846 



Gardening for Amateurs 



Bertolonia. These are popularly known 

 as Jewel Plants, from the exquisitely pretty 

 and daintily marked leaves. They are 

 dwarf-growing plants, the comparatively 



Croton Countess, a hothouse plant with 

 showy leaves. 



large leaves rising but little above the sur- 

 face of the soil. Some of the leaves are 

 spotted, splashed, and mottled with rosy 

 crimson, and others with soft pink and silvery 

 white. Chief among them are : Madame 

 A. Bleu, Madame de la Devansaye, Madame 

 E. Pynaert, Madame Leon Say, Madame 

 Van Houtte, Rosea guttata, Souvenir de 

 Gand, and superbissima. Bertolonias need 

 a compost made up of fibrous peat, sphag- 

 num moss, and sand. A good deal of atmo- 

 spheric moisture is essential to their well- 

 being. On this account they succeed best 

 in a closed case such as that used for striking 

 cuttings in. Repotting must be carried out 

 in spring. 



Bougainvillea. (See " Climbing Plants 

 for the Hothouse.") 



Galadium. An extensive class of hand- 

 some foliage plants, whose leaves, suggesting 

 in shape those of the Arum Lily, are coloured 

 in a varied and striking fashion. They form 

 a tuber-like root, which, when totally dor- 

 mant during the winter, must be kept quite 



dry. Then about the end of February or 

 early in March they are shaken clear of the 

 old soil, and repotted in a mixture of loam, 

 leaf-mould and sand. If moistened fre- 

 quently, but not kept too wet, they will soon 

 start into growth, and in a warm and moist 

 greenhouse make rapid progress. During 

 the growing season they need as much light 

 as possible, but little direct sunshine. The 

 leaves are as a rule at their best towards 

 the end of May and in June. When in full 

 growth they need the warmest part of the 

 hothouse, and in winter, when dormant, 

 they should not be exposed to a night tem- 

 perature below 55. In a dormant state 

 they are sometimes wintered in the pots in 

 which they have grown, but where space at 

 that season is a consideration they may be 

 shaken clear of the old soil and laid in pans 

 or boxes of fine sandy soil. It must not 

 be allowed to get excessively dry, other- 

 wise the tubers are liable to be attacked by 

 a kind of dry rot. A selection of the best 

 includes : Assungay, large transparent 

 leaves suffused with deep pink ; Baron 

 Adolphe de Rothschild, crimson, spotted 

 pink ; Candidum, white and green ; Edith 

 Luther, bronzy-pink, blotched silver ; Gas- 

 pard Grayer, crimson centre, green margin ; 

 Golden King, vellow ; Golden Queen, soft 

 yellow ; Guil Mar, cream and salmon ; John 

 Luther, rose carmine ; Lady Stafford Xorth- 

 cote, rich blood-red ; L'Insolite, different 

 shades of green and red ; Madame John 

 Box, bright pink, deeper veins ; Madame 

 Imbert Koechlin, greenish-^yellow, red spots ; 

 May Archer, creamy-white, rose centre ; 

 Mrs. Harry Veitch, dark red, self coloured ; 

 Noakesii, brownish -carmine ; R. Hoffmann, 

 pink centre, green margin ; Rio de Janeiro, 

 transparent pink ; Rose Laing, cream-white, 

 bluish suffusion ; Silver Cloud, silvery-white, 

 small green spots ; and Thomas Tomlinson, 

 deep red, white margin. Two varieties re- 

 markable for their dwarf habit are : argy- 

 rites, silvery-white and green ; and Souvenir 

 de Para, red, edged with green. 



Gissus. (See " Climbing Plants for the 

 Hothouse.") 



Glerodendron. One of the showiest 

 kinds is C. fallax, of upright growth with 

 large heart-shaped leaves, and large ter- 

 minal panicles of deep scarlet flowers. It is 



