March 26, 1887. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
473 
STEPHANOTIS FLORIBUNDA. 
Some writers on tlie culture of the Stephanotis go so 
far as to assert that it can be grown with the greatest 
ease in a cool greenhouse, and made to flower equally 
as well as when grown in stove heat. I should say 
those who assert this are entirely misleading the public. 
It is possible they may have seen plants of Stephanotis 
standing in a greenhouse when trained on a trellis and 
in full bloom, placed there to prolong their blooming' 
period; or, again, they may have seen the plant standing 
in greenhouses after the blooming period is over, placed 
there on purpose to ripen up the season’s growth. It 
is a fallacy, pure and simple, to say that the plant can 
be grown under cool treatment, that is, make its growth 
and produce an abundance of flowers entirely in a cool 
greenhouse. 
If the cool system were at all feasible, why do 
not our market growers adopt it ? The men who 
make money out of the flowers produced in this 
way, save an endless lot of time in keeping up fire- 
heat, and also in cleaning the plant, which is very 
subject to mealy bug if grown in a stove. Further¬ 
more, at what time of the year is the plant going to 
flower if grown on the cool system ? If I am not mis¬ 
taken, should the flower-buds be formed at all, they 
L.ELIA ANCEPS. 
would be about ready to expand towards the end of 
autumn, when the season is on the wane; then, instead 
of opening, they would turn yellow and drop off. Oh ! 
says another one, if the bloom-buds are formed nice 
and plump by autumn, and the plant be kept quiet, they 
will be ready to burst out into glory at the approach of 
spring. The question is, would there be either shoot 
or bud left when spring comes ? The plan of keeping it 
quiet would have been too quiet under the cool system, 
and in all probability the plant would be dead or so 
much impaired in health as to be useless. I can 
perfectly understand the plant being grown in an inter¬ 
mediate heat so as to flower in the autumn, but to 
say that it will grow in any greenhouse is altogether 
absurd. 
The Stephanotis is a true stove climber, and a lover 
of heat, both top and bottom ; and when properly 
cared for is one of the most lovely, as well as the most 
profitable, plants that can be grown. The profusion 
with which it will send out its bunches of flowers is 
remarkable on well-grown and properly-tended plants. 
It may be had in flower from March to October, ac¬ 
cording to the treatment given and the size of the 
plants grown. The plant at all times wants plenty of 
light, and when making its growth should be trained 
on strings or Mires as close to the glass as possible. At 
no time should tlie new-made growth be lapped round 
trellis-work, for this only buries one growth beneath 
another, and prevents both air and sunshine from 
getting at the growth to mature it. It is only from 
well-grown plants that good bloom can be expected. 
Young plants of Stephanotis can be rooted any time 
during the summer season from firm wood cut up into 
lengths, or from the short stubby pieces that often 
appear on the branches of large plants. A good 
bottom-heat is necessary to root them quickly, and as 
soon as this is accomplished they must be placed in 
4-in. pots at once, in a sandy compost of peat and 
loam, and returned to bottom-heat till the pots are full 
of roots. According to the time of the year will depend 
L.ELIA ANCEPS YeITCHIANA. 
the advisability of potting on again or not, before 
wintering these young plants. If rooted early in the 
season they may have a shift, which will cause them to 
make a growth, and very probably throw a few bunches 
of flowers. Several years ago, I struck a lot of cuttings 
early in August. They were placed in 4-in. pots as 
soon as rooted, and wintered there till February, when 
they were potted into 6-in. pots before starting them 
for the season. As soon as they commenced to show 
signs of activity they also commenced blooming, and I 
had the pleasure of seeing the plants flower from the 
first leaf-bud, and continue throwing out bloom from 
every one to a height of 2 ft., when they stopped for 
the season and made growth only. This character 
shows nothing more or less that the Elvaston variety, 
so called. 
L^LIA ANCEPS ’WlLLIAMSII. 
After the plants are potted in spring, they should be 
kept in a growing stove heat, and syringed at least once 
a day. This will cause them to start freely, and they 
will make many feet of growth before the summer is 
over, provided they are well treated. It very often 
occurs that they also bloom at the same time as they 
make this growth, up to a certain period ; but it more 
often happens when bottom-heat is applied. At what¬ 
ever season the bloom comes, it is never to be despised, 
and is always a welcome addition to any other flowers 
that may be in season. Larger plants do not require 
potting every season, but will thrive in a large pot for 
a number of years, provided they are well fed with 
manure-water. These larger pdants that made a quantity 
of good growth in autumn, and which had been 
thoroughly exposed to all the light and sun possible 
while growing, will just now be pushing up their trusses 
of bloom from nearly every leaf-axil, provided they are 
in a good growing heat, and will be all the better and 
stronger if they have bottom-heat applied. These 
blooming now, will do so again in the autumn from 
the shoots they are making now, and if well fed, they 
may probably continue flowering during summer and 
autumn. It is only large and well-established plants 
that can be expected to do this. The flowering-shoots, 
as they have exhausted themselves, may be judiciously 
thinned out; this provides for other shoots taking 
their place, and so keeping the same amount of space 
on the roof covered. 
The best soil in which to pot the Stephanotis is equal 
parts of loam and peat, with an addition of broken 
bones, charcoal, and sufficient sand to keep the whole 
open. What manure it requires should be supplied in 
a liquid form. It is better than mixing rotten manure 
LiELIA ANCEPS DAWSONI. 
with the soil ; for by mixing decomposed manure with 
the compost, has the effect of making the soil loose in 
texture. This condition of the soil is altogether 
unsuited for the Stephanotis, which likes a firm compost 
instead of a soil that you can push your fingers into as 
if it were leaf-soil. I would caution all growers against 
the evils of bad drainage ; for the better the pot is 
drained, the better will the plant succeed. I would also 
caution amateur growers against the pernicious evil of 
growing seedling Stephanotis. It is by the introduction 
of a lot of seedlings in the trade that the so-called bad 
varieties have sprung up. If you get a good variety 
wffiich proves itself a free bloomer, be content with 
cuttings from this plant, for seedlings will give no 
better varieties than the one you already possess. In 
fact, they will not flower for a considerable time, and 
w'hen they do, they will show no improvement on the 
parent, but may be inferior.— W. G. 
-—>*<—- 
SEEDLING DAHLIAS. 
There is no difficulty whatever in raising seeds of 
Dahlias, especially those of the single-flowered varieties, 
which appear to germinate very readily ; indeed, solar 
heat during the end of March and April will, in some 
instances, cause them to do so without bottom-heat ; 
but those who grow seedlings in large quantities sow 
the seeds in pans of finely-sifted leaf-soil, and place 
them in the brisk moist heat of a dung-frame, where 
they soon germinate, though care has to be taken that 
they are not drawn, and so become spare and lanky. 
As soon as the plants are large enough to handle, they 
are pricked off into large pots, which contain twenty, 
thirty, or forty plants, according to their size, and as 
