308 THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN'S COMPANION.— September 2, 1856. 
post. Tliey will not find fault with a high tempera¬ 
ture in summer, provided the atmosphere is moist, and 
a little shade given. About November they should be 
kept rather dry. In October they cannot have too 
much sun to perfect the flower-bud in the centre of the 
new sucker or plant. In winter the temperature should 
not be much under 55°, though I have had them fre¬ 
quently 10° lower when dry, without any injury. Plenty 
of moisture and the common treatment of the stove 
after spring generally bring flower-spikes in summer 
and autumn. As taking up little room, and dispensing 
with much care, these rough-looking plants are worthy 
of more general attention than is accorded to them. 
jEscuynanttius. — These grow freely in peat and 
loam, mixed with a little rotten wood, cow-dung dried, 
and charcoal. Their free flowering depends on full ex¬ 
posure to sun in the autumn months, and on being kept 
rather dry in winter when grown in pots and boxes. 
All the spreading kiuds do nicely in baskets suspended 
from the. roof of a plant-stove, and in such a position, 
above the eye of the observer, they are more attractive 
than when grown in any other way. The Crystal 
Palace has given a popularity to suspended baskets, 
which are very elegant in their proper place, and well 
arranged. In this, as well as other things, there are 
many people who seem capable of being influenced 
by one ruling idea at one time. I have had many a 
good hint from those not connected with the profession. 
A visitor lately had his bumpology so printed with 
basketry-suspended, that he found a suitable place for 
them everywhere—alike in the open space between 
pillars and benoath the dense branches of Elms. Out 
of doors, the hardiest iEschynanthus would scarcely be 
hardy enough ; but in a plant-stove, or an intermediate- 
house, they would be perfectly at home, dangling their 
branches just pretty well as they liked. The plants 
may be in a pot, encased in the basket with moss, or 
they may be planted in tire basket, with moss or 
sphagnum stuck firmly round the sides. The easiest 
mode of watering is to dip them, and allow all to be 
well saturated. Wood, willows, &c., anything will do 
for the basket; but the neatest and tire most lasting 
for the amateur is galvanised wire. The baskets ought 
to be made before they are placed in the galvanising 
trough. If made merely with galvanised wire, every 
cut end of the wire wilL oxidize or rust, and spread 
itself alternately over the whole wire. 
Asclepias Corassavica. —This is one of the prettiest 
of the group, yielding a profusion of orange-scarlet 
flowers towards the points of its semi-herbaceous half- 
shrubby shoots, and, as the seed-vessel opens, disclosing 
a great quantity of pappus-like, silky, white down. I 
have kept the plant frequently at 45° in winter, but 
between that and 50°, aud comparatively dry, would 
suit it better. It grows freely in loam, with a little 
peat and weak manure-waterings when it has fairly 
started. It should be re-potted as it begins to grow 
after the comparative repose of winter, and a week or two 
after the shoots have been pruned back, so as to permit 
of a sufficient number of young ones coming from the 
buds at their base, if the old shoots were well-ripened by 
exposure to sun and air the previous autumn, and com¬ 
paratively dry and cool in winter, though not so much 
as to shrivel or injure the plant, each of these new 
shoots of the current spring and summer’s growth will 
be fruitful in flowers. When done flowering, set the 
plants iu a sunny spot in a cold pit, or such open space 
under glass, in September, aud the first half of October, 
aud diminish water, just giving enough to prevent 
flagging. The plants may stand rather thick with 
others of a similar nature in winter, the object being 
merely to proserve the stored-up capabilities of the 
plants, to be developed as the sun and heat of spring 
approach. 
Barleria.—N eat little evergreen stove bushes, not 
very often met with, next-door neighbour to Riiellia 
and Justicia, and requiring much the same treatment, 
though not requiring quite so much pruning when done 
flowering. 
Bauhinia. —A genus of leguminous plants, with pretty 
Cfesalpine-like leaves, and requiring the common treat¬ 
ment of hardy stove plants, with the exception that 
they are very subject to red spider. 
Begonia. —For a cool greenhouse, few things in July 
and August surpass the homely Begonia Evanshina, 
with its large panicles of pink flowers hanging over the 
large foliage, rough green outside, and light puipie be- j 
neat.h. A large mass of it in a large pot looks best, j 
When done flowering, and the stems decayed by ex- ; 
posure, the pot and roots are generally kept by me in 
any cool place that would suit*Dahlia roots. In spring, 
when the shoots push, five strong ones are selected, with 
their cormy roots attached, for a large pot; four are 
placed round the outside and one in the middle, aud if 
kept close and warm for a time to encourage growth, 
this old-fashioned plant will repay attention. In the 
stove at present, as well as in a moderate greenhouse, 
among the Begonias brought from the stove and forcing- 
house, one of the most showy will be the orange Pres- 
toniensis, which will require to be pruned in in autumn, 
or, if grown on, will bloom all winter in the stove. 
Young plants of the latter should be frequently raised 
from cuttings, as it grows very fast, and large plants 
require much space in winter. 
Caladium. —Grown chiefly for the beautiful foliage, 
requiring abundance of heat and moisture in summer, 
less moisture, but not dryness in winter, aud a tempe¬ 
rature seldom below 55°. 
Ceropegja. —More curious than really beautiful, 
producing its singular flowers on the shoots of the 
current year, and therefore should be well exposed to 
sun in autumn, under a diminished supply of water; 
should be dry rather than wet in winter, seldom under 
50°, he pruned pretty freely in spring, and shortly , 
afterwards be encouraged to grow freely by heat and 
moisture. If more shoots start than there is room for, | 
thin them before they are of much size. Loam and 
peat will suit it, well drained. 
Clerodendrons. —I have found these are apt to die 
if kept long below 45°, unless the place is very dry. j 
From 45° to 50° would be better, and the soil about ■ 
the roots moistish, not wet. In spring, when there is 
an advantage of a high temperature—if bottom-heat all 
the better—prune the shoots back, so as to leave the | 
requisite number of buds ; and when these are one inch 
and a half long, re-shift the plant into a similar or a 
smaller-sizod pot, getting rid of the old soil and a portion 
of the roots if any are at all decayed ; grow vigorously, 
and there will be no want of fine flowering shoots if 
those cut back iu spring had been well exposed to sun 
the previous autumn. Peat and loam at first, then loam 
and rotten cow-dung for compost. 
Diastema. —A small white-flowered Gesnerwort, pro¬ 
pagated by division of the roots, and striking its young 
shoots when two or three inches in height; grows in 
peat aud loam, and requires comparative dryness, and 
not below 45° in winter. . 
Dichorisandra thyrsiflora was alluded to net long 
ago, and Gracilis just requires less care. 
Jaoquemontia violacea. —A violet-coloured bindweed 
from the East Indies, growing in sandy peat, with a 
little loam, and requiring to be cut back pretty freely 
when done flowering. 
Lagerstromia Indica, elegans, &c. — These plants 
do best when growu freely in a forcing-house or plant- 
stove, with a little bottom-heat when come-at-able, placed 
in a warm greenhouse when in bloom, exposed to the 
full sun out of doors or in the front of a house in 
