FOURTH WEEK IN JANUARY 



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open air in Devonshire, and are suitable for a cool green- 

 house ; and our own beautiful British ferns should not be 

 omitted, choosing some of the best of their varieties. 



Having selected the necessary ferns, a few good foliage 

 plants will be of use as a background to flowers ; the hardier 

 palms, such as Chamaerops excelsa, Chamasrops humilis, 

 Cocos australis, Phoenis sylvestris, and P. canariensis, may 

 be trusted to do well without fire heat, for they will grow in 

 the open ground in the south of our islands, and one or two 

 handsome specimens give height and tropical effect to a 

 group of smaller plants. Then the handsome growths of 

 Hedychium gardnerianum in winter, and its singular orchid- 

 like spikes of bloom in summer (pale yellow in tint, with 

 long scarlet appendages), are always effective, and the new 

 growths must not be cut down after flowering. These 

 plants need large pots (or small tubs), with rich soil, being 

 kept almost dry during the cold months, but supplied with 

 plenty of water, liquid manure, and sunshine from May until 

 November ; they do not require to be repotted yearly 

 (blossoming best when their pots are full of roots), but 

 should be richly top-dressed each year in April. 



Camellias with their shining leaves and waxen blooms 

 are always effective ; they do far better without fire heat 

 than in a warm conservatory, and only need to be protected 

 by glass in winter. Peaty soil suits them, with firm potting 



' and plenty of water throughout the year, and their richly- 

 coloured blooms are very beautiful in the early spring. 

 The same treatment will suit the loveliest of all the azaleas 

 (A. mollis), which is absolutely hardy, but its exquisite 



: blossoms, in apricot and salmon-red, are apt to be injured 

 in the garden during the cold winds of early spring, and 



i therefore do best under glass. 



f Rhododendrons, too, especially the early hybrid varieties, 

 will open their splendid blossoms in February under glass, 



j without fear of frost or bitter winds, which often injure 

 them in the garden. R. Nobleanum and R. arboreum 



= coccineum are amongst the best in crimson ; R. ochro- 



c leuchrum is a dwarf plant, with pale apricot blossoms ; and 



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