244 The Canadian Horticultdrist. 



WILD-FLOWERS AND THEIR CULTURE. 



People usually make too hard work of cultivating wild plants. They are 

 apt to attempt to imitate the natural conditions under which they find the plants. 

 This, to a certain extent, is wise, but in most cases it is easily carried too far. 

 The problem is simplified when we once come to understand that wild plants 

 grow where they are obliged to grow, rather than where they desire to grow. 

 Because a plant grows in the woods is little reason to expect that it may not 

 grow equally well in the sun. And then, it is not necessary to wait until fall or 

 spring to take up the wild plants. At every outing, whatever the time of year — 

 if the ground is not frozen — I mean to go prepared to bring home roots. In 

 these sultry July days I am biinging home wild herbs, and next year I expect to 

 see most of them bloom. I dig them up with a comfortable ball of earth, cut 

 the tops off nearly to the ground, and keep them moist until I get them home ; 

 then they are set in the border, and if dry weather follows, a little water given 

 occasionally at sundown helps them to grow. I do not pretend to say that July 

 is as good a time as April or October to remove plants, but one must capture 

 the good things as he finds them. "' * * The native orchids, however, 

 usually require careful management, being among the most difficult of native 

 plants to colonize. Most of them require complete or partial shade and a moist 

 subsoil. If a water supply is at hand, a moist plat under trees or about build- 

 ings, where there is some protection from wind, can be made, and clumps of 

 many species can be removed with safety. It is best to remove them in summer, 

 as soon as the flowering season is past. In most cases, however, the plantation 

 will prove to be short-lived, and fresh recruits will be needed from time to time. 

 — L. H. Bailey, in American Gardening. 



FLORAL DECORATIONS. 



HE floral decorations for a wedding, reception, lunch or tea, 

 form fully as important an item as the menu. A most effec- 

 tive center-piece for a dinner-table is a little lake with ex- 

 quisite water lilies afloat. 



A unique piece seen at a recent social gathering was a 

 basket in the shape of a straw hat, silvered and mounted on 

 a tripod. This was filled to overflowing with Mermet roses 

 and their foliage ; the effect was most charming. 



At a recent reception one of the dressing-rooms was a symphony in red. 

 The room was flooded with a rosy-hued light, the pleasing atmospheric effect 

 resulting from the handsome red shade of the lamp. A large mirror reflected 

 the pervading hues of the apartment, the frame being gracefully draped with a 



