GREENHOUSE AND HOTHOUSE FLOWERS 169 



large specimens as those who keep old plants, but they obtain 

 plants of a useful size, and very large flowers. 



Cytisus or Genista. There is a plant, beloved of market men, 

 which forms a dense head of very small leaves and bright yellow, 

 fragrant flowers, and is at its best in spring. It is often sold 

 under the name of Genista, but is in reality a Cytisus species 

 racemosus or fragrans. This is one of the most useful of green- 

 house plants for the amateur gardener, because it is very easy to 

 grow, is brilliant in colour, and retains its beauty for a consider- 

 able time. It may be raised from cuttings, stopped once or twice 

 to make it bushy, and subsequently kept several years by cutting 

 it back after flowering. It will grow in the normal soil. 



Daffodils and Narcissi. See Bulb section. The amateur must 

 not overlook the value of these beautiful hardy plants for his 

 greenhouse. They will do good service for unheated houses. 

 Popular trumpet Daffodils like Horsefieldii, obvallaris, Henry 

 Irving, Golden Spur, and Empress ; charming chalice-flowered 

 sorts such as Sir Watkin and Duchess of Westminster; and the 

 Poet's Narcissi, can be grown either in pots or china bowls filled 

 with peat-moss fibre ; and they will do splendid service in spring. 



Deutzias. The Deutzias are hardy shrubs, and are generally 

 kept for garden cultivation, but there is one species gracilis 

 which is cultivated almost exclusively under glass as a greenhouse 

 plant. It can be bought from bulb-dealers in autumn, not as a 

 bulb, like Hyacinths and Tulips, but as a clump of roots. It 

 may be potted and treated generally in the same manner as bulbs, 

 and it will wreathe itself in white flowers in winter, earlier or 

 later according to the temperature of the structure. Growers who 

 want early bloom, and have the necessary convenience, will force 

 it in a warm house. The plants can be kept from year to year 

 by standing them on a bed of ashes out of doors for the summer, 

 and pruning and repotting in autumn. Or fresh plants can be 

 raised by striking cuttings of the shoots. 



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