696 



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 

 spong-e and brush, and by smart syringings with tepid water. 

 The sort known in the trade as Stephanotis flo7'ibiuida Elvaston 

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

 blossom. 



Tecoma spectabilis [Tabebiiia specfabilis), 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 

 creepers, the 



-Of these pretty flowering 

 owing is a selection of 

 the best sorts and most varied colours : 

 T. chrysops^ with blue and violet flowers, 

 native of Sierra Leone ; T. cocci?iea, scarlet, 

 from Trinidad; T. fragrans, ' whxie., East 

 Indies ; T. g?'andifiora^ large light blue 

 flowers, East Indies ; T. lanrifolia (Fig. 

 454) {T. Harp'isi), blue and yellow, ]\Iadras. 

 The above 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-eved 

 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 

 stove or greenhouse. Frequent syringings 

 foliage is necessary while the plants are 

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

 are peculiarly liable if the precaution named is neglected. 



Fig. 454. — Thunbergia 

 laurifolia. 



when 

 under 



grown m 

 and over 



the 

 the 



growing 



