414 



THE GARDENER'S ASSISTANT. 



heavy watering, whilst growing they should 

 not be allowed to get dry. To rest them after 

 flowering they should be placed in an airy 

 house and kept dry for a few weeks, when they 

 may be cut down, started in a moist warm 

 house, and when new shoots are well advanced 

 the plants should be shaken out and repotted. 

 If wanted for a border or bed out-of-doors these 

 old plants will serve admirably, and for this 

 purpose they will not require to be repotted, 

 hardening them off in the usual way to plant 

 them out in June. 



Bouvardias are sometimes attacked by aphis 

 and thrips, v hich can be kept down by frequent 

 tobacco fumigation. They are also subject to 

 what is known as the Begonia mite, a terrible 

 pest, for the eradication of which see chapter 

 on Insect and other Plant Enemies, p. 67. 



The following are the best sorts : — 



Single. 



Candidissima. White. 

 Dazzler. Scarlet. 

 Hogarth. Scarlet. 

 Humboldtii corymbiflora. White. 



Fig. 521.— Caladiums. 



Intermedia. Pink. 

 Jasminijlora (fig. 520). White. 

 Laura. Rose. 

 Mrs. Green. Salmon. 

 President Cleveland. Crimson. 

 Host a mvltiflora. Rosy -pink. 

 Rosea oeulata. Delicate-pink. 

 Scarlet Prince. Bright-scarlet. 

 The Bride. Blush-white. 

 Vreelandii. White. 

 Vulcan. Scarlet. 



Double. 



Alfn-d Newner. White. 

 Flavesccns. Yellow. 

 Hogarth, it. pi. Scarlet-carmine. 

 President Gar/hid. Pink. 

 Schm idti. Flesh-pink. 



Caladium. — These beautiful stove plants 

 are indigenous to tropical America, and besides 

 the introduced species there are now numer- 

 ous very fine hybrids and seedlings that have 

 been bred chiefly from C. picium and C. Wigldii. 

 The principal varieties are of French origin; 

 Messrs. F. Sander & Co., J. Veitch & Sons, 

 J. Laing, and the late F. Bause have also 

 raised some excellent seedlings. Their cor- 



date or sagittate leaves are profusely marbled, 

 blotched, or veined with red, pink, and white > 

 in many cases the deeper or more lively colours 

 largely preponderating over the green portion, 

 imparting to them great variety. Form and 

 colour alike give them a most distinct character, 

 and they are eminently fitted for associating, 

 not only with ferns and other plants of elegant 

 habit, but also with subjects of more massive 

 growth and sombre hues. They are easily 

 grown, one of the principal things to be observed 

 in their cultivation being not to rest the tubers 

 during the winter in too low a temperature. 

 They are swamp-loving plants in a wild state, 

 and although they may be kept through the 

 winter in a state of absolute dryness, they are 

 safest when left in the soil in which they grew 

 and placed under the stage in a moist warm 

 house. 



They are increased by means of the young 

 growths that are thrown up plentifully from 

 the crown of the tubers in February, when they 

 require to be shaken out of the old soil and 

 potted in a light soil into small pots, plunging 

 them in a tan or fibre bed kept at a temperature 



