Bignoniaceae

“ But if we cut the flowers as fast as they are produced, and never allow a single seed pod to be formed, the plant will live any number of years, and continually increase in size if assisted with root room and liquid manure until it becomes a gigantic wonder. We have kept the same plants seven years, and then threw them away because of their unmanageable magnitude. To manage the mignonette as a round perennial bush, and have it in flower the whole year round is most easy. Sow two or three seeds each in 60-size pots in rich, light, loamy compost. ”

“ Some kinds of begonias will send out roots from the end of the stem, or new plants from the point above where stem and leaf join.
Except for some succulents, leaf cuttings are usually inserted with their stem ends in a moist propagating medium, with their leaves standing nearly upright above. (Again, you are safer if you have a propagating box, even though it be a crude one.) When they are well rooted and the new plants are of fair size, the cuttings are potted with the old leaves intact. The parent leaf is removed only when the new plant is strong enough to grow on its own. ”

“ Peat, or a compost of two parts loam, two parts leaf-mould, and one part each of sand and old, well-rotted manure suits all varieties of Begonias. In setting out the tuberous Begonia it is well to mulch the bed with lawn clippings. Water thoroughly once a day, and, if very dry, or at all exposed to the sun, twice a day. So really wonderful are their blossoms, and so long and freely do they bloom, that they well repay a little extra care and protection. When frosty nights come the tuberous Begonias must be lifted, potted and kept indoors until they have completed their season of growth. ”

“ Semina membranaceo-alata.
Empalement, five-cleft, cup-shaped.
Blossom bell-shaped at the mouth, five-cleft, and bellied beneath. A pod of two cells. Seed winged with a skinny membrane.
See Pl. XLIII. Bignonia Leucoxylon. Vol. I.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER.
Bignonia foliis pinnatis; foliolis lanceolatis, dentatis; caule volubili; floribus racemosis, terminalibus.
Trumpet Flower with winged leaves; the small leaves are lance-shaped, and toothed; a climbing stem; the flowers grow in bunches, and terminate the branches. ”

“ It has been shown that pollen is often carried by insects to a considerable distance from plant to plant. Therefore, one of the parents or ancestors of our two plants of Digitalis may have been crossed by a distant plant growing under somewhat different conditions. Plants thus crossed often produce an unusually large number of seeds; a striking instance of this fact is afforded by the Bignonia, which was fertilized by Fritz Müller with pollen from some adjoining plants and set hardly any seed, but, when fertilized with pollen from a distant plant, was highly fertile. ”

“ It is a beautiful vine to drape a tree that is in itself not very pleasing, or to cover brick or stone outbuildings.
Its faults, and it is a shame to discover faults in anything so beautiful, are a tendency to become naked below, which can be remedied by cutting back, an over abundant production of suckers, and its immensely long roots.
Bignonia capreolata, named for the Abbe Bignon, who first found it, is a closely related species, of a more southern range than the Tecoma, being found in Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia. ”

“ Bignonia (an unnamed species from Kew, closely allied to B. unguis, but with smaller and rather broader leaves) .—A young shoot from a cut-down plant made three revolutions against the sun, at an average rate of 2 hrs. ”

“ When the little plants are large enough to handle prick them out into other flats, setting them an inch apart each way. When an inch high put into two-inch pots of leaf-mould, and plunge the pots in a pan of wet sand in a cool, north window where bulbs are growing, if possible, as the constant evaporation from these keeps the air moist. This is an important consideration in the culture of Begonias, and in winter water should be kept on stove, radiator or register to supply moisture. Among the fine bedding, fibrous-rooted Begonias the new Vulcan, a fiery scarlet ”

“ If the house gardener desires to raise tuberous begonias from seed, he must be prepared to exercise much patience. The seeds, like those of all begonias, are very small, and should be sown with great care. Start the seeds in late winter. Simply sprinkle them on the surface of the soil, which should be a mixture of leafmold and sand, with the addition of a small quantity of fibrous loam. Watering should be done by setting the pot or box in which the seeds are sown in water, allowing the moisture to ascend through the soil. ”

“ The tendrils of Bignonia, which are modified leaves, thus behave, as do the tendrils of the three genera of Vitaceæ, and these are modified flower-peduncles. The tendrils, however, of Eccremocarpus, which is allied to Bignonia, contract spirally even when they have caught nothing. The uncaught tendrils of the Cardiospermum, and to a certain extent those of the Mutisia, roll themselves up not into a spire, but into a helix.
The spiral contraction which ensues after a tendril has caught a support is of high service to all tendril-bearing plants ”

“ Bignonia venusta ascended a vertical stick by spirally twining and by seizing it alternately with its two tendrils like a sailor pulling himself up a rope hand over hand; our present species pulls itself straight up, like a sailor seizing with both hands together the rope above his head.
The tendrils are almost identical in structure with those of the last species. They continue growing for some time, even after clasping an object, and when fully grown, though borne by a young plant, were 9 inches in length. ”

“ The beauty of its blossoms is short-lived, and possibly for this reason is all the more appreciated. A few short days and the heat of the sun will have taken all the colour out of its purple tassels, the leaves will begin to appear, and all its glory is departed. Some of the winter-flowering creepers last in beauty so long—for weeks or almost months—such as the bougainvilleas and Bignonia venustus, that if such a thing were possible, one becomes almost wearied of their beauty, and passes them by almost unnoticed. ”

“ Beside it should sit a begonia or two, and some flowering geraniums. A petunia and a bridal-rose might come next—the petunia twined among the others to hide its scraggy limbs. A nicotiana, well in the light, might make the evenings sweet with its perfume, and if the room be not over-warm, a pot of mignonette might sweeten the air by day, and at night be removed to cooler quarters. In the "middle aisle" an achyranthes or two may stand with sunlight sifting through its [26] fiery leaves, which have thus all the color-effect of blossoms without their perishability. ”

