276 
ACHIMENES. 
It will be necessary to keep the plants in a growing tempera¬ 
ture of about 65° or 70° till near the expansion of their blossoms, 
supplying them with plenty of moisture in the atmosphere, 
though but a moderate quantity will be necessary for the roots; 
small sticks should be placed to each stem as they advance, to 
keep them properly arranged, spreading them out one from an¬ 
other, in order to admit air to the leaves, lest by crowding, some 
of them become mildewed and rot off, and that the flowers may 
have room to display themselves. When the blossom buds are 
perceivable on the plants, the quantity of air admitted should be 
gradually increased, and a dryer state both of the atmosphere 
and the soil should prevail;' and as it is necessary to shade them 
from strong sunlight, in order to assimilate their treatment with 
their natural positions, and also to preserve their beauty unim¬ 
paired, much attention should be given just at this time to the 
above-named subject, or a failure in the production of flowers 
may be apprehended. By the time they are fairly in a blooming 
condition, it will be advisable to remove them to a position where 
their beauty may be enjoyed; and as they do not insist on a high 
temperature at this period, or require other protection than such 
as is necessary to preserve it unimpaired, no better place can be 
desired for them than the greenhouse, where they will continue 
in perfection for a very long time. Nearly all the species are 
well suited for ornamenting the sitting-room, as they bear con¬ 
finement remarkably well, and with only the accommodation of 
a common frame upon a slight hot-bed, and a window facing the 
south, several of them may be managed so as to yield a display 
superior to many plants usually regarded as excellent for the 
purpose. 
The Wardian case or a glazed balcony also afford means both 
to cultivate and enjoy the loveliness of this beautiful tribe, than 
which none are more ductile, and a peculiar advantage belongs 
to them in the hybernation of the roots ; most vegetable forms 
of the ornamental class are troublesome through the winter, 
where the means of cultivating them are limited to the appliances 
just named, inasmuch as the plants require most nursing when 
it is least easy to give it them. 
Achimenes, however, from the circumstance of the stems dying 
off annually, and the vitality of the plants being preserved in 
