Gardening for Amateurs 



759 



crowned with long, gracefully recurving 

 leaves. Although there are at least a hun- 

 dred sorts, very few are in cultivation. 

 Perhaps the best known is Aloe variegata, 

 with mottled leaves, which is sometimes met 

 with in cottage windows. The cultural re- 

 quirements are the same as for Agave. 



Gereus. The Rats'-tail Cactus 'of cot- 

 tage windows is Cereus flagelliformis, a 

 curious and attractive plant for growing 

 in a basket or suspended flower-pot. The 

 pretty pink flowers are borne freely during 

 the summer months. Cereus grandiflorus and 

 C. Macdonaldiae are two of the best known 

 night-flowering Cacti. Cereus speciosissimus, 

 having rich scarlet flowers, is one of the 

 showiest of all. Apart from its own intrin- 

 sic merit, it is the parent of many beautiful 

 garden varieties ; all are readily increased 

 by pieces of the shoots put into pots of 

 sandy soil and placed on a shelf in the green- 

 house. Repotting is not generally necessary 

 more than once in three or four years ; but 

 when essential it should be done in spring, 

 using a compost consisting chiefly of loam, 

 lightened by a little broken brick rubble, 

 leaf-mould, and sand. 



Grassula. An extensive class of plants, 

 chiefly of low growth ; nearly all are natives 

 of South Africa. By far the best known is 

 Crassula coccinea, which is sometimes met 

 with under the name of Kalosanthes. It 

 forms a bushy plant from 18 inches to 2 feet 

 in height, and bears rich scarlet tubular- 

 shaped flowers in terminal heads or clusters 

 during the summer months. Cuttings strike 

 easily in spring or summer if put in pots 

 of sandy soil and placed on a shelf in the 

 greenhouse. This Crassula needs more liberal 

 treatment than many succulents ; it succeeds 

 in loam (turfy soil) with which some leaf- 

 mould, well decayed manure, and sand are 

 mixed. Potting should be done early in the 

 year, in February or early March. When 

 the pots are full of roots weak liquid manure 

 occasionally is beneficial. Another somewhat 

 similar sort, except for the colour of its 

 flowers, is the white-flowered Crassula jas- 

 minea. C. lactea produces its white starry 

 blossoms during the winter months. 



Echeveria. Echeveria is now classed by 

 botanical authorities as Cotyledon, but the 

 name Echeveria is still kept up in gardens. 



Many of these plants are extensively used 

 for bedding out during the summer months. 

 Among the best are agavoides, fulgens, 

 glauca, metallica, Pachyphytum, Peacockii, 

 retusa, and secunda glauca. Most of the 

 dwarf kinds are readily increased by offsets, 

 while such as agavoides and metallica may 



The Partridge-breasted Aloe (Aloe variegata). 



be propagated from single leaves inserted 

 as cuttings and treated as recommended 

 for Cereus. As a winter- flowering plant 

 E. fulgens has much to recommend it, the 

 spikes, red and yellow, of tubular - shaped 

 blossoms, are quite showy. All Echeverias 

 will thrive in ordinary potting compost. 



Echinocactus. These generally are of 

 curious appearance, being globular or ovoid 



