September 9. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
309 
J end in this Coral plant as a grand climax, so that with- 
! out being envious of Mr. Dawson’s success, I certaiuly 
could not help wishing that I could have shown them a 
respectable bed. The plants I had turned out were 
young and too forward; the first bloom was nearly 
! gone, and the second shoots, unless in a fine autumn, 
will do little good, and I fear tend to exhaust the roots 
for a succeeding year. I am none the less in a position, 
| however, to tell our friends how they may obtain 
! gorgeous beds of this plant. 
I have never seen the plant so used to any great 
extent. In this neighbourhood, I am not aware of its 
j being so employed, except by Mr. Dawson, at Pensanger, 
| and Mr. Snow, at Earl de Grey’s, Wrest Park. The 
j method of growing it in the beds by these two gentle- 
! men is different. Mr. Snow uses it in a symmetrical 
garden, where the plants are all low, and, therefore, the 
Erythrinas are pegged down, and you thus require to be 
near the bed to see the massive beauty of the flowers. 
Mr. Dawson allows the shoots to grow upright. As far 
as I recollect, they were rather more than a yard in 
height, thin enough to allow room and air to each 
shoot, and each of them clothed from the point to near 
the base with flowers; the bed thus being very attractive 
at a distance. The mode of treating the plants pre¬ 
viously to planting-out is in both cases identical, and 
harmonises with our own successful practice with single 
plants. This treatment will be the best answer to many 
enquiries. 
As soon as the plants have done flowering, and the 
leaves withered, the shoots are cut down pretty close to 
their base; and before frost of any intensity comes the 
plants are carefully lifted, and potted in any light, rich 
soil. If the shoots are not well ripened before cold 
weather comes, it is best to pot without cutting down, 
supplying the potted plants with a little water, and 
plenty of air under cover, until the base of the stems, 
at least, is pretty hard and firm. If there are large 
plants in pots, they may remain in them after cutting 
the stems down. Two things are now essential to 
success:— 
1st. The plants must he kept cool, free from frost, 
and dry, rather than wet, though not quite dry during 
the winter. 
2nd. In spring the same conditions must be secured. 
Vegetation must be retarded instead of being accele¬ 
rated. A dry, airy, cool position, but free from frost, is 
the place for them. The less the shoots arc sprung, 
provided they are shooting freely before being planted 
out in May, the better. Three inches in length will be 
better than nine, and more than the latter will unfit the 
I plants for a fine effect in moderately dwarf beds. The 
keeping the plants back enough before planting-out 
time is the great point with both of these first-rate cul¬ 
tivators. A slight protection may then be necessary, 
but the little check to growth given at planting seems 
sufficient to cause the flower-buds immediately to form ; 
so that the flowers reach within a few inches of the base 
of the shoots, instead of appearing as spikes at the 
i extreme points. 1 have long found that for dwarf, 
massive plants in pots, a similar cool and quiet treat¬ 
ment must be given them : allowing the plants to grow 
in winter, or giving them extra heat to get them of good 
size in spring, will be fatal to fine, robust, dwarf beds. 
If success be proof of right, then the above must be 
the best mode. They could not be kept dry enough, 
i and free from frost, without great trouble, in the beds 
I out-of-doors, and even then the shoots would not break 
so regularly, aud many would be gross in their habits. 
When we used to make beds of Fuchsias, I found it 
| necessary to transplant every spring, to ensure equality 
| and conqmctness of growth. Before, or shortly aftor 
planting-out, is the hest time for thinning and regu- 
I lating the shoots, and these thinnings make the best 
cuttings for increasing and forming a stock ; but all 
these matters were previously alluded to. Mr. Dawson j 
finds the E. laurifolia as useful as the crista-galli. 
Yellow Calceolarias. —Which is the best for vase, 
basket, and bed ? are questions often asked. “ What 
yellow Calceolaria is that ? ” is another as frequently | 
put; and the answer with me uniformly is— Caies yellow. 
This does best with me in-doors and out-of-doors, and, 
though growing others, I make this my chief. I have 
had many sent me that were to beat it, but it remains 
my favourite still. Two years ago, I spoke of it as 
highly as I do now; and a clever gardener, then in 
Staffordshire, wrote me, “ that I did not know the good 
things that were out,” and offering to send me some old 
plants of a yellow, after seeing which, I never would 
grow Caies any more. Of course, I took him at his 
word, and from the old plants I managed to get a few 
very small cuttings, which received every, nay, much 
extra, attention. 1 found, however, that this wonderful 
Staffordshire yellow was only a second edition of Au- 
rantia multiflora; a good thing, certaiuly, but not equal 
with me to Caies for compactness of growth and dense¬ 
ness, and continuance of bloom. 
1 Vhat is the hest Time and Mode of Propagating Shrubby 
Calceolarias ?■—Their propagation is most easily managed 
in spring, in a slight hotbed. In the autumn they always 
do best after the middle of September, and kept cool. 
A frame, or a hand-light on a north border, is just the 
place. They will i - oot best when the cool nights come. 
Small side-shoots, from one to one-and-a-half inch in 
length, make the best cuttings. Those who follow this 
easy mode will have no reason to envy those who put 
in lanky cuttings a month or six weeks ago. Let the 
soil in which they are placed be very light and free 
from worms. 
Calceolaria amplextcaulis. —This, whichever way 
used, has done as well with me this season as my old 
favourite, the Kentish Piero, has done ill. The narrow, 
lanceolate form of its leaves, and extreme closeness of 
the opening of the slipper flowers, enabled it to stand 
both heat, aud rains, and hail, with comparative im¬ 
punity. Its soft lemon colour is no bad accompaniment 
of the deep orange of Aurantia, Caies yellow, Kaziana, 
or Viscossissima. It may, and should, be treated dif¬ 
ferently from most others in the following respects, 
whether used in-doors or out, for basket or bed:—1st. 
Whether propagated in autumn or spring the young 
shoots should rarely he stopped. If they are, the bloom 
will be too late to compete with the first brilliancy of 
other Calceolarias; if unstopped, they will bloom as 
others. 2nd. To keep up a succession of fine bloom, 
thinning the young shoots must be resorted to after the 
first flower-stalks open their blooms. Unlike most 
others, a profusion of young shoots come from the main 
one that bears the first flowers. If these are all allowed 
to remain, the competition for precedence is such, that 
you will have a very indifferent bloom late in the au¬ 
tumn. By removing by degrees the greater part of 
these young shoots additional strength is thrown into 
those remaining, and these will then produce flower- 
stalks almost equal to the first. The plants may thus 
be maintained in beauty until the cold is too much for 
them. 3rd. From the above mode of growth, cuttings 
may always be obtained freely from these side-shoots 
after growth has been freely proceeding, and thus taken, 
they will strike at any time. A mass of this plant, with 
a purple border, has a pleasing effect. 
Calceolaria Sultan. —This is a large dark variety, 
but with a large opening in the flower. In general, I 
prefer small flowers, when exposed to wind and weather. 
From the large opening I was prejudiced against Sultan, 
though otherwise fully convinced of its beauty. In 
several exposed circumstances it has stood well with me 
this season—in fact, quite as well as flowers not a 
