1874.] 
GREENHOUSE DAPHNES. 
207 
plants are to be obtained. Most of the seedsmen can supply seeds, but I would 
warn would-be purchasers not to be too sanguine that the seeds will grow. I 
have bought it many times, and have always, in such cases, failed to produce 
plants, though the utmost care had been taken with the seeds. 
The seeds are very small, similar to those of the Calceolaria, and a successful 
grower of Calceolarias would not fail to raise a batch of seedling Lisianthus; 
the latter, however, requires heat, whereas the Calceolaria would vegetate and 
thrive best in a cool house. The seeds should be sown in sandy peat, scarcely 
covering them with silver-sand, and placing the pot on a shelf near the glass, in 
a cool stove or intermediate house. A square of glass should be laid over the 
pot, which should also be shaded from the sun, and when water is required the 
pot should be dipped in a pail three parts of its depth for half a minute, not long 
enough to soak the mould, but merely to wet it, for if the mould is made too 
wet, the seeds will perish. When the plants appear they must be attentively 
watched, and when water is required, it must be applied according to the 
previous instructions. When the plants can be handled, pot them off, three in a 
small pot, again using sandy peat, which is the best potting material all through, 
using it fine when the plants are small, and only the tough, fibry portion at the 
last shift. Nine-inch pots are sufficiently large to flower the plants in. 
I have read somewhere that cold pits are the best structures wherein to grow 
this Lisianthus^ but in practice I have not found that they succeed best there. 
The plants under my care that have been in flower this season were grown on 
shelves near the glass in the Cucumber-house, where the temperature is seldom 
below 65® in winter. It is also absolutely necessary to protect the plants from 
the sun. Early in March they showed signs of distress when the sun shone out 
brightly, and had to be shaded. However, the plants in flower will well repay 
any attention that they may require, and the more difficult our pets are to grow, 
the more are they esteemed. I may say that the flowers are of a lilac-purple 
colour, and resemble a well-shaped, small tulip ; they are also produced in great 
profusion.—J. Douglas, Loxford Hall Gardens. 
GKEENHOUSE DAPHNES. 
}F these odoriferous evergreen shrubs there are two varieties that have 
become especial favourites, on account of their delicious fragrance— 
Daphne indica alba.^ and D. indica rubra. Flowering as they do during the 
dreary months of winter, they are alike prized for cutting, or for placing 
in the conservatory or sitting-room. The variety a/6a, being the strongest-scented, 
is to be preferred on that account, although it by no means possesses the best 
habit of growth, being somewhat stubborn and lax, a defect which may be 
successfully combated by a little careful attention in cultivation. From the 
miserable examples, however, which we are accustomed to meet with, it may be 
doubted whether the requirements of these charming plants, simple as they are, 
are generally understood. 
