The Canadian Horticulturist. 



193 



A PLEA FOR THE CYCLAMEN. 



YCLAMEN Persicum and C. giganteum are very desirable plants for 

 pot culture, especially for winter blooming. They are universal 

 favorites, still they are not cultivated to the extent that they should 

 be. No window garden is complete without one or more of these 

 bulbs. They are very easy to raise, both from bulb and seed, and 

 repay you tenfold for the care you give them, in the long continuous 

 bloom throughout the winter months when flowers are scarce. 



I have a cyclamen, deepest rose in color, that I have grown in a pot the 

 last year, for house decoration, that is v^ery beautiful ; some of the leaves are 

 immense, drooping gracefully over the jar and nearly hiding it from view ; the 

 flowers, and buds over fifty in number run up strong stems far above the leaves. 

 These added to the exquisite markings of its foliage make a most beautiful 

 boquet for parlor or dining room. 



In raising cyclamens in the house 

 give them a cool place, a north window 

 is best, where they can have plenty of 

 light and air. Keep them from the hot 

 rays of the sun and where there is stove 

 or furnace heat, keep a wet sponge under 

 the leaves. When in bloom it is a great 

 help in making a beautiful plant. After 

 the blooming season is past, gradually 

 withhold water till the bulb is dry, when 

 it should be left to rest till October, when 

 you re-pot it in rich, sandy loam, encas- 

 ing the bulb over two-thirds in the soil, 

 leaving the top entirely exposed. Have 

 good drainage at the bottom, water well, Fig- 960.— Cyclamen. 



place in a cool, shady place till it show signs of growth ; then water freely till 

 flower buds appear, when plant food should be given once a week. On approach 

 of cold weather remove to parlor or window garden. The secret in growing 

 cyclamens is low temperature, light and air. 



A friend traveling through Northern Italy was greatly pleased with the 

 beautiful flowers of the cyclamen which grow there in great abundance. She 

 had often admired the cyclamen bloom in my window garden ip my Northern 

 home, so while basking under the warm sunny skies of Italy, with its beautiful 

 wild flowers at her feet, her thoughts flew back to her friends on this side of the 

 Atlantic, wishing they too could enjoy with her these lovely flowers grown in the 

 home nature had prepared for them. — Out of Doors for Women. 



