OPERATIONS FOR JULY. 
143 
Thunbe'rgia chry^sops. Perhaps there has not been a finer plant introduced for some years 
than the present handsome stove species. It far surpasses all other members of the genus yet 
known in England. The flowers are produced singly from the axils of the leaves, and have a 
long tube, very narrow at the base, but swelling towards the throat, and expanding into a large 
spreading limb. The interior of the tube is clear yellow, and as the throat is about half an inch 
wide it is readily seen. This is surrounded with a ring of a bluish colour, like the hue of the 
flower of T. Hawtayneana^ which is again bordered by a rich violet colour, occupying the chief 
portion of the spreading segments. Before the flowers expand, the buds are rather pointed, and 
almost black, glistening brightly as though washed with gum. The leaves are heart-shaped, on 
long foot-stalks, and are irregular at the margins, like those of T. alata. A plant from the Kew 
Gardens was exhibited in Regent-street, in the beginning of June. It appears likely to be an 
abundant flowering species, and will form a delightful companion to the white, buff, and orange 
flowers of T. leucanthe, T. alata, and T. aurantiaca. 
OPERATIONS FOR JULY. 
In this month, as, indeed, in all others, much of the work to be performed must be regulated 
by the state of the weather. Everything in the outdoor department must be so provided for, that 
neither extreme wetness nor drought may entirely frustrate the cultivator's intentions, or wholly 
disappoint his hopes. If the tender plants, transferred from the greenhouses and frames to the 
parterre, in May and the early part of the last month, have been planted with an eye to this 
variable and uncertain condition, so as to secure a medium state that will readily admit of 
improvement should either extreme prevail, little will be required now. 
To correct aridity and intense sunshine, or a continuance of cold and cloudy days with a super- 
abundant fall of rain, it may, however, be necessary to employ some ameliorating means. To 
vary the former, shades may be interposed in stoves and greenhouses, where the plants are 
tender, and water applied where more moisture is needful ; to avoid the latter, let every facility 
be employed to promote the quick passage of water from the immediate vicinity of the roots, and 
the branches should be kept from becoming too crowded. 
Where shade is deemed requisite to prevent the injury likely to result from a direct exposure 
to the rays of the sun, it must be borne in mind that light is yet necessary to the maintenance of 
vigorous health and beauty. Plants will require a diff'used light to grow and increase with 
undiminished strength, even where its direct influence is insupportable. Shade, therefore, must 
never be interpreted to mean darkness, and it must only be applied during that part of the day 
when the rays of the sun are most intense and injurious. In the morning, when the plant is 
refreshed by the partial suspension of its digestive powers, and its parts full of moisture, absorbed 
during the night, a warm sun will be less injurious than in the after part of the day, if the houses 
are properly ventilated. But towards the evening of a clear day, unless the quantity of moisture 
which a plant is able to obtain from the soil is equivalent to the expenditure, a warm sun will 
cause it to flag, or droop its foliage, and the extremities of the growing parts. Therefore the 
condition of the plant, and the peculiarities of the weather, will each form a subject equally 
important, and necessary to be regarded conjointly in the application of shade. Houses built 
with a span roof are superior on account of the advantages which they possess for the application 
of shade. The eastern side may be covered in the morning, and the western in the afternoon, 
thus admitting sufficient light through the one side, and preventing the hurtful effects of immediate 
sunshine, by having a slight screen on the other. 
In every place where plants are grown in pots, some degree of shelter will be indispensable, 
whether they are placed in the greenhouse or the reserve garden. The destructive effects of the 
du-ect rays of the sun falling on plants, is as much, or, perhaps, more owing to the pot or tub in 
which the plant is grown becoming too much heated ; and, consequently, the soil immediately 
surrounding the major part of the most active roots is deprived of a sufficiency of moisture. 
Plants grown in the border of a conservatory, or plunged amongst ashes in their pots, or their 
