198 



• GARDENING. 



Mar. IS, 



into clean, well drained pots, keeping the 

 plants quite as low in the new pots as 

 they were in the old ones. Be particular 

 about this. Don't fill the pots too full, 

 but leave lots of room for water. Al- 

 ways pot firmly. Never overpot your 

 plants; better err in using a too small 

 than too large pot. 



What soil to use depends on what 

 the plants are to be potted. Most all 

 vigorous rooting, hearty feeding plants 

 as roses, callas, geraniums, fuchsias, cal- 

 ceolarias, cinerarias, and the like will 

 thrivein theonekindof soil— good fibrous 

 loam with lots of rotted manure in it. 

 Less vigorous plants like primroses, be- 

 gonias and C3'clamen may get less man- 

 ure. Fibrous rooted plants like heaths 

 and azaleas may have leaf mould substi- 

 tuted in place of manure. The same with 

 camellias, ixoras, crotons, draca;nas, 

 toxicophljEas, tabernfemontanas, etc. 

 Marantas, anthuriums, and plants of 

 that nature, if in very vigorous health 

 and moderately small pots like rich 

 fibrous soil; if not, less manure and more 

 porosity will suit them better. Even 

 young ferns like rich soil. 



Pkepare for summer by potting up 

 some old gloxinia tubers, also tuberous 

 begonias, spotted leaved caladiums, 

 achinienes and gesnerias. Don't rash 

 them, let them come along leisurely and 

 they'll make finer plants. Repot the Lady 

 Washington pelargoniums, j'oung gen- 

 istas, young fuchsias, double petunias, 

 small Rex begonias, screw pines, and 

 other plants we hope to make our con- 

 servatories gay with in summer. 



Sow^ SEEDS of gloxinias for summer and 

 fall flowers, of tuberous begonias for fall, 

 of Chinese, obconica and Forbesi prim- 

 roses for next winter's blossoms; also 

 of the beautiful hybrid streptocarpus, 

 they too will bloom in winter. If you 

 haven't sown any cyclamen do so now, 

 and keep the seedlings in active growth 

 all summer; they should bloom next 

 March. Don't sow calceolarias or ciner- 

 arias yet, it is much too soon. 



Old Plants that Have Done Bloom- 

 ing. — When stevias are done blooming 

 we cut down and save a few to giv* us 

 cuttings, and throw out the rest. The 

 same with marguerites. We strike a 

 fresh lot of cuttings of carnations, libo- 

 nias and sericographis from cuttings 

 every year, throwing away the old plants. 

 As soon as the eupatoriums are done 

 blooming cut them half way down, let 

 them start to grow a little first and then 

 repot them. Put in a few cuttings for 

 young plants; the same with Ruellia 

 macrantha. When freesias are done bloom- 

 ing keep them green and growing so as 

 to make good bulbs for next year's work; 

 they improve and increase year after 

 year. Hyacinths, tulips and narcissus 

 that come into bloom from this on should 

 also be kept on for further work; although 

 they may not be of any use for forcing 

 next winter, if they are planted out in 

 September they will in another year give 

 nice outdoor blossoms Also keep over 

 your Easter lily bulbs, and when the 

 season is over plant them out in the 

 garden and let them stay there till next 

 August, or better still for another year, 

 mulching them in summer. 



Cold Frames.— Although the spring 

 has come and the sun is warm and tempt- 

 ing, don't uncover the frames and expose 

 them too much, for the winds are cutting 

 and plants sufi'er. Pansies, violets, polv- 

 anthuses, anemones, ranunculus, peren- 

 nial candytuft, forget-me-nots, daisies, 

 and other favorites, will soon be in all 

 their glorv. (live tliem plentv of light 



and air, and lots of water if they need it; 

 keep them nice and clean; expose them in 

 warm sunny weather, but protect them 

 from cold, raw, wet weather, and don't 

 let frost reach them. It isn't a question 

 of hardiness with them, it is one of 

 healthy growth and perfect blossoms. 

 We often plant these flowers in the 

 frames in fall about four times thicker 

 than they ought to be if all were meant 

 to stay there to bloom, our intention 

 being to lift the surplus in spring and 

 plant them out into the open garden. Do 

 this as soon as practicable, but not while 

 the weather is inclement or the ground in 

 a paste or puddle. 



CARNATION BUST ON LEAP AND FLOWER STEM 

 FROM PHOTOGRAPH. 



CflRNflTION DISEASE. 



A. J. C, Lawrence, Mass., writes: 

 "Enclosed find a branch of a sick carna- 

 tion. Please tell me what the matter is 

 and the remedy, if any." 



