GREENHOUSE CLIMBING PLANTS. 
251 
without their use. It is increased by cuttings ; but, to render failure otherwise 
than nearly certain, these must be taken from some of the strongest lateral shoots, 
cut off immediately below a joint, and inserted in a compost of three-fourths white 
sand and the remainder heath-soil, with the base of the cutting only just sufficiently 
below the surface of the soil to maintain firmly its erectness, and all the lower part 
of the pot in which the cuttings are placed (unless it be a very shallow one, which 
is decidedly best) filled, to within an inch and a half of its rim, with drainage 
materials. Each cutting should be short, taken from the strongest shoots at a 
period when they are half matured, and very carefully preserved from all moisture 
that is not essential to its progress. 
We have been thus minute in our directions concerning T. tricolorum, because 
it is one of the most beautiful, and, without doubt, the most delicate of this class 
of plants. The rules which we have given are likewise applicable to T. penta- 
fhyllum and pere^rinum, though these are much stronger, and require far less 
care. T. pentaphyllum is scarcely suited for growing on small trellises, but where 
there is a high frame or arch, which will afford room enough for its full develop- 
ment, it will form an exceedingly interesting feature. For T.peregrinum^ a trellis of 
four or five feet high is requisite, and when its shoots have been trained to the 
summit, they may be allowed to hang down naturally, for by this appearance of 
graceful negligence, their effect will be rendered doubly enchanting. 
Perhaps it may be said that T. tuberosum is not strictly a greenhouse species, 
and therefore should not be mentioned among plants of that tribe. But those wha 
are thoroughly acquainted with it will at once concede that it is as tender as any of 
its congeners, and that the reason of its having been more frequently exposed is its 
much greater abundance and cheapness. They who have never seen it flower 
except in a greenhouse, know comparatively nothing of its beauty ; but it unfor- 
tunately blossoms so late in the open ground, as to render its destruction almost 
inevitable, when at its highest perfection. To avert this, it must be started earlier; 
and it occurs to us that the treatment generally bestowed on some kinds of 
Alstroemeria is exactly such as would suit this plant. The tubers may be plunged 
in light soil or saw-dust in the month of November, transplanted into pots as soon 
as they have formed shoots, and preserved till May in a greenhouse or frame, near 
the light. Towards the latter end of May the plants should be transferred to a 
prepared spot in an open lawn or border, where they would flower profusely in 
September and October. No plant is more ornamental, when thus treated ; but 
it will not thrive well if the situation chosen for it be not to some slight extent 
sheltered from strong or severe winds. 
Many of our readers will probably be astonished when we mention Thunhergia 
alata and T. alata alba as fit subjects for decking the open lawn ; as these beautiful 
plants are not seldom imprisoned in a stove, and were, till very lately, invariably 
kept in that department. No sooner, however, were they introduced to the 
greenhouse, than they were found to grow with increased luxuriance, which 
