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Gardening for Amateurs 



Gladys, dark red ; Golden Shower, apricot- 

 yellow ; Lena, rosy - crimson ; and Mrs. 

 Bilkey, salmon-orange. 



Winter -flowering Begonias. Another race 

 of Begonias, and an extremely popular one 

 at the present day, has been obtained by 

 the inter-crossing of the winter flowering 

 Begonia socotrana with different varieties 

 of the tuberous rooted section. A prominent 

 feature of this race is that they flower during 

 late autumn and early winter, at which time 

 their brightly coloured blossoms are much 

 appreciated. This class of Begonia needs 

 quite different treatment from the tuberous- 

 rooted section. When the flowering season 

 is over, say about Christmas, they should 

 be watered as before for a week or two. 

 Then keep them in a moderately dry state 

 for a time in order to give them a little 

 rest. About April place them in the warm- 

 est part of the greenhouse, give more water 

 than before, and an occasional spraying 

 overhead. This leads to the production of 

 young shoots, principally near the base of 

 the plant. When these shoots are from 2% 

 inches to 3 inches in length they should 

 be taken off as cuttings, inserted singly 

 in small pots of sandy soil, and placed in 

 a closed propagating case, where they will 

 soon root. The cuttings must, of course, 

 be shaded, and care taken to prevent an 

 excess of moisture in the frame, otherwise 

 they will " damp off." When rooted they 

 may be shifted into larger pots, and will 

 flower well in those from 4 to 5 inches in 

 diameter. During summer they .may be 

 grown in a frame, while as their blossoms 

 develop they need the warmest part of 

 the greenhouse. 



The principal varieties of this section are : 

 Altrincham Pink, rich pink ; Beauty of 

 Hale, rosy - salmon ; Clibran's Perfection, 

 rosy - red ; Duchess of Westminster, soft 

 pink ; Elatior, rosy-carmine ; Emily Clib- 

 ran, orange-salmon ; Ideala, carmine-rose ; 

 John Heal, bright carmine ; Julius, rose 

 pink ; Lucy Clibran, rose ; Mrs. Heal, car- 

 mine - scarlet ; Progress, orange - salmon ; 

 Triumph, salmon-red; and Winter Cheer, 

 carmine -red. 



A Begonia that rapidly became a uni- 

 versal favourite, and is now largely grown, 

 is Gloire de Lorraine, a hybrid between 



Begonia socotrana and Begonia Dregei, 

 which has pure white flowers. The flower? 

 are of rose pink colour. Beside Gloire de 

 Lorraine itself there are now some distinct 

 forms of it, notably Glory of Cincinnati, 

 rose-pink ; Masterpiece, of richer colour 

 than the type ; Rochfordii, rosy -red ; and 

 Turnford Hall, pale blush. The flowering 

 season of Gloire de Lorraine is throughout 

 the winter months. It needs treatment 

 similar to that advised for the winter Be- 

 gonias just mentioned. 



Fibrous-rooted Begonias. Many Begonias 

 have fibrous (not tuberous) roots ; some of 

 the best of them are : Ascotiensis, pink, 

 summer and autumn ; carminata, carmine, 

 autumn ; coccinea, scarlet, flowers nearly 

 all the year round ; Comte de Lemminge, 

 reddish salmon, summer ; Corbeille de Feu, 

 scarlet, in bloom nearly all the year ; Dregei, 

 white, autumn and winter ; fuchsioides, 

 coral-red, summer ; Gloire de Chatelaine, 

 pink, nearly all the year ; Gloire de Sceaux, 

 rose-pink, winter ; haageana, blush, autumn 

 and winter ; knowsleyana, blush - white, 

 summer ; Luzerna, a strong grower, pale 

 pink, summer ; President Carnot, carmine- 

 red, various seasons ; semperflorens in 

 variety, pink to crimson, all the year round ; 

 and Weltoniensis, pink, summer and autumn. 

 All these can be increased by cuttings. 



The various Begonias grown for the sake 

 of their foliage (forms of Begonia Rex) need 

 rather more warmth than that of an 

 ordinary greenhouse. 



Boronia. (See Hard-wooded Plants.) 



Bottle-brush Flower. (See Metrosideros 

 floribunda.) 



Bouvardia. A pretty race of free- 

 flowering plants of a shrubby character, 

 of which the flowers, save one of kind, are 

 produced during the autumn months. The 

 exception is Bouvardia Humboldtii corym- 

 biflora, that blooms throughout the summer. 

 After the flowering season is over Bouvardias 

 are apt to lose a good many leaves during 

 the winter, and bear, generally speaking, 

 an unhappy appearance. With the advent 

 of spring and increased moisture and warmth 

 in the greenhouse, young shoots are quickly 

 pushed out, and when these are about 

 2 inches in length they form suitable cut- 

 tings. These droop so quickly when they 



