62 STOVE AND GREENHOUSE PLANTS. 



the tips and keeping the plants perfectly dry for a time. As soon as they 

 begin to break, water may be gradually supplied. 



RUELLIA MACRANTHA For a greenhouse plant for amateurs this is 

 one of the best. Its cultivation is very simple. Cuttings rooted in 

 September will furnish fair-sized flowering plants by the end of January. 

 These may be planted out, end of May, in the open ground; by the end 

 of September they will have made considerable growth; and if large 

 specimens are wanted they may be lifted and potted. The flowers are 

 very large, tubular-shaped, and magenta in color. 



RUSSELIAS Russelia juncea is an old plant but too seldom seen; it 

 is probably the most useful of all our basket or vase plants. It sends 

 out long arching branches of rush-like growths with flowers of an 

 intense scarlet. Planted singly in vases there are few things to equal it 

 in appearance. To propagate it take a handful of shoots at a time and 

 cut them into lengths of from 4 to 6 inches. In this way 200 cuttings 

 may be made with two strokes of the knife, and every one will root. R. 

 Lemoinei and R. el^gantissima are both good. The flowers are smaller 

 than those of R. juncea, but more of them are produced. The two latter 

 are better Winter flowering plants than R. juncea. 



SARRACENIAS Natives of the Eastern State*. There are seven species 

 and a large number of hybrids; much prized in Europe owing to their 

 curiously-shaped, aud in some cases highly-colored leaves. S. Drum- 

 mondii, a native of Florida, is the finest of all the kinds, none of the hy- 

 brids approaching it in the gorgeous markings of the foliage. Sarrace- 

 nias are best grown in a cool, sunny house. The potting material 

 should be the same as recommended for Nepenthes. 



SALVIA SPLENDENS When it is desired to raise this fine late Sum- 

 mer-blooming plant from cuttings, old plants may be lifted, the flowers 

 cut off and the plants set in a cool house. Under these conditions the 

 growths made are softer and root very quickly, a single plant giving a 

 large number of cuttings. Fall propagating is somtimes done in a 

 hurry, owing to the sudden arrival of a cold spell, and this Salvia may 

 be lifted and stored in safety without the loss of much time. 



Salvia Splendens " Bonfire " is an improvement on the old kind, being 

 of a deeper color and more compact in growth. 



There is a very large number of species, but only a few in general cul- 

 tivation. S. leucantha is very late in coming into bloom, making enor- 

 mous growth during the Summer. It is well worth growing even for 

 the short season of bloom. S. patens is one of the handsomest blue- 

 flowered plants in cultivation. Store the roots under a bench and start 

 early to get cuttings; or it may be raised from seed. 



SAINTPAULIA IONANTHA is a very pretty dwarf, blue-flowered plant, 

 the leaves resembling those of a Gloxinia but smaller. With little trou- 

 ble it may be had in bloom at almost any season. The end of March is 

 a good time to propagate. Cut off the ripened leaves with about an 

 inch of stalk attached and insert in the sand bed, covering only a small 

 part of the leaf blade. The sand should not be kept too wet during the 



