THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
April 24.] 
HOTHOUSE DEPARTMENT. 
STOVE ANNUALS.—( Continued from page 20). 
Browallia demxssa (Low B.) ; South America.—A 
pretty low growing annual with blue flowers. 
B. elata (Tall B.); Peru.—This is a taller grower, 
also with blue flowers. 
B. elongata (Elongated B.); Peru.—This species has 
blue and white flowers. 
Culture. —Sow the seeds in a gentle hotbed in March, 
in 5-inch pots, filled with light rich earth. When they 
are two inches high transplant them singly into 3-inch 
pots. 
Soil. —The compost suitable for these pretty annuals 
is formed of light turfy loam, sandy peat, and leaf-mould, 
in equal parts, adding a fair portion of sand; mix these 
well together, and use the compost moderately dry. As 
soon as the roots have reached the sides of the first pots, 
repot them into 5-inch pots, well drained, placing them 
in the stove near the glass, stopping them to cause them 
to make nice bushes. Repot again in a month into 
8-inch pots; in these they may flower. This is a genus 
of annuals worth growing, though not so showy as the 
Balsam or the Cockscomb. They are valuable for the 
sake of their variety of habit and colour of blooms, 
causing an agreeable diversity in the general view of the 
plants in the stove during the summer months. 
Cleome cardinalis (The cardinal flower C.); Mexico. 
- candelabrum (Chandelier C.); Brazil. 
- pentaphyllum (Five-leaved C.); West Indies. 
- rosea (Rose-coloured C.); East Indies. 
This genus of plants contains a considerable number 
of annuals requiring the heat of the stove. In it 
there are, also, some species that are pretty hardy. 
Their beauty consists in their extraordinary long 
stamens, which are beautifully disposed. Unfortunately 
the seeds are difficult to procure. It would he desirable 
if some of our collectors, when searching for plants in 
their native localities, would collect the seeds of these 
pretty annuals and transmit them to this country. Our 
readers may obtain some of the species by applying to 
some large dealers in London, such, for instance, as 
Charlwood, in Covent Garden, and Carter, in Holborn. 
Culture. — Soil. —The same compost as recommended 
for Browallias will answer for these plants. 
Raising the Plants. —This is rather a difficult task, as 
they are very apt to damp off ip a hotbed, and yet cannot 
be raised without heat. Sow them towards the end of 
March in shallow 5-incli pans, well drained. Place 
them upon a shelf in the warmest part of the stove. In 
this situation they will be in a drier atmosphere, and, 
consequently, not be so liable to fog off. When they 
have made their appearance, prick them off' thinly into 
5-inch pots, replace them on the shelf, water very 
moderately, and shade from bright sun for a week. 
After they have made a second growth, pot them singly 
into small pots, give water, and shade again till fresh 
roots are emitted; then give more air and light, and 
repot and grow on till the plants have attained a con¬ 
siderable growth, and are in 8-inch pots. They may 
then be permitted to flower. 
Mimosa pudica (Sensitive plant); Brazil.— This is the 
well-known plant whose leaves, when touched, fold them¬ 
selves up, and fall down as if struck with death ; for which 
interesting property it is desirable to cultivate a few 
plants. 
Soil. —Light loam, and sandy peat, in equal parts, 
with a fourth of leaf-mould, and a small quantity of sand, 
will grow these plants satisfactorily. They do not re¬ 
quire such rich soil as most other stove annuals do. 
Raising the Plants. —Sow the seed about the middle 
of March, in a 5-incli pot; a sixpenny packet will be 
sufficient, and will produce a score or two of plants. 
Place the seed pot either in a hot-bed, or on a shelf in 
51 
the stove. Give a gentle watering, and keep just moist 
enough for the seeds to germinate. As soon as they 
have made two or three leaves, pot them singly into 
small pots in the compost, draining well, and repot till 
they are in 6-inch pots. Nip off the tops occasionally 
to make the plants bushy. These plants will not bear 
an indiscriminate quantity of water, it must be applied 
regularly, but not in floods. If a second crop be sown 
in August, they will survive the winter in a warm stove, 
and will sooner make fine large plants in the spring. 
Thunbergia alata (Winged T.); East Indies.—This 
fine, and, when well grown, beautiful stove climber, 
though not strictly an annual, is by far better to be treated 
as such. There are several varieties, and to preserve 
the finest, it may be desirable to propagate such by 
cuttings; but these never make such plants as those 
raised from seed in the spring. If the seed be saved 
from the best formed and highest coloured flowers, there 
will be a goodly number of good varieties. The best 
consist of the following colours: pure yellow; orange, 
with a dark spot in the centre; pure white; and white, 
with a dark centre. Though they are all beautiful, yet 
such as have the dark centre are the most esteemed. 
Culture. — Soil .—There is a peculiarity about these 
plants, in regard to the compost they will thrive in, that 
very few plants will hear. The finest specimens we ever 
observed were grown (after they had attained the height 
of six inches) in a mixture of loam and night soil, which 
had been well incorporated for twelve months, and fre¬ 
quently turned over to mellow and sweeten. In this 
exceedingly rich, strong compost, the plants grew with a 
vigour and luxuriance that was perfectly astonishing. 
The leaves were nearly double the usual size, and the 
flowers were much larger and more highly coloured. It 
may, however, be not always convenient to obtain this 
rich stimulant. The following will answer the purpose 
very well. Good well-mellowed loam of a strong texture, 
well-decomposed dung, and sandy peat, in equal parts; 
mix them well together without sifting, leaving the turfy 
parts as rough as possible, so as to ensure a loose porous 
compost. This compost will, with the addition that we 
shall mention, grow the plants most vigorously—every 
other point of culture being duly practised. 
Raising the Plants .—Sow the seed in a light, rich 
compost of loam, peat, and mould, in pots five inches 
wide. Place them in a moderate hot-bed, giving them 
a little water at the first, and more freely after they have 
come up. Pot them oft' into single pots, whilst very 
young, in the same compost as they were sown in. As 
soon they have filled the pots with roots, repot them 
into pots two sizes larger. Use then the richer compost, 
draining them well. In this stage they require a larger 
share of air to prevent them drawing up weakly and 
spindly When they have filled their last pot with 
roots, repot them for the last time into 10-inch pots, but 
do not quite fill them with the compost. They will now 
require some kind of support; various articles may be 
used for this purpose; the most simple, and, perhaps, 
quite as ornamental, and certainly the cheapest of all is, 
to procure some twiggy, straight branches of birch or 
hazel, between two and three feet high, place three, tri¬ 
angularly, in each pot, trimming them round neatly so 
as to form an upright bush. The plants will cling to, 
and soon cover, them with foliage and flowers. Another 
mode of training, not much more expensive, is, to split 
some laths into three feet sticks, making them round, 
and placing five in each pot; put a hoop of some kind 
either made of willow or strong wire, of the same diameter 
as the pot, about half way between the pot and the top 
of the sticks, tie each stick at equal distance from each 
other to this hoop, then draw them together at the top, 
tie them firmly, and there is a very economical and 
elegant trellis for the shoots to twine round. If expense 
is no object, the best thing for the purpose is a wire trellis; 
