194 
THE FLORIST AND ROMOLOGIST. 
[ Septembkr, 
table decoration,—it flowers so freely, and the flowers are so large and delicately 
charming. No one has been able to pass it anywhere without a note of admira¬ 
tion. Neither fat Camellias, spotlessly pure and brilliant Azaleas, nor gay 
Cinerarias have received anything like the petting that this new pet has had iix 
our glass verandah. 
These Primulas will give a new and distinct character to the spring garden. 
I find P. covtusoides is much higher-coloured out-of-doors than in, and we have 
nothing like it outside either in habit or colour. It would be beautiful among 
or near to the common Primrose, but perhaps the best arrangement for it would 
be to form a cushion of the common or double-white or new yellow Primrose^ 
and use the P. cortiisoides as the pins for it. This effect is as charming as it is 
novel; but it would look well anywhere, excepting perhaps against Honesty,. 
Aubrietias, or Forget-Me-Nots, for the colour being peculiar, it should not be- 
placed against lilacs or blues. 
P. cortusoides amoena is much brighter, larger, and lighter, and would look 
distinguished, and hold its own anywhere or against anything. It would take a 
great deal of a very good thing to throw that into the shade. The stalks are 
somewhat shorter out-of-doors ; still they are very long, and the plant does best 
and looks its best in a sheltered position. Placed in the teeth of the wind, it 
would be likely to be battered down with the hails of March, or laid flat with 
heavy rains. It takes, however, very rough weather indeed to injure the plants. 
The flower-stalks should not be tied up ; this stiffens and takes away one of their 
chief charms. They are perfectly hard}", the improved variety as hardy as the- 
common, though perhaps it will not bear quite so much hard treatment, as the 
flowers are so much larger. They are increased by division of the roots, or by 
seed, when and where it ripens, but from offsets alone a good stock may speedily 
be got together, as it is a plant of free growth and active habits. If not flower¬ 
ing, it is doing the next best thing, pushing out roots, or forming or gathering 
crowns. It will be a long time before any holder of P. cortusoides amoena will 
cry, ‘'Hold, enough!”— D. T. Fish, F.E.H.S. 
WINDOW PLANTS. 
I.— The Creering Cereus. 
r INDOW Gardening having recently been brought into general notice with 
_ the prominence it so well deserves, it has occurred to me that a few 
plain instructions for the culture and management of such plants as 
have been found well adapted for the purposes of window-culture would 
be useful to amateurs, or to such as require to have the general details of cultiva¬ 
tion simplified. I cannot do better than commence with that fine old window 
plant, the Creeping Cereus (Cereus Jlagelliformis)^ introduced into this country 
from Peru in 1690 ; and taking into consideration how little trouble it entails in 
its management, and how particularly well it is adapted for window-culture, it is 
