1883.] 



THE AMERICAN GARDEN. 



69 



AND GREENHOUSE. 



THE HELIOTROPE. 



This charming plant is always admired, 

 and will ever be a favorite in the house as 

 well as the garden ; yet it is seldom grown 

 as well as it should be. It requires frequent 

 re-potting, and a rather strong, loamy soil, 

 mixed with leaf-mold and sand. It bears 

 pruning well, and should be often cut back. 



In house culture the plants are frequently 

 affected with "rust," caused by a very 

 small " mite "-like insect, that burrows into 

 the young growth of the plant, sucking the 

 sap and contracting the skin 

 whilst the leaves are very small 

 and tender, thus producing the 

 discolored and shining appear- 

 ance. It is not alone Heliotropes 

 that are thus affected, but Ver- 

 benas, Fuchsias, Geraniums, 

 and Gloxinias are much troubled 

 with it if subjected to any se- 

 vere cheek in growth or a very 

 dry atmosphere. We find a rem- 

 edy for the moment in two or 

 three immersions, at intervals of 

 as many days, in a bath of to- 

 bacco tea. This is made by 

 pouring boiling water over to- 

 bacco stems, the refuse from 

 cigar-making, or the commonest 

 smoking tobacco ; half an ounce 

 of the latter will make a gallon 

 of tea as brown in appearance 

 as weak coffee. Take the affected 

 plants in your hand, turn upside 

 down, pressing the ball tight to 

 prevent it coming out of pot, 

 and dip the whole plant in your 

 tea for four or five seconds, so 

 as to cover all the surface. "When 

 plants are badly infested, it will be neces- 

 sary to shake out or wash off the soil en- 

 tirely, and re-pot into smaller pots in rather 

 sandy soil, with good drainage. The tops 

 should be cut back, the plants placed in a 

 warm, moist atmosphere, and shaded for a 

 few days. 



When the necessary care and attention is 

 given, Heliotropes are amongthe best window 

 plants ; but they are very sensitive to coal 

 gas, and a low temperature is certain death. 

 They were frequently used years ago, when 

 thermometers were dearer than they are 

 now, as "tell-tales" if the greenhouse fires 

 had been neglected. 



Ordinarily they are grown as bushes, but 

 they may easily be trained as standards on 

 stems three to four feet high, with compact, 

 round heads, similar to Standard Roses. 



The principal points to be observed in the 

 culture of Heliotropes are never to allow 

 them to become completely dry at the roots, 

 and also not to expose them to cold draughts 

 of air, else they will surely become sickly 

 and lose their leaves, which, when once 

 dropped, can never be replaced, except by 

 cutting back the entire plant. Bright sun- 

 light is essential, and an even temperature 

 of fifty to sixty degrees is most agreeable to 

 them. Insects have, of course, to be kept 

 off, and an occasional application of weak 

 soot-water will be found beneficial. 



John Thorpe. 



CHINESE PRIMROSES. them, and my last spring's packet of im- 

 (Primula Sinensis.) ported Chiswick red yielded more poor flowers 

 1 sow my Chinese Primroses in early than any packet of the other kinds. Swan- 

 spring, in a pot of light, sandy soil, and ley pink is a beautiful variety, but Swanley 

 place a pane of glass over it till the seed- purple is not bright enough for my taste, 

 lings appear. As soon as they come up, I Considerable emphasis is given to fern- 

 prick them off into small pots,— four or five leaved varieties; but I must say that the 



in a 2'4 -inch pot, — and when they grow 

 large enough to touch each other, pot them 

 off singly into the same sized pots ; then, as 

 they require it, re-pot them into 3, 4, 5, 

 or 6-inch pots. In the spring-time, of 

 course, I keep them snug and comfortable 

 in the house or greenhouse, and in summer 

 grow them in a cold frame. They need 



rounder-leaved sorts have — with me, at any 

 rate — yielded as good blossoms and as many 

 of them as the fern-leaved forms ; besides, 

 it is often hard to tell whether a Primrose is 

 fern-leaved or not. Take alba magnified, 

 for instance. 



A neighbor has two plants of the blue- 

 flowered Chinese Primrose, Halborn Gem, in 



shading from sunshine and protection from , bloom. The flowers, considered as Prim- 

 wind all through their growing season, to be I rose blossoms alone, are large, well formed, 

 grown in light, rich earth, and be kept as | fringed, and of good substance ; and the 



color — which is a good mauve, 



or purplish-blue — is decidedly 

 distinct from anything ever be- 

 fore attained in the Chinese 

 Primrose. Although by no 

 means so striking or generally 

 attractive as the snowy white 

 and brilliant red-colored Prim- 

 roses are, it is as unique in its 

 class as a lavender-blue colored 

 Eose would be among Nephitos 

 and General Jacqueminots. It 

 comes true from seed. 



Wm. Falconer. 



PRIMULA SINENSIS ALBA MAGNIFICA. 



Reduced size. 



cool as practicable in summer, and mode- 

 rately moist all the time. 



I have grown several of the newer varie- 

 ties, such as alba magnifica, Meteor, Chiswick 

 red, Swanky red, Swanley white and Swanley 

 pink, and coccinea, and have seen several 



1 U LA SINENSIS ALBA MAGNIFICA. 

 Single floiver. Natural size. 



others with my neighbors, and I have no 

 hesitation in pronouncing alba magnifica the 

 finest white Primrose in cultivation, and 

 Meteor the most brilliant red one. Alba 

 magnifica comes very true from seed, but I 

 cannot say as much for the different red 

 Primroses. A few second-rate ones in quality 

 and color have come up among the best of 



BOUGAINVILLEAS. 



Small specimens of these re- 

 markably beautiful greenhouse 

 plants in bloom have lately made 

 their appearance in the flower 

 markets, attracting deserved at- 

 tention ; and as it is generally 

 considered rather difficult to pro- 

 duce flowers on small plants, the 

 following bit of experience may 

 offer some useful suggestions in 

 this regard. 

 Some time ago I had under my charge a 

 good-sized plant of B. spectabiUs in an eight- 

 een-inch pot, trained under the glass, which 

 had refused to bloom for a number of years, 

 and as it had begun to encroach on the adjacent 

 climbers, it was condemned to a- cool gre en- 

 house. On its removal quite a number of 

 roots were found to have made thevr way 

 through the bottom of the pot into the soil 

 around. All these had to be cut off, and the 

 following season the plant bloomed splen- 

 didly, of which pleasing result the root 

 pruning and the lower temperature were 

 evidently the cause. 



B, glabra blooms much easier ; the bracts 

 are a shade lighter than in B. spectdbilis, and 

 the leaves are light green and quite smooth. 

 The plant has a handsome appearand' when 

 the main stem is trained near the glass, allow- 

 ing the young wood to hang down. To succeed 

 in blooming it one should make it a rule to 

 prune on the spur system, thin out super- 

 fluous shoots during summer, restrict the 

 root room, and keep dry during the resting 

 period. Francis Regan. 



HARDENING PLANTS. 



All window-plants should now have plenty 

 of air and light. The windows should be 

 opened on every mild day, but sudden cold 

 draughts must be avoided. As a rule, it is 

 best to ventilate in the forenoon, and close 

 the windows before the sun leaves them. 



