April 17, 1884. ] 
JOURNAL OF. HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
303 
have been accommodated with the varietal names of coccinea, Torreyi, 
and antwerpensis. 
P. campanulatus, Willd.—A very old and pretty free-growing 
■species, but not often seen now, flowering profusely from April to 
■September; a figure of it occurs in the “ Bot. Mag.," t. 1878. It 
grows from 12 to 18 inches high, with very leafy stems terminated by 
racemes of flowers. Leaves narrow lanceolate, entire, bright green ; 
corolla about an inch long, light purplish red, with a slightly spreading 
throat. This grows well almost anywhere, and is perfectly hardy. 
'Common in North America. 
P centranthifolius, Bentb.—A handsome and rather scarce species, 
well represented in the “ Bot. Mag.,” 5242, flowering with us from 
July to August, introduced from Southern California, where it 
occupies open and dry positions. It grows about 2 feet high, is quite 
•glaucous, with ovate-lanceolate sessile leaves and narrow panicles of 
flowers ; the corolla is from 1 to 1} inch long, tubular, but very 
narrow, of a bright vermilion scarlet colour, with small slightly 
spreading lips. I quite think this is tender, although my stock would 
Tiot allow of any portion being exposed, but I hope to plant out some 
in spring which will take their chance next winter. 
P. Clevelandii, Gray.—This is also a little known but very 
.elegant species, growing from 2 to 3 feet high, with oblong- 
lanceolate, sharply toothed leaves, and tall slender panicles of flowers 
on long slender pedicels ; corolla rather less than an inch long, sub¬ 
funnel shaped, of a rich crimson colour, distinctly two-lipped, with 
short spreading lobes. Native of California, and but recently intro¬ 
duced, flowering here in August and September, and is extremely 
graceful in appearance. 
P. Cobcea, Nutt.—A very showy though variable species, introduced 
from the Western States of America about 1835, and figured in the 
*■ Bot. Mag.," t. 3465. It grows about 2 feet high, with large 
lanceolate obtusely-toothed leaves, and stout panicles of large bell¬ 
shaped flowers, varying in colour, usually purple and white, sometimes 
a'ed-shaded, much dilated at the mouth, with spreading lobes. There 
is also a distinct variety recentlj’’ introduced, I think by Max Leichtlin 
of Baden Baden, named purpurea, which is a vigorous grower, pro¬ 
ducing large panicles of deep purple flowers. Any form of P. Cobsea 
is worth growing, and they are quite hardy, flowering from August to 
October.— Pentas. 
(To be continued.) 
NOTES FROM MY GARDEN IN 1883. 
GREENHOUSE. 
The query of a correspondent suggests to me that I may as well give 
■my experience of my greenhouse during the past year. With regard to the 
treatment of that most lovely Orchid Disa grandiflora, I have now two 
pans of it (I use Dominy’s Orchid pans), and it is impossible for any¬ 
thing to be more vigorous and healthy than they are. One is filled with 
a very large number of growths of all sizes ; the other contains three fine 
growths, which will, I hope, all give me five or six blooms and a few 
smaller ones. I cannot understand how it can be infested with green 
fly, for I am quite sure no aphis could for a single day withstand the 
•treatment it would receive from me. 
As in the cultivation of most plants that require peat, a good deal 
depends on the character of that used. There is peat to be got in this 
neighbourhood, but it is so utterly dead and soddened that to use it for 
potting purposes would be to insure the death of any plant which was 
•treated to it. I once had a lot of Disa which I lost, and simply, I 
believe, owing to the bad character of the peat. This has made me very 
careful, and of late years I have only used Epps’ selected Orchid peat, 
full of fibre and very sweet and clean. This, with a few pieces of 
charcoal about the size of walnuts, is all that I use. Some recommend 
sphagnum to be mixed with the peat; but I have never used it, and as 
my plants have done so well I think the good old maxim, “ Let well 
alone ” is applicable in my case. In potting I fill the pan about half 
dull with drainage, and then put in the peat quite coarse, with the lumps 
■of charcoal inserted here and there in it. I then place the bulbs in it, 
and fill up ; they receive a good watering, and from this time out get a 
liberal supply of it, given with a syringe. I never go into the green- 
nouse without taking a syringe and giving it a little. Its native habitat 
being the top of Table Mountain, on which heavy clouds generally rest, 
the plant when in a growing state is subjected to continual moisture, and 
•this treatment suits it. I always repot immediately after flowering, 
when the young growth has started ; the pans are then placed close to 
the greenhouse door, and there they remain until the cold weather sets 
n. At that time they are removed to the upper and warmer part of 
he house, so that if there should come a snap of frost for which we were 
unprepared they might not suffer. As soon as the danger from this is 
■over they are moved to the door again, and there remain until the 
flowering is over, receiving, as I have said, three or four syringings daily. 
Under this treatment it is impossible for green fly to exist, and I have 
•never seen one on my plants. The only thing I was ever troubled with 
was a curious eating away of the epidermis of some of the leaves, which 
completely browned them. I sent up some of the leaves to microscopists, 
but got but little satisfaction a3 to either cause or remedy ; however, as 
they did not seem to injure the plants I did nothing, and they have not 
troubled me since. Now, all this treatment is very simple, and I am 
sure that if these conditions are observed it is one of the easiest green¬ 
house plants to grow with which I am acquainted; and what a lovely 
and enduring flower it is ! I took one of my plants to a county flower 
show last year, and six weeks after the same flowers which had attracted 
much attention there were still fresh. 
