114 
THE FLORIST AND POMOLOGIST. 
[ MAY, 
THE COLEUS FOR TABLE DECORATION. 
i ^t,Y HERE there is a demand for pot plants for the table, I have found the 
varieties of Coleus very valuable, as they have several good qualities 
which other plants do not possess. One is that they are easily grown, 
and that in a very short time, while the variety of form and colour in 
their foliage are everything that could be desired for the purpose. We first 
prepare in the usual way as many pots (large 60s) as may be required for 
cuttings, using plenty of silver sand ; after the pots have received a watering 
with a fine rose, we put six cuttings of different kinds into each pot, selecting 
one of the strongest growers for the centre, and putting the others near the rim * 
we give a good watering to settle the soil, and then put them in a cucumber 
or melon pit, where there is a nice moist heat. As soon as they begin to grow 
we pinch out their centres, and when they have made another growth and the 
pots are full of roots, we shift them into 32s, using some good friable loam and 
leaf-mould in about equal quantities, with a due admixture of silver-sand. 
After this shift they may be put in the propagating house or a vinery at work, 
on a shelf near the glass, and should be topped as often as required. There are 
three things of which the Coleuses are very fond, viz., heat, moisture, and shade, 
If a hot sun is allowed to shine on them, it robs them of the beautiful shades of 
colour. In one mixed pot now before me we have for the centre, Bausei , sur¬ 
rounded by Baroness Rothschild, Princess Beatrice , Verschaffeltii , Her Majesty , 
and Veitchii, Other pots are filled with other varieties. The effect of these 
-admixtures is remarkably pleasing. 
We have grown the Achimenes mixed in the same way, and for the same 
purpose, with very good effect; but they are not quite so easily managed as the 
Coleus . —William Plester, Elsenham Hall Gardens. 
NOVELTIES, Etc., AT FLOWER SHOWS. 
HE leading novelty at the meeting of the Roj^al Horticultural Society on 
March 6th was the specimen of Toxicophloea spectabilis (f.c.c.) shown by 
Mr. B. S. Williams ; it is a white-flowered and fragrant greenhouse shrub 
from the Cape, and will be a good addition to our collections. This par¬ 
ticular example, though tolerably well flowered, did not give such a good idea of 
the free-blooming property of the plant as an example I saw at Farmleigh, 
Dublin, the residence of Captain Coote, in August, 1869. The plant flowers at 
the axils of the leaves on both the two and three-year old wood ; and in the case 
of the Farmleigh specimen, the branches had the appearance of spikes of white 
flowers, two and a half feet in length. Primula (sinensis) Waltham White (f.c.c.) 
was shown on this occasion in fine condition by Mr. William Paul, the pure white 
flowers being borne on red foot-stalks. An example of the rare Dendrobium 
Cambridrjeanum set up in a group of Orchids staged by Mr. B. S. Williams, was 
much admired, and it was said that so good a specimen had not been seen for a 
