172 MORE POT-POURRI 



In the greenhouse have now been put the first pots 

 of the lovely double Prunus, with its delicate whiteness 

 of driven snow; no plant forces better. I said this, or 

 something like it, before. Never mind ; with some 

 plants it is worth while to repeat myself. In the coun- 

 try I do not now care to grow India-rubber plants or 

 Aspidistras, except to give away. They only remind me 

 of towns, and take a good deal of room. 



I have in the greenhouse several pots of a white 

 Oxalis — I do not know its distinguishing name — with a 

 long growth of its lovely fresh green leaves, which can 

 be picked and mixed with delicate greenhouse flowers, as 

 they last well in water. It has a white flower in spring, 

 and the whole plant is very like an improved version of 

 our Wood Sorrel, Oxalis acetosella. The more I look at 

 my beautiful old ' Jacquin' Oxalis book, the more I feel 

 how much interesting greenhouse cultivation is to be 

 had out of growing several of the best Oxalises. Almost 

 all are natives of the Cape of Good Hope, which means 

 easy greenhouse cultivation, and winter or early spring 

 flowering. I shall certainly try to increase my stock, 

 though one very seldom sees any of them catalogued. 



Tradescantias, that I used to grow in pots for Lon- 

 don, I flnd equally useful here. The common green one 

 is all but hardy, and flourishes outside by the green- 

 house wall. This, picked and put into a flat glass, grows 

 without roots in the water in the most graceful manner 

 for weeks together. A few bits of flower stuck in — such 

 as, for instance, the Sparmatia africana, which continues 

 to flower better if constantly picked down to where the 

 fresh buds are forming — and you have a lovely winter 

 flower arrangement at once: grace of form in the grow- 

 ing leaves, contrast in the starry white flowers, colour in 

 the brilliant yellow shot with red stamens. 'Munstead' 

 flower-glasses, as designed by Miss Jekyll (very cheap, 



