38 THE BOOK OF THE GREENHOUSE 



amount of heat for the sake of getting early flowers. 

 Plants allowed to come on naturally are the most 

 satisfactory. 



Roses. Many Roses make excellent greenhouse 

 climbers, their great fault being that they are so 

 subject to the attacks of Aphides, which are extremely 

 persistent. Roses like a rich larder and should be 

 grown in good loam with which some manure or crushed 

 bones has been mixed, and manure water should be 

 given during the growing season at frequent intervals. 

 During the winter a much drier state of the roots must 

 obtain so that the plants may not be too soon excited into 

 growth. Roses vary so much in their requirements as to 

 pruning, according to the section to which they belong, 

 that one can here only deal with first principles. These 

 are to cut out bodily at any time of the year all growths 

 that are too weak or puny to flower and to lay in all 

 the strong young wood for which room can be found 

 without overcrowding. Some of the strong growing 

 noisette roses, as for instance the favourite Marechal 

 Niel, like to be grown on the " long rod " system of 

 pruning, i.e. cutting out all flowering wood, as soon 

 as the flowers are over, down to where it springs from 

 the main stem and encouraging new shoots to take the 

 place of those removed, laying them in at full length 

 until they have flowered, when they, in their turn, 

 are cut out to make room for their successors. Very 

 fine flowers, and plenty of them, may be grown in this 

 way, if vigorous root action be kept up by feeding. 



Tacsonia. Tacsonias are very rapid growing plants 

 and only suited for large houses. The two most 

 frequently grown are T. Van Volxemi and T. exoniensis, 

 both bearing large, brilliant red flowers of different 

 shades, in form much like Passion flowers, which hang 

 face downwards from long slender stems or peduncles. 

 The palmate, dark green leaves are very fresh and 



