OPERATIONS FOR MARCH. 
47 
blossoms are very numerous on the tufts, and durable ; the odour they emit can 
scarcely be described, it perhaps may best be compared to the compound blended 
fragrance of a perfumery shop, and though not absent during the day time, is only 
diffused after sun-set ; as soon as the shades of the evening approach, the house 
becomes replete with the gaseous aroma. The base of the tube is melliferous, and 
the honey yielded is attractive of wasps and flies ; the former absolutely revel in 
its sweets, and are to be seen plunged and immersed, as it were, in the swollen 
cavity of the tube. 
This climber cannot be called a pretty plant, but its leaves are handsome, its 
stem graceful, and its flowers exceedingly curious ; no good collection ought to be 
without it. 
The culture of the Pergularia is simple : it strikes freely during summer, in 
a pot with a large layer of sand, over rich soil, or in a phial of glass, if kept gently 
warm. The rooted plants grow well in the decayed turf of sandy loam, broken up 
and mixed with black reduced leaf mould. 
But the plant should have plenty of room, because its roots ramify widely, and 
require much water ; hence it always succeeds best when a large pot (a twelve), 
with four or six holes opened around its sides, is plunged in the leaf-bed of the 
stove; its shoots then twine freely and widely, and the blossoms are produced 
early in summer, and remain a source of fragrance for months. It may be cut back 
very freely after the flowering season, or rather just before the season of spring 
growth, and be thus kept within bounds and in full verdure. 
OPERATIONS FOR MARCH. 
AcHANiA MOLLIS (oR Malvaciscus MOLLIS,) — This is a pretty species, pro- 
ducing its scarlet flowers at almost all seasons. Cuttings of it may now be put in 
sand, which will readily strike root if plunged in a little heat. In taking off the 
cuttings it is best to go as near the old ripened wood as possible, the new shoots 
being liable to rot in the middle. Do not take care of any of the leaves above the 
part immersed in the sand. 
Aloes may now have a little water, say once in eight or ten days, but not 
oftener. See Vol. I., page 41. 
Alstr^merias. — The green-house kinds may now safely be potted. They 
thrive best in a mixture of full one third sand, rather more than a third of good 
loam from the pasture, and a little peat. See Vol. I., page 199. 
Andromeda, Kalmias, &c. — Propagate those that strike readiest from cut- 
tings ; others that increase best by layers should also be attended to during this 
month. 
