1 888. 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



219 



our cultivated flowers and in older parts of 

 this and other States are now quite rare. 



Tlio flower of the Partridge vine is one of 

 the daintiest of white flowers, looking like 

 wax and velvet, and its pretty waxy twin 

 berries are lovely in the fall. The Virgin's 

 Bower Clematis, another of our wild 

 flowers, is a grand sight to see in its wild 

 beauty, climbing over low bushes and trees, 

 and covered with pretty white flowers in 

 .Tune, with feathery [xids later which almost 

 hide the foliage. My little boy told nie one 

 day that he had found a feather tree, re- 

 ferring to a perfect bower of this vine, some 

 sixty feet in length. 



We find the hardy Annuals the best here 

 for our yards, as there are early and late 

 frosts and the nights, even in midsummer, 

 always cool. Pansies have only to be sown 

 once to always have them, as they do not 

 winter-kill, and the cool nights help them 

 in summer. Phlox Drummondi begin to 

 bloom when they are only three inches 

 high and continue until the snow falls. 



There are .several wild varieties of Phlox 

 here, and the White Dicentra, advertised by 

 some florists, is also found in our woods. 

 Among our lovely Ferns I may name the 

 Maiden Hair Fern, which with some others, 

 I always have in my windows in winter. 

 Ijycopodiums are very abundant here in two 

 kinds: the Running Pine and Boiujuet 

 Green. These are gathered by Indians and 

 shipped ea.st and elsewhere for use by 

 florists. The prettiest Ferns and silk Mosses, 

 of which large quantities are shipped every 

 year for florists' use,are to be had freely here. 



A word about hot-bed covers. I^ast year 

 we tried parchment paper for covers and 

 found it better than glass. I hope others 

 will try it this season. I am sure it will 

 give gooil satisfaction. 



The Sweet-Scented Tobacco Nioo- 

 tiana Affinis. 



The common Tobacco, a plant not devoid 

 of ornamental qualities, has numerous near 

 relatives that are well deserving of atten- 

 tion from growers for their fine flowers. 

 Among these the species named at the head 

 and illustrated herewith is one of the most 

 attractive. It is classed in most lists as a 

 half-hardy annual herb, but it is really a 

 perennial plant under favorable conditions, 

 in this respect resemblig the Castor Oil 

 Bean, which is a garden plant at the north, 

 and grown as an annual; but in the tropics 

 it is perennial, becoming a tree in time. 



The flowers of this species are pure white 

 star-shaped and deliciously sweet. By sow- 

 ing the seed, which may be procured of 

 leading seedsmen, in heat, in P^ebruary, the 

 plants may be brought along to bloom the 

 same season out-of-doors and continuing 

 until November. The culture in general is 

 as simple as that of the common Tobacco. 



A peculiarity of this Nicotiana is that the 

 bloon\s clo.se during the day, that is to say 

 from about 10 o'clock A. M. to 5 P. M., and 

 this has procured for it the name of Night- 

 scented 'Tobacco in some sections, the de- 

 licious fragrance being also not perceptible 

 during the lightest part of the day. It is 

 towards evening that the fragrance is so 

 pronounced, and then in the balmy summer 

 eve a plant standing on the window-sill will 

 lill the room with its powerful but not 

 sickly perfume. 



Nicotiana affinis is so nearly hardy as to 

 render much confinement fatal to its wel- 

 fare. It merely demands the shelter of a 

 cool room in winter, with abundance of 

 light and air when growing. 



The only formidable enemy of this plant 

 is damp, which is apt to .seize the plants at 

 the C(dlar, so that in nndwinter they are apt 

 to die oft' suddenly from this cause. Tlie 

 remedy for this is very careful watering. 



allowing the soil to quite dry out, and then 

 giving only .ju.st enough to moisten it 

 through. In very damp or cold weather the 

 soil may remain dry for fully a week with- 

 o\it causing in.iury to the roots— that is, if 

 kept in a quiet, cool phice, where perfect 

 rest is imposed upon the functions. 



In the summer, when the plant is growing 

 freely, water should be given abundantly, 

 especially when the pots get full of roots, 

 and give a little weak liquid manure twice 



PLANT OF THE NICOTIANA AFFINIS. 



a week. After the summer season of 

 bloom, by cutting down the flower shoots 

 and treating the plant as a cool greenhouse 

 plant it may be brought around in shape for 

 flowering the next year. 



We have stated that this Nicotiana closes 

 in the lighter part of the day, but this is the 

 case only on condition after all, for it has 

 been ascertained that when it is used as a 

 decorative plant in the house, in situations 

 where the sun does not reach it at mid-day, 

 the flowers will remain open in some degree 

 throughout the day, and throwing off 

 enough fragrance to indicate their presence. 



A Spring Day In My Green House. 



VERB EN'A. 



I spent the whole forenoon with the 

 plants, picking brown leaves, washing those 

 infested with mealy Ijug with Fir Oil 

 diluted in water, and plunging those having 

 aphis in weak Tobacco water, and later 

 giving all a thorough drenching in luke- 

 warm water. After all else, with my little 

 bellows, I blew insect powder all over to 

 kill the small black flies that appear every 

 season. Two hours later (the Conservatory 

 had been kept close in meantime) I opened 

 the door, and how clean and lovely the 

 plants and flowers did look. By carrying 

 out the above programme faithfully once 

 in three weeks I have plenty of flowers all 

 through our Minnesota winter. 