It is a pronounced case of carnation 

 rust ( C^romyces caryophillinus). Throw 

 out all of your affected plants — burn them 

 up rather, for the disease is a fast spread- 

 ing parasitic fungus; and begin with clean 

 stock in clean quarters. And to keep 

 these clean spray them occasionally with 

 Bordeaux mixture or ammoniated copper 

 carbonate. Under the name of "copper- 

 dine" j-ou can buj' the latter already pre- 

 pared. 



GOOD BLOOMING FLflNTS. 



Until this winter I have never tried 

 growing cinerarias, always thinking it 

 impossible to grow them well outside of 

 a greenhouse. [On the contrary. See 

 Gardening, page 225, April 1, '93'— Ed.] 

 Mine are now gorgeous and more than 

 repay for the care given them, each bloom 

 measuring nearly two inches across. 

 Spraying the plants once a week with 

 tobacco tea, using a small atomizer, has 

 brought them through with no sign of an 

 insect. 



Imantophylhim Garden! is with us a 

 sure bloomer. It is a fine plant if it never 

 bloomed, and requires but little care. Its 

 long dark green leaves are very attract- 

 ive.' .\t this writing (March 5) ourjjlant 



has a scape with fifteen flower buds, some 

 of them almost ready to open, a pleasing 

 sight to a flower lover. 



A Primula obconica standing in the 

 northeast corner of the conserv'aton,' get- 

 ting but a touch of the morning sun has 

 been loaded with bloom all winter. It 

 seems the one plant that florists do not 

 exaggerate, mine being equal to any cat- 

 alogue cut. It is poisonous to some, so 

 leave the blossoms on the plant. Cut the 

 dead leaves oflT with the scissors and do 

 not handle it. [Primula obconica is 

 grand. At Dosoris we grow about a 

 hundred plants of it in a cool greenhouse 

 associated with cinerarias, calceolarias 

 and Chinese primroses, and it blooms ex- 

 travagantly from November till April. 

 We grow it for cut flowers. It loves cool 

 treatment, thin shade, somewhat re- 

 stricted pot room but plenty water, and 

 it should be raised afresh from seed every 

 year. In cleaning the plants or picking 

 the flowers use a pair of old gloves. It 

 doesn't poison everybody; and really 

 although the irritation is disagreeable it 

 isn't dangerous. — Ed.] 



My gloxinias are in bloom, and have 

 fully as many buds as usual, and the foli- 

 age is of good color, but there is some- 

 thing wrong, the leaves curl at the edge. 

 k strong glass fails to show any season 

 for it. Can some one tell what is wrong, 

 and give a remedy? [Send us a diseased 

 leaf.-ED.] " L. 



Conn. 



THE WINDOW GARDEN. 



Growing in our living room and ad- 

 joining bedroom, each having south- 

 facing windows, are cyclamens (one 

 conn is ten years old and blooms every 

 winter) geraniums, single p-tunias, abu- 

 tilons, lantanas, oxalis, Zanzibar balsam, 

 Linum trigynuw, roses and Rex begonias; 

 The begonias are sitting on a table where 

 they get scarcely any sun. The roses are 

 tea scented and were grown from cuttings 

 since August, and are grown in a south 

 window near the glass and on the top 

 sill. I always grow them in this way 

 and always have some roses in winter. I 

 give them a bath every morning. I have 

 man}' other plants in these rooms, but 

 those mentioned are the only ones now 

 in bloom. • Mj' bulbs were potted and are 

 barel)' in bloom yet. 



In an east bay window in a dining 

 room I have many varieties of begonias 

 and callas and carnations. Here I also 

 have Bignonia capreolata trained over 

 the arch of a wire stand, and it blooms 

 beautifully in Februarv. It always 

 blooms twice a year with me, in February 

 and June. I also have one at rest in the 

 cellar that will bloom next summer. I 

 have grown this vine for many years and 

 prize it highly. 



Gloxinias that have been resting in the 

 same dining room are starting into 

 growth, so too are some tubers of 

 begonias. The begonia roots are kept 

 perfectly dry in winter, but I give the 

 gloxinias a little water about once a 

 week if the weather is nottoocold, giving 

 enough to slightly moisten the soil onlj-, 

 and I find that they keep better when so 

 treated than when kept quite dry. 



I have a good collection of cacti, and 

 winter them all in the cellar. They bloom 

 abundantly in summer. I give them lots 

 of water in summer, but none in winter; 

 they haven't had a drop since November 

 last. Mrs.J.D. 



Alexander, 111. 



Insects on Plants —J. CD., Madison, 

 Conn., has got them on his rose gera- 

 niums, heliotrope and roses, and he cannot 



