The species we see in the greenhouses is H. Rosa-Sinensis and its varieties. It is hardly a florist's plant, yet its bright, shining leaves and showy, brilliant flowers make it desirable for the private conservatory.

Hibiscus plants thrive in any good, coarse loam, with some well rotted manure added. They soon make large plants and need a liberal size pot, and plenty of water and syringing when growing. Their brilliant flowers come on the young growths. In winter they will do in a temperature of 50 degrees, and keep on the dry side. When starting them into more growth in April shorten back the shoots; the young growths will be all the stronger. The flowers are of various colors and are both single and double.

The young growths root readily in April in some warm sand, but should not be exposed to the sun or too much air.

H. Syriacus is one of our finest hardy shrubs, known as althaea, or rose of Sharon. It makes a compact, much branched shrub, thickly studded with its showy flowers in August and September and growing five to eight feet high. We have within a few years imported many of the fine French varieties with flowers as perfect and pretty as a gardenia, or small camellia, but did not find them quite hardy, although they may be a little farther south.