104 
PENTSTEMON VERPLANCKII. 
two or three hot-beds have supplied the house 
for weeks with an occasional dish, and will 
continue to do so till that in the open ground 
is ready. The cucumbers look well. As their 
vines grow, observe how carefully they are 
spread the way they are to cover the surface ; 
by taking off the ends of the shoots, lateral 
branches are produced, and you see fruit at 
about every joint. Now the gardener will 
not allow more than two or three cucumbers 
to swell to the full size at the same time on 
one plant, that is to say, not more than three 
the same age : suppose there are three six 
inches long, he will take off all but three that 
are two inches long, unless a good supply of 
fruit be required, and numbers are preferred 
to handsome quality. Here are some for- 
warder ; now you observe here are three just 
ready to cut, full eighteen inches, there are 
three more close upon a foot long and grow- 
ing fast, and three more just well forming, 
three inches ; this is an excellent plan of re- 
gulating the supply, and keeping the fruit 
moderately handsome. Those frames on the 
left are full of strawberries, and you see 
fruit fit to gather even at this early season. 
These are simply planted out on a good six 
inches of rich loam, on a common hot-bed, in 
the soil itself, not in pots ; and by giving air 
judiciously, and attending well to the water- 
ing, they fruit better than those in pots ; but 
they have strawberries on the top shelf of the 
vinery, and they are just in a right state to fol- 
low those in the hot-bed. On the walls the 
men are looking over the trees, and here and 
there rubbing off the buds that would grow 
where they are not wanted ; all those, for in- 
stance, that would grow straight out from the 
wall, and others that come too many together 
where there is already plenty of wood. Here 
they have hooks along the top of the wall, on 
which to hang nets or mats to keep off the 
cold winds and frosts. I have often thought 
it not worth the trouble. The trees are far 
more healthy without covering, unless the 
situation is very bleak. However, to those 
who will take care and go to the trouble, it 
may occasionally save a crop. The examina- 
tion of the vines and wall trees is necessary, 
because, besides other matters, there may be 
many of the branches loosened and require 
nailing. This, you observe, is a busy month ; 
there is a general sowing going on of almost 
everything. 
We will go round home through the flower- 
garden again. The annuals sown under glass, 
I observe, are all up and growing strong, and 
they are sowing them in the open ground in 
patches, where they are to remain. They 
seem also to be preparing the Dutch or geo- 
metrical garden, for the spring changes to be 
made with verbenas, geraniums, and other 
subjects calculated to last in flower all the 
summer and save further trouble. All the 
climbing plants against the wall want regulat- 
ing, pruning, and nailing ; they get untidy, 
and if neglected long hardly get right again. 
Those on trellises only want tying, but even 
then it should be carefully seen that the plant 
does not wind about behind the trellis, be- 
cause if it be anything that grows much, like 
the honeysuckle, rose, wistaria, and others 
which have woody stems, they cannot be with- 
drawn again, because they become obstinate, 
and would then in time break the trellis 
from the wall. The roses are pretty forward, 
but it is better to prune them at twice or even 
at three different seasons to prolong the bloom. 
If rose trees are left with long shoots, three 
or four or more of the eyes towards the end 
begin growing, and all the buds nearer the 
stem do not even start. If the shoots are cut 
back half way, or quite back to one or two 
eyes, both will start. If half the trees then 
are cut back, and half left the full length of 
their shoots, they will both start at the same 
time, those cut back growing stronger perhaps 
than the uncut one, which however has only 
a few of the eyes nearest the ends of the 
branches. After letting these grow together 
a month, you throw the unpruned one back a 
full month by cutting it back as you did the 
other, because it makes it start again from 
the back eyes and lose all the month's growth 
it had made, and which is of course cut off. 
Thus you make two complete seasons of 
bloom. I do not however approve of cutting 
the roses back to two eyes until the head has 
become proportionate to the height of the stem. 
We shall next month see great alterations. 
PENTSTEMON VERPLANCKIL 
Pentstemon Hahtwegii, var. Verplanckii 
(M. Verplancke's Pentstemon). — Scrophulai i- 
aceae § Antirrhinide£e-Chelonea3. * 
This species belongs to the division of the 
genus Pentstemon, so numerous in species, 
which includes the Mexican plants, herbs, or 
under shrubs with lanceolate leaves, exserted 
stamens, the upper filament smooth at the 
base, the corolla tubular with the under lip 
bearded, the peduncles few-flowered, and "ar- 
ranged in the manner of a terminal panicle. 
This variety, raised by M. Verplancke, of 
Ghent, differs from the typical species by an 
extremely vigorous habit, by its broad leaves. 
