BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME FROM THE SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND THE GIFT OF 1891 J^^Y-.^^jz,.s>... ^.r/^//A. 6896-1 RETURN TO ALBERT R. MANN LIBRARY ITHACA, N. Y. Cornell University Library SB 415.W72C1883 Choice stove and greenhouse flowering pi 3 1924 002 825 614 The original of tliis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924002825614 Um and te^nhoustt JflotD^rmjg pants. CHOICE STOVE MD GREENHOUSE FLOWERING PLANTS. COHPaiSING }mriT^xam of upujar^s 4 ihirtijutt ^m&nA ^pwwa and ^mutm, ACCOMPAMIBD BY INSTRUCTIONS FOR THEIR CULTIVATION AND MODE OF MANAGEMENT. BENJAMIN SAMUEL ^ILLIAMS, F.L.S., F.K.H.S., AUTHOR OP " THE OBCHID GROTTKfi'S MANUAL," " HINTS ON THE CULTIVATION OP FBBMB," " SELECT PERNS AND LYC0P0D8," " CHOICE STOVE AND GREENHOUSE ORNAMENTAL-LEAVED PLANTS," " THE ORCHID ALBUM," ETC., ETC. THIRD EDITION, .ENLARGED, ILLUSTRATED, AND REVISED. PUBLISHED AND SOLD BY THE AUTHOK. 1883. Victoria and Paradise Nurseries, Upper HoUoway, London, N. LONDON" PRINTID BY JaS. TttUSCOTi AKD SoN Suffolk Lane, City. PKEFACE TO THIED EDITION. It is highly gratifying to us to find that the Second Edition of this work has had such a rapid sale, and has been circulated widely both on the Continent and in the Colonies, independent of the home demand ; facts which show the opinions of Cultivators, Amateurs, and Gardeners respecting the utility of it. In preparing the Third Edition, it has been our aim to make it as complete as possible, by increasing the number of woodcuts, and adding all the most meritorious new species and varieties of Stove and Greenhouse Flowering Plants up to the present time ; we have also added some cuts of Greenhouses, &c., from which our readers will be able to gain ideas as to the arrangement of their plants, and the forms in which they should be trained for exhibition or decorative purposes ; these additions have greatly increased the size and cost of production of the work, and we have been reluctantly compelled to raise the price to 7/6, which we feel certain our readers will not object to. We have endeavoured to render the instructions herein given as plain and practical as possible, so that any one perusing its pages and acting judiciously may be suc- cessful in the cultivation of their plants. In conclusion, we have to record our thanks to the Editors of the Gardeners' Chronicle, Messrs. Jas. Veitch & Sons, Mr. William Bull, and other kind friends, for the loan of some of the illustrations contained in this edition. B. S. WILLIAMS. ViOTOKiA AND Paradise NuRSEKias, TTPPBK HOLLOWAT, LONDON, N., March, 1883. CONTENTS. PAGE Pkbfaob Y Index 365 STOVE PLANTS. A Sbleotion of Stovb Flowbrisg Plants 34 Bkombhaobous Plants 71 ClSTEBNB 14 Glazing 11 Heating 8 HtBRIDISING and CROSS-BREEDING 29 Insects 20 Introduction 1 Plant Stoves 5 Potting 16 Propagation 24 Remarks upon Fertilisation 31 Besting and Drying Off 23 Shading 12 Soil 14 Stove Aquatics 177 Trellises and Training 22 Ventilation 11 Watering 18 GREENHOUSE PLANTS. A Selection of Greenhouse Flowering Plants . .198 Florists' Flowers, Annuals, and Soft-wooded Plants . 346 Greenhouses 187 Introduction 185 Pits and Frames , . ,191 Soils and Potting 193 The Conservatory 189 Watering and Water 196 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. Abutilon bos^florum 200 Achimenes, Group op . 34 ^OHMEA MARIiE BEGINiE 73 Amaryllis Brilliant . 47 VUl LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. PASB Anthurium Andreanum .55 56 „ floribund0m 58 „ ORNATOM 70 „ SOHBRZBRIANUM ROTHSOHILDIANUM 66 „ „ WlLLIAMSII Azalea Housb 208 „ Mrs. Carmiohabl 214 Begonia brilliant 218 69 „ soootrana . BoMAREA Carderii 225 Calceolaria 348 Camellia House 231 Choisya ternata 241 Cineraria 351 Ctolambn siganteum 252 „ pbrsioum 251 dipladenia insignis 91 97 „ "WlLLIAMSII Erica House 261 EiroHARIS CANDIDA 104 „ grandiflora . 102 eurtcles australasioa . 106 Franoiscba caltcina 108 Habkothamnus elegans arqentea 292 HiEMANTHUS KaLBRETERI 128 Hibiscus Dennisonii . 129 „ SCaiZOPBTALUS .130 IXORA DUFFII .... 139 „ WiLLIAMSn 141 Jasminum gracillimum 142 Lapageria rosea 300 Lisianthus princbps 308 New Holland House ... 187 Philageria Veitchii 319 Philesia buxifolia .... ... 320 Primula sinensis fimbriata . 323 „ „ alba plena 325 psychotria jasminiflora ... 160 Rhododendron Duchess op Edinburgh 328 Taylorii „ . 331 SoLAlfUM HYBRIDUM COMPAOTUM 335 ^tephanotis floribunda (Elvaston var.) ... 168 TiLLANDSiA LINDENII ReGELIANA .... 78 TOXIOOPHL^A SPEOTABILIS . 173 UtRIOULARIA MONTANA . 