December 15. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
203 
ever cool we may manage to keep them in winter, they 
delight in a rise of temperature as growth commences, 
and frequent damping of the foliage then. 
0. S. Halfordii. —1 have only seen small plants of 
this, which seems a compact species or variety, for I 
forget, if I ever knew, anything about its antecedents. 
It seems, however, a desirable plant. 
10. S. Dichsonii. —This, like the last, is a neat, com¬ 
pact sub-shrub, producing blue-purple flowers early in 
spring. Well-grown it gets from twelve to eighteen 
inches in height. I suspect that like the last it is a 
hybrid, home-raised, and none the worse for that; at 
any rate, I have been able to obtain no information as 
to its introduction. By some it is supposed synony¬ 
mous with Ritidopliylla, a species producing blue 
flowers, aud with peculiar file-liko leaves, introduced 
from South Africa a dozen of years ago; but so far as 
I recollect, that was more soft aud herbaceous in its 
character. 
11. S. imbricata. —This most desirable though herba¬ 
ceous species is a native of Teneriffe, has large hoary, 
irregularly-lobcd leaves, aud broadly-winged stems, and 
produces its bluish-purple flowers in abundance in 
spring, summer, and autumn; and, could we com¬ 
mand heat, light, and air, enough in winter, would be 
a continuous bloomer. I believe it was flowered for 
the first time in Paris, in 1847. It it propagated by 
half ripened shoots; and if taken off with a heel so 
much the better. But as a cutting would make 
little show as a plant, until the end of the second, 
or during tho course of the third season; and as, 
besides, as will be seen presently, the process will be 
found a little troublesome to beginners, it would be 
preferable to obtain nice healthy plants of this and 
others in four or five-inch pots from a nursery. 
These, if obtained now, will merely require to be kept 
in an airy part of the greenhouse, and where the 
temperature at night averages 45°, or rather above it 
than below it. Here, during the dark months, no 
more water should be given to the roots than is suffi¬ 
cient to keep them neither wet nor dry; but the 
atmosphere must neither be confined, nor dry, by 
means of fire-heat in excess, nor otherwise. In sunny 
days, therefore, the sponging and dusting of the foliage 
with water will be an advantage. If a number of 
pots, or several kinds are grown, it would be advisable 
to place them together, with a little clean moss between 
them, aud a little placed over the surface of the soil, 
and the merely dusting of this moss with water in fine 
weather in winter, would, by evaporation of moisture, 
give a suitable atmosphere to the foliage, while the 
roots are kept from being over wet. This, and tho 
sponging of the leaves frequently, will keep the plants 
in good health. In spring, as the days lighten, and 
lengthen, the plants should be moved to the warmest 
end of the greenhouse, or any' other place, where an 
average night temperature of from 50° to 55° can be 
commanded; and, soon after the plants push freely, 
they should be shifted into clean, well-drained pots, and 
of such a size as to allow from one to two inches more 
space all round. After this they should bo kept rather 
close until the roots arc working in the new soil, when 
more air should be given; and, by Midsummer, another 
shift, rather larger, should be given, when the same 
process should be repeated. A cold pit, kept rather 
close, would then be the position for them, syringing 
them over head in a sunny afternoon and shutting up 
early. Towards autumn more air should be given; and 
by the end of October they should have their position 
in the greenhouse, and be treated as they wero the pre¬ 
ceding winter. During the first summer all flower- 
stalks that appear should be nipped out. In very sunny 
days they would also require a slight shading for a 
few hours during the hottest part of a summer’s 
day. In tho spring, when they obtain a temperature 
of from 50° to 55°, they will begin to throw up 
their flower-stalks, and then, from April, an open 
place in a greenhouse will be the appropriate place 
for them. During summer they will find no fault with 
rich surface-dressings or weak manure-waterings. 
When the dark days of the end of autumn arrive it will 
toll injuriously upon flowers and stems, and, therefore, 
the flower-stems had better be pruned out, and the 
plant subjected to the usual winter routine and spring 
management. After that period, however, younger 
plants will be found more manageable. To do any¬ 
thing well in winter, as respects blooming them, an 
average temperature of from 50° to 55° would be ne¬ 
cessary, with a rise of 10° from sunshine. It will be 
| seen, therefore, that a little extra assistance, in the way 
; of heat in spring, and a moister aud closer atmosphere 
i when growing than would suit a Heath, though by no 
1 means a close one, are the principal minutiaj to be 
attended to in the culture of this and kindred species. 
Those who keep their houses below the temperature 
specified, but could give the necessary heat in a slight 
hotbed in spring, mu9t take care that tho heat is extra 
meet if from decomposing animal and vegetable matter, 
as the least rank steam would neutralize all other efforts. 
12. Statice arborea .—We mention this last on the 
principle that the conclusion of a feast should be richer 
and choicer than its commencement. When well 
grown, some three feet in height, and as much in 
diameter, with its semi-shrubby habit, fine foliage, and 
large heads of blue flowers, it is second to none of the 
group, and inferior to hardly any ornamental plant that 
graces our plant-houses. Whoever can combine con¬ 
venience and attention will be sure to be rewarded. The 
want of success is chiefly owing to a low temperature 
and a sodden soil in winter, and the want of enough of 
heat, and enough of moisture in the atmosphere in 
spring, and the want of a closish, moist atmosphere 
when growing in summer, and especially when young. 
A more open situation suits the plant when in bloom, 
and that, in an established plant, may be said to be 
always, provided that during winter the temperature of 
an intermediate house, ranging from 50° to 60°, is 
afforded. It is propagated by cuttings ; but it is best for 
beginners to have a nice young plant to commence with. 
Much the same process may then be gone through as 
with the preceding, such as giving a temperature 
■above rather than below 45° in winter ; an airy position, 
without cold draughts; little water at the roots; fre¬ 
quent syringing or sponging of the foliago; a rise of 
from five to ten degrees in early spring; a fresh shift 
soon afterwards, and one or two more before the end of 
July, keeping the plants close, moist, and a little shaded 
after each shifting, and more airy afterwards, especially 
after tho last. The cold pit, with not too much air, 
being the best position after the end of June, and an 
early transference to the greenhouse in October if it is 
not to bloom in winter, and an intermediate house if it 
is to do so, as the blooms will not open freely under 
50°. I know that some gardeners succeed with this 
plant with much rougher treatment as respects low 
temperature, such as from 35° to 40° in winter; but it 
would require experienced fingers to go about it under 
such conditions. We know that it has been found 
growing amid the debris of rocks washed by tho sea on 
tho coast of Teneriffe; and there, while the summers are 
hot, the climate throughout the year is mild, frost near 
the coast being unknown, and the snow only showing 
itself in the tops of the highest mountains. Like the 
rest, its native locality points to the importance of a 
moist atmosphere, aud the sponge or the syringe is 
necessary to remove the saline incrustations which 
come upon tho foliage, and which, if left, would be so 
many barriers to a free respiration. 
