CHAP. XI YTLLA GARDENING 203 



ful family for a cool greenhouse in autumn and early winter, 

 and may be treated as recommended for Eupatoriums. 



Veronicas are very useful autumn plants, and so easily 

 rooted and grown that more need not be said about them. 

 They are valuable town plants. Blue Gem, Imperialis, Mdlle. 

 Claudine Villarmoz, Creme et Violet, and Le Gloire de Lorraine 

 are amongst the best. Cuttings rooted early in spring will make 

 nice blooming plants by autumn if well cared for. 



RoGiERA GRATissiMA is a Valuable plant for winter — so valu- 

 able, indeed, that duplicates should be obtained of it. To ensiu'e 

 a floriferous habit, get the growth made early by growing it 

 in spring in an intermediate house, cool down and place in the 

 open air for a month towards the end of July, taking under 

 cover before the frost comes. It bears large panicles or clusters 

 of rose or blush -coloured flowers, in appearance not unlike a 

 Laurustine, but more refined in eff"ect. Makes an excellent 

 standard trained to a single stem 2 feet or 3 feet high. Pot 

 in loam and peat of fibry nature. 



Ldculia GRATISSIMA is a very deserving plant, and although 

 briefly noticed in the article on wall plants, for which purpose 

 it is well adapted, it is also a grand plant for planting in a border 

 as a central object. Its immense trusses of rose-coloured sweet- 

 scented flowers will be a special feature for several months in 

 winter. It should be pruned hard back when the flowering is 

 over, as the plant has a tendency to become leggy without severe 

 pruning. In peat and loam it does well, and requires abundance 

 of water when growing and blossoming. Although it does not 

 take kindly to pot culture, and is not very easy to propagate, good 

 propagators succeed with young shoots taken off" with a heel under 

 a bell-glass, and it may easily be increased by layering. 



Hydrangeas, when grown in pots, are exceedingly useful for 

 greenhouse or room decoration. They are easily propagated ; the 

 young tips of the shoots are often rooted in small pots after the 

 flower bud at the end of the shoot has been developed, and thus a 

 little plant in a small pot may be made to produce a monster truss 

 of flowers. Excellent bushes covered with flowers may be had in 

 6-inch pots. Rich loam suits them best, with a proportion of old 

 manure, although they are not particular as to soil. Some growers 

 aim to make the plants jiroduce flowers with a blue tint, and to 

 this end use peat imin-egnated with iron, or mix iron filings with 

 the soil, or use water that contains iron in solution. 



Statices are useful and interestingfplants, possessing this ad- 

 vantage, that the flowers may be cut and dried, and in that state 

 are very useful, keeping their colour a long time. Cuttings 



