278 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
January 15. 
I 
i 
ripen tlie IniJs at the base; water be diminisbed as 
much as possible: all jiossible sunsliine given tor 
maturation ; and if cut in within a bud or two in 
winter, and cleaned, the jilant is again ready for a future 
campaign. In a greenhouse, the plants bloom well at 
the top of the house, where it is hottest. When grown 
and bloomed on a trellis, in such a house, the plants, as 
soon as the buds begin to move much, should stand in 
the warmest end ; and if they could receive the ad¬ 
vantage of a higher temperature for a month or two 
then, such ns in a A'iuery, or Peach-house, at work, they 
would like it all the better. The plants will do well in 
two parts loam and one peat; and if kept several 
seasons in the same pot, a good top-dressing of cow-dung, 
frequently repeated, will give strength enough. 
Mandeviixa Suaveolens. —“A Constant Reader has 
tried this in a pot with no success. He got a 
strong ])lant started with a number of shoots, fastened 
these to a large, round, wire trellis, so as to cover it well 
wuth healthy shoots ; but has got no bloom.” I have not 
grown this in a pot, so as to flower it. If these shoots 
are well-ripened, the strongest shortened, and the weak 
ones cut out, it is likely there would be short, flowering 
shoots produced next season. A plant, in a large pot, j 
trained round a trellis, and covered with its sweet flowers, \ 
would be a most beautiful object, far transcending in ' 
massive grandeur the much-loved Stejjhcnwtis.. Though | 
I have not so grown it, 1 think I clearly see the way to 
attain success. The first element of that success should | 
consist in throwing the strength of the plant into one 
main stem, and being content to wait two or three years 
for a mass of bloom. I have frequently spoken of the 
plant at Stockwood, trained as one strong shoot along 
a w'ire, and furnished with spurs thickly studded, i 
would make this the ground work of my treatment 
when grown in a pot. 
Here, then, is a little plant, some eighteen inches in 
height, just come in from a nursery. It is no use putting 
that on a trellis next summer. Do every thing to en¬ 
courage it to grow, by rcpottings, good positions, suitable | 
soil, &c., as the more head produced, the stronger will j 
the stem, or collar, of the plant be, and the better sup¬ 
plied will it be with healthy roots. I would, at this 
stage, trouble the plant very little in the way of training. 
Before the plant started afresh in the spring, I would I 
cut it back within a short distance of the collar, and, if | 
still rather weak, would let it ramble another season. | 
Supposing, however, that the plant is strong, it will push j 
vigorously. Several young shoots will appear, and the ■ 
strongest should be selected, and the others removed by | 
degrees. The one left should be brought to the outside of | 
the base of the trellis, and trained round it in volutes about i 
a foot apart. When it gets beyond the top its point may ! 
be nipped out. From the volutes, it will be more likely | 
to break again nearer the top than the bottom. The j 
stopping may go on, provided there is no danger of start- ! 
ing the buds on tbe lower part of the shoot. Turn the 
trellis round every other day, and give all the sun-light 
possible, to harden the wood of the shoot. A sunny spot, 
out-of-doors, after the end of August, would bo desirable 
for six weeks ; whilst there, frequent syringings in tbe 
evening will kee)) Red Spider at a distance. Any place will 
do in winter, wbere frost is excluded. Before the fresh 
growth takes place in spring, unless tbe shoot is strong 
and well-hardened throughout, it would be advisable to | 
shorten it to about half its length, less or more, according 
to strength and ripeness. When the buds start again, ; 
the terminal one should be trained as before, as a con¬ 
tinuation of tbe main stem. This stopping will cause 
tbe buds on tbe lower part to break more regularly. 
fSlioots from these, about six inches apart, will be thick 
enough, and these most likely will yield flowers. Next 
season, the upper part will be treated the same way, and 
on this lower part, the many young shoots, having their 
points pinched off in summer, may be cut back to a bud 
or two in winter. The base part of the plant will thus 
be first furnished, and when the whole stem is thus 
furnished with spurs, the plant will be as easily 
managed as a Vine-stem. A fifteen or eighteen-inch 
pot, well-drained, supplied with loam and peat, and 
mulched with rotten cow-dung, would, I presume, keep 
such a specimen in good health for several years. One 
essential of success would be, having the buds well 
riiiened, by abundance of sunshine, before pruning. As 
I have stated, this treatment in a pot is theoretical, so 
far as I am concerned; but I have no doubt it would 
answer well. 
Passion ELOW'ERSon Trellises. —“An Amateurw'ishes 
to have Ccendea, racemosa Ccertilen, Golvillii, Billvttn, 
&c., on round trellises, about five feet in height; tbe 
pots to be set in large vases, about three feet in height, | 
and to have the shoots hanging down over the pot for a 
couple of feet, and a mass of flowers from thence to tbe 
top of the trellis. He can get a thicket of shoots and 
leaves, but flowers only here and there.” A little time 
and preparation will be necessary to complete success. 
When the Passion-flower is young and vigorous, the 
young shoots are apt to extend some distance before tbe 
flower-buds appear. To have masses of bloom on stubby, 
short shoots, from two to three feet in length, the plant 
must either be somewhat crippled by age, or stunted by 
diminutive feeding-ground, and a sparing supply of 
water until the flowers appear. Keeping this in view, 
it will be important to start with a single shoot; train 
that round the trellis, leaving spaces of about one foot 
between; ripening that shoot well, and cutting it back 
to the top of the trellis, if strong enough, as it is likely 
to be, before W’inter. The buds along this shoot will all 
start, mostly, next spring, but that will give more shoots 
than wull be required. Thin out so as to give room. 
Bo rather sparing of nourishment until the first flower- 
buds appear, and then give more. As the plants get 
older they will bloom more profusely, and the young 
shoots will not be so luxuriant. All that is w'anted is 
to cut back these young shoots to within a bud or two 
of their junction with the main stem every winter; and 
if these buds were well matured, tbe shoots from them 
the following summer will be sure to be covered with 
bloom. A fifteen or an eighteen-inch pot will support 
a plant for a number of years, if manure-waterings and 
rich dressings are given in summer. It should have 
little water in w'inter. If, after the shoots are fairly 
started, any should be much more vigorous than the 
generality, these vigorous ones should be stopped, to 
cause them to make two or three, and thus the strength 
will be equalised. When treated in this way, little more ' 
training would be required than fastening tbe main 
stem at first, as the most of these flow'ering shoots will 
look best suspended. j 
Tecoma Jasjiinoides. —“H. complains he can make 
nothing of this.” It requires a great amount of sun¬ 
light to ripen its flower-buds. I have had it best on 
tbe roof of a house close to the glass. When over 
arches, three or four feet from the glass, it did not do so 
well. When close to tbe glass, I have had it equally 
good from the buds of a long; well-ripened young shoot, 
and an older shoot, spurred, as I have mentioned above 
for the Mandevilla. I have tried it both w^ays round a 
trellis, and with little difference as to success, though 
the older-spurred shoot was rather the best. Neither 
w'ill do much unless the buds be well-ripened by plenty of 
exposure to sunlight. Young shoots require more stunt¬ 
ing as the buds are expanding than older wood. It 
makes a good neighbour for tbe Mandevilla, though it 
does not bloom quite so freely, unless extra matured- 
R. Fish. 
