CONSER VA TORY PLANTS— CLIMBERS. 



240 



rankly, and flower sparsely. Ordinary loamy soil is suitable. Syringe frequently to 

 prevent red spider attacks ; nicotine vapour will destroy aphides. Prune lightly after 

 flowering. 



Lophospermum. — When conservatories are first furnished^ it is advisable to grow a 

 few quick-growing, easily raised 

 plants to fill up blank spaces till 

 the choicer, slower - growing 

 climbers begin to assert them- 

 selves. Among the former ought 

 to be included Lophospermum 

 (Maurandia) scandens. If seed 

 is sown in heat in March, this 

 will germinate quickly in a tem- 

 perature of 60° to 70°. Place the 

 seedlings singly in small pots, and 

 from these shift them into larger 

 sizes before they become root- 

 bound. They may be trained up 

 strings, wires, or trellises, and will 

 flower the same season in 8 -inch or 

 larger pots, or may be planted out 

 in ordinary rich soil : if the roots 

 are confined to pots, abundance of 

 water and liquid manure will be 

 needed to free, healthy growth. 



Mandevilla. — The only spe- 

 cies cultivated, M. suaveolens, is 

 strong growing and suitable for 

 high-roofed conservatories, where 

 it will produce its handsome sweet- 

 scented white flowers from June 

 to September. It ought to be planted in equal parts of loam and peat, adding sand and 

 charcoal. During the growing season water freely, and syringe daily if possible. 

 Shorten back all hanging or loose growths in the autumn to near the old wood, 

 vol. in. K K 



Fig. 147. LON'ICEEA SElirERVIKENS. 



