Gardening for Amateurs 



Herbaceous Calceolarias in an amateur's greenhouse. 



are separated from the parent plant that 

 the pots should first be prepared for their 

 reception. Pots 4 inches in diameter are 

 very suitable ; they must be quite clean, 

 and a layer of broken crocks put in the 

 bottom to one-third of the depth. Equal 

 parts of loam, peat and sand, passed 

 through a sieve with a quarter of an inch 

 mesh, form a suitable compost for the 

 cuttings. These must be dibbled in firmly, 

 watered through a fine rose, and placed in 

 a closed propagating case ; if there is slight 

 bottom heat so much the better. They will 

 root in about a fortnight, and when suffi- 

 ciently advanced should be potted in small 

 pots, a mixture of two parts loam to one of 

 leaf-mould and a liberal sprinkling of silver 

 sand being suitable. As soon as the young 

 plants take hold of the new soil the tops 

 should be pinched out in order to ensure a 

 bushy habit of growth. Some of them may 

 need stopping a second time. After being 

 shifted into their flowering pots, 4 or 5 

 inches in diameter, the Bouvardias may be 

 grown in a frame until the buds develop, 

 when they should be taken into the green- 

 house. For a couple of months or so they 



will form a 

 very attrac- 

 tive feature 

 there. Good 

 varieties are 

 Alfred Neu- 

 ner, double, 

 white; Brides- 

 maid, double, 

 pink ; candi- 

 dissima, white; 

 Dazzler, scar- 

 let ; Hogarth 

 flore pleno, 

 double, scar- 

 let ; Hum- 

 boldtii corym- 

 biflora, white, 

 very sweet 

 scented ; jas- 

 miniflora alba 

 odorata.blush; 

 King of the 

 Scarlets, scar- 

 let and white ; 

 Mrs. Robert 



Green, pink ; President Cleveland, vivid 

 scarlet ; President Garfield, double, pink ; 

 Pride of Brooklyn, pure white ; Priory 

 Beauty, pale rose ; and The Bride, blush. 



Browallia. A free-flowering race of half 

 shrubby plants, having chiefly blue or bluish 

 flowers. The best known, B. speciosa major, 

 has flowers a little over 1 inch in diameter, 

 and of a bright violet tint, while in B. viscosa 

 they are smaller and of rich blue with white 

 centre. Both are easily increased by cuttings 

 of the young shoots taken in spring, and both 

 grow freely with ordinary potting compost 

 and greenhouse treatment. They will flower 

 more or less continuously throughout the 

 year, though in order to have them at their 

 best they need an occasional stimulant. 

 Some authorities refer to B. viscosa as an 

 annual, but it is really a true perennial, and, 

 like the other, can be increased by cuttings. 

 An annual, B. elata, may be raised from seed 

 sown in warmth in spring ; about five plants 

 are grown in a pot 5 inches in diameter; 

 they form a pleasing summer feature in 

 the greenhouse. The flowers of this are 

 also blue. 



Brugmansia. (See Datura.) 



