ORNAMENTAL WINTER AND SPRING FLOWERING PLANTS. 97 



a frame from which frost can be excluded. The Neapolitan 

 and the double Blue Tree Violet are the best varieties. The 

 noble flowers of the many coloured varieties of the Amaryllis 

 entitle them to a place in every collection of winter flowering- 

 plants. Their cultivation is very simple ; they merely require 

 good soil, a moist growing atmosphere, and a moderate bottom 

 heat — a season of growth and afterwards a season of rest. 

 Veltheimia requires the same treatment. 



I have not included many Orchids in my list, but I cannot 

 omit to recommend Dendrobium nobile. Its cultivation is easy ; 

 it requires liberal pot-room, and while it is making its grow r th, a 

 very hot moist atmosphere ; after that is completed, it requires a 

 hot and dry temperature to induce the formation of flower-buds, 

 and a dry and moderately cool situation to expand them in. 



List 3. 



Plants, suitable for Conservatory and Drawing-room decoration, which 

 naturally flower later than these, but which will endure harder forcing 

 than those mentioned in List No. 2. 



Azalea indica 1,2 



Bletia Tankervillia . . . . 1, 2 

 Anna Boleyn Pink . . . .1,2 



Paconia moutan 1,2 



Rhododendron hybrid . . .1,2 

 Tulips, Hyacinths, &c. . . 1, 2 

 Wistaria sinensis (standards in 



pots) 1, 2 



Azalea belgica 2 



Gardenia radicans .... 2 

 florida plena ... 2 



Gardenia Fortunii, &c. ... 2 



Aniygdalus persica plena . . 2 



Cerasus japonica multiplex . . 2 



Convallaria majalis .... 2 



Common Pinks 2 



Hydrangea japonica and hortensis 2 

 Rhododendron ponticum and Ca- 



tawbiense 2 



Syringa chinensis and persica . 2 



Viburnum Opulus (Guelder Rose) 2 



As soon as the plants of Bletia Tankervillia (Phaius grandi- 

 folius) have done flowering, they must be repotted in a compost, 

 consisting of strong turfy loam, rough peat, sand, and broken 

 crocks ; first removing as much of the old soil as can be got 

 away without injuring the roots. After potting, the plants 

 should be plunged in a moderate bottom heat, with a moist grow- 

 ing atmosphere, which, as the season advances, must be gradually- 

 raised till their growth is completed ; after that the temperature 

 should be gradually reduced to that of a warm greenhouse ; from 

 this the plants may be removed to the forcing-house as they are 

 required. Gardenias require the ordinary treatment of hard- 

 wooded stove plants. The soil in which we find them grow best, 

 is rough, sandy peat and reduced cow-dung, with a small pro- 

 portion (say one-fifth) of loam. Perhaps the most useful of all 

 the plants enumerated are the numerous varieties of Azalea 

 indica and Hybrid Rhododendrons. To enter into a detailed 



