30 



Floral Notes. 



are coming up from self-sown seed of the 

 previous autumn. For several years I have 

 never failed of an abundant supply of gera- 

 niums (Zonal), though generally they do not 

 flower until late in the fall. In one instance, 

 I had a geranium flower in four months 

 from seed ; but this does not happen often. 

 I am always sure to find a large supply of 

 petunias, candytuft, mignonette, calliopsis, 

 dianthus, heddewigii, delphiniums, acquile- 

 gias, pyrethrums, pansies and some others ; 

 and this spring, for the first time, I find bal- 

 sams shooting forth from seed which has re- 

 mained in the ground through the winter. 

 Now this may be unusual, or it may not ; I 

 cannot say. Yet it is a fact, and I believe 

 it to be worthy of some consideration from 

 those who sow seeds in the fall. 



I believe plants come earlier, grow faster, 

 prove stronger and every way better from 

 self-sown saed, because less checks are put 

 upon them to retard their growth and de- 

 velopment; and, unless you are blest with 

 a greenhouse, where you can force your 

 plants along, there is certainly no way in 

 which you can obtain any early bloom. 



Seed carefully and properly sown by 

 hand in autumn would have the same ad- 

 vantages as self-sown seed, and undoubtedly 

 would prove as successful. — O. H. Peck, in 

 Bural New-Yorker. 



A Plant 'Worth il60._The Gardener's 

 Chronicle says : " Mr. Stevens recently sold 

 three lots of the Humming-bird Mandevallia 

 {M. Trochilus) for £32. The plant is thus 

 described in the catalogue : ' Mandevallia 

 Trochilus {Colibri, humming-bird), the king 

 of the Mandevallias, and the largest flower- 

 ing species, with long tails, in the way of 

 Cypripedium Caudatum, red-brown color, 

 with blue reflex ; very rare. Only a very 

 few plants have been introduced.' Ten 

 pounds ten shillings was given at the same 

 sale for a plant of Mandevallia Lindeni.'''' 



The Japanese Apple. — A correspondent 

 writes The Trihuiie as follows: The Pyrus 

 Malus floribunda is a very beautiful shrub 

 when in bloom, and is covered with an ex- 



traordinary profusion of flowers. It has 

 been flourishing in this country for the past 

 two years, giving entire satisfaction in every 

 way. All such additions to our list of hardy 

 shrubs, combining all the requisites for gen- 

 eral cultivation, should receive the notice 

 that their merits deserve. A strong plant 

 in the writer's collection, now just going out 

 of bloom, has been one of the chief points of 

 attraction to all visitors for the past two or 

 three weeks. 



Compost for Flowers. — In cleaning off 

 the garden and flower borders, there is more 

 or less of leaves, litter, etc., that must be 

 .disposed of in some way. Take it and make 

 the basis for a compost heap for the winter ; 

 empty all the coal and wood ashes of the 

 house over it, as they accumulate from time 

 to time ; save all the bones and refuse of 

 the kitchen, and all the greasy dishwater, 

 and the chamber-lye, and add them daily to 

 the heap. Gather, if you can, from the 

 blacksmith-shop or elsewhere, iron-filings or 

 scales from the hammering of heated or 

 rusty iron, the parings of horse-hoofs, and, 

 with a little of sharp, sandy soil, add them 

 to the heap. This, well mixed, in the 

 spring, will form one of the cheapest fertil- 

 izers for all kinds of flowers in the open 

 border. 



Pyramidal Flower Beds. — A corres- 

 pondent of the London Garden describes the 

 mode by which he makes pyramidal flower 

 beds, about six feet in diameter and six feet 

 high — one or two of which, well made and 

 planted, have a striking appearance in a 

 flower garden. Of course they must be 

 sparingly introduced. First, with a crow- 

 bar, holes a foot apart are made in the cir- 

 cumference of a six-foot circle. In these 

 are inserted, vertically, stakes or round 

 poles, alternately four and a half and seven 

 feet long. Within these poles build up =* 

 conical mass of strong loam about four and 

 a half feet high, and with a foot or more 

 space between the cone and the poles. Ram 

 the earth well together to prevent settling 

 as it goes up. Then draw the poles together 



