THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
50 
[October 24. 
introduced in 1802), has leaves thick and fleshy; the 
flowers are produced in umbels, on short stems, some¬ 
times as many as a dozen on a stem. In the centre of 
each flower there is, as it were, a drop of thick liquid 
distilled, which, if tasted, has the luscious taste of the 
finest honey, hence the plant is often called the 
“ Honey plant." When the flowers drop off, the stems 
should not be cut away, as they have the surprising and 
unique propensity of producing from the same stem a 
second, or more, crops of flowers, often more numerous 
and finer than the first. 
Culture.— Hoya carnosa is a plant of a somewhat 
succulent habit, and consequently requires a soil of a 
very open texture. A. compost of fibrous peat, turfy 
loam, and some lime rubbish with broken potsherds 
amongst it, suits it well. It is a climber, and, therefore, 
may be trained in various ways. A circular wire trellis 
with this plant trained all over it is a very ornamental 
object. It also decorates a pillar handsomely, but the 
finest plant we ever saw of it was used to cover the 
upper part of the back wall of a Pine stove, which it did 
completely, and was for half the year in bloom. It was 
the finest covering for a blank wall we ever witnessed. 
It may also be cultivated in a basket, and hung up in 
the orchid house. In that situation its long slender 
branches hang down gracefully, and produce their beau¬ 
tiful flowers in abundance, and are more seen than in 
any other situation. So useful and ornamental can this 
plant be, that we wonder it is not more extensively cul¬ 
tivated. It has the advantage, also, of being in a great 
measure free from the attacks of insects, and is easily 
propagated. Cuttings of almost any size will grow in 
sand, if dried for a short time (two days) previously to 
planting. It will grow, also, from single leaves, but, 
excepting as a matter of curiosity, this way of propa¬ 
gating it is useless, because it grows so rapidly from 
larger cuttings. A good sized plant may be purchased 
for 2s. 6d. 
Hoya imperialis (The Imperial Hoya).—This is, in¬ 
deed, a noble plant, worthy of the utmost care and skill 
of the cultivator! Just look at the dimensions of one 
flower now lying before us. It is full three inches 
across, and the umbel from whence it was taken had ten 
of these large flowers upon it. The diameter of the 
umbel measures eight inches ; the stem of the umbel is 
seven inches long; and the stem of each separate flower 
is four inches ; altogether forming one of the finest 
umbels of flowers ever seen. The colour of the flower, 
indeed, is not so bright as a Scarlet Anemone, yet it is 
very pleasing. The calyx is five-parted, green, and very 
small for so large a flower. The corolla is also five- 
parted, forming a star-like appearance, each part is 
triangular-shaped and turned back a little on the edges; 
the colour is a reddish chocolate, shaded off in the 
centre with creamy white. The nectaries, five in 
number, are large and of a yellowish white. Between 
each there is a small dark coloured spot. The whole 
flower is highly polished and glossy, like ivory or wax. 
The leaves are as large as the leaves of the common 
laurel. They grow in pairs, are of a pale lovely green, 
and covered with silky down. Now, we would ask, is 
not this faithful description the picture of a fine, first- 
rate, desirable plant? We think it is; and our readers 
who have never seen it, and have the means of growing 
it, ought immediately to procure it, the price being now 
reasonable. 7s. 6d. 
Culture. —This fine plant was discovered by Mr. 
Low, jun., growing wild in the woods of Borneo, in per¬ 
haps the hottest climate in the world, consequently it 
requires a warmer stove in this country than the pre¬ 
ceding species. The soil it thrives well in with us is a 
i 
compost of peat, loam, and leaf mould, made very 
sandy and well drained. It will thrive better if there is 
the convenience of a bark-bed to plunge the pot in in 
which the plant is growing. In that situation it will 
grow rapidly, and flower soon. Our plant is only two 
years old, and it has at present two umbels in flower, 
and several others showing; and no doubt would have 
been much larger had it had a bark-bed to stimulate its 
growth still more. However, it will encourage those 
who have not the convenience of a bark-bed to grow it 
in to cultivate so noble a plant. It strikes easily ; for 
incipient roots may be observed appearing on the stem 
of the plant. Short shoots with two leaves make the 
host cuttings; place them singly in thumb pots, 
chiefly in sand, under a hand-glass, and in a fortnight 
they will be rooted, and may then be hardened off 
gradually and repotted. As it is a climbing plant it 
may either be trained to a trellis, or, which is the best 
method, may be trained along the roof of the stove. In 
that way it shows off its fine flowers to the greatest ad¬ 
vantage. It requires moderate supplies of water even 
in summer, but in winter very little will be sufficient. 
Hoya bella (Pretty Hoya).—As the II. imperialis is 
one of the most noble of noble plants, so this is the 
prettiest'of all pretty ones. It has been called “an 
amethyst set in frosted silver,” and that is a just des¬ 
cription of it. It is a dwarf species with small leaves, 
and an umbel of flowers no larger than a single bloom 
of the preceding species, yet, though so tiny, it is a gem 
of a flower, and both on account of its taking up so little 
room and its exquisite beauty ought to be in every plant 
stove in the empire, however small. The corolla is 
nearly of the same colour, but whiter, as the old II. 
carnosa , but the nectaries are of a pleasing amethyst, 
or violet colour. The contrast between the two sets off 
each to the greatest advantage. We can confidently 
recommend this beautiful little plant to our readers, as 
being well worthy of their care and attention. The 
price for tolerable good plants is 7s. 6d. 
Culture. —It requires a rather particular mode of 
culture to grow and flower it well. It is a native of 
Java, and was introduced to this country by Messrs. 
Veitch and Son, of Exeter, through their diligent and 
successful collector, Mr. Lobb. Coming from such a 
warm climate it requires the warmest part of the stove. 
It will grow and flower well in a pot in the ordinary w r ay 
of culture, but thrives best in a basket hung up near 
the glass. The best flowered specimen we have yet seen 
was grown by that method. The basket was filled with 
rough peat and half-rotted leaves mixed, with broken 
potsherds in very small pieces mixed throughout; ma¬ 
naged in this way the branches droop gracefully over 
the edges of the basket; and if hung up so as to be 
near the eye, the flowers are brought nearer to the sight 
than if grown in a pot, because in the latter situation 
the eye only sees the back parts of the flower,and it has 
to be lifted up before its beauties can be seen. This is 
the only species of Hoya, that we know, that is not a 
climber, and so requires no trellis to support it or train 
it to. It has also the advantage of having a delightful 
perfume, especially in the morning ; and so possesses at 
least two of the grand properties desirable in all plants— 
beauty of flower and sweet scent. Like all the tribe it 
is easily propagated by cuttings. Short shoots put into 
pots, half filled with the compost, and the top part with 
sand, strike readily under a hand-glass in heat; and 
after roots are produced, they should be potted off in 
very small pots; and as soon as the pots are partially 
filled with roots, repotted into pots a size larger, and so 
on till they are fit to place into the baskets. 
T. Appleby. 
(To be continued.) 
FLORISTS’ FLOWERS. 
We cannot too often reiterate to our amateur florist 
friends the necessity of watching the “ seasons as they 
roll,” and taking care to provide for the well-being of 