176 CHOICE STOYE Am GREENHOUSE PLANTS. STOVE PLANTS. INTBODUCTION. ilF the earliest races of mankind had possessed no love for plants, and had not been impressed by the grand and noble outlines of the trees of the forest, the importance of these vegetable monarchs would soon have become manifest through their yielding not only the necessaries of life, but, by the aid of attention and culti- vation, supplying also its luxuries. Hence we find that, at a very early age, man was engaged in husbandry, and was busily occupied in cultivating the vine and the corn-pro- ducing plants, as well as trafficking in myrrh and spices. At the time the Greek EepubUc was ia the zenith of its glory, a class of men called Ehizomatse employed them- selves in the digging of roots, and in searching for herbs, which were principally applied to the healing art. Aristotle first founded a natural science of plants, but his writings on this subject have been lost. He was followed by his pupil Theophrastus ; and then for a long period we hear of no one prosecuting the study. The ancient Eomans seem to have 2 ' STO'^'E PLANTS. cultivated a number of plants in their gardens and fields, but tbey never attained to any great degree of eminence in the science, of cultivation. Dioscorides and Pliny were the first among the Eomans to apply themselves to botanical study, but after their time it rapidly died cut. We next find the Arabians occupying themselves in investigating the nature and qualities of plants, principally with the view to their application for medicinal purposes. Passing over the dark ages, and coming down to the fif- teenth century, we find that the study of plants again revived, and that the beauties of the vegetable kingdom were ap- preciated by men of high and low degree. In the sixteenth century one Otto Brunfels, of Strasburgh, published a trea- tise on plants, illustrated by wood engravings. From that time forward, the taste for plants went on steadily increas- ing until the time of Linnfeus, whose philosophic writings gave a strong impetus to the delightful study. Since Linnseus's time the knowledge of plants has been vastly extended by the diligent labours and searching inquiries of men of great and active minds, both at home and abroad, of whom among those of our own country may be named Sir Joseph Banks, Sir James Smith, Sir William Hooker, Eobert Brown, Sir Joseph Paxton, Dr. Lindley, Thomas Moore, Dr. Masters, John Smith, Sir Joseph Hooker, &c., &c., men of whom any country might be proud, and with some of whom most plant-growers of the present day have been more or less intimately acquainted. Our continental neighbours can also boast of many equally great men, who have largely increased our knowledge of plants. Thus, in these days, not only may we gather delights from beholding the beautiful workings of nature in her vegetable garb, but we are also enabled to bring her boundless resources to bear practically upon our daily wants and luxuries. INTRODUCTION. 3 Almost every portion of the earth is clothed with vege- tatioB, each particular plant being adapted to the peculiar circumstances and conditions in which it is placed. Thus, the peat bog, the mountain, and the valley have each a dis- tinct vegetation ; the chalk, the gravel, the clay, and the swamp have each their own peculiar plants. As we ascend mountains, we find the temperature gradually becoming lower, and vegetation decreasing in stature, until the region of perpetual snow where no vegetation exists is reached. We do not intend, however, to enter in these pages upon the geographical distribution of plants, nor to investigate the means by which various genera have been placed in the positions they occupy, except so far as to point out, that as different genera and species in a wild state are subject to different conditions of atmosphere, both as regards moisture and temperature, as well as to varieties of soil, as to the physical and chemical qualities of the materials of which it is composed, it is only reasonable to insist that those who attempt the cultivation of plants, should have some know- ledge of these matters, sufficient to enable them to imitate nature, so far as the artificial conditions with which they may have to deal will allow. The first division of this work is devoted to Stove Plants, that is to say, plants requiring a considerable degree of artificial heat in our climate ; they are plants whose home is in the tropics—in the regions of palms, tree ferns, gigaiitic bamboos, and monster trees whose magnitude would amaze us in this country, the branches of these arboreal giants being in many instances laden with epiphytal orchids, bromehads, aroids, and ferns, as well as with parasitical plants, such as Loranthus, which, like our own mistletoe (Viscum album), derive their nourishment from the sap of their supporter. These parasites decorate the trees B 2 STOVE PLANTS. with an endless variety of gorgeous flowers, while, in addition, their branches are beautifully festooned with largo climbing plants, such as are familiar to cultivators in the species of Comhretmn, Passiflora, Cissus, Ipomcca, Boiigain- villea, Bignonia, and many others, which oftentimes reach from the ground to the very tops of their supporters, and hang across their branches like ropes to neighbouring trees, until the whole forms a tangled mass of splendid flowers and foliage utterly beyond the conception of those who have never seen a tropical forest.