November 28. 
/THE cottage gardener. 
the great interest connected with it are the beautiful 
bright scarlet flowers, about a couple of inches iu length, 
which it produces iu great abundance. I do not suppose 
that the plant is so plentiful yet as to have many records 
of its being tried out-of-doors as a half-hardy plant; but 
there can bo little doubt that it would thrive at the 
bottom of a conservative wall, with a little protection in 
winter. As a low.growing, handsome little shrub, it 
will long be prized as a tenant of a front-shelf of a 
greenhouse; but requiring merely a sunny, sheltered spot, 
in a cold, moist pit in tho summer. I apprehend, there 
will be little difficulty iu striking half-ripened small side- 
shoots in sand, under a bell-glass, and kept in a cold 
pit in summer. A sight of the plant at once demon¬ 
strates that heath soil must form a main part of tho 
compost at first, adding fibry loam as the plant gets 
stronger. Good drainage, and plenty of moisture and 
sun, when growing, will form chief points in its manage¬ 
ment. 
2.—DESFONTAINEA SITNOSA. 
This beautiful plant, possessing the interesting, gro¬ 
tesque “ 2’ouch-me not ” foliage of a twisted, bristling 
holly-bush, with rich scarlet tubular flowers, tipped with 
yellow, and produced rather freely from the axils of the 
leaves of the young, small branchlets, arrested groat 
attention, when exhibited by tho Messrs. Veitch, in tho 
summer of 1853, at Chiswick. It was sent to them by 
Mr. Lobb, from elevated ground in Valdivia; aud, there¬ 
fore, we can hardly expect that it will ever be hardy 
enough to do without greenhouse treatment. The 
Messrs. Veitch would confer a groat favour on enthu¬ 
siastic plant-growers, by giving more iu detail the 
position and the circumstances, as respects soil aud 
elevation, in which plants are found by their collectors; 
as then, their customers might hope to rival them in the 
excellence of their productions. Most students of 
Geography are aware, that according to tho distance 
from the sea—the elevation—and the distance from the 
snow-crowned Andes and Cordilleras, will tho peculiar 
climate of a place iu Chili be distinguished. Plenty of 
rain during tho rainy season—the winter there—falls in 
the neighbourhood of Valdivia; but, though compara¬ 
tively little rain falls in the north of the Republic, its 
want is amply compensated for in heavy dews during the 
spring, summer, and autumn months. Taken at one 
and the same time, there is a great difference in the 
climate in the western and eastern side of the Andes; for 
while the cloudy, rainy season, exists in Chili, on the 
other side of the mountaiu chains, extending towards 
the Atlantic, there will be the dry season, aud a cloud¬ 
less sun; and vice versa. Each division, the east and 
the west, at these parallels of latitude, have a climate on 
which they can calculate, as respects rain and sunshine; 
while the elevation will enable us to form an approxima¬ 
tion to the temperature. 
Keeping these things in view, and getting what 
knowledge we instinctively can, by examining and 
laying hold of the plant; and thus, despite its prickles, 
making it say something of its wants and requirements, 
by the application of the professional thumb-screw,—the 
following seem to be the necessary conditions for its 
successful cultivation:— 
1. A temperature, in winter, seldom below 45°, with a 
rise of 5° in fine weather, and a rise of 15° in sunshine. 
2. The roots, at this time, never to be dry ; but suffi¬ 
ciently drained to prevent any thing like stagnation. 
3. An open position in summer; either on the front 
shelf of a greenhouse, or in a cold pit, with the glasses 
kept on and air given, until mid-autumn, when the 
sashes may be taken off in fine weather, to harden the 
young shoots. 
4. While the top of the plant is exposed, guarding the 
pots from direct sunshine, aud giving suitable waterings; 
remembering, that however bright the sun in Chili, the 
roots are often protected by a surface of herbage, which 
breaks the force of the sun’s rays, while the rootlets have j 
next to unlimited spaco over which to travel; aud though | 
thoro are few showers at that time, there will bo heavy 
dews. 
5. Tho growth, at first, must bo regulated by a system 
of training and stopping, so as to secure a good amount 
of young shoots; these being also thin enough to allow 
sun and air to play upon tho foliage of each, instead of 
on the foliage of the outside shoots. A year or two 
must, therefore, be given up to get a fine, bushy specimen. 
6. After blooming, and resting a little, the plant must 
be pruned back slightly, so as to secure fresh shoots; ! 
bo kept rather close until it breaks freely; and then, 
if necessary, be repotted in sandy peat aud loam, with ! 
pieces of charcoal and brokeu pots, intermixed, to keep 
the whole soil rather open, though pressed firmly to¬ 
gether. 
Independently of the singular holly-leaved appearance 
of this plant, it will also be interesting, as one of the few 
shrubs belonging to the beautiful family of Gentianworts, 
in which order Botanists, as yet, I believe, are content to 
have it. 
3. PHILESIA BUXIFOLIA. 
This plant was also first exhibited at Chiswick, in 
June, 1853. It seems a nice, branched, shrubby plant, 
with small, narrow, leathery, evergreen leaves, aud 
pretty, rose-coloured, somewhat bell-shaped, lily-like 
flowers, about two inches long, produced freely at the 
points of the branches. Among Philesiads, this is the 
only ono of tho genus I have seen ; and being rather a 
graceful shrub, it differs very much in its whole 
appearance from its nearest neighbour, the Lapageria 
rosea, which is a rather free-growing twiner, from a 
similar district in South America, and which is likely to 
do well on a conservative wall, and especially in a cool 
greenhouse, As this Lapageria seems to bloom freely 
in the autumn, it is well worthy of a conservatory 
column. 
The manner in which the flowers of the Philesia 
are produced, at the points of the shoots, supplies the 
key-note for the mode of culture and pruning. By 
pinching, stopping, tying-down, and training, a suffi¬ 
ciency of these branchlets must be obtained. After 
blooming in early summer, pruning must be effected, if 
it is wished to keep the plant small and handsome. 
Peat and loam will grow it well. 
The hardiness of this plant has been frequently 
inquired about; and I am unable to state how it stood 
out-of-doors during the last winter aud spring. Mr. 
Veitch found it quite hardy at Exeter, 1852-3 ; but, 
though I had the pleasure of seeing Mr. Veitch, from 
the Exotic Nursery, Chelsea, lately, it never came into 
ray head to ask him about how this plant behaved 
during the last season, unprotected. One thing our 
young friends must keep in mind, that Exeter is not 
Norwich nor Edinburgh. For trying exotics out-of-doors, 
few places could answer better than Exeter; but, 
succeeding there, must not always be taken to mean 
that success will be equally certain north of London. 
That the plant will grow well against a conservative- 
wall, I have little doubt; and this notice may lead some 
one to tell how it stood out last winter, if fairly tried. 
We hardly think it fair, however, for correspondents 
to put all sorts of questions about the hardiness, the 
nature, the treatment, &c., of a plant, as soon as 
it gets out of the introducer’s hands. Certainty, in all 
respects, concerning it, can only be obtained after con¬ 
siderable experience with it; and before that is gained, 
shrewd guesses can only be arrived at; and all the 
first-supplied customers start fair for an equal race. 
Now, Mr. Lobb found this plant in Valdivia, on the 
summits of high, marshy places, aud under the shade 
