The Garden Under Glass

THE BEST FLOWERING PLANTS 45 with it. The old fuchsioides is by no means to be despised, nor are the climbing varieties of begonia which are often found on the greenhouse wall. It remains to be said that a suitable soil for begonias would consist of two parts fibrous loam, of a kind which does not quickly rot, one part flaky leaf-soil, one part mushroom manure, some dried and broken cow manure, a liberal dusting of Clay’s fertiliser and mortar rubble to keep the compost open. The Calceolaria A glorious plant when well grown, but the growing is difficult. It is one of those plants (and there are several) which need to be kept under strict observation—which will brook no relaxation of attention—no neglect. Seeds may be sown from April till July, and from sowing to flowering there is usually the lapse of a year. Careful sowing, careful pricking off, careful watering, cool treat-ment and close attention—this epitomises the correct culture of calceolarias. The seeds, being very minute, require to be distributed as evenly as possible over the moist surface of a seed pan of finely sifted sandy soil half filled with crocks. No covering of soil or sand must be allowed. A sheet of glass, a sheet of paper, and such shelter as can be found in a cold frame are all that are required until germination takes place. Until the seedlings are pricked off, overhead watering should not be given, the pan, instead, being immersed to its rim in water until the water is absorbed by the so il and the surface becomes wet. Pricking off requires to be done at an early stage, care being exercised to avoid breakage of the tiny rootiets. An open soil containing sand and leaf-soil in a slightly larger proportion than loam will aid in keeping on the right