March 13. J 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER 
371 
Portulacca Oilliesii, Thellusoftii, splendens, &c.; beauti¬ 
ful little things with large crimson and scarlet flowers, 
! which, though they exist in summer out of doors, seldom 
have the beauty they possess on the front shelf of a green- 
: house. They require to be grown in peat and sandy 
i loam, with a good proportion of broken bricks or lime 
: rubbish. 
Rkodanthe Manglesii , requires similar treatment, sub¬ 
stituting charcoal for lime rubbish, and a fair supply of 
water ; the Portulacca requires very little in comparison 
with most plants. 
Thunbergia alata, leucantha, aurantiaca, &c., with yel¬ 
low, white, and orange flowers. This is a most beau¬ 
tiful group. The plants should be potted off, and at 
least once again before being removed from the hotbed 
to the greenhouse. A strong heat is necessary to bring 
up the seeds. In addition to plunging the seed pot, it is 
advisable to place a square of glass over it. This is a 
good plan for all small seeds. Sandy peat and loam are 
the best for the first shifts; but afterwards add a portion of 
rotten dung and lime rubbish, with a little charcoal. 
The great thing is to keep down red spiders; and for 
this purpose the syringe should be freely used, and 
fumes of flowers of sulphur from a liot-water plate. The 
plants may either be trained to a trellis, or allowed to 
scramble over a branch, or the top of a young tree. 
Clintonia pulchella is a beautiful thing that should go 
side by side with the little Lobelias. 
The following, though not annuals, will blow well in 
summer and autumn in the greenhouse, if sown in such a 
hotbed : — Fuchsia, especially the fulgens branch; Lopho- 
spernum, especially the dwarfer kinds; Penstemom, all 
the frame varieties ; Trachelium cceruleum ; Salvia, such 
as f ulgens ; and the beautiful patens, and many annuals, 
which, though often grown in the flower-garden, are 
always richer and more brilliant when protected by an 
airy greenhouse, such as Salpiglossis and Schizanthus, 
&c. R. Fish. 
HOTHOUSE DEPARTMENT. 
EXOTIC STOVE PLANTS. 
Franciscea confertiflora (Crowded flowered F.); 
South America. 5s.—This is a species lately introduced, 
and promises to be useful. The foliage is large, of a 
dark glossy green, and the branches are thickly covered 
with them. As far as we have had experience of it, it 
appears to be an evergreen. The flowers are produced 
towards the ends of the young branches in considerable 
; numbers; they are larger than any other species ex¬ 
cepting, perhaps, F. latifolia, and they are quite equal 
in size to that line species. The colour when they first 
i open is bluish purple, gradually changing, as the flowers 
i grow older, to white. It is a very desirable plant. 
F. eximia (Noble F.); South America. 15s.—Intro¬ 
duced to Pine Apple Place Nursei-y from the continent. 
The continental nurserymen speak highly of this species ; 
but we have not yet flowered it, so cannot positively 
describe its good qualities. The foliage is as large as the 
preceding species, and is sufficiently attractive. It is 
covered with a kind of silvery down which renders it 
interesting and handsome. 
Soil. —The compost we have found to suit is turfy 
loam, peat mould, and vegetable earth, formed of de¬ 
composed tree leaves, in equal parts, with a fair admixture 
of sand to render it light and porous. 
Summer Culture. —Supposing a young plant in March 
to be in a 48, or five-inch pot, place some of the 
compost well mixed, but not sifted, into a warm shed, or 
some other place, to become moderately heated. Cold 
earth would be apt to drill the roots, and so check the 
growth for a considerable period. As soon as the 
compost is properly warmed, bring the plant to the 
potting bench, prepare a pot to receive it two sizes larger 
than the one it is in. Drain it well by first laying a 
large piece of broken potsherd over the hole, propping 
it up on one side with a small thin piece of slate or 
potsherd; then place upon it about half an inch of 
smaller pieces, and upon them an inch of still smaller 
pieces, and cover them either with a thin layer of moss, 
or some of the very fibrous parts of the loam and peat. 
Upon these place such a layer of soil as will allow the 
ball of earth attached to the plant to stand just level ( 
with the rim of the new pot, then with the hand work in I 
the soil all round the ball till the pot is quite full, but 
do not press it hard; then level the soil and the operation 
is finished. Place the plants in a warm stove, tem¬ 
perature, 70° by day and 60° by night. This is quite 
heat enough for this tribe of plants. Let them stand 
within eighteen inches of the glass ; give a good watering 
at the first to settle the earth close to the roots; keep 
the air of the house moderately moist during the early 
part of the year, but when the sun causes the heat to 
rise high, have the floors, walls, and pipes, frequently 
flooded to keep up a regul ar atmospheric moisture. When 
the plants are growing rapidly give plenty of water at 
the. root also, as the demand for nourishment is then 
great. Air must also be given freely during this hot 
season by day, and even a little in the night will be 
advantageous, the grand aim being to keep down the 
heat, both day and night, to the right degree. Syringe 
the plants freely morning and evening to encourage 
growth, and to prevent the attacks of insects. As soon 
as the plants have filled the pots with roots they ought 
to be re-potted, and then is a good time to stop the 
young shoots; tie them out and so form handsome 
shapely bushes. The shift this time should be pretty 
liberal, as if all has gone on right the plants will be 
strong and healthy; return them into the stove and 
continue the same liberal treatment. About the middle 
of July the plants would be greatly benefited by a two 
months sojourn in a cold frame or pit; set them upon a 
bed of coal ashes, shade from very hot sun, syringe 
them every afternoon, and shut them up close imme¬ 
diately. The benefit they will receive by this treatment 
is twofold—a more free, solid, stout growth, and complete 
freedom from insects. We have practised this method 
for several years, and can confidently recommend it for 
young woody stove-plants of nearly every kind, the only 
exceptions being Ixoras and Aphelandra aurantiaca. 
Winter Culture. —When the nights begin to be longer 
than the days, remove the Francisceas into an interme¬ 
diate house, heat 55° by day and 50° by night*, and keep 
them there through the winter. This will give them a 
rest, and will, perhaps, cause them to lose part of their 
leaves. During this time give them but little water, 
and keep the air of the house quite dry. This rest and 
drought will cause them to grow and flower much more 
satisfactorily than if they were kept continually excited. 
Propagation. By Cuttings.— -These plants should be 
propagated by the young shoots they make in the spring, 
after they are brought into the warm stove from the 
cooler house they have been kept in through the winter. 
Take the cuttings off just at the point they start from, 
as soon as they are three or four inches long; plant 
them in five-inch pots in the usual compost, with a layer 
of pure silver sand at the top, give a gentle watering, 
and place them under hand-glasses upon a heated surface 
of either tanner's spent bark, sand, or coal ashes, shading 
from bright sunshine. Be very careful in watering, for 
being so young they are liable to damp off'. They will 
soon strike root, and should then have air given to them 
by propping up the hand-glasses for a week or two. 
After that pot them off into three-inch pots, replace them 
under the hand-glass for a week or two, and then 
gradually accustom them to bear the full light and air, 
and as soon as that is the case treat them in the same 
manner as the older plants. 
