which will flower the first season. 



To the foregoing list should be added, the Asclepias tuberosa, any or all ot the Liatris family, the 

 Statices, Scabiosa caitcasica, a perennial species ; the pretty free-flowering Saponaria ocymoidcs, 

 and Zauschneria califomica ; all of them are hardy, and may be added with advantage to any 

 collection. The Zauschneria must have a peaty or vegetable soil. The indispensable Verbena 

 requires no notice ; the pretty Selago fasciculata is a somewhat new half-hardy bedder, which we 

 venture to recommend to our readers, and in warm sheltered situations the beautiful Madagascar 

 Periwinkle Vinca rosea will succeed, if planted out in rich light soil, about the beginning of 

 June. 



Those of our readers who are more especially attached to the cultivation of the hardy perennials, 

 will be able to select from the foregoing list, and that in our last month's number, many fine plants 

 as permanent ornaments for the borders ; we have named none which are not of a showy character, 

 and of easy cultivation in any ordinarily good soil aud situation. Of the best hardy and half-hardy 

 annuals we have already given lists, and in our number for May, 1852, will be found a notice of 

 some of the best half-hardy climbers, to which our readers may refer with advantage. From time to 

 time we will give supplementary lists. 



PH2EDRANASSA CHLORACRA. 

 Although this fine Aniaryllidaceous plant has been some years in cultivation, it is only rarely that 

 it produces its flowers ; it grows vigorously, and yields an abundance of offsets, but from some cause 

 or other, the blossoms obstinately refuse to shew themselves. Accident, that prolific source of 

 discovery, has just shewn that this failure is attributable to the bulb being generally completely 

 buried, which favours the production of numerous offsets, by which the parent bulb is so much 

 exhausted, as to be incapable of throwing up its flower spike. It appears that an amateur Florist at 

 Brussels received last year a bulb of the Phcedranassa, which he preserved during the winter in a 

 dry state, and early in spring it was planted on the soil of a pot ; the roots soon protruded themselves, and 

 at the commencement of April the plant displayed its brilliant flowers. In this experiment, we 

 have the key to the culture of all those bulbs which manifest a disposition to increase rapidly at the 

 expense of the flowers. But it is important to observe that as the plant is only readily increased by 

 offsets, some provision must be made for securing a supply. This may be effected by covering the 

 bulb completely with soil, as soon as the flowers begin to fade, or even before, or the pot may be 

 plunged in the borders, at such a depth that the bulb is covered. In autumn the whole should be 

 removed, and the offsets separated, and preserved in a dry state duiing the winter. 



