CONSERVATORY PLANTS.— CLIMBERS— WALL PELARGONIUMS. 251 



them best. Only the leading growths should be neatly trained, the flowers showing to 

 the best advantage on long pendent shoots. In February shorten all hanging growths 

 to within 1 inch of the old wood, and the leaders, if any, should also be shortened 

 somewhat. A little thinning out of the flowering shoots may be desirable during the 

 summer, especially if they shade any plants underneath more than is good for them. 

 Apply abundance of water, and assist old plants with liquid manure during the summer. 



Pelargoniums. — Strong-growing, free-flowering zonales are suitable for covering 

 dry, sunny back walls of conservatories. The semi-double F. V. Easpail is, perhaps, 

 the best for such positions, large plants presenting a very gay appearance and afford 

 an almost unlimited supply of flowers for cutting. The ivy-leaf varieties are suitable 

 for covering walls as well as for pillars and archways. Eyecroft Surprise, Beauty of 

 Castle Hill, Flambeau, Giroflee, Isadore Feral, Jeanne D'Arc, Le Printemps, Percy 

 Surman, Eyecroft Scarlet, and Souvenir de Charles Turner, are all good double or semi- 

 double flowering varieties. Plant in narrow or restricted borders, tubs or large pots, 

 in ordinary soil. The leading growths should be kept trained, and young shoots ought 

 to be frequently laid in with a view to keeping all parts of the wall, pillars, or arch- 

 way, as the case may be, evenly furnished with loose flowering lateral growths. Cut out 

 old growths in February. 



Plumbago. — P. capensis and the pure white form, P. c. alba, are suitable for 

 covering walls and clothing pillars in high conservatories. If too liberally treated at 

 the roots, the plants grow more strongly than is desirable, but they succeed well when 

 planted in a narrow border, in a mixture of loam, peat, leaf-soil and sand. If the 

 leading growths are trained straight upon wall or pillar, they branch freely, and every 

 side shoot flowers. Each autumn, after flowering, all loose growths should be severely 

 shortened, with a view to obviating unsightliness and to having plenty of young shoots 

 the next season. Syringing the plants daily helps to keep them free from thrips, but if 

 this cannot be done, recourse ought to be had to nicotine fumes. Abundance of water 

 and, if the soil has not been renewed for some time, liquid manure also should be 

 applied during the growing and flowering season. 



Ehodochiton Volubile. — Known also as Lophospermum atrosanguineum, this is 

 a distinct, free-growing and profuse blooming conservatory climber. The flowers 

 hanging in pendent clusters (Fig. 149) invariably arrest attention by the calyx being 

 coloured as well as the corolla, though in a paler shade of red. Plants are raised from 

 seeds as advised for Lophospermums, and increased by cuttings under a bell-glass during 



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