*34 



GARDENING. 



Jan. 13. 



A JAPANESE GARDEN. 



mer and winter without blooming in 

 order to get well developed heads. Their 

 natural habit is recumbent when weighted 

 with bloom. In standards they take a 

 gracefully drooping form, and their most 

 effective arrangement is when placed as 

 specimens among smaller plants. The 

 panicles of orange-colored blossoms are 

 borne at the ends of the stems. If these 

 are cut away when about past, another 

 crop will follow from four to five weeks 

 later, 



Browallia speciosa major, a handsome 

 blue flowered relative is also an acquisi- 

 tion of merit, of moierecentintroduction, 

 Inder cultivation it is little better than 

 of annual duration, and probably such 

 under natural conditions, W ith us it 

 bloomed well into last spring, but when 

 placed out for a summer'sgrowth refused 

 to grow. There is little to wonder at in 

 this, for it blooms so profusely from 

 every bit of growth that little vitality can 

 remain. With a gardening friend I have 

 been speculating on what a cross between 

 these two plants would result in. I man- 

 aged to get four seeds from the strepto- 

 solen which did not germinate; my friend 

 obtained better results from the browal- 

 lia, but the plants so far do not show the 

 effect of the cross. Plants from seed sown 

 in spring come in splendidly for an autumn 

 display. It probably will not have any 

 value commercially for cut flowers, as 

 complaint comes that the flowers do not 

 last; but the sprays keep well, and if one 

 will take the trouble to dress them as cut 

 flowers should be even, - day or so, they 

 will be found a welcome color addition in 

 vases of cut blooms. T. D. H. 



NOTES ON FflLMS. 



This is the best time to p t palms, pro- 

 vided it is necessary to move them; but 

 as it is an operation these plants do not 

 take to kindly, some judgment should be 

 exercised before venturing upon it. If a 

 palm has been doing well, I prefer to keep 

 it in a moderately small pot, supplying 

 needed nutrition in the form of fertilizer 

 and frequent watering. There is a limit, 

 however, to which this treatment can be 

 carried, and when it appears that the pot 

 is filled with little else than roots, a shift 

 into a larger one becomes desirable. But 

 care should be taken that the new pot is 

 not too large, and do not pot so deep as 

 to obscure all the upper roots. The ex- 

 posure of a portion of the coarse roots 

 at the base of the trunk is a condition 

 natural to many of our most decorative 

 palms; the hungry roots are at the bot- 

 tom. The soil, in potting, should be 

 packed very firmh - about the ball of roots, 

 and in subsequent watering apply suffi- 

 cient to thoroughly saturate the entire 

 mass of roots and earth in the pot. It is 

 a common source of trouble with palms 

 where they are potted loosely and given 

 just so much water at stated intervals, 

 that the water escapes through the loose 

 earth between the sidesof the pnt and the 

 ball of roots, and never penetrates the 

 latter. 



It is a common occurrence to find palms 

 with a few ragged and withered outer 

 leaves, and perhaps one or two compara- 

 tively healthy leaves in the center. A 

 plant in this condition has been neg- 

 lected at some time, and on turning it out 

 of the pot it will be found that many of 



the smaller roots are lifeless. In such a 

 case it is best to wash away all the soil 

 from the roots, removingcarefully all por- 

 tions of the latter that are of no value. 

 The plant should then be placed in a pot 

 something smaller than the one it occu- 

 pied previously, filling in with soil so as 

 to thoroughly and firmly close all the 

 crevices between the roots. After potting, 

 palms should be placed where it will not 

 be necessary to move them for sometime; 

 water carefully, and spray or syringe 

 them daily in bright weather. C.B. W. 



WINTER-FLOWERING PLANTS. 



With a little preparation and fore- 

 thought the greenhouse may be kept 

 bright with flowering plants throughout 

 the winter months, and that accomplished 

 without depending on forced stock to 

 any great extent. For some time past 

 chrysanthemums have naturally occupied 

 the foremost place, but though admirable 

 in their way, and without doubt the 

 most showy and effective of autumn flow- 

 ers, yet the esthetic sense requires a 

 change after being satiated with chrys- 

 anthemum shows, and with this in view 

 some provision must be made for the 

 future. Among large flowered plants for 

 winter the new cannas will take a promi- 

 nent place, and some of those that have 

 scarcely substance enough to endure the 

 strong winds and sun of summer may 

 prove quite satisfactory under glass. 

 Among these may be classed a number of 

 varieties of Italian origin, in the produc- 

 tion of which Carina flaciida was used to 

 some extent in hybridization, and doubt- 