I am this year trying a few Masdevallias, but whether I shall succeed 
with them is a matter of question. I fear whether the heat in winter 
will be sufficient for them. At present they look fresh and healthy, but 
time will show. Another plant on which I pride myself not a little is 
the Lapageria. I have, as I mentioned last year, two plants—one each of 
rosea and alba. I planted them last autumn in large pots 18 inches in 
diameter, and put them on a low stage at the far end of my small house, 
my object being to train them up at the end and bring them over the 
central path of the house, so as not to interfere with the plants on the 
stages, and in this I have thoroughly succeeded. I had at one time 
between thirty and forty blooms on them as good as I have anywhere 
seen. It has been sometimes said that they will not bear the sun ; but 
these are in the full sunlight, although it is true the pots are shaded from 
it. Of course, to those who have Lapageria houses, or who can give their 
plants any room they like, this may appear a very trivial success, as they 
can probably cut ropes of flowers with as many blooms on them as I had 
altogether ; but none the less, I think many who have been hindered 
from attempting their culture will take heart of grace from this statement. 
Two other trailing plants that I have grown this year are Clematis 
oblata and Lonicera seraperflorens, but they have been cribbed, cabined, 
and confined to trellises from which they have every disposition to run 
away ; but, unfortunately, I cannot give them a better place. The former 
is very pretty, and the latter very showy with its red and orange blooms. 
It truly deserves its name, for it i3 never out of bloom when once it starts 
off. It is deciduous, but all through the spring and summer it is never 
without flower. 
In the little annexe to my greenhouse I have a couple of GrapeVines, 
and on the wall at the back a Marechal Niel Rose planted in a large 
pot and trained to run on the back wall. I mentioned last year that 
I had adopted a plan with regard to the Vines which had been recom¬ 
mended by a suburban amateur, but which I had years before seen with 
my friend Dr. Samuel Newington at Ticehurst—viz., leaving every 
alternate shoot and cutting it to about 18 inches in length, and taking 
the crop from this instead of (as I had been in the habit of doing) from 
the young shoots of this year’s growth, and I promised to chronicle the 
result. It was most satisfactory. I took quite a hundred bunches of 
Grapes from them of good size and quality, and I am so well pleased 
with it that I shall in future grow them in this way. Mardchal Niel did 
famously. It made its growth and flowered before the Vines came in its 
way, and I had some grand blooms from it, and I see this year that it is 
still more promising. I am aware, again, that in many these small 
matters will excite a smile ; but for the same reason as I remarked about 
the Lapagerias, they may give encouragement to small men—those who 
are endeavouring to gratify a taste which they think that their space will 
not allow them to indulge in. The Grapes would not win a prize at 
even a local show ; but they are very good, and they are always a 
welcome gift to invalids, and the poor especially prize them. 
Although not quite coming under the head of greenhouse, I would 
like to record a rather successful bit of Tomato-growing which I accom¬ 
plished in the small pit in which I bloom my Auriculas. This is span- 
roofed ; there are two shelves, or whatever else they can be called, on 
which the Auriculas stand, the ordinary soil of the garden, with a layer 
of gravel or ashes on the top, and a walk down the centre. When the 
Auriculas had finished blooming and had been transferred to their 
summer quarters the gravel was removed, holes made, in which some 
good compost was placed, and the Tomatoes planted four on each side. 
They were as they grew trained up under the glass, and came up over 
the top. They looked exceedingly pretty, and were very prolific, giving 
us an ample supply of very excellent fruit. As we cannot in this 
neighbourhood grow them in the open air successfully, as they get 
attacked by disease, it was a great matter to have an abundant supply in 
this easy manner. The pear-shaped variety was very pretty, but I shall 
hardly try it again, but depend on Victoria and Excelsior. By-the-by, 
can anyone give a really good recipe for making Tomato sauce that will 
keep? There are several given, but if anyone can from experience say 
that they have found one really good I should be much obliged for it. 
There are a few other things which I have found useful in my small 
house, which I may as well notice. The Freesias I have written about 
before ; they are delightfully sweet-scented. I saw them the other day 
in quantities in Mr. Dickson’s in Covent Garden, and they are much 
used for bouquets. Another very useful flower for cutting is Doronicum 
austriacum. Its bright yellow flowers are very pretty, and as it blooms 
profusely and bears pot culture well, although perfectly hardy, it is very 
useful. I have tried Centaurea cyanus (the blue Cornbottle) for some time, 
so as to have blue flowers to cut in the winter; but it is so apt to flag 
and look shabby that I have determined on not growing it again. The 
Schizanthus, on the other hand, repay one for any trouble taken with 
them, as they supply a quantity of graceful and pretty flowers during 
the spring months. On the whole, my greenhouse has been a great 
success, and has well rewarded us for any pains and trouble we have 
taken with it.—D., Deal. 
FUNGUS IN VINERY. 
I have often noticed the correspondents of the Journal recommend¬ 
ing leaves as fermenting material in vineries, and I quite agree with 
