PEN 
PET 
as far as may be consistent with their 
safety from frost. This is the ground¬ 
work of their general management, and 
all that need be added is, that after the 
spring shifting, the young shoots should 
be frequently stopped, to make the plants 
bushy, and thus increase the quantity of 
flowers; this should be repeated as oiten 
as the new branches have made three 
joints until the middle of April; and at 
each annual shifting at Midsummer the 
plants should be cut back to within, two 
or three eyes or joints of their origin,' 
that the natural tendency of the plants 
to a straggling growth may be suppress¬ 
ed, and to further this still more, the 
growth which formed in August after 
the shifting had also be better stopped, 
but the practice should not be carried 
much further into the season, lest it in¬ 
crease the number of new shoots formed 
in winter, a thing to be avoided as much 
as possible. 
PENTAS (Bentham.) Nat. Ord. Ru- 
biacece. The only species known, P. ear¬ 
ned, is a very handsome stove plant, 
with delicate flesh-coloured flowers, co¬ 
piously produced in dense corymbs or 
cymes. It is valuable not only for its 
valuable flowers, but also lor the length¬ 
ened period and ease with which they 
are produced; and although it requires 
a stove to perfect its blossoms in win¬ 
ter, yet it may be kept in a greenhouse, 
and will then bloom from April till' the 
following October. It delights in a 
mixture of peat and loam, and should 
be frequently stopped while young. 
PENSTEMON (L’IIehitier.) Nat. 
Ord. Scrophulariacem. A beautiful genus 
of hardy or half-hardy herbaceous per¬ 
ennials, well suited for bedding pur¬ 
poses, and as such are well-established 
favorites in all collections. The finest, 
such as P. cohaw, Murryanum pulchel- 
lum, campamdatum, speciosum, gentianoi- 
cles, &c., should be preserved in pots in 
a cold pit or the greenhouse through 
the winter, and in May be turned into 
the borders. They all delight in rich light 
soil, such as peat, loam, and dung, and 
are readily increased by cuttings or di¬ 
vision. 
PEBESKIA (Plumiek.) Nat. Ord. 
Cadacece. We notice tliis genus be¬ 
cause of its very different character to 
the rest of the order, being furnished 
with long flexuous branches and proper 
leaves ; the species P. aculecita forms a 
good stock on which to graft the dwarf¬ 
growing Epiphyllums or others which 
require elevating to show their flowers. 
The management of Pereskia is identical 
with that of other Cactaceous plants, 
and therefore need not be repeated. 
PEBIPLOCA (Linn.) . Nat. Order 
Asclepiadacece. One species, P. grceca, 
is a valuable hardy climbing plant, and 
as such may be used for covering walls, 
arbours, &c., it grows freely in good soil; 
the other species being-tender are scarcely 
worth the attention they require. 
PETIiEA (Linn.) Nat. Ord. Verbe¬ 
na ceac. This is a very handsome genus 
of stove plants. The species P. volu- 
bilis is a climber with handsome purple 
flowers; the others are also beautiful, 
and deserve to be more extensively cul¬ 
tivated. They grow well in rich loamy 
soil. 
PETUNIA (Jussieu.) Nat. Ord. So- 
lanaceee. In the whole range of what are 
called “ bedding plants, 55 there is not an 
individual that can be said to exceed in 
general usefulness the Petunia. The 
varieties most commonly cultivated are 
derived from P. violacea; they are 
among the easiest things to manage, in 
fact, may be treated as annuals, and 
therefore require no trouble or space 
for their preservation through the win¬ 
ter ; they continue to bloom from the 
middle of May or earlier, until cut off 
by the autumnal frosts, are never un¬ 
tidy, but continually present a vivid 
display of hundreds of blossoms of every 
conceivable shade between pure white 
and the richest purple, and that too 
without further attention. than merely 
planting where they are desired to bloom; 
they require no watering or tying, or 
other trouble of any sort. To obtain 
them let the seed be sown in March on 
a gentle heat, and as soon as the plants 
can be handled, prick them out, five 
or six into wide-mouthed pots . or pans, 
and encourage them to grow in a cold 
pit or frame until the beginning of May, 
