526 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ December 7, 1882. 
Some will not endure this drying system, for they really are what 
I feel justified m terming evergreen varieties, and do not form 
underground stems, but are perpetuated by striking the young 
shoots that are produced near the base while the plant is in active 
growth. T. Madame Heine is of this type, and a true winter¬ 
flowering variety. It is of a sturdy habit of growth with green 
foliage, and flowers most profusely from November onwards. 
By inserting cuttings at intervals a succession of flowering 
plants can be had the whole winter, I have grown many varie¬ 
ties of Tydteas, and after three years’ experience with the above 
variety have concluded to discard all others for winter, as the 
stock of this variety can be increased so rapidly. 
The cuttings strike almost as easily as Coleuses if placed in 
heat, kept close, and shaded from strong sun. They may safely 
be placed singly in small pots when inserting them, as with ordi¬ 
nary attention pvery one will root. Any light soil will suit this 
Tydsea well.— Scientia. 
WINTER-FLOWERING PLANTS. 
An abstract of a paper read before the Young Gardeners’ Mutual 
Improvement Society, Royal Gardens, Kew, by Mr. Garrett, fore¬ 
man of the flower garden department. 
To supply cut flowers and decorative plants during the winter 
months is a very impoitant part of the gardener’s duties in all estab¬ 
lishments. Foliage plants are numerous, and are used largely for 
decorative purposes in winter, but ladies must be continually supplied 
with cut flowers for various purposes. Flowering plants must also 
be interspersed amongst the foliage and Ferns in the mansion as 
well as the greenhouse or conservatory. This continual supply is 
the great feature that has to be thought of, and the point where 
many gardeners fail, often at a time when a greater supply than 
usual is required for some special purpose. Requirements vary con¬ 
siderably indifferent establishments according to the tastes or wishes 
of proprietors, and such wishes have to be studied by the gardener. 
The great secret in having flowers in winter is the careful selection 
of useful plants for the purpose, and good cultivation in the previous 
spring and summer. If sowing seeds or propagating plants is delayed 
too long in the spring or summer, the flowering period will be delayed 
in a corresponding degree. If the plants are well grown in the sum¬ 
mer and receive proper attention, their successful flowering will be 
insured, but injudicious treatment in winter may render previously 
well-prepared plants useless. Where a gardener has a knowledge of 
what is required, it is the best and safest plan to select the best varie¬ 
ties of certain plants that suit his purpose, and grow a quantity of 
those that are certain to succeed. Collections are necessary for ex¬ 
hibition, and sometimes for other purposes, but selections are much 
more profitable generally. 
EUCHARISES AND GARDENIAS. 
Stove plants and Orchids flowering in winter are rather limited,but 
there are a few that are indispensable. Two of the most beautiful of 
the former are Eucharis amazonica and Gardenias. These, from 
their powerful perfume and beautiful appearance, are greatly valued. 
They require a good rest in a cool frame or house during the early 
autumn to ripen and prepare them for flowering when introduced to 
heat. Eucharises do not require repotting often if they are in good 
health and the pots are well drained. Plants that are unhealthy are 
uncertain for flowering purposes. Probably the most important part 
of Gardenia culture is keeping the plants clean. If they are allowed 
to become much infested with scale or mealy bug the best plan is to 
prepare young plants, and keep them clean and throw the old ones 
away. The points of the shoots are always first attacked by mealy 
bug, and the buds being there are so much injured by the cleaning 
process as to be of little use when expanded. They can be grown in 
pots or planted out as may be convenient. 
ORCHIDS. 
Orchids last a long time, and some of them will bear much rough 
treatment; indeed, much more than many other good plants that are 
not nearly so much valued. A few are happily useful for winter¬ 
flowering, and are therefore very acceptable. Cypripedium insigne 
is largely grown, and will last a very long time as flowering plants, 
or in a cut state in water. Many other Cypripediums flower at this 
time of year, but probably none are so plentiful as C. insigne. Zygo- 
petalums, Calanthe Yeitchii, C. vestita and its varieties, Lycaste 
Skinneri, and Masdevallias are the most useful in quantity for winter¬ 
flowering that I am acquainted with. 
CHRYSANTHEMUMS. 
