574 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ December 23, 1880. 
much longer in bloom than many flowering plants, and when 
well grown produce their beautifully spotted flowers in succession 
over a great space of time. 
In commencing the cultivation of these plants it is wise to 
obtain them while in a resting state, and by judicious care in 
starting some at intervals of a month a supply can be obtained 
through the whole year. It is difficult when first obtaining the 
small tubers to adapt them to winter growth. This difficulty can 
soon be overcome by keeping those required for late flowering at 
rest as long as possible, and in a season or two the whole stock 
can be started at any time. It is wise to keep the different 
batches separate, either by labelling or otherwise, or some of 
those required first may be left, while those for late work may 
by mistake be potted earlier than intended. In starting them 
into growth the small tubers can be placed either in the pots the 
plants are intended to bloom in, or they may be placed in small 
pots, afterwards transferring them into others 5 or 6 inches in 
diameter, which are large enough for single plants. The plants 
do well on either system, but the latter is preferable, as the soil 
is not so liable to become sour before the pots are filled with roots. 
If the pots can be plunged in bottom heat so much the better, 
and the quicker will the tubers commence growth, although 
bottom heat can easily be dispensed with, and when growth is 
a little advanced they do as well without it. A temperature of 
G0° to 65°, regulated according to the outside temperature, is 
ample if increased as the season advances. During summer slight 
shade is beneficial on hot bright days, but excessive shading will 
cause them to draw up weakly and flower unsatisfactorily. 
As before stated, a few started every month will maintain an 
unbroken supply. Tubers potted at the commencement of the new 
year will produce flowering plants by the end of May and through 
June, and plants started at the beginning of May will bloom by 
the end of September and through the following month. In 
autumn and winter they are most useful, and to have a good supply 
batches should be potted from May until August; and as the 
growth is not so rapid during the declining days of the year, those 
started in August will maintain a supply until late in the spring. 
When plants have to grow through the winter it is necessary they 
have a light position close to the glass, and care must be taken 
not to cause a check to their growth. 
The pots when used should be clean and well drained, a layer 
of moss being placed over the drainage, then nearly filled with 
the compost, placing a little sand in the centre, in which to embed 
the tubers, care being taken to have their growing ends near 
the centre, and covered with the compost. This should consist of 
good fibry loam, a liberal admixture of leaf soil, a seventh of 
manure, and sufficient coarse sand to keep the whole porous. 
Peat may be used as a substitute for the leaf soil if more con¬ 
venient, but the soil must be light and rich. A number can be 
placed together in the same pot if large specimens are required, 
but for all ordinary decorative purposes G-inch pots are large 
enough. Tydaeas, if properly attended to when resting, make 
strong growth from very small tubers. When placed in the small 
pots and the roots reach the sides they should be transferred into 
the larger size, only removing the drainage, and injuring the 
roots as little as possible in carrying out the operation. While in 
active growth the plants require liberal applications of water at 
the roots, except immediately after they are repotted, when water 
should be applied with care and judgment until the roots have 
permeated the new soil. When the pots are full of roots liquid 
manure may be supplied with advantage. Syringing the foliage 
is not needed, and indeed the leaves when wet are often injured by 
exposure to the sun. 
The resting period is by no means the least important,. and 
success to a large extent depends upon the treatment then fol¬ 
lowed. Tuberous-rooted plants of this nature are often neglected 
by allowing them to remain in cold potting sheds, or by storing 
them away under the stages. Neglect in this respect brings 
Tydaeas into an unsatisfactory state, and instead of increasing in 
numbers and gaining strength year by year they become weaker, 
and in a few seasons are almost useless. If, however, after 
floweiing they are liberally supplied with liquid manure, it will 
assist considerably in increasing the size of the tubers, which 
must be plump and matured before resting. The plants must 
have attention until the foliage commences dying, when they can 
be kept somewhat drier and allowed a similar temperature to that 
in which they were growing. When finally at rest they can be 
stored away in any cool place where a temperature ranging 
between 35° and 40° can be maintained. Tydaeas will not endure 
being kept quite so dry while resting as Achimenes. It must be 
borne in mind their tubers differ considerably from those of 
Achimenes, Tydaeas being more like underground stems. 
