Tacsonia
Tacsonia Van Volxemi.
PASSION-FLOWERS and tacsonias are so nearly related, that it is for botanical rather than horticultural purposes that they are separated, as will be shown in the Synopsis, where technical matters admit of treatment more conveniently than here. It may be stated at once that the plant represented by the accompanying plate is the finest climber known to cultivation for a spacious conservatory or cool plant-house. A temperature not lower than 40 degree will keep it safely through the winter, and from May to November the natural temperature suffices; or, in other words, it needs no aid from artificial heat except during the four or five winter months, and then only sufficient to keep it safe from frost. It is of no use to plant this rampant grower in a small house; and to attempt to grow it in a pot is about as unreasonable as to attempt to raise eagles in canary cages.
There are times when "comparisons are odious;" in the present case they might be ridiculous, for there is no plant at our command that could be put before, or even beside, this magnificent beauty; for even the lapageria, lovely as it is, becomes nothing when we have seen Tacsonia Van Volxemi in a thorough state of prosperity in a great conservatory, where it is quite at home. All the passion-flowers and tacsonias are natives of South America; and although a certain number are strictly tropical, not a few of the most beautiful are met with in temperate regions. M. Van Volxem, a Belgian amateur, met with this plant in a garden at Bogota, whence it was taken to Belgium in the year 1858, and very soon there-after made its way into many European gardens. It has been found also in the Quindiu Andes, at high altitudes. It was probably first flowered in this country in the Exeter Nurseries of Messrs. Lucombe, Pince, and Co., for Sir Joseph Hooker was indebted to that firm for the first plant presented to the Royal Gardens, Kew, from which the first figure published in this country was prepared, to make known the wonder unto many (B. M., 5,571).
Its comparative hardiness is no matter for surprise, for M. Van Volxem reports that it resists a temperature of freezing-point in its native country; but it should never be exposed to a condition so severe in cultivation, for as a matter of fact, no plant is so hardy under cultivation as when living its own life and managing its own affairs. The grandest example that we have seen of this plant is in a great conservatory used for a store-room for giant tree-ferns, palms, and cycads, in the gardens of Eastnor Castle, the residence of Lady Henry Somerset. The plant clothes the whole of the roof structure, and from the rafters that support it sends forth innumerable pendent garlands of the richest leafage, abundantly adorned with the glowing flowers. Mr. William Coleman, the talented head-gardener there, may boast that from a plant a foot long he has developed the grandest flowering climber in the kingdom. The first thing to be done for this and any other tacsonia is to prepare for the roots a capacious border of mellow turfy loam; the drainage must be perfect, the soil must be deep. The next business will be to put in the plant. We might say "plants," but, generally speaking, one is enough for a house of great size. The best time for planting is in spring, before growth commences, and the planting should be done with care, to insure the spreading out of the roots and their being covered with three or four inches of fine soil. From the time of planting water must be given occasionally, but in moderation, for until the roots have become active frequent watering will prove injurious. But when in free growth, the plant will need an abundant supply; and when two or three years have passed, the border should be annually refreshed with a top-dressing of fresh soil, the upper crust of old soil being removed to make room for it.
The propagation of tacsonias and the like does not come within the range of an amateur's operations; but this essay would be incomplete were the subject excluded from notice. Tacsonias are usually raised from cuttings of young shoots, which root quickly in a propagating house, or on a hotbed that is in good working order. The cuttings should be about six inches in length, and should be potted singly in five-inch pots, with sufficient drainage, and a soil of equal parts loam and sand. They must not be shifted from these to larger pots, for the object is to secure strong young plants, with a good ball of roots to begin life with when planted out.