6 9 6 



THE BOOK OF GARDENING. 



under a bell-glass. The plants may be either put out in a 

 border or grown in pots in equal parts of peat and loam with 

 a little leaf-mould and sand added. Water copiously and use 

 the 'syringe freely all through the summer months. Sponge the 

 leaves with warm water when necessary to keep them clean and 

 healthy, and prune out all weak shoots. Should Mealy-bug 

 appear attend diligently to its destruction by washing with, 

 sponge and brush, and by smart syringings with tepid water. 

 The sort known in the trade as Stephanotis floribunda Elvaston 

 var., should be obtained, as it is by far the best and freest to 

 blossom. 



Tecoma spectabilis {Tabebuia spectabilis), a native of Santa 



Cruz, is. an elegant plant with conjugate leaves and purple 



flowers; admirably adapted for training up a pillar. It flourishes 



in peat, loam, and sand, and may . be raised from cuttings 



of firm young shoots. Keep rather dry in 



winter, and prune moderately. 



Thunbergia. — Of these pretty flowering 

 creepers, the following is a selection of 

 the best sorts and most varied colours : 

 T. chrysops, with blue and violet flowers, 

 native of Sierra Leone ; T. coccinea, scarlet, 

 from Trinidad; T. fragrans, white, East 

 Indies ; T. grandiflora, large light blue 

 flowers, East- Indies; T. laurifolia (Fig. 

 454) (T. Harrisi), blue and yellow, Madras. 

 The abo.ve species may be propagated by 

 cuttings, growing the plants on in loam, 

 peat, and sand, with shade from bright 

 sunshine. 



T. alata, with a buff-yellow corolla, and 

 a very dark eye nearly approaching black 

 (hence the common name Black-eyed 

 Susan) ; T. alata alba, white limb, with 

 very dark purple throat ; and T. aurantiaca, 

 deep orange, with nearly black centre ; are 

 best treated as tender annuals, sowing' 

 the seed in February or March. They 

 are sometimes hardened off and planted in 

 a warm, sheltered position out of doors. 

 The flowers, however, come much brighter 

 when grown in the stove or greenhouse. Frequent syringings 

 under and over the foliage is necessary while the plants are 

 growing to keep down Red Spider, a pest to which these plants 

 are peculiarly liable if the precaution named is neglected. 



Fig. 454.=— Thunbergia 

 laurifolia. 