The following are twenty excellent varieties well worthy of 
cultivation :—T. alba nigra, Alexandre, Amarante et cannelle, 
Corneville, Etna, gigantea, Hercule, Itaculumi, Junon, Leandre, 
Madame Heine, Minerve, Robert le Diable, Pluton, Batafago, 
Sap6, Themistocle, Tricolore, Wonder, Xenophon.— Wm, Bardney. 
Rarely can a horticulturist visit our great metropolitan em¬ 
porium of fruit, vegetables, flowers, and plants— Covent Garden 
Market, without seeing much to interest him, but one of the most 
stirring times is the present. The preparations for the Christmas 
demands is shown on all sides. Such largely consumed commo¬ 
dities as Oranges, Nuts of many kinds, the indispensable Mistletoe, 
and the seasonable Holly form the chief features in the display, 
but unfortunately the last-named is sadly deficient in the number 
of its berries. Of cut flowers there is abundance, including such 
generally appreciated kinds as Roses, Violets, Lilies of the Valley, 
Camellias, Eucharises, Hellebores, Bouvardias, Primulas, Hya¬ 
cinths, Chrysanthemums, Zonal Pelargoniums, Euphorbia jac- 
quiniasflora, and a few Orchids, principally Calanthes and Odon- 
toglossums—a goodly list. The seed vessels of Iris foetidissima 
with their brilliant scarlet seeds are strongly represented, and the 
“ Everlasting Flowers ” of varied colours also add to the attrac¬ 
tions. Plants, fruit, and vegetables are all displayed in similar 
profusion and excellence. 
- Among the “ Everlasting Flowers ” noted above, the flower 
heads of Astelma eximium, the Strawberry Everlasting, 
are particularly attractive. The bracts are of a rich rosy tint, 
and incurved so as to form close heads, bearing some resemblance 
to Strawberries. The plant is a native of the Cape, and has long 
been known in this country, but is comparatively rarely seen. 
Messrs. Smith & Larke of Kensington exhibited specimens of 
the flower-heads at the Royal Horticultural Society’s Meeting on 
the 14th inst. 
- “A visitor” sends us the [following note on Begonia 
SEMPERFLORENS grandiflora :—“ On the two occasions that 
Mr. W. Iggulden, Orsett Hall Gardens, Romford, has exhibited 
his variety of the well-known Begonia semperflorens I have been 
attracted by its floriferousness, the large size of the blooms, and 
the good habit of the plant. At the last meeting of the Royal 
Horticultural Society these characters were particularly notable, 
and I have seen plants honoured with certificates that were in my 
opinion less distinct and useful for decorative purposes. It un¬ 
questionably appears to well merit the name grandiflora. - ’ 
- From a recent communication we learn that the winter 
GARDEN IN THE PARK AT SUNDERLAND— which, by the way, is 
the only structure of its kind in the north of England—has been 
unusually gay this autumn with Chrysanthemums, including fine 
specimens of Mulberry, Calliope, Model of Perfection, Novelty, 
Ariadne, Queen of England, Empress of India, &c., besides a 
number of excellent plants of zonal Pelargoniums all in full 
bloom, and dispersed amongst the foliage plants. Palms planted 
out have a most pleasing effect, the ground being carpeted with 
Selaginella ; but the chief feature in the winter garden at 
present is, amongst the many fine climbers that adorn the walls 
and pillars, Eupatorium odoratum, associated with Tropaeolum 
Lobbianum ; the effect of the scarlet Tropaeolum and the cream- 
coloured Eupatorium in combination is very beautiful. All who 
wish to have the flowers of this Eupatorium in the autumn in 
quantities should plant it out in an intermediate house. 
