July 3.] 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
215 
Tli.land.sia splendens (SplendidT.); Brazil.—Avery 
ornamental plant. It has much the appearance of a 
small broad-leaved pine-apple plant. Indeed, it belongs 
to the same natural order, Bromeliacese. The leaves 
are splendidly and broadly barred with rich purple. 
The flower-stem springs from the centre of the plants. 
I t is clothed with rich scarlet bracts, out of which the 
flowers spring; these are of a creamy white colour; 
when in flower there are few objects more ornamental. 
Culture. —Where a bark-bed is convenient the plants 
should be plunged in it, and in that situation will thrive 
well. This is not, however, indispensable, they will 
flourish very well if placed upon a platform, or on a stage 
in the usual way, amongst other stove plants. Soil .— 
A rich compost of loam, peat, and well-decomposed leaf- 
mould or dung, in equal parts. Propagation. —Some¬ 
times seeds are produced, and by that means they may 
be increased plentifully. Sow the seed as soon as it is 
ripe in shallow pots, covered lightly, placed in the 
warmest part of the stove. When they grow transplant 
them in the smallest-sized pots, and repot them as they 
require it till they flower. By Suckers. —Like their 
prototype, the pine-apple, they will, after they have 
bloomed, send forth suckers. When these are long 
enough to take them off plant them in small pots, and 
place them under a bell-glass, or hand-light, upon a 
bottom-heat, and as soon as roots are emitted repot 
them, and grow them on in the same way as the seed¬ 
lings. 
Tradescantia discolor (Two-coloured T.); South 
America.—This is a pretty green and purple leaved 
trailing plant, which may be made use of to grow in 
baskets and suspend from the roof. Or the roots may 
be wrapped in a bundle of moss, and the plants allowed 
to hang down from the roof. Increased easily by the 
young shoots laid upon any moist, shady, warm place. 
T. Appleby. 
FLORISTS’ FLOWERS. 
MR. GLENNY ON FLORISTS’ FLOWERS. 
Calceolarias {Amelia). —It is a pity that amateurs 
desirous of raising seedlings have to trust to seed-shops, 
or save seed themselves. Of all our fair correspondent’s 
prettily-coloured Calceolarias, there is not one we can 
honestly recommend. B. M .—Not ono without that 
melon-shaped rib and swelling that renders hundreds 
good-for-nothing. 
Petunias (J. B.) —Fine colours, but flimsy, not one 
an advance on those we have. 
Antirrhinums {Thomas Read). —The only one worth 
mentioning is B. 30, and that not lirst-rate; stand two 
yards off and there is no character. It is pretty like 
Coryopldloides, but the stripes lighter. The striped 
varieties are all very far from good. 
Mimulus {B. 0 .).—There are many better than the 
best, which is the one marked D. 17. Seed from the 
cream-coloured one, H. 15. It may produce novelty if 
j removed from all the commoner varieties. 
Pansies {II. B .).—The size is, generally, too great to 
be useful, even if they were not all so exceedingly thin. 
No. 4 is the best, but too flimsy to be useful. The 
striped one, No. 1, is novel; but Mr. Salter, of Ham- 
■ mersmith, has a dozen varieties of the same school all 
[ far better. 
Daisies. —We cannot regard them as a florists’ 
; flower. They are pretty, and would please children, 
j A. M. will be tired of them in another season, and they 
will spread like a weed. 
Calceolarias {G. L. Ormaston). —All very pretty, but 
very faulty. No. 1 is the fullest and best, and No. 8 
the largest that has any approach to form. 
Phlox Drummondii, from the same party, very good. 
Those of so round a form should be removed from the 
rest, or the less circular ones be removed from those, 
that the seed may not be damaged by impregnation. It 
is not enough to mark the best for seed, unless we get 
rid of all the inferior in their neighbourhood. G. G. 
FLORISTS’ FLOWERS CULTURE. 
The Calceolaria. —Although this is not a general 
florists’ flower, requiring, as it does, a greenhouse to bring 
it to perfection, and on that account can only be cul¬ 
tivated by such of our readers as may be happy enough 
to possess such a convenience; yet, for the instruction 
of those, we think it our duty to lay down such plain, 
practical rules for their guidance, as may render their 
culture easy for the “million.” They are, when well- 
grown, as interesting and beautiful as almost any other 
flower of the class. Witness the fine specimens exhi¬ 
bited for several years at the grand Metropolitan exhi¬ 
bitions. 
First, let us otter a few words upon their character¬ 
istics of excellence. Form. —This is the most important 
of all. If a flower have every other property in the 
highest degree, and be deficient in form, it is of no use 
as a show flower. It should be a complete circle, with¬ 
out any indentation on the edges ; the upper part should 
rise well up so as almost to hide the throat; this should 
be small. The cowl or head should be of a medium 
size, neither too small nor too large, but well-propor¬ 
tioned : it must not stand so high as to destroy the 
general circle of the whole flower. The size should be 
not less than one-inch diameter. The colours should be 
clear and distinct; if a blotch in the centre, the ground 
colour should surround it equally all round. The blotch 
should never run down to the edge at the lower part. 
If the flower is a spotted variety the spots should be well- 
defined, if gathered in a circle in the centre of the flower, 
with the ground-colour running in a broad ring round 
the spots, the variety will be the more perfect and 
valuable ; but this is not indispensable, the spots, it well 
defiued, may cover the whole surface of the flower. 
The plant should have large, healthy leaves, covering 
the surface of the pot, and rising up amongst the flower- 
steins. Florists should aim at obtaining varieties with 
shrubby-stems. Unfortunately, hitherto, the best va¬ 
rieties are of, as it is termed, the herbaceous class, and 
then are more difficult to keep and propagate than the 
shrubby varieties. This might be overcome by impreg¬ 
nating the shrubby varieties with herbaceous ones, and 
so obtain a more hardy progeny. 
Propagation. By Seed. —Save this from such as have 
been impregnated in the manner hinted at above. The 
best time to sow it is in June. If sown earlier the 
plants will be apt to show bloom in the autumn, and 
will thereby be much weakened; if sown later they will 
be too weak to pass safely through the winter. Sow 
them in wide, shallow pots in a rich, light compost of 
loam, and well-decomposed leaf-mould; sift the portion 
on the surface through a fine sieve ; drain the pot well; 
level the surface with a flat, smooth piece of wood, and 
sow the seed rather thin. If sown thick they are liable 
to damp off. Cover the seed as thinly as possible, and 
water with the finest-rosed syringe or water-pot, allowing 
the water to fall upon the soil almost like a shower of 
dew. If the soil is very dry it is desirable to give it a 
gentle watering before sowing and covering the seed; 
place the seed-pans on a shelf near the glass, shading 
them from hot sunshine. Give water whenever the 
surface appears dry, using the same fine-rosed syringe 
or pot. The seeds, if good, will soon grow; and when 
the plants are fairly above ground allow them more air 
and light: keep them just moist enough to prevent flag¬ 
ging. As soon as they are large enough to handle, 
transplant them into the same kind of pots; shade again 
