CHAPTER VII 



THIRD WEEK IN FEBRUARY 



iHE most interesting order of gesneraceous plants, 

 indigenous for the most part in South America and 

 on the slopes of the Andes, provides us with many 

 )rilliant blossoms. 



Most of the members of the family, such as the achimenes, 

 have now taken their rest, and these will shortly be ready 

 to start into life again. It is quite possible to provide our- 

 selves with the richly-tinted blossoms and velvet-like leaves 

 of one or other of the gesneraceous tribe throughout the 

 year; for although autumn is the time of bloom for gesneras, 

 tydaeas, gloxinias, and streptocarpi, with other less well- 

 known members of this order, can be induced to blossom 

 almost at any time. 



Gloxinias especially are amenable in this way, and by 

 means of sowing seed of these flowers, or starting the 

 tubers early and late, they will be available even at Christ- 

 mas-time, when their glowing tints in ruby velvet or delicate 

 shades of pink are invaluable. 



All the gesneraceous plants are alike in this, that they 

 do not require strong sunshine to open their flowers; for 

 although they are natives of very hot countries, they 

 naturally spring to life in the semi-shade of thick tropical 

 vegetation, and therefore they prefer a slightly shaded posi- 

 tion, even in our cooler climate, although they need warmth 

 to start them. Those gloxinias which bloom late in the 

 year are still at rest, their pots being stacked on their sides 

 in the greenhouse, out of the reach of the frost, and dry ; 

 but from the middle of January onwards there will be some 

 earlier corms which will show signs of life, and can then be 



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