356 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
September 2. 
week of a drought, finishes it. Lupinus nanus (what a 
pity that gardeners do not sow large breadths of this 
very beautiful dwarf Lupin every autumn) has quite a 
different character when allowed to grow on slowly 
all the winter. It would do to plant out in April, where 
Lobelia racemosa, or any dwarf blue plant was too tall 
late in the season. It blooms from May to the middle 
or end of August, from seeds sown about the middle or 
end of September, provided the plants are not allowed 
to ripen any seeds. Another sowing, about the first 
week in May, would carry it on to the middle of October. 
Silene pendula , S. compacta , and S. Schafta, are the best 
of the Catchflies, and are always best from autumn 
sowing. I once saw a thatched cottage, covered with 
Silene pendula in bloom about the middle of May. 
The Virginian Stock flowers in April, if sown now, and 
all the varieties of the branching Larkspur will bloom 
most part of the summer, if sown early in September. 
Corn-flowers (Centaurea cyanus, and depressa) sow for 
cut flowers. D. Beaton. 
CLIMBERS FOR WARM CONSERVATORIES. 
A variety of enquiries have reached us on this sub¬ 
ject, which will perhaps be best met by answering the 
following questions. 
1st.—What do you mean by a warm conservatory, or 
greenhouse? A house where the lowest average nightly 
temperature in winter ranges from 45° to 50°. Even in 
severe weather it should seldom fall below 40°. On the 
other hand, a cool house, where preservation is the chief 
object, may range from .10° to 5° lower when the wea¬ 
ther is severe. In fine, mild weather in winter, the 
warm greenhouse may average 50° at night. In severe 
frost it will be safe at from 40° to 45°. In all cases 
where sun can be got, the house may be allowed to 
rise from 5° to 15° by the heat of its rays, and be 
early shut up. In fact, air should be given in winter 
chiefly to keep the atmosphere sweet, and prevent the 
plants getting drawn. This latter evil is most likely to 
happen in dull weather, with artificial heat applied. A 
rise of temperature with sunshine will seldom produce 
such a result. The king of day—the absence or presence 
of bright light—should always be our guide with regard 
to temperature. In such houses we expect to see plants 
slowly growing all the winter, many in full bloom, and 
tender plants kept safely, so as to bloom freely in 
summer. For this latter purpose few things are more 
appropriate than climbers. Many, considered rather 
tender, are quite at home when they get elevated enough 
to scramble over the roof, and far enough from thfe glass, 
say one-and-a-half to two feet, to prevent their being 
suddenly cooled by radiation in a cold night. As many 
of our stove, or tropical plants, do better out-of-doors in 
summer than when pent up in a hothouse, and yet 
would only maintain a lingering existence in a cool 
greenhouse in winter, so many of these climbers will 
bloom in a warm greenhouse as freely as in a plant 
stove; nay, much mpre so, as the partial check in 
winter is useful for inducing a profusion of bloom. 
2ndly. When, and how, should I plant them ? It 
; might be done carefully in this month of August, but I 
; should prefer April or May; as then they have got the 
whole season before them to grow freely, and as, unless 
the plants were very large, you could not expect much 
bloom the first year. If planted out, the position, if 
possible, should be near the heating medium, whether 
pipes or flues, as this will keep the roots more comfort¬ 
able. It will also be advisable to make a small pit, say 
two feet square, with bricks, &c., for each plant, and 
deep enough to allow plenty of rough matter at the 
| bottom communicating with a drain. The separate pit 
for each will not only tend to prevent rampant, un¬ 
ripened growth t but you can easily change, and renew 
a plant without disturbing its neighbour. If not planted 
out, wooden boxes will be preferable to any kind of pots, 
as the roots will be less exposed to variations of tempe¬ 
rature. The soil, in general cases, should be light and 
open, as luxuriance can always be obtained by surface- 
dressings, and manure-waterings. 
3rdly. Will Passiflora Billottii bloom in such a house? 
Yes, and a pretty thing it is, though I think an error 
was often committed in those who sent it out speaking 
of it as being as hardy as P. ccerulea racemosa. The chief 
fault I find with it is that in such a 1 house the 
flowers do not expand freely in dull weather, but 
drop when three-parts opened. My plant has hardly 
got lofty enough yet to show what it can do, but my 
present impression is that it will require a sunny 
position in summer, and an average temperature in 
winter, abovo, rather than at all below 45°. 
Passiflora Kermesina is a plant of a very different 
habit, producing great abundance of its beautiful 
crimson flowers, and this (though not lately) I have 
bad in great profusion in such a house. When its 
young shoots, covered with opened and progressing 
buds, are suspended from an arch or rafter, the appear¬ 
ance is very captivating. In the people’s Crystal FaJace 
there will be room to show off such plants in all their 
grandeur. This last one by no means requires great 
room, as it may be trained round a trellis, and flower 
freely in a ten-inch pot. When the Billottii is tried, 
this might also have a niche in a warm corner, but 
should not be planted out until it has a good shoot, at 
least from eight to twelve feet in length. 
4thly. Can I bloom and fruit such Passifloras as 
quadrangularis and edulis, in such a house? No; as 
respects the first. Yes; as respects the second. Quad¬ 
rangularis requires a strong, moist heat when growing, 
and a high temperature to set the flowers, and even then 
a little dusting of the pollen by hand will be necessary. 
The fruit gets to the size of an ordinary melon, and is 
much liked by some people. The flowers are truly 
grand; but I have never seen them in anything like 
perfection unless in a plant stove. In the warm con¬ 
servatory, edulis will be just at home. It blooms freely, 
but the flowers are whitish, and not at all striking when 
contrasted with their fellows. It fruits, also, very freely, 
without any artificial pollen dusting on your part. The 
fruit, when ripe, is nearly the size of a hen’s egg, and of 
a purple colour. The flavour is very peculiar,—acid, yet 
rich, and is generally relished. Where the fruit is liked, 
the plant deserves a place, even on that account. 
Sthly. Will Bignonia venusta and Chirere blow 
there ? One of the best of the Biguonias for such a 
place is jasminoides, but it should have a pit, or a con¬ 
fined place for root-action. Chirere I have also seen 
doing very fairly in such circumstances ; but I think it 
would be vain to attempt venusta. I have not grown 
the latter for many a day, and yet I think it is the most 
splendid of the race. It is a native of warm positions 
in South America, and seems to like heat as well in this 
country as in its native home. I have seen it good in 
many positions, but best of all when planted in a pit, 
in the bed, or bark-pit of a stove. Then, with plenty of 
room, pruned rather close back in winter, encouraged 
to grow in spring and summer, it became a truly gor¬ 
geous object in autumn. 
Othly. Will Mandevilla suaveolens, Ipomcea Larii, ; 
I. insignis, and Stephanotis Jloribumla, answer in such a ! 
house ? Yes ; all of them, if strong, healthy plants are 
used. Small, dwindling things will be apt to go off the 
first winter. The Mandevilla is a sort of Citizen of-the- 
world plant, thriving against a wall, in greenhouses, 
and plant stoves, but a warm greenhouse or conser¬ 
vatory is the position in which it appears to greatest ad¬ 
vantage—its young shoots, clothed with its bunches ot 
white flowers, dangling in wild profusion, or running 
