SEPTEMBER 27 



the suckers pulled off each spring. Otherwise they are 

 ragged, intolerable weeds. If P. sachalinense is planted 

 even under shade or in half-shade, thinned out to three or 

 four shoots, and watered or hosed in dry weather, the 

 yearly growth is absolutely tropical. It turns a rich yel- 

 low colour in early autumn, and forms a splendid feature 

 in places where many plants would not grow at all, such as 

 under Fir-trees or in very poor soil. P. molle I do not 

 think Mr. Hobinson names, and yet it is a beautiful 

 thing ; though some years, if in an exposed place, it flowers 

 so late that it gets injured by frost. It requires dividing 

 every autumn, re-planting in better soil, and thinning 

 every spring ; it is well, if it can be watered, to grow it 

 under some tree or shrub, which protects it in case of 

 early frost. It is worth some trouble, as its flowering 

 branches, almost like feathery white lilac, are very hand- 

 some, coming as they do so late in the year. P. leichtlini 

 is a very dwarf kind I brought from Germany, and will, I 

 think, prove a useful little plant on the rockery for 

 September flowering. The light blue Cape Plumbago 

 capensis is doing very well this hot year, and is covered, 

 out of doors, with its lovely cool china-blue flowers. No 

 other colour in the garden is quite like it. It looks 

 especially well planted against the posts of a verandah. 

 We pot up the old plants in October, cut them back, tie 

 them up when they take very little room and keep them 

 rather dry all the winter in a cold shed just safe from the 

 frost. We bring them on a little in the spring, and plant 

 them out the end of May against a warm wall, though 

 I am not at all sure that this last is necessary. All 

 they want is sunshine and copious waterings. They are 

 commonly treated in this way in German gardens. 

 Mr. Kobinson says they can be increased by division of 

 the roots, but we also find cuttings strike easily in 

 spring ; and three or four young plants in a pot, as they 