“ Another beautiful vine that grows wild in most of our states is the Trumpet Flower, a popular name for various species of Bignonia and Tecoma, which belong to the other Bignoniaaceæ or Bignonia family, all of which are either shrubs or woody vines. There are two or three species of this family native to the United States, chief among them being the Tecoma radicans, or what is generally known as the Trumpet Flower. ”

“ THE TREE-MIGNONETTE.--This plant does not appear to be a distinct variety, for the common mignonette, properly trained becomes shrubby. It may be propagated by either seed or cuttings. When it has put forth four leaves or is about an inch high, take it from the bed and put it by itself into a moderate sized pot. As it advances in growth, carefully pick off all the side shoots, leaving the leaf at the base of each shoot to assist the growth of the plant. When it has reached a foot in height it will show flower. ”

“ The begonia rex makes a beautiful parlor plant. Five or seven leaves make a nice-sized plant: Select five or seven healthy begonia leaves of different sizes, as no two leaves of the rex are of one size on the same plant. Cut the leaves closely off the stem and immerse them in a solution of cold water and castile soap. Leave them in this twelve hours before using. Melt the wax to the consistency of cream, in chrome green, permanent green, dark olive-green, and verdigris-green. Now take a leaf out of the soapsuds and lay it on a marble slab, keeping the under surface or veined side uppermost ”

“ Mimosoideae and Caesalpinioideae are richly developed in the tropical rain forests, where Papilionatae are less conspicuous and mostly herbaceous; in subtropical forests arborescent forms of all three suborders occur. In the temperate regions, tree-forms are rare—thus Mimosoideae are unrepresented in Europe; Caesalpinioideae are represented by species of Cercis, Gymnocladus and Gleditschia; Papilionatae by Robinia; but herbaceous Papilionatae abound and penetrate to the limit of growth of seed-plants in arctic and high alpine regions. ”

“ These do not blossom the first year; they may therefore be thinned out or removed from the beds in which tey have been first planted: when their roots acquire sufficient strength, set out in the places they are to occupy for the succeeding year. They must be kept free from weeds, and the ground occasionally loosened to facilitate their growth. Biennials are generally raised from seed sown every year. Many varieties of hardy annuals flower much larger and finer in the spring, if sown the preceding summer or fall, so as to vegetate previous to frost. ”

“ Plants in conservatory borders which are now past their best to be taken up, and, if worth keeping pot them, and place on bottom-heat for eight or ten days, as they will winter better if the pots are full of roots. Winter-flowering begonias to have a good shift in a compost of turfy loam and leaf-mould. Pot off a lot of bulbs at once for early bloom, and plunge them in coal ashes, and give very little water. Keep all houses open as much as will be safe; house tender subjects that are likely to suffer from wind and rain. Pot a few bulbs for early bloom. ”

“ It is not necessary to prepare the seed-bed over a foot in depth, but the soil must be very light and fine, as well as rich. It is best, if possible, to have a portion of the bed somewhat shaded from the sun for a part of the day. If this combination [58] cannot be had in one bed, there should be a second for plants that want less sun. Biennials must, of course, be sown every year, as they bloom but once, then die.
Every year some perennials will disappear, killed by severe winters, by pests of one kind or another, or dying without apparent cause. ”

“ The propagation of Begonias may be accomplished by means of seeds, which are freely produced by almost all the cultivated kinds, by cuttings, by division of the rhizomes, and—in the case of the large-leaved kinds—by leaf-cuttings. For the first of these methods it is necessary that the seeds should be well ripened before they are gathered, and kept dry until sown. Where it is desired to increase any particular kind of garden origin, seeds are useless, none of the hybrid or seedling forms perpetuating themselves through their seeds, although equally beautiful sorts may be raised from them. ”

“ It is said that Miss Mitford, the admired authoress, was the first to discover that the common mignonette could be induced to adopt tree-like habits. The experiment has been tried in India, but it has sometimes failed from its being made at the wrong season. The seed should be sown at the end of the rains.
GRAFTING.--Take care to unite exactly the inner bark of the scion with the inner bark of the stock in order to facilitate the free course of the sap. Almost any scion will take to almost any sort of tree or plant provided there be a resemblance in their barks. ”

“ Darwin, speaking of the tendrils of Bignonia capreolata, says it is a highly remarkable fact that a leaf should be metamorphosed into a branched organ, which turns from the light, and which can, by its extremities, either crawl like a root into crevices, or seize hold of minute projecting points, these extremities subsequently forming cellular masses, which envelope by their growth the first fibres and secrete an adhesive cement. ”

“ Then you have extras, so if some do not come up your garden is not crippled.
Mignonette, again, is accommodating and will grow in almost any kind of soil. These seeds are small and may be sprinkled along in the drill. Later thin out so the plants stand from six to twelve inches apart. In choosing mignonette seed remember that there is a great difference in mignonette. Some is very sweet, some is not: some have large sturdy spikes, while others have rather small spikes. It pays to buy good seed. ”

“ A fragment of a Begonia-leaf imbedded in fit soil and kept at an appropriate temperature, will develop a young Begonia; and so small is the fragment which is thus capable of originating a complete plant, that something like a hundred plants may be produced from a single leaf. ”

“ Some growers keep their tubers exposed in a light, airy greenhouse until the stalks and stems are so shrivelled that they will drop off with a touch. As long as they are not shrivelled, they constitute a danger to the tuber during its time of rest. Begonias must be stored in sand or cocoanut-fibre in shallow boxes, and kept in a frost-free place through the winter. They can be grown from seed or from cuttings under glass, but we think both operations are a little beyond the juvenile gardener. ”