SAGES 465 



twenty -five years ago. New varieties have since been added 

 yearly. 



The Coleus serves several purposes. It may be used 

 for giving brilliance either to the greenhouse, the table, or 

 the garden bed. Where there is heat, though it be but a Cucumber- 

 frame, its cultivation is easy. The only troublesome part of the business 

 consists in wintering them safely. They are so tender that they must 

 be^ housed during the cold weather in a temperature between 55° and 

 60°. Their propagation is simple; portions of the shoots cut off to 

 induce a dwarf and bushy habit will root very quickly. The compost 

 most suitable for them is made up as follows : turfy loam, four parts ; 

 rotted cow-manure, two parts ; leaf -mould, one part ; sharp sand, one part. 

 Pot firmly in this, and water freely whilst the plants are growing, as the 

 leaves and stems are of delicate texture, and rapidly wilt if allowed to 

 get slightly dry. With the water they require heat, and the roots should 

 be pot-bound. Grow them near the glass and give liquid manure twice 

 a week ; by this means you will get strong healthy plants of splendid 

 colour. As the flower-buds appear pinch them all out. Kaising from seed 

 is only adopted for the purpose of securing new varieties. The plants 

 intended for summer-bedding are obtained from spring-struck cuttings 

 grown in pots in a warm frame till June, when they are planted out. 

 Description of Plate 222. A group of Hybrid Coleus. 



Natural Order Labiat^e. Genus Salvia 



Salvia (the classical Latin name, from salveo, to save or heal). A genus 

 of about four hundred and fifty species of herbs and shrubs, with flowers 

 m whorls, usually forming racemes or spikes. The calyx is a two-Hpped 

 tube or bell. The corolla-tube is also two-Hpped, the upper erect and 

 sometimes notched, the lower three-lobed. There are only two stamens, 

 and these have the anther-cells distant, one being undeveloped. The 

 species are natives of all Temperate and Tropical Regions; two occur 

 in Bntain — Salvia verbenaca, the Wild Clary, and S. pratensis the 

 Meadow Sage. 



Historr. Exotic Salvias have been cultivated in Britain during 



a long period. Some authorities suspect from the rarity o^f 



S^pratensis, and the fact that it is widely cultivated as a garden-flower 



that It IS not really indigenous, but an escape from cultivation. S. sclarea, 



