74 THE UNHEATED GREENHOUSE 



californica, so impatient of fire heat, but so lovely with its 

 great heads of wax-white flowers, though this fine shrub is 

 even now not very well known. The finest specimen I have 

 ever seen was one which had to be planted, for want of a 

 better place at the moment, at the end of a centre-border in 

 a large Rose house, and there it remained till it had to be 

 removed for want of room. It was a wonderful sight when in 

 bloom, with every branch weighed down with lustrous flowers. 

 It is easy enough, however, to keep it within due bounds by 

 judicious pruning, therefore it can be safely recommended. 



There are many shrubs of this almost hardy class which 

 refuse to flower in pots, because they require a certain amount 

 of undisturbed, if somewhat restricted, root-room. They are 

 so eminently beautiful that a wide corridor devoted to their 

 culture would be a grand feature. To name a few, there 



' is Fremontia californica, craving shade during the hottest sun- 

 shine. Another is the South American Poinciana Gilliesi, 

 graceful in its pinnate foliage, and with golden-hued flowers 

 glorified by their flowing crimson stamens. There is Abutilon 

 vitifolium, with its grey-green, mealy looking leaves and 

 bunches of exquisite pale mauve (or white) recurved flowers, 

 so distinct in every way from other Abutilons that it would 

 scarcely be recognised as such, but quite intractable for pot 



; culture. Buddleia Colvillei, too, said by Sir Joseph Hooker 

 to be one of the handsomest of Himalayan shrubs, would be 

 suitable for such a position. Its flowers are not rolled up 

 into Orange balls like the B. globosa of our gardens, but 

 hang in clusters of white-throated crimson Pentstemon-like 

 flowers from the ends of the branches. At Kew this fine plant 

 is found to be better fitted for the cold house than for any 

 other method of culture. To these may be added Veronica 

 hulkeana, scarcely hardy in the open, but one of the very best 

 of the New Zealand Veronicas, growing from 3 ft. to 4 ft. high, 

 and giving a mass of its pretty light mauve spikes during late 



