i8g5. 



GARDENING. 



87 



six weeks in last May and June it was 

 loaded with seven or eight great creamy- 

 clusters, each containing seven or eight 

 flowers as large as a single tuberose. 

 This fall, however, it is not doing so well. 

 The leaves, about two-thirds of them, 

 have fallen off and many of them remain- 

 ing are covered with spots like those on 

 the leaf enclosed to you. What can I do 

 lor it?" 



.4ns. The leaf is spotted with a downy 

 mildew. Wash the leaves with a sponge 

 and soft soapy water, then dust them 

 over with sulphur. This is a check or 

 preventive, not a cure. We don't know 

 what caused the sickness in your plant, 

 but it is a very hard matter to recuperate 

 a sick stephanotis. Bad drainage in the 

 pot, probably caused by angle worms, 

 and a sodden sour soil, will cause just 

 such mischief. We would advise, cutback 

 the soft, wilty vines a little, turn the 

 plant out of the pot to see that the di-ain- 

 age is free, but otherwise don't break the 

 ball of earth nor re-pot the plant just 

 now, simply replace it unbroken in the 

 pot. Then keep the earth only slightly 

 moist, and in fine mornings dew the plant 

 overhead. If after a time, say in early 

 spring, the vines and leaves stiffen up, re- 

 pot it, removing as much of the old soil 

 as you can without injuring the roots, 

 and use a comparatively small pot. 



THE DOVE FLOWBR. 



NEW WHITE CHRYSANTHEMUM GRETCHEN BUETTNER. 



blooming stalks, and it has grown well 

 all summer, until now it is a good sized 

 plant in an 8-inch pot. The buds are at 

 the end of everj' stem, and I am waiting 

 for them to open, — if pretty (and what 

 flower is not in winter?) it will be quite 

 desirable, for it is of easy culture, its chief 

 requirements being sun of course, a fair 

 supply of water and a cool place. [This 

 slender shrubby plant is a native of 

 New Holland, and bears a profusion of 

 small j'ellow and red pea flowers. Shear 

 off all the old flower sprays after the 

 plant has done blooming. It is propa- 

 gated from seed. — Ed.] A pretty sight 

 in my window to-day is a plant of 



El'IPHYLLlM TRlNC.iTU.M. It stands 



on a bracket, and even those who dislike 

 the "horrid things" cannot help admir- 

 ing it. and it has almost countless buds 

 and blossoms in all stages of growth, 

 and it is a friend who never fails to re- 

 ward me, for what little care I give it. I 

 am very fond of 



Bego.nl^s and now have some twenty 

 five varieties. Although they are my 

 favorites I have not been as successful 

 with them as with other plants, called 

 more difficult of culture; however, they 

 promise well now, B. sempertJorens 

 gigantea rosea is in bloom. The flower is 

 lovely, and the plant in constant flower, 

 but thev persist in dropping their lower 

 leaves and I notice they do this in florists' 

 greenhouses. Begonia Vernon is a good 

 plant, free in bloom, and with bright 

 green foliage close to the soil Mine are 

 potted in good garden soil and leaf mo Id, 

 with a little sand, and the pots are 

 drained with charcoal and broken pots. 



Connecticut. H. E. L. 



name of "Nerine Japonica." The Guern- 

 sey lily is Nerine Sarniensis. "Spider lily" 

 is a name given in common to many spe- 

 cies of Crinum. Lycoris aurea has yellow 

 flowers. None of these plants is hardy at 

 Dosoris, and that means in N. Y. In the 

 South, however, they are hardv. 



NBRINE-LYCORIS-SPIDER LILY. 



G. C. P., Newark, N. Y.. asks: "Are 

 Nerine Japonica. Lycoris radiata, Guern- 

 sey lily and spider lily all different names 

 for the same plant? Is it, or they, hardy 

 here? Which one has yellow flowers?" 



.4ns. Lycoris radiata is the proper 



flZflLEflS flS HOUSE PLANTS. 



It is not during the winter months that 

 azaleas are liable to sufler, for if they be 

 put in a light window and given water 

 when dry, they will behave all right. It 

 is in the hot dry summer months that the 

 danger lies in the keeping of the azalea as 

 a house plant from year to year. But 

 there is nothing difficult in growing aza- 

 leas from quite small plants entirely with- 

 out the aid of a greenhouse. The single 

 varieties are best for this purpose, as they 

 grow more freely than the double ones, 

 and I think look' quite as pretty. When 

 done blooming in the house, the old 

 flowers should be carefully picked ofl", and 

 if the plants need it, re-pot them into 

 larger pots, using two parts leaf soil and 

 one composed of equal parts loam and 

 sand, ram the soil firmly down between 

 the roots and the sides of the new pot. 

 Previous to this, however, see that the 

 old ball of earth is moist all through, and 

 that the drainage in the bottom of the 

 pot is perfect. These are important de- 

 tails. About the beginning of May, put 

 the plants out of doors in a slightly shaded 

 place, plunging the pots in the soil so that 

 the roots will be in a moist, cool place 

 during the hot weather. In dry weather 

 give water about every other day. This 

 treatment should induce a healthy crop 

 of leaves and by the end of summer the 

 embryo flower buds for the next winter's 

 flowers will be well formed. G. W. O. 



K. G. H., Bridgewater, Va., writes: 

 "Your Boston notes recall a conversation 

 I had with a lady recently. She is a great 

 traveler, and talking of flowers, remarked 

 that she had never seen flowers more per- ■ 

 feet and lovely than at the floral exhibi- 

 tion in Boston; one, she remarked, that 

 was new to her, was the dove flower. 

 What is it?" 



Ans. Her estimateof the Boston plants 

 is quite correct. The dove flower is Peris- 

 ter/ae/ata, a terrestrial orchid indigenous 

 in Panama, and common in cultivation in 

 greenhouses. It is a vigorous plant, 

 throwing up tall flower spikes, 2 to -I- 

 feet high, each bearing several white, fra- 

 grant, waxy blossoms, the central part 

 ofwhichhasa strong resemblance to a 

 white dove's head and opemng wings. 

 It is also called Holy Ghost flower. It is 

 not suitable as a house plant. 



STEFHHNOTIS. 



M. B. G., Iowa, writes: "I have had a 

 had a stephanotis for a long time, but it 

 never blossomed till this vear. For about 



Lemon Oil as an Insecticide.— Some 

 of our readers have before now asked us 

 about this, but not having had personal 

 experience with it we were unable to give 

 them a satisfactory reply. The other 

 day, however, we were at James Dean's 

 greenhouse establishment, near Brook- 

 lyn, and found that he had been using 

 it. To satisfy us he made up some of the 

 insecticide and allowed us to dip some 

 palms in it, and then he sent the palms to 

 Dosoris, that we ourselves might know 

 what effect the washing had on them. 

 He poured two gallons of warm water 

 (125°) into a wooden trough, and into 

 this one pint of lemon oil, and stirred it 

 up together a little; they unite at once. 

 We then took the plants and dipped them, 

 laying them on their sides a little because 

 of the small quantity of mixture made 

 up, and keeping them in the liquid five or 

 six seconds. That finished the operation, 

 they were then stood on the bench to dry. 

 It was apparently instant death to scale 

 and mealy bugs, and not the least injur\' 

 to the plants was discernable. Mr. D.-aii 

 showed us ferns, drac;enas, ficus, and 

 other plants that he had been dipping; in 

 all cases the work of the insecticide 

 seemed to be perfect, and in no instance 

 was injun," to the plant observed. 



