Hollyhock 



(423 ) 



Homalanthus 



Soil. Hollyhocks like a deep, rich soil. Where 

 pussible, the stations they are intended to occupy 

 should be heavily dressed with manure, and dug 

 roughly in autumn. To bring rank, fresh manure 

 into contact with the roots of young plants means 

 gross growth, soft tissues, and a probable attack of 

 disease. 



Other Cultural Points. When frost has put an 

 end to flowering in autumn, the plants should be 

 cut down, and before the advent of hard frost, the 

 stools should bo lifted, placed in shallow boxes, 

 covered with a few inches of soil, and consigned to 

 a cold frame. Towards the end of January they 

 should be placed in gentle heat, such as a vinery 

 that has been started with the New Year. They 

 will then furnish plenty of shoots, and root cuttings 

 for grafting purposes. One potting may be given, 

 from 3" into 5" pots, and planting out mny take 

 place as soon as they have filled these larger pots 

 with roots. A little protection on cold nights may 

 be necessary. In good soil Hollyhocks reach a 

 height of G' to 10', and, as they offer a good deal 

 of resistance to the wind, stout stakes should be 

 provided. For exhibition purposes the plant should 

 be restricted to one lead, and if many flower buds 

 are produced they may be thinned. For ordinary 

 purposes no restriction of growth or thinning of 

 buds is nece.-sary. 



The Hollyhock Fungus has wrought much harm 

 to the Hollyhock, and during the years 1873 and 

 1874, when it seemed to attain to the height of its 

 virulence, it swept off whole collections of choice 

 varieties. Prior to that date the Hollyhock had 

 been one of the florists' pets, and many named 

 varieties had been raised, but since then it has in 

 a measure fallen into disrepute. The fungus (Puc- 

 cinia maivacearum) causing the disease belongs to 

 a section of fungi which are especially harmful to 

 cultivated plants, and it boasts as near relatives 

 the smut on Wheat and the Chrysanthemum rust. 

 It first shows itself on the leaves as small, reddish 

 brown spots, slightly raised above the rest of the 

 surface, and, on the reverse side of the leaf, by 

 a discoloration. In severe attacks the leaves 

 shrivel, and the plants, if they do not die, are 

 crippled. Little is known about the life cycle of 

 this fungus, and only the Puccinia form of it has 

 been recognised. It is believed to have been 

 brought over from Chili with the imported plants 

 which were the ancestors of the modern Holly- 

 hock, but it was not until 1873 that European 

 cultivators lirst ifcscovered that it was dangerous. 

 It spread, however, with almost unparalleled speed , 

 but its vigour soon began to abate, and now it is 

 not nearly so destructive as it used to be. 



Briefly, the methods of treatment may be .summed 

 up .is follows : 



(1) The destruction by fire of all leaves that 

 show the spot, and, if the plant is badly attacked, 

 of the entire plant. 



(2) Spraying, as a preventive, several times 

 during the course of the spring and summer with 

 Bordeaux Mixture (which ice), or potassium sul- 

 jjhide, 1 OK. to 3 gallons of water, giving enough at 

 each spraying to thoroughly wet every part of the 

 plant. 



(3) Occasional propagation by seed instead of 

 exclusively by cuttings, eyes, or grafts. Seedlings 

 are more vigorous and resist tin- disea>e better than 

 plants raised by other means. The plants should 

 not be grown for two consecutive years in the 

 same ground. 



A Selection of Twelve Varieties :- 



Acme, peach. 

 Alba Superb:i. pure wh. 

 Conqut;st, dark erim. 

 Earl of Breaclalbane, liglit 



red. 



Joshua Clark, car. 

 Miss Ashley, ro. 



Mrs. Edwards, salmon. 

 Nelson, light pur. 

 Perfection, wh., flushed 



salmon. 



Queen of Whites, wh. 

 Queen of Yellows, yel. 

 W. Thomson, pur. 



This list of varieties might be almost indefinitely 

 extended. 



Amongst the singles, the Fig-leaved Hollyhocks, 

 of which there are both yellow and white varieties, 

 should not be forgotten. These are the offspring 

 of Althsea ficifolia, which sec. 



HOLMSKIOLDIA. 



Blight- flowered, evergreen stove plants (ord. 

 Verbenaceas). Half-ripened shoots can be rooted 



Photo: Clisaclt ,{ Cun<innj, Ltd. 



THE GOLD MILKMAID HOLLY, ILEX AutrironuM 



Al'llEA MEUIO-PICTA (see p. 422). 



in sandy soil if placed in a close, moist propagating 

 case. Soil, fibrous peat, loam, and sand. 



Principal Species : 



.saiiguinoa, 4', sum., sc. (xyit. Hastinuia coccinea). 



HOMALANTHUS. 



Stove evergreen shrubs (ord. Euphorbiaceas), 

 with unisexual flowers. They answer to the same- 

 cultural treatment as the stove Euphorbias, but are 

 very seldom seen in cultivation. 



Principal Species : 

 lt'sclie!iaultiauus,(J', Aug., )K>pulifoliusof jlbfitini'/rf 



flowers wh. (A////.V. popu- Mui/uzim "J"80). 



lifolius and Oinalanthus polyandrus, Ivs. gni. 

 above, ])tir. beneath. 



Hull i/, f-'ni (mr i.rijHiiiini, 

 1 1 nl in Ojk (*//' tjiirrru*). 

 miic (.< iMstlifiiiti 