Probably the most popular flowering plants for all purposes during 
the months of November and December are Chrysanthemums. A 
selection of a few distinct and useful sorts of these is preferable to a 
large collection. There are, however, several distinct forms, ranging 
from the small Pompon and Anemone-flowered to the large incurved, 
reflexed, and the curious Japanese section, all possessing a consider¬ 
able degree of merit. They are propagated at different times from 
about the end of November until the following May, and much later 
than this for small plants. Where larg* bushy plants are required 
the size of the flowers must be to a certain extent sacrificed, as the 
largest flowers are obtained from plants that are only allowed to bear 
a very limited number. As far as my experiznce goes it is better to 
propagate about the middle of February and grow the plants without 
a check, repotting as required until they are in 8 or 9-inch pots, which 
are sufficiently large for most purposes. An open airy position ex¬ 
posed to the sun, but not too much to high winds, should be selected 
for their summer quarters, when they will require constant attention 
and plenty of water if good plants are to be obtained. Liquid manure 
should only be supplied in moderate quantities until the buds are 
formed, when it may be given frequently. Stopping should not be 
practised on large plants after the middle of July. Small useful 
plants for stages or decorating may be obtained by placing four or 
five cuttings in small pots early in August. When they are rooted 
place them into 48-sized pots, and stop them once. They will flower 
about the same time as the larger plants. Neither should be sub¬ 
jected to fire heat if it can be avoided, as this invariably causes them 
to lose their lower leaves, especially in the autumn. 
CARNATIONS. 
Tree Carnations are not more difficult to grow to good-sized plants 
than Chrysanthemums, yet it is very seldom they are found in quan¬ 
tity. Probably their merits are not sufficiently w r ell known. If they 
are grown principally in two or three distinct varieties scarcely any¬ 
thing can rival them as cut flowers for glasses or almost any purpose. 
Belle Rose and A. Aidgatiere are good red varieties. La Belle and 
Purity whites, and Miss Jolliffe a distinct perpetual-flowering 
variety of a pink or flesh colour. These are all distinct in growth, 
and are the best to be grown for plenty of flowers that I have seen. 
It is very important they should be propagated in the month of 
February to begin flowering in the autumn as large plants. When 
propagation is deferred later than this the plants will not flower so 
early in the aaturnn, neither will they attain the same size. They 
are best grown in frames until about the beginning of June, when 
they may be placed in the open air until the end of September. A 
house with a temperature of 50° to 55°, and air on all favourable occa¬ 
sions, will suit them all the winter. They generally do w’ell in a soil 
composed of fibry loam, with a little leaf soil not too much decayed, 
and plenty of charcoal. The pots must be well drained, as Carna¬ 
tions of any sort will not succeed if the soil is allowed to become 
soddened. 
BOUVARDIAS. 
Bouvardias are extremely useful winter-flowering plants if pre¬ 
pared for that purpose, and are generally much admired. They strike 
freely in spring—about ihe end of March or beginning of April is 
early enough—and may be grown in pots, or planted out in frames 
as soon as established. I have found the best results from the latter 
practice, although the plants are not always so compact as when re¬ 
stricted in pots. They require to be frequently and evenly pinched 
until late in the summer to prepare them for flowering in winter. If 
planted out they will bear being transferred to pots about the middle 
of September, and will, if kept close for a short time afterwards, 
scarcely feel any check. A few standard single varieties are elegans; 
Yreelandii, or its larger form alba grandiflora ; Maiden’s Blush, and 
Leeiantha. 
POIN SETTIAS. 
Poinsettias are very showy plants previous to and at the time of 
flowering. The flowers themselves are inconspicuous, and do not 
open until some time after the scarlet bracts surrounding them appear. 
To have dwarf plants in small pots they must, when growing, be 
plunged in ashes or some other material in light frames, where they 
can have plenty of air, and, except in the hottest summer weather, 
be fully exposed to the sun. W hen they are intended to be grown 
in small pots with one head of bloom, the middle or end of June is 
generally early enough to insert the cuttings, as they cannot be 
kept dwarf if propagated too early. They succeed best if inserted 
singly in small pots,as the roots are not injured so much when repot¬ 
ting. They are easily grown if proper attention is given them, but 
are among the first to suffer if neglected. The flowers form and the 
bracts change their colour about the beginning of November, when 
more heat may be applied, and if the plants are supplied with a little 
liquid manure it will help to develope and deepen the colour of the 
heads of bloom. The old P. pulcherrima is still the best for general 
cultivation. Its variety, P. p. alba, is sometimes grown, but is only 
useful as a variety. The so-called double form named plenissima was 
highly spoken of when distributed, but it does not seem to have been 
cultivated so much as was expected. If the plants are placed in a 
cooler temperature when the heads are developed they will keep good 
for six or eight weeks. 
BEGONIAS. 
Some of the autumn and winter-flowering Begonias are very 
effective v'hen well grown, and are useful for supplying cut flowers, 
although some of them will not last very long in water. Their free- 
flowering habit will, however, compensate for this in a considerable 
degree, as the removal of one lot of flowers will often cause the plant 
to break, and so produce a quantity more. It is important to pro¬ 
pagate them early in the season to have large plants by the autumn. 
Some of the best are Weltoniensis, insignis, Knowsleyana, semper- 
florens, its variety rosea, and Ascotensis. The new and distinct 
