140 



THE GARDEISER'S MONTHLY 



IMay, 



Texas. The blooming time of I. longiflora falls be- 

 tween October and January ; and that fact made 

 me think that it was not, strictly speaking, a 

 stove plant, and must not be treated as such, 

 although it may thrive well in an orchid house, 

 like Pteris trimula. I kept the specimens I suc- 

 ceeded in raising, in a temperature of from 50° 

 to 65°, mostly in a Rose house, on the ground, 

 where the Tea Roses are planted, in and be- 

 tween the rose bushes, knowing that they will 

 thrive well in the shade, which they did, and 

 merrily went on blooming. I often cut from 

 one good-sized plant in a six inch pot, from four 

 to six flowers a day, and as the flower was a 

 novelty in this market, it readily brought two 

 cents apiece. We ourselves used it freely in our 

 designs, and found that just that peculiar length 

 of the flower tube was the strikingly pleasing 

 feature in it. We could either let it stick out 

 and produce its whole length, or we somewhat 

 clipped it (the tube) below, and then applied it 

 according to circumstances, to taste, and so 

 pleased all. 



I concede, that the flower cannot in truth be 

 called a very desirable one ; yet we found it any- 

 how as lasting as the Jasmine or Azalea flowers. 

 Florists, here and elsewhere, have offered and 

 sent us voluntarily flattering testimonials as to 

 its value as a cut flower. That the plant is an 

 annual, I am, so far, inclined to doubt, as, 

 after blooming, it puts out numerous sprouts 

 or shoots from the roots. For rockeries, as 

 Mr. De Niedman suggests, I do not consider 

 it suitable or fit at all ; at least not in this 

 latitude, for the obvious reason that it blooms 

 too late in fall. 



As to the poisonous properties of the plant in 

 any or all of its parts, of which Mr. De Neidman 

 talks, I can only say, I have not observed 

 anything marked about it. Of course, any one 

 who puts one of the flowers into his mouth and 

 masticates it, may feel a kind of a burning sen- 

 sation on his tongue ; but that is the case with 

 many. Many a highly-priced ornamental plant 

 will have some kind of acid. I found the seed 

 of I. longiflora mentioned as something rare, 

 even in the seed. 



Catalogues ot Haage & Schmidt, in Erfurt, Ger- 

 many, and I. axilaris and Brownii, I often 

 meet in some European gardens. Mr. De Nied- 

 man tries to make even the odors of Isotoma sus- 

 pected, if not odious. I do not remember hav- 

 ing seen or heard much of flowers emitting poi- 

 son. At any rate, if we are going to discard all 



poisonous and suspicious plants we are carefully 

 cultivating and highly prizing, we would have to 

 discard and to miss some of our most beautiful 

 favorites in the garden, as, for instance : Azalea 

 pontica, Aconitum, Euphorbia, Calla, Solanum, 

 Oleander, Ranunculi, Laurus cerasus, Arum, 

 Helleborus niger, Digitalis, Dativia, Kalmia, and 

 last, if not least, Daphne, which Phytohemie 

 designates as poisonous. All this is only to say, 

 that what I stated in the December number of 

 this journal about I. longiflora, was no exaggera- 

 tion or fiction, but the naked truth. That any 

 plant, newly introduced, brought into public no- 

 tice, has to stand the cross fire of the critics, is 

 an old, well-known fact, and I don't complain 

 of it. 



[In justice to Mr. Eisele, it should be said that 

 we had never seen the plant before, and we had 

 to give him the name from botanical analysis 

 alone. He is justified in regarding it as rather 

 rare under culture. He is also one of the most 

 intelligent of the rising race of commercial flor- 

 ists in Philadelphia, and well qualified to judge 

 of an acceptable cut flower. It is true, as Mr. 

 De N. says, that the sweet odor of the flower has 

 the reputation among the Carribeans of produc- 

 ing headaches, but we have known South Caro- 

 linians cut down Gardenias for the same reason. 

 —Ed. G. M.l 



CoNOCLiNiUM lANTHiNUM. — This is the name of 

 the flower sent by J. B., Sacramento, California. 



Strelitzia begins. — "H. G. C." asks: "Can 

 any of the readers of the " Gardener's Monthly 

 give me any information on the cultivation of the 

 Strelitzias reginse, or juncea? Do they require 

 stove or greenhouse temperature? 



[They thrive very well if planted out in a 

 warm, sunny place, in rather damp, rich soil, 

 during summer, and repotted in autumn. They 

 do not require great heat in winter. — Ed. G. M.] 



Blue Carpet Bedder.— " F. N. J." asks : 

 "What is your own opinion of the best blue car- 

 pet bedder, after all the discussion there has 

 befin on the subject ?" 



[We do not think just what is needed has yet 

 been suggested. It is to be remembered that the 

 question was for a plant that would not grow 

 more than a few inches high, — something that 

 would do for the blue in a flag. We think Lo- 

 belia, as at first suggested, is the best, but it 

 must be continually nipped back ; for if left to 

 seed it will die out before the season is over. 



