2 4 8 



FLORA AND SYLVA. 



THE CLIMBING LILIES 



(Gloriosd)^ 

 How best to treat a plant is of far greater 

 importance to most people than the his- 

 tory of its introduction or the descrip- 

 tions of kinds which they do not possess ; 

 I therefore begin this note upon the Glo- 

 riosas with a few remarks as to their pe- 

 culiarities and culture. In view of the 

 fact that large quantities of several spe- 

 cies have been imported from time to 

 time for many years past,and thatmever- 

 theless, Gloriosas are far from common 

 in gardens, it is evident that instead of 

 increasing under cultivation like most 

 other plants, a very large number of 

 them die. The reason for this loss also 

 explains that of many other rare plants, 

 more particularly among the bulbous 

 and tuberous-rooted greenhouse plants 

 requiring distinct seasons of growth and 

 rest. The neglect to observe a cool rest- 

 ing period after the stems and leaves of 

 the completed growths have — by turn- 

 ing yellow — indicated that their dry 

 resting season has arrived is a fatal error 

 in the treatment of this class of plant. 

 The secret of success in the cultivation 

 of Gloriosas is to keep them dry in a 

 temperate house (on a raised shelf near 

 the glass for preference) from the time 

 they die down until growth begins again 

 in late winter or spring. During this 

 resting season it is best to leave them in 

 their pots, for the long fleshy tubers 

 grow and ripen after the leaves have de- 

 cayed. In spring they should be turned 

 out and re-potted, singly, or several to- 

 gether,into rather small pots and putin a 

 warm greenhouse to grow. When active 



growth has commenced they should be 

 shifted into the large pots in which they 

 are to flower, the one shift being suffi- 

 cient. Gloriosas grow well in good sandy 

 fibrous soil, either peat or loam, or a 

 mixture of both, and their pots should 

 be well crocked. After its final potting 

 the plant should be placed where it is 

 to flower, and some support by sticks 

 or strings given to its slender growth. 

 All the species grow well in a warm 

 greenhouse, though the forms of Glo- 

 riosa virescens from the temperate parts 

 of Africa will succeed in an ordinary 

 greenhouse or conservatory. But Glo- 

 riosa superba and most of the other spe- 

 cies thrive best in a stove-house. They 

 are very easy plants to grow, and their 

 loss is almost always due to keeping them 

 watered and standing among other 

 plants after they have died down and 

 should be resting. Gloriosas seed freely, 

 the seed being left to get well ripened 

 upon the plants and then sown at once. 

 It may be added that these, like most 

 other garden plants of rapid growth, are 

 benefited by occasional watering with 

 very weak liquid manure made by soak- 

 ing dried cowdung in water with a little 

 soot. Rain water, with a little of this 

 manure added, is good and safe for any 

 garden plant during active growth, but 

 it should be discontinued as soon as the 

 flowering season has passed. 



There are many pretty plants of in- 

 terest to specialists but of little use for 

 general cultivation; this cannot be said 

 of the Gloriosas, for all are showy, pro- 

 duce a profusion of flowers, and maybe 

 grown against a back wall or under the 



* With coloured plate of Gloriosa Rothschildiana, from a drawing by H. G. Moon at Holmewood, Cheshunt. 



