SEPTEMBER > 
201 
these things, as I have flowered them all, and not long ago I sent along with 
the charming Laslia majalis, to one of the Tuesday meetings of the Royal 
Horticultural Society, several plants of 0. rubescens which were fac-similes 
of Dawsonianum. In neither habit, nor general development of plant, is 
there the slightest diversity. 
Of course the white colour 
changes in the ground to a soft 
rose, but the structural features 
of Rossii or rubescens remain 
unchanged, the colours varying 
only as in the case of the com¬ 
mon Sweet William, and many 
other plants of like sportive 
character. It is not less a 
charming thing for all that, and 
worthy of general culture. Its 
comparatively tiny habit ren¬ 
ders it rather a difficult plant 
“ to do,” requiring plenty of 
moisture, a limited amount of 
pot room, and a comparatively 
close atmosphere. 
All these vareties may be 
grown with the greatest success 
in a house suitable for Pelar¬ 
goniums, and ventilated and 
attended to as regards moisture 
very much in the same way. 
The same winter temperature 
would answer well; and if 
plants of this kind were kept 
as near the glass and had the 
same careful supervision, as is 
demanded for our Lucy Grieves, 
Lady Cullums, Queen Victorias, 
and such-like subjects, there 
would be no cause for lamentation or annoyance. This difference in summer 
I would contend for—namely, that on wet days, or when the weather was 
inclined to be cold, I would always give a good brisk heat, modifying it by 
judicious ventilation. Let any of the readers of the Florist try this, and 
they will not fail. 
Meadow Bank. James Anderson. 
PETUNIAS. 
Of the many free-flowering popular plants which are suitable for growing 
in pots, or for summer-bedding purposes, few bear stronger evidence of the 
skill of the cross-breeder, or of his great usefulness, than the Petunia. 
Allied, as its name implies, to the Tobacco plant (Nicotiana), and therefore 
belonging to the vast and varied order of Nightshades, one scarcely finds 
in the originals P. phoenicea, P. violacea (to which, probably, we are most 
indebted), P. intermedia, and P. acuminata—all of which have been intro- 
