190 FLOWERS OF GARDEN AND GREENHOUSE 
H. PETIOLARIS (stalked). Stem slender, branching, rooting into its 
support, like ivy. Flowers white in broad flattened cymes, 6 to 8 inches 
across; April and May. Requires the protection of a cool greenhouse. 
H. QUERCIFOLIA (oak-leaved). Stems 4 to 6 feet. Leaves large, 
oval, lobed and toothed in a similar manner to those of the Oak. Flowers 
greenish white, or pink, in large flattened corymbs; June to August. 
H. Tuunserei (Thunberg’s). Stems 2 to 3 feet high. Leaves 
smaller. Flowers blue or rosy, in terminal cymes; June; half-hardy. 
Hydrangeas are readily propagated in summer by 
means of cuttings, or by taking off the suckers that grow up 
from the base of the stems. The plants require a sheltered position out 
of doors, and a rich, moist soil. Should the soil be light and poor, con- 
siderable improvement may be effected by mixing in decayed cow-manure. 
H. paniculata forms a shrub 3 feet high and produces in summer 
enormous panicles of white flowers; the old stems require to be cut 
down to the ground every year as soon as the flowers are over. In 
the South of England near the sea they are common garden bushes, 
so well do they thrive. To our mind, such bushes, four or five feet high 
covered with enormous corymbs of flowers, are better worth looking at or 
having than the more fashionable but stiff pot specimens, with a single 
stem upon which grows a big head of flowers, out of proportion to the 
size of its support. For this method of culture in pots, cuttings are 
placed singly in pots and brought on in a frame, which is kept close and 
warm, and there left through the summer. In early autumn they must 
be gradually hardened, and finally placed outside with full exposure to 
the sun. With this treatment the wood will ripen and the leaves fade. 
This is the signal for withholding the water that has hitherto been given 
in abundance ; and as the pots dry they should be removed to a cool 
house and wintered dry. Between the middle of January and the middle 
of February they should be turned out and repotted in five- or six-inch 
pots, using a mixture of equal parts loam and cow-manure. Increase the 
temperature and give water, and growth will at once commence. If the 
cuttings were taken from the tops of robust shoots they will soon show 
the flower-buds under this treatment; and as these begin to increase 2 
size, artificial manure should also be given until the big corymb is well 
expanded. For bush plants in the garden the treatment is much simpler. 
Old plants that have flowered may be cut down, but a number of young 
shoots will break from the base. When partially ripened these may be 
: removed, and they will readily root; they may then be planted straight 
into the border, and if well-watered and manured will soon form large 
flowering clumps. As a rule, where the soil is well-drained they surv!V° 
Culture, 
