178 PIIAEBITIS LEAEII. 



Like those of the common annual Pharbitis hispida, and most other species of the 

 genus, the flowers are hut short-lived, but they are yielded in such numbers 

 in succession, that a constant surface of the richest colour is presented to the 

 eye through the summer months. 



Although the culture of this fine plant is attended with no difficulty, the 

 results will, of course, depend on the amount of care bestowed upon it. The 

 warmest corner of the garden should be allotted it, and, if planted against a wall, 

 it will well repay the favour, though, provided the situation be somewhat sheltered, 

 it may be trained against any of the ordinary supports for climbing plants : such 

 as a verandah, an arched trellis, or even the tall upright pillar commonly em- 

 ployed for the Major Convolvulus. The soil most suited to it is a strong rich 

 loam ; where the soil is of an opposite character, or exhausted by cultivation, it 

 would be removed to the depth of one-and-a-half to two feet, and the cavity 

 filled up with a mixture of good loam, with one-third of its bulk of thoroughly 

 decayed manure : if this cannot be procured but in a recent state, leaf-mould 

 may be substituted for it. The roots should not be planted out earlier than tbe 

 middle of May, and, in cold unfavourable springs, the end of the month will be 

 better still. Should frosty nights occur after it has begun its growth, it will be 

 necessary to protect it w.ith a good hand-light, though, when it has once fairly 

 started, its progress is so rapid that this covering will hardly be available. In 

 dry weather water must be freely given, and when in flower weak liquid manure 

 may be applied at short intervals. As it is necessary to remove the roots from 

 the ground in autumn, in order to ensure their protection from frost, it may be 

 planted in a very large pot, plunged to its rim in the border ; if without a bottom 

 it will be preferable, as the roots of the plant can then extend more freely in 

 search of nutriment, whilst its absence will be little or no impediment to the 

 extrication of the pot from the ground. It is not, however, strictly necessary that 

 the roots should be preserved through the winter with a large mass of soil 

 about them, but they must not be completely removed from it, nor allowed to 

 become dry. If transferred to an eight-inch pot, and kept at a temperature not 

 lower than 40°, no difficulty will be experienced in preserving them in a sound 

 state until the following spring, when the plant may be turned into a much 

 larger pot, or the open ground, as already explained. 



It only remains to remark that, as seeds are rarely produced except under glass, 

 the mode of increase is by cuttings of the principal shoots ; those near the base 

 of the plants should not be selected as they produce but few flowers; a light 

 soil, a bell glass, and a good bottom heat, are the requisites to the success of 

 the rooting process. Struck early in summer the cuttings will flower the same 

 season, though less freely than in subsequent seasons. The older plants, however, 

 make by far the finest specimens, and should always be selected for planting out. 



