May 22.] 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
113 
white Campanula bed, by a writer in this May number 
of the Gardeners Magazine of Botany. He says, “ we 
are not quite sure that the best variety of the double 
Matricaria is not equally good, and much more durable ; 
at least, we do not wish to see a finer bed than we bad 
of it last season.” So be it; and I am very glad of the 
news, as I can put as much faith in the writer, as I have 
said I can in Mr. Caie. The best variety of Matricaria 
ought to be sought after forthwith. It is a plant that 
is not likely to slip through one’s fingers, and will in¬ 
crease as easily as any plant in the catalogue. I saw 
another suggestion, some time since, in the Gardeners 
Magazine of Botany, which made me blush for my own 
short-comings, for not having done justice to the good 
old bedder Bouvardia tripliylla , which is one of the very 
best of the very old things of that class; and for those 
who do not know it, nor its right treatment, perhaps it 
will be enough to say that it needs exactly the same 
kind of treatment as Cupheas. Every one knows all 
about Cupheas, because they are of recent introduction. 
Every one, however, is not some one, who really knows 
nothing of Cupheas or Bouvardias ; and he, or she, 
must be told that both are slender woody plants, very 
nearly hardy, will do to be kept nearly dry all the 
winter, like the blue Salvia, will grow in the spring from 
young cuttings as easily as those of Verbenas, and just 
in the same way. They will, also, grow from every 
morsel of root except the small fibres. Whether from 
root or top-cuttings they will bloom the same season, 
and oldish plants of both will answer capitally for the 
centre of a bed of them, and the young ones all round. 
The whole will flower till stopped by the frost. The 
Bouvardia, from spring cuttings, requires to be plauted 
from four to six inches apart each way, and will rise 
from six to ten inches high, according to the strength of 
the cuttings. The flowers are bright red, and altogether 
the plant looks well clothed in a bed, if planted thickly 
enough. Old plants of it, kept from year to year, would 
make a bed eighteen inches high; and the plants might 
be grown in time to make a growth of a yard high, and 
flower all over from top to the bottom, in the open 
border, in front of a wall or hothouse. There are a few 
plants of it here, on the border of a conservatory wall, 
getting up to the yard height, and having the look of a 
currant bush in winter, when the leaves are off. 
Speaking of old plants, reminds me of a complaint we 
have had lately from a lady, who tried “ all means and 
all kinds of soil” to get the Arum plant ( Calla ) into 
flower, “ but all to no purpose.” Those who have a pond 
or any water in or about their garden, will find this an 
excellent plant to turn out there, and this is the best 
time to remove it. It will do six inches below the sur¬ 
face, or it may be as deep as twenty inches, or more. 
There is no plant more accommodating; and if all of us 
cannot build water stoves for regal water lilies, we need 
not be altogether behind in water plants in the open air. 
But not to lose sight of this Calla, it is really worth 
while to try to make out the cause of the failure in flow¬ 
ering it. If I was asked for a receipt to keep it from 
flowering, I would say at once push it into full leaf, and 
then cut them off, and let the plant go dry; do this 
three years running, or three times in one year, if it per¬ 
sists ingrowing, and that must settle the question sooner 
or later. Can it be that the plant has been too well 
treated? I once knew a gardener who could not flower 
Hedycliiums, but no one could grow them better. Fine 
large glossy leaves they had, but not a flower from a 
dozen of them. He could, and often did, keep them 
green all the year round; and I know there are some 
bulbs whose nature is to go to rest for several months, 
and yet may be kept green for three years in succession; 
but, then, they never bloom that way. It strikes me, 
therefore, that this Calla, or Arum plant, has been kept 
growing out of season, forcing it, as it were, either to 
expend its whole strength in making leaves, or supply¬ 
ing those already made, and thus leaving no room for 
flowers. Six months in summer, or seven, if it is grown 
during the winter, is the longest period that it should 
be allowed to keep green. A period of growth beyond ! 
that is very likely to derange its natural course, and so j 
keep it barren of flowers. Suppose a plant of it has 
thrown up leaves last April, after a winter’s rest, and 
these continue to extend up to Midsummer, or later, 
without flowering, I would place the pot in a large saucer 
to hold water under it constantly to the end of August; 
then, for the next two months, I would allow it the ordi¬ 
nary supply for other plants, just keeping the soil moist; 
then, in October, as the plant did not flower this season, 
it is very likely that it would not refuse to grow on the 
whole winter, and be as bad next year; but in October, 
I would turn the pot on one side, and compel it to rest 
for want of water. We all say, in a general way, keep 
such plants as this, and bulbs, watered as long as the 
leaves keep green; but here is an instance to the con¬ 
trary, and there are many more exceptions to the rule. 
It is very possible to keep a gooseberry bush, or any 
other deciduous tree, in leaf most part of the year, and 
so with other plants, but that is unnatural to them; and 
when once a bulb, or Calla, Canna, Ginger plant, and 
all such, have made a full growth of leaves, and have 
had time to ripen them, it does them no harm to force 
them to cast their leaves, even if they look in full vigour 
at the time. But let us follow the Calla: after October, 
and the leaves all gone, keep it perfectly dry till the 
spring, March or April, then shake the soil from it, and 
part the little finger-like roots, or tubers, for nursing 
plants, and put the old root at once into the flowering- 
pot, which is better than shifting it from time to time. 
On the other hand, let us say that the plant began to 
grow last autumn, and was going on slowly through the 
winter and spring up to this period, and is still without 
flowering. It is now very natural that the increased 
heat of the season may cause it to make fresh leaves, 
and so go on growing for the rest of the summer. This 
would be fatal for the bloom next year. The true treat¬ 
ment is to withhold water by degrees, and for a month 
or six weeks to-keep it on short commons. Then, if the 
leaves do not turn yellow, compel them to do so by turn¬ 
ing the pot on one side, in some shady place, so that it 
may linger on a little longer before it is quite dry. This 
is necessary in summer, though not in the autumn ; as 
if it was stopped suddenly in May or June, the chances 
are that it would commence growing again immediately. 
New Plants. — There are two most excellent half- 
hardy shrubs for the flower-garden just getting into 
circulation, and which every one who can afford to pay 
for them, ought to possess this season—I refer to Esca- 
Ionia rnacrantha and Cantua dependens. The former is 
now selling at from 2s. 6d. to 7s. (3d., according to the 
size of the plant; and I believe tlie Cantua is charged 
at a guinea each, and was exhibited at the great May 
fetes. I shall not allude to either of them any farther, 
at present, but will go on to say that this is the best time 
in the year to plant out any, or all, of the newer hardy 
trees and shrubs that have been recently bought in, or 
have been otherwise reared in pots. It is a good plan 
to keep them a little above the general level of the 
ground around them, as the hole, or pit, filled with good 
fresh soil to receive them, is likely to settle more or less 
in a few years; but to raise them up on mounds, as some 
have recommended, is perfectly ridiculous; neither 
would I recommend wide holes for them at first. Another 
great error is, in planting choice single specimens. Two 
feet across is quite enough to begin with for the largest 
tree I know, if it is to be planted out of a pot. Then, 
after two years’ growth, I would make a ring round this 
eighteen inches or two feet wide, fill it with a good com— 
post, and so on for the next ten years, adding a little 
