POPULAR GARDEN PLANTS. 



447 



If we take into account their distinctness, their 

 continuous - flowering habit, their exquisite 

 colours, and the ease with which they may be 

 grown, it will at once be seen that they are 

 invaluable in the indoor garden. 



Propagation. — Gloxinias can be raised from 

 seed sown early in spring, and treated as for 

 Begonias. They should be transferred into 

 3-inch pots when the leaves are an inch or so 

 long, and as soon as they have made a fair 

 amount of roots, move them again into 6-inch 

 pots, using loam in the proportion of three 

 parts to one of leaf-mould, with enough sand to 

 keep it open. Cuttings of the leaves are also 

 used for the propagation of special sorts, a 

 mature leaf, with a small portion of the stalk 

 attached, being inserted in sandy soil, in small 

 pots, placed in heat, shaded, but not kept too 

 close or they are liable to damp. Or the leaves 

 may be cut into sections, an inch square or so, 

 cutting clean through a principal vein or rib, 

 and used as cuttings. 



After the plants have flowered, keep the soil 

 moist until the leaves wither, when the tubers 

 should be shaken free of soil and stored through 

 the winter in dry sand in a temperature of 50°. 

 They may be started again at several different 

 times so as to give a succession through the 

 summer. Plant them in 4-inch or 6-inch pots, and 

 place them in a temperature of 60°, in full light, 

 or they will become drawn. When well-rooted, 

 repot them into 8-inch pots, in which they will 

 flower. They dislike a close, moist atmosphere. 

 To prolong their blooming season give manure- 

 water as soon as the flowers begin to appear. 

 There are numerous named varieties, but if 

 seeds of a good strain are obtained from a 

 reliable source, flowers of first-rate quality 

 and sufficient variety may be expected. The 

 colours are reproduced fairly true from seeds. 



Hippeastrum (Amaryllis), fig. 553. — A 

 popular genus, much improved by the hy- 

 bridizer and cultivator in recent years. The 

 oldest species is H. equestre, introduced from the 

 West Indies in 1778. H. Regime flowered at 

 Hoxton in 1728, and was so named because it 

 flowered on the birthday of Queen Caroline, 

 wife of George II. H. vittatum, introduced 

 from Peru in 1769, is interesting because the 

 first hybrid was raised from it and //. Reginw 

 by a watchmaker named Johnson in the year 

 1799, and was named Johnsoni. Dean Herbert 

 enumerates in his Amaryllidaceaz (1837) thirty- 

 one hybrid Hippeastrums, all, except four, raised 

 by himself. Amongst them was one with pale 



orange-coloured flowers (H. Herberti), since lost 

 In 1830 De Graaf of Leyden began to hybridize 

 Hippeastrums, using as breeders H. vittattm, 

 H. Johnsoni, H. fulgidum, and H. crocatvm, and 

 to him and his son English raisers are greatly 

 indebted for many of the crosses employed in 

 the further evolution of the garden race of 



Fig. 553.— Hippeastrum (Amaryllis). 



these plants. The introduction of H. pardinum 

 in 1861, and of H. Leopoldi in 1869 from Peru, 

 gave a new impetus to the work of the breeder, 

 and it is to the influence of these two species 

 that we owe the full, rounded flowers knoAvn 

 as the florists' type. Messrs. Veitch and Sons, 

 of Chelsea, have produced many very fine seed- 

 lings. Other cultivators, both in public and 

 private gardens, namely, Kew, the garden of 

 Captain Holford at Westonbirt, and of the 

 Right Hon. Joseph Chamberlain at Highbury, 

 have also raised seedlings of merit, new ones 

 being added annually. 



Cultivation. — The soil should be composed 

 of three parts fibrous yellow loam, and one 

 each of fibrous peat, leaf-mould, and rotten 

 straw-manure. Double the quantity of leaf- 

 mould may be used without peat, or a double 

 quantity of peat without leaf -mould. Some 

 coarse white sand should also be added. A 

 good time to repot Hippeastrums is the second 

 week in January, whilst the bulbs are at rest. 

 Pots of 4 and 5 inches for the smaller bulbs, 

 6 inches for medium-sized ones, and 7 or even 

 8 inches for the largest should be used. These 

 should be well drained. Shake the bulbs free 



