September 2. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
357 
along a wire in more massive wreaths. This is well 
worthy of a rafter or arch in every greenhouse. Ipomcea 
Learii is still more at home in such a house, though a 
native of Ceylon. It will lose many of its leaves in 
winter, hut that is a matter of no consequence, as it may 
then be pruned back very freely, and it will always bloom 
better on a few pretty strong shoots than on masses of 
I smaller ones. The flowers will be as large, more in¬ 
tensely blue, and the leaves not so large, as when the 
plant is grown in a stove house. I have nearly destroyed 
a splendid plant by extra severe loppings, as it 
threatened to monopolise a whole roof. Even now a bit 
of it, here and there, mingled with other things, is very 
beautiful. On dull days, the flowers will maintain their 
beauty until the afternoon. On bright days, if not well 
shaded, they will shrivel up by mid-day. Unshaded, 
about nine o’clock is the time to see them in their glory. 
The house in which this plant used to be such an orna¬ 
ment, and which, even in its lopped state, it beautifies 
now, has frequently been at 40°, and, for short intervals, 
below it in winter. As alluded to above, no leaves, except 
a few small ones, need be left on the plant in winter. It 
is rather subject to a white scale; the best mode of 
getting rid of which is to prune in rather close, and then 
scrub the stems with soft-soapy water. I pom tea insignis, 
often termed Selloivii, is quite a counterpart in colour, 
being pink; it flowers equally freely, but is not quite so 
hardy for a rafter, as the stems are apt to die back to a 
tuberous root. It is well fitted for a round trellis. One of 
the most beautiful of all the Ipomceas, namely, ccerulea 
rubra, would just be at home in such a house, and in 
general would do best if grown from seeds, sown in a 
hotbed in spring, the seedlings pricked, and potted off, 
and got into such a house in May. The extreme beauty 
of the flowers would more than repay the trouble. 
Stcphanotis Jloribunda, I planted out last summer. 
The house was several times at, and below, 40° during 
winter, but only for short intervals; mostly ranging 
from 45° to 48° at night, with a good rise from sunshine. 
A good many of the leaves fell, and several of the 
youngest shoots damped off quite back to the older 
wood; it grew on, however, in the bright days of April 
and May. The shoots have got some twelve feet in 
height, and are in bloom, and showing bloom at almost 
every joint. When once I get it high enough to span 
an arch, or mount a rafter, I feel assured the plant will 
just be in its element. Even now, the sweetness diffused 
through the house by its dozen or two of opened bunches 
of flowers is a sufficient reward. If the autumn is fine 
there will be abundance more. While on the subject, 
I may mention that this is a very accommodating plant. 
Whether round a trellis, in a pot, or round an arch in a 
conservatory, I could hardly take it upon me to state 
what is the best method to adopt as respects pruning 
and training. Some of my coadjutors will, no doubt, 
assist, or correct where I may be in error. Two modes, 
my limited practice with this gem of a plant has sug¬ 
gested. 
First.— When the plant is wished to bloom very fair 
every year. In this case, when done flowering, the plant 
should be thinned, rather sparingly pruned, removing 
as much of the old wood as you can do, so as to have 
a sufficiency of the current season’s growth. Then, 
after this, growth should not be so much attempted as 
ripening the wood. The plant, therefore, should stand 
right in the sun, and just have water enough to keep 
it from flagging. The young shoots that come from the 
well-ripened buds will yield you the chief part of the 
flowers. 
The second mode is to partly sacrifice one year for a 
more regular and gorgeous display in the succeeding 
one. In this case, the plants are pruned back freely, 
the young shoots that come are thinned-out to the 
desired number; shade and moisture are freely given 
them to encourage growth; the treatment, in fact, the 
opposite of causing flower-buds to form. Then, towards 
the end of summer and the autumn the treatment is 
reversed; light and air are given freely; water is 
gradually withheld. The plants are kept cool in winter, 
and when excited into growth next spring, almost every 
bud from those shoots grown and ripened the preceding 
year brings its masses of fragrant white blossoms. By 
thus sacrificing a season to growth, many other plants 
would present a more uniform appearance than when 
grown and bloomed every year. A first-rate gardener 
told me it is also the only way to produce astonishing 
effects with those beautiful orchids, the Dendrobiums, 
and others. R. Fish. 
THE HOLLYHOCK. 
(Continued from page 336.) 
The seedling plants of the Hollyhock being trans¬ 
planted, as directed in our last, the only care they 
require, during the spring and summer, will be keeping 
them clear of weeds and insects, the most destructive of 
which is the grub at the root, and the red spider on the 
leaves. The grub is the most difficult to destroy; there 
is no effectual way of doing so excepting that of search¬ 
ing for them near the leaves when the Hollyhock is 
planted. Here we have had such a dry season in the 
spring that the grubs could not travel from plant to 
plant, and, in consequence, they have escaped; but 
now, since the rain came, they begin to creep about, 
seeking their food and devouring it. We could forgive 
them if they would be content with a leaf, like a cater¬ 
pillar, but nothing will serve them but the stem, just 
near the surface of the soil. Nothing will prevent their 
eating off a young plant but catching them. 
The red spider is an enemy to be guarded against 
with every precaution. In wet seasons the rain and 
moisture prevent the increase of this pest, but in dry 
weather it increases fast and fearfully. As soon as spots 
on the leaves are perceived it is certain he is at work ; 
then use the syringe freely, at least every evening, 
and if that does not check him, further means must be 
used : mix some sulphur with water, and sponge every 
leaf with it. In the early stage of growth this will not 
be much trouble; at least, where valuable kinds are 
cultivated, it will be worth that trouble to get rid of them. 
Transplanting. —When the plants have attained some 
size, and begin to be crowded, it will then be prudent 
to prepare a piece of ground large enough to contain 
these choice seedlings at such a distance from each other 
as to afford them space to bloom. This preparation 
will consist of, first, a good coat or covering of well- 
decomposed dung; then dig the ground over, at least a 
good spit deep, and mix the manure well with it; if it 
is turned over twice it will be all the better. If the 
site chosen for the purpose be wet, it must be thoroughly 
drained. This may appear a considerable amount of 
trouble and expense, especially for seedlings, but it is, 
nevertheless, necessary to be done, in order to give them 
a fair chance to show what they are worth at once. If 
this trenching and manuring is done about the end of 
July, the plants may be transplanted into it by the 
middle of August, which will give them time to become 
firmly established before the winter. Some may show a 
disposition to spindle up into flower; such should have 
the flower stems nipped off at once, which will cause 
them to produce stocky shoots, not flowering steins. 
They should be planted out in rows at least eighteen 
inches apart, or, if ground is plentiful, let them be two 
feet between each row, and nine inches from plant to 
plant in the row. When the cold weather advances, 
and the growth in consequence is stopped, let the sur¬ 
face be stirred, and a thin layer of litter spread between 
