JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
June 1, 1882. ] 
1st 
2nd 
3rd 
Tn 
Linnean Society at 8 r.M. 
s 
4th 
SUN 
Trinity Sunday. 
6th 
M 
6th 
Trr 
7th 
W 
BOUVARDIAS. 
0 highly popular are these plants, and so useful 
for various decorative purposes are their flowers, 
that a supply of them is indispensable in all 
gardens in which they can be grown. Yet in 
by no means all gardens do we find healthy 
floriferous plants. Too often they are tall and 
thin, with hard wire-like stems partially denuded 
of foliage, and bearing only small flower trusses 
■A sparsely. We want dwarf plants with crisp short- 
jointed growths clothed with dark-green foliage, and 
bearing large flower trusses abundantly. Now is the time for 
producing them, and the following is the method to pursue. 
Young plants that were rooted early should now be en¬ 
couraged to the fullest extent. Nothing is more prejudicial to 
them than a check in growth. The more rapid the develop¬ 
ment the more likely are the results to give satisfaction. A 
moderately brisk temperature and moist atmosphere are the 
chief factors in the production of good plants, provided, of 
course, proper attention be given to watering and stopping. 
It is advantageous to stop them at every joint, and thoroughly 
good bushy plants will then be obtained, the operation being 
regulated by the time the plants are required to bloom, the 
latter depending entirely upon the former, as the cymes of 
bloom are terminal. Constant attention is absolutely necessary 
in watering, as if they are allowed to suffer from drought more 
ills than are reckoned for will ensue ; but if the drainage is 
efficient very liberal supplies of water may without disad¬ 
vantage be given them. Red spider, a pest very frequently 
troublesome, will be naturally kept in check by maintaining a 
moist atmosphere, and this will be promoted if the pots are 
placed upon ashes or broken shells, or, in fact, anything which 
is cool and capable of giving off constant vapour ; this is im¬ 
portant. Green fly must be kept down by fumigation, other¬ 
wise the plants will suffer very considerably; this also is 
important. 
When the small pots in which the plants were first placed 
are filled with roots, yet not crowded, they should be shifted 
into 48’s, which for general purposes is the best size in which 
to bloom the plants. If specimens of unusual size are re¬ 
quired they must, of course, be shifted into still larger pots ; 
but, if properly cultivated, good plants well furnished with 
flowers may be grown in 48-sized pots. That size is a 
favourite one with market growers, and what can we desire for 
decorative purposes better than the plants some of those 
growers, notably Messrs. Beckwith of Tottenham, annually 
supply the market and trade with—clean handsome plants 
crowded with flowers ? Perfect drainage is essential, as any¬ 
439 
thing like stagnancy is detrimental to their proper develop¬ 
ment. A compost of the following kind should be used for 
potting : Good fibrous yellow loam, well-decayed cow manure, 
leaf soil, and coarse sand in equal parts, potting the plants 
moderately firm. After they are fairly established in the new 
pots they may, if suitable weather prevails, be transferred to 
a cold pit, where they may remain until the end of September, 
ventilating freely during all favourable opportunities, as during 
the middle part of the day, shading lightly during, bright sun¬ 
shine, and, other things being equal, good plants may be anti¬ 
cipated, which, as a rule, if in active and healthy growth, 
will keep clear of insect pests. 
Instead of cultivating Bouvardias in pots some growers 
plant them out in beds of well-prepared rich scil during the 
summer months in a cold pit, and at the end of the season very 
fine plants are produced, which are carefully raised and potted 
without very much inconvenience to the plants themselves, 
with the exception, perhaps, of the loss of a few leaves ; but 
even that is reduced to a minimum if they are kept shaded 
after being potted until the roots are again active. Plants thus 
grown are very floriferous, while the trusses are considerably 
finer than those upon plants grown in pots. Good plants have 
also been grown upon spent hotbeds quite exposed. The plants 
at the end of the season were potted and placed under protec¬ 
tion, a very large supply of flowers being produced. Some cul¬ 
tivators even advocate their culture in sheltered borders out¬ 
side, but from what I have seen of plants thus grown the prac¬ 
tice is by no means to be encouraged. The plants so treated 
are not so presentable as those grown in pots or planted in 
pits, where they escape the vicissitudes incident to an ever- 
changing climate. 
Among the best white-flowered species and varieties most 
commonly cultivated, Vreelandi is highly esteemed, being very 
free, with full trusses of pure white flowers. It is sometimes 
known as Davidsoni, but I have seen a plant under this name 
which has white flowers with a distinct pale red tube, not 
nearly so effective nor free as Vreelandi proper, which is con¬ 
sequently the best plant to grow. Humboldt! corymbiflora is 
a very large-flowered kind, with long tubes and broad corolla 
limb almost as large as the flowers of a Stephanotis, and with 
deep green foliage. This is very handsome and effective, most 
valuable for the supply of choice cut flowers. Longiflora is a 
very fine species, grown very largely, with good trusses of 
sweetly scented tubular flowers nearly or quite 3 inches long. 
Jasminiflora produces flowers of a similar character to the last, 
and deliciously scented. It is very free, and is largely grown 
for affording flowers for cutting as well as for decorative 
plants. The leaves are smaller than those of the others and 
shining, and the flowers are pure white, of good substance. 
Alfred Neuner is a very distinct variety, with large trusses of 
very double pure white flowers. This variety, although of recent 
introduction, is undoubtedly a good addition to our winter¬ 
blooming plants. It is dwarf in habit, very floriferous, while 
the flowers last even longer than those of the single-flowered 
varieties, hence its great value for floral work, especially for 
buttonholes. Maiden's Blush cannot be regarded as a white- 
flowered kind, as the flowers .are heavily blushed with pink. 
It is a valuable variety, as it produces good trusses in abund¬ 
ance, while the colour is very desirable. 
Among the scarlet and pink-flowered varieties is Hogarth. 
This is a great favourite, 'producing fine trusses of deep scarlet 
No. 101.—YoL. IV., Third series. 
No. I7f7 .—Yol. lxvii.. Old series. 
