CHAr. XIII VILLA GARDENING 215 



variegated growth. Russelia juncea is an old plant with very ele- 

 gant habit, and it succeeds well in a basket. The stove aquatics 

 form an interesting addition to it, even when grown on a small 

 scale. A very small tank at one end, or in a corner, will suffice 

 for an interesting group of Water Lilies, of which Nymphceas 

 cserulea (blue Water Lily), cyauea, devoniana, and rubra may be 

 cited as suitable species. I have seen them successfully grown in 

 a No. 1 pot placed in a corner of the stove, surrounded by a mound 

 of rockwork covered with creepers. The holes in the bottom of 

 the pot had been securely stopped ; some rough loam and peat had 

 been placed in the bottom, and the Lilies planted therein. The 

 Sacred Bean (Nelumbium speciosum), the Lattice -leaved plant 

 (Ouvirandra fenestralis), and other aquatics may be grown if there 

 is space. 



Resting Plants. — Though there is no positive or total rest 

 for anything in this world, there must be a partial cessation from 

 active work to give the plant time to gather up its forces for a 

 renewed effort. Thus the Allamandas, Clerodendrons, and all that 

 class of plants, when exhausted from flowering, must be allowed 

 to go to rest by withholding water and lowering the temperatm-e. 

 The Eucharis, Gesneria, Gloxinia, Imantoijhyllimi, and others of 

 a like nature, will not flower effectively if rest be withheld. It is 

 true that the evergreen section must not be dried off' in the same 

 manner as is customary Avith those which cast off" all their foliage 

 and start anew from the base, but they must all have rest. Even 

 those plants— such as the Poinsettia, Euphorbia fulgens, Justicia, 

 Scutellaria, Thyi-sacanthus, etc. — which can be grown into flowering 

 size from cuttings in a few months, flower all the better for under- 

 going a resting process in a lower temperature after the growth is 

 made, before the stimulus of extra warmth is applied to bring out 

 their blossoms. This shows how much there is to learn about 

 the life-history and habits of growth of every plant we cultivate, 

 and how impossible it is to do more than generalise within my 

 present limits. 



Winter Flowers. — Many stove i^lants flower naturally in 

 winter ; others can, by a little management, be made to flower at 

 that season. Of late years the Amaryllis has undergone great 

 improvement at the hands of the hybridist ; the few species grown 

 thirty years ago have branched out in all directions — breadth being 

 added to the petals, and colours which were then unknown have 

 been evolved by intercrossing and raising seedlings. But working 

 up stock being rather a slow process, the prices will, in comparison 

 with ordinary soft-wooded plants, for some time rule high. Still, 

 all who can afford it should select the Amaryllis family, as they 



