GARDENIAS. 
121 
GARDENIAS. ' 
WITH AN ILLUSTRATION. 
In the genus under consideration we are presented with a 
group of species numbering about a dozen and a half, composed 
of plants for the most part natives of the East Indies, principally 
affecting those regions whose character approaches the temperate. 
Some of them have been known to us for a considerable period, 
and are among the most popular flowers of our collections : the 
double-flowered varieties of G. jlorida , the well-known Cape 
Jasmine, and the not less beautiful G. radicans, are equally favo¬ 
rites with us as in their native countries, China and Japan, where, 
on the authority of Thunberg and other travellers, we are told, 
the inhabitants are extremely fond of cultivating them near their 
dwellings, planting them as hedges to the gardens, and training 
them as standards for isolated positions. 
In our climate the character of the plants renders the adoption 
of pot culture necessary, that they may be nurtured in glazed 
erections* and kept portable for the greater‘convenience in their 
management; they are notwithstanding sufficiently hardy to 
bear with impunity a considerable amount of cold, for we have 
known cases of their resisting 12° of frost, when in a dormant 
state, without any apparent injury. To grow them successfully, 
however, a comparatively high temperature is decidedly neces¬ 
sary at certain periods, that a free, vigorous development of new 
foliated parts may be obtained ; they also require a very humid 
atmosphere while in an active state, or the leaves are soon dis¬ 
figured and ultimately killed by the innumerable punctures of a 
host of insects which are certain to attack an unhealthy plant, 
and thence spread over all that may be near. 
As one system of treatment seems to suit the entire genus, 
new and old, we shall proceed to describe that usually employed 
by commercial growers, who cultivate these plants in quantities, 
and certainly get them into a healthy blooming condition in a 
surprisingly short time. The means of propagation are confined 
to cuttings alone, as the plants seldom perfect seed, and the pro¬ 
cess of layering is so lengthy an operation, without corresponding 
ii. 
