114 THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN'S COMPANION.- 
j them to cover heels of cuttings or seed-beds; the semi¬ 
transparent character of the calico being eminently 
qualified to shade either of the above from the strong 
glare of sunshine. 
; Although there is likely little danger of frost after the 
time this article reaches the reader, yet the preparation 
of some such protecting substances might be borne in 
! mind before the time arrives for their being wanted. 
1 In the mean time, let the old maxim be remembered 
j “ That what keeps out cold, sometimes keeps out heat 
alsotherefore, where certain crops require retarding, 
shading may he as successfully resorted to as in the 
other cases, only a good contriver will endeavour to 
have the latter done by natural causes. The shade of a 
high north wall will retard most things placed behind 
it, and for that purpose “ a north border ” is scarcely 
less useful than a south one. The purposes being dis¬ 
similar, however, a judicious application of the shading 
and sheltering materials will in most cases tend to a 
useful result. J. Hobson. 
PLANTS THAT MAY BE IN BLOOM IN 
APRIL. 
(Continued from page 7!J.) 
GREENHOUSE PLANTS. 
CiNEitARiAs.—Many of these will now be over. Pots 
of good kinds should have all the flower-steins removed, 
and he placed in a cold shady pit until Juno, then plant 
them out in a shady border, and strong suckers will he 
obtained for potting in August and September, which 
will bloom freely, if enough heat is given them, in 
December. 
Epacris. —Those out of bloom, and allowed to rest a 
few days, should have their long shoots cut back to 
within a few buds of their base, he allowed to stand a 
few days, and then he stimulated to grow freely. A 
close place in the greenhouse will do, if another cannot 
be had; but they will delight in such heat as is given 
to a Vine, a Cucumber, or a Melon, when the young 
shoots are breaking, with a fair allowance of shade. As 
the shoots lengthen, they must have more sun and air. 
In August and September, a cold pit, where the pots are 
shaded, and the shoots exposed to all the light they can 
get, is just the place for them, and will so ripen the 
young shoots that they will be filled with flower-buds 
from the base to close to the points. 
Ericas. —Such free-growing kinds as Wihnoreana , 
hyemalis, &c., may be treated much in the same way, 
1 only they will not stand anything like the same amount 
of artificial heat. A part of a greenhouse kept close, or 
a cold pit so managed after May, will answer admirably. 
Cyclamens should have plenty of water until the 
j leaves begin to wither, when it should be withheld; and 
! if the pots stand in a shady place, and are protected 
from heavy rains, they wall want little more before 
growth commences, when the drainage should be exa¬ 
mined, and, if not repotted, fresh surfaced. For windows, 
this tribe is invaluable. 
Dielytra spectabilis. —The early-flowering plants of 
this should be protected in a cold pit, and watered so 
long as the leaves are green. When they begin to turn 
yellow give but little. At that period, last spring, I cut 
| off a number of pieces of the stems with leaves, rather 
carelessly, and planted them in sandy soil, under a 
J hand-light, placing an evergreen branch over the light, 
| and thinking little more about them. In the autumn 
the glass was filled with plants, and, being potted in 
November, and kept in a cold pit, they have bloomed 
well this spring. Everybody likes the racemes of this 
flower; and those who wish a large supply may thus 
use the stems, before they wither, and not injure the old 
, root, provided they do not cut too close. 
•May 13, 1856. 
I shall now, in the limited space left, refer shortly to 
a group of climbing plants in the above list. 
Hardenbergia. —This genus, allied to Kennedya , 
blooms chiefly in this month. The flowers are small, 
and pea-blossomed in shape, but produced in great pro¬ 
fusion. Comptoneana (purple, lilac) and or. at a are, per¬ 
haps, the fittest for round trellises; macrophylla (scarlet) 
and monopliylla , and monophylla longimccmosa, both 
purple, are well fitted lor pillars and rafters. Propa- 
gated by seeds, and by short, stubby side-shoots, in i 
April or May, two or three inches long, inserted in sand, j 
under a bell-glass, and kept shaded by day, and close, 
until struck. When young, the plants like the compost j 
to bo chiefly sandy peat, with a little loam; but, as the i 
plants get older, and they stand in large pots, the fibry j 
loam should constitute at least one-half. When planted 
out, a little sandy peat should he given round the roots, 
and then, if the border is good loam, well drained, the 
plants will shift for themselves, with a sufficiency of 
watering. When done flowering, they should be pruned 
in pretty freely, to encourage fresh flowering-wood for 
next year. Sometimes they are troubled with a white 
scale, that clings as fast as if it were glued. The 
cleaning of the leaves, in a large plant, would be an 
endless job. Do anything to prevent it spreading, and, 
when done flowering, prune hard in, and scrub the stem 
or shoots unmercifully with a hard brush and liquid 
made pretty strong with tobacco and soft soap. Move 
the earth as far as possible from the collar of the plant 
at the roots, and scrub these likewise. In a few days, 
scrub again with clean water, holding a little size in 
solution. Shade from bright sun, syringe freely, and 
there will soon be plenty of clean shoots, which will 
only remain so if the insects have been thoroughly 
removed from the main stems. 
Kennedya. —If the last may bo called trailers, this is 
a family of twiners. The earliest blooming of them in 
a cool greenhouse are nigricans, prostrata, rather a 
trailer if let alone, and Marryaltce, one of the hardiest 
and most beautiful, producing a profusion of scarlet 
flowers, almost as large as the common Pea, from March 
to June. Prostrata has also scarlet flowers. Nigricans 
has very dark purple flowers, blotched with green and 
yellow. I once had it so strong as to threaten to mono¬ 
polise for itself the roof of a large house ; and when, in 
early spring, the shoots were dangling full of flowers, 
they looked like swarms of some beautiful winged insect. 
Besides these, there are inophylla or dilatata, scarlet; 
! ovata, purple; ntbieunda, red; sericea, silky-leaved 
and scarlet flowered, aud others very pretty that bloom 
i the two following months. All look well upon a trellis; 
but I should recommend nigricans and Marryaltce for 
a pillar, an arch, or a long rafter. "When planted out 
| they will thrive in fibry sandy loam, with a little peat to 
encourage them at first. When young, two parts of the 
compost should he sandy peat. Propagated by cuttings, 
in sand, under a bell-glass, in May ; or by seeds sown 
iu a hotbed, after being soaked in warm ivater several 
hours. Free-growing kinds as those mentioned should 
be pruned back when done flowering. Scale aud Red 
Spider must be looked after. 
Zichya. —This is another allied genus, and there 
j seems considerable confusion'among them. They are njore 
compact in habit, more tender, require more attention 
to drainage, with more sweetness and openness of the 
soil, than the two former genera, and do best on trellises, 
from two to four feet in height, and are thus great 
favourites as greenhouse pot twiners. Of these coccinea, 
scarlet; heterophylla, purple; and tricolor, yellow, red, 
and purple, bloom now, and the others a little later. 
Great care is required in watering, so as not to soak the 
soil; farther secured by good drainage, and having the 
compost fully two parts fibry peat, and one part fibry 
loam, with silver sand, pieces of charcoal, and broken j 
