GREENHOUSE PLANTS. 



133 



GROTTOES. 



day. Greenhouse plants should be 

 watered regularly every evening in 

 summer, and twice a-day if the 

 "weather be very hot and dry. In 

 winter, they should always be watered 

 in a morning, when water is given ; 

 but this need not be every day. 

 Some plants, indeed, do not require 

 watering oftener than once a week. 

 The general rule is frequently to ex- 

 amine the pots, and to give water 

 whenever the earth appears to have 

 become dry on the surface. Green- 

 house plants should never be suffered 

 to stand in saucers during winter, as 

 stagnant water is particularly injuri- 

 ous at that season ; and whenever the 

 earth in a pot looks black and sodden 

 with water, the plant should be turned 

 out of the pot, and, after the black 

 earth has been shaken from its roots, 

 it should be repotted in fresh soil, 

 well drained with broken crocks or 

 cinders. In February or March, the 

 plants should be looked over, and 

 repotted where necessary; those that 

 are too tall should be cut in, and 

 cuttings made of their shoots. The 

 young plants raised from cuttings 

 made in autumn should be repotted 

 in larger pots for flowering ; and 

 where the plants do not require fresh 

 potting, but have the surface of their 

 mould become green and mossy, the 

 moss should be taken off, and the 

 ground slightly stirred with a flat 

 stick, taking care, however, not to 

 go so deep as to injure the roots. 

 When trouble is not an object, all 

 greenhouse plants are the better for 

 repotting once every year, either in 

 spring or autumn ; and when the ball 

 is taken out of the pot for this pur- 

 pose, it should be carefully examined, 

 and all the decayed parts of the roots 

 should be cut off. Sometimes, when 

 the ball of earth is turned out, nearly 

 half of it will fall off almost without 

 touching ; and when this is the case, 

 it will generally be found that there 



is a worm in the pot. Worms do a 

 great deal of mischief to greenhouse 

 plants in cutting through the roots, 

 as their instinct teaches them to make 

 their way through the earth straight 

 across the pot and back again ; and 

 they cannot do this without tearing 

 the roots asunder every time they 

 pass. Another point to be attended 

 to in the management of a greenhouse 

 is, keeping the plants as near as pos- 

 sible to the glass ; as, unless this is 

 done, the plants will become what 

 gardeners call " drawn up," and unna- 

 turally tall and slender, from the 

 efforts they make to reach the light. 



Gre v i'llea . — Pro teacece. — Au s - 

 tralian plants, with very curious 

 flowers, which should be grown in a 

 mixture of equal parts of sand, loam, 

 and peat. They are increased by 

 seeds, which ripen freely, or by cut- 

 tings of the old wood, in sand, under 

 a bell-glass. 



Griffi'nia. — .Amaryllidacece. — 

 Handsome bulbous - rooted plants, 

 which require the heat of a stove, and 

 which should be grown in equal parts 

 of white sand, loam, and peat. They 

 should be allowed a season of com- 

 plete rest in winter, and abundantly 

 supplied with water when they begin 

 to grow after repotting in spring. 

 They should have plenty of air ; and 

 they are increased by offsets, which 

 should be taken off when they are 

 repotted. They flower in autumn. 



Grindr v lia, W. ; (Do v nia, R. Br.) 

 — Composites. — Perennial and annual 

 plants, with large showy yellow flowers. 

 The leaves of some of the species are 

 covered with a white glutinous matter, 

 that looks like milk. Nearly all the 

 species are natives of Mexico, and 

 they should all be grown in a mixture 

 of loam and peat. The perennial 

 species all require the protection of a 

 frame during winter. 



Grottoes are covered seats, or small 

 cells or caves, with the sides and roof 



