22 Culture of the Thunbergia. 



more than usually successful in the growth of that plant. I had 

 a plant this season 7 ft. in height, and upwards of 8 ft. in 

 circumference, which was one entire mass of bloom from May 

 till the end of September. Under the most favourable circum- 

 stances as to care and skilful cultivation, any plant when grown 

 in a pot maintains a habit entirely foreign to what it has when 

 grown in the open ground, where its roots can range at pleasure, 

 with its foliage exposed to the open air and the direct rays of 

 the sun. Taking this into due consideration, it is truly surpris- 

 ing to see the degree of perfection so many of our stove and 

 greenhouse plants have arrived at within the last few years. 

 Nor has the Thunbergia been behind its neighbours in point of 

 improvement, both in respect to culture and the production of 

 varieties, and, when well grown, I consider it to be one of the 

 most showy and, beautiful of all our stove plants, with its rich 

 deep foliage, and white or orange flowers, which form an excel- 

 lent contrast with them. 



I treat my plants in the following manner : — As all the sorts 

 ripen their seeds well, I raise my plants from seeds every year. 

 They are sown in 48-sized pots, in a rich light soil, plunging 



them to the rim in a cucumber frame in the beginning of Fe- 

 es o 



bruary ; and, as soon as they are about 4 in. high, they are potted 

 off singly into 48-sized pots, in the following compost : light 

 turfy loam, black heath soil, good rotten hotbed dung, equal 

 parts, adding a little leaf mould. As soon as the roots fill the 

 pot, the plant is shifted into a 16-sized pot, and is then topped 

 to cause it to throw out lateral branches, repotting it till it has 

 acquired nine shoots; and, when requisite, it is repotted into a 

 4-sized pot, and removed into a stove or vinery at work, where a 

 trellis is made for it in the following manner : — Eight small green 

 rods are placed round the inside of the pot, 6 ft. long, and one 

 in the centre 7 ft. long, a wire hoop being fastened round the top 

 of the eight outside rods; and from the top of each of these rods a 

 small piece of twine or -wire is carried to the top of the centre 

 rod, thereby forming a dome. A shoot is fastened to each of 

 these rods, and frequently stopped, to furnish the trellis com- 

 pletely; and, to keep the plant vigorous, all flower buds are 

 nipped off as soon as they appear, until the trellis is nearly 

 covered; watering frequently with manure water. Of course the 

 pot must be thoroughly drained, which is an important feature 

 in the cultivation of all plants in pots. 



With this treatment I have grown different varieties of the 

 Thunbergia, to the admiration of all who saw them ; the leaves 

 measuring in general 4 in. in length and 3 in. in breadth, and 

 the flowers 1^ in. in diameter. 



Norton. Oct. 14. 1841. 