But I want to speak of some easily 

 managed plants in my collection that I 

 seldom see owned by amateurs, an<l dif- 

 ferent from what is seen in every window. 



One of these is a Euphorlna jac(ininiHora. 

 This is a good winter bloomer, conuuencing 

 to bloom with me the first of December, and 

 then the first blossoms remain perfect for 



two months at least; a .small, but very 

 showy flower, bright orange-scarlet in color, 

 borne along the stems of the plant. I have 

 Torreia Fournieri, .Salvia splendens, which 

 is now an<l has been since Oct. Isl, a mass 

 of flaming scarlet. A pot of Urowalia, the 

 blue and the white growing together, is a 

 thing of beauty. A white Ageratuni is full 

 of bloom and will continue to blossom 

 through the winter. A hanging bjisket is 

 ttlled with Thunbergias of different colors, 

 some drooping over the edges of the basket, 

 some climbing the wires which suspend 

 the basket and all covered with blossoms. 



Covering the wall at the back of the Con- 

 servatory are vines of Coba;a scandens, 

 Lophosphernum, Maurandia, Solanum .Tas- 

 minoides, Passion Vine, Constance Elliott, 

 a rank grower, a Kennedya, and a .lasmine. 



All the plants mentioned I have grown 

 from seed with the exception of Solanum 

 Jasminoides, the Passion Vine and the 

 Jasmine. Some of these plants are com- 

 mon for out-of-tloor culture, but not seen 

 often in the window garden. I have become 

 much interested in getting odd things in 

 plants, and to that end have hunted overall 

 the catalogues. 



I have become interested in the Cactus 

 family on account of their oddity, though 

 many kinds have beautiful blossoms. About 

 all they ask is to he let alone. As souvenirs 

 of travels they are interesting to me. They 

 can be carried in the bottom of a trunk for 

 weeks, and when brought to light and 

 potted in earth with a goodly proportion of 

 sand will root and grow. I have Cactuses 

 brought from a dozen far distant places 

 that I could mention. No matter if some of 

 them are grotesque in their forms, let us 

 who enjoy so thoroughly the cultivation of 

 plants strike out a little from the beaten 

 paths and add new things to our collections. 



For one, I want every floral magazine 

 published in the country, and every plant 

 catalogue issued, so as to keep posted on 

 new plants, and also for the useful in- 

 formation to be had. At some other time I 

 want to tell about my lovely common plants. 



781. Ants in the Greenhouse. These are very 

 troublesome in the greenhouses and other prlass 

 structures, nnd they so quickly become large 

 colonies that they are frequently a bad nuisance. 

 We have tried many nostrums to drive them 

 away, but there is nothing that so qviickly drives 

 them off as a little petroleum poured about their 

 runs and into their nest. We have lately cleare<i 

 them from an orange tree, which is growing in a 

 pot. Sufficient ]ietroleum was put into a saucer 

 to just co\'er the iMittom, and in this the pot was 

 stood, with the result that in two daj'S not an 

 ant was to be seen.— J. C. C 



777. Propagating Clematis, The most general 

 methods of propagating Clematis are by means 

 of cutting and layering. In the first of the two 

 methods of increase, cuttings of the side shoots 

 are taken when the wood is moderately firm, and 

 inserted in pots, pans or bo.\es, and placed in a 

 frame or under a handlight. The pots should as 

 a matter of couree be well drained and be filled 

 with a mixture of loam, leaf-nuild and sand. 

 The cuttings must be kept close and shaded until 

 they are able to bearexposure withoutthe leaves 

 fiagging. The preferable eotirse is to place the 

 cuttings in a frame or under handlights occupj'- 

 ing a shady i)Osition, as the conditions are more 

 favorable to them, and the labor involved in 

 covering and uncovering the fnxme is avoided. 

 Layering may he done from about the middle of 

 August to theJatter part of Sept*.-Tnh(-r according 

 to ttic varieties, but it should lir dmic as early as 

 the state of tlie wood will allow, .slmots of the 

 current scasdn should be 8eleet<-'d when moder- 

 ately tii-ni unci at a point suitable for burying the 

 stem in the border, a longitudinal cut should Ih> 

 made in the stem. The best plan is to enter the 

 knife about one and a-half inches lielow a joint, 

 and then make a slanting cut cvt^'uding to the 

 joint, and from one-half to two-thirds through 

 the stem. The cut portion of the sti-iii is then to 

 be laid in a small trench about two 'inches in 

 depth, tixeil in position with a peg of a moderate 

 degree of strength iiud covered with soil. If the 

 soil of the garden under your charge is naturally 

 heavy provicle a little light sandy soil such as 

 the refu.se from the potting bench \n which t^i lay 

 the shoots. To prevent the t^>iigues closing a 

 small potsherd may Ix- inserte<l in each cut as the 

 shoot is being layered.— A. H. E. 



