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POPULAR GARDENING. 



February, 



A Handsome Plantain Lily. 



The large-floweretl White Plantain Lily 

 {Fttnhia (iraiidijiorii (ijha) has ever since 

 its introduction from Japan, been one of 

 the most valued of hardy border plants. 

 The cause is not hard toflod, for, in the 

 striking beauty of its foliage, the spikes of 

 sweet delicate flowers and its neat charm- 

 ing habit this plant stands in the very front 

 rank of garden ornaments. 



But we desire now to call attention to one 

 of the many beautiful varieties of the Fun- 

 kia genus, and which has long been a favor- 

 ite border plant with the writer. This is 

 the Mottled Plantain Lily 

 (Furiltid Forluncii m(iculiita) 

 shown considerably reduced in 

 the annexed engraving, drawn 

 from life. In general it possesses 

 all the desirable qualities of the 

 white with some others added. 

 We refer especially to its habit 

 of free bloom, for this it may be 

 remembered, is cited in some 

 quarters as a fault of the older 

 variety named. It should be 

 said however in .iustice to that 

 variety that when it is grown 

 in well-drained sandy loam it 

 seldom disappoints on this score. 

 But the blotched variety has 

 never been known by us to fail 

 to bloom freely even when 

 grown in diSlerentkinds of soils. 

 The flowers are white and as 

 seen in the engraving, are of 

 handsome delicate appearance 

 and good size, being borne on 

 erect curving spikes. 



It is the peculiar coloring of 

 the leaves of this variety which 

 gives to it the name Mottled 

 Funkia. The foliage which is 

 of healthy growth and good 

 size, is conspicuously marked 

 with a soft golden yellow, as 

 indicated by the lighter parts 

 in our engraving. The margi- 

 nal color is green of bluish tinge 

 and this is very irregular as to 

 outline. Another peculiarity of 

 the leaf worth noticing is that 

 the parts between the ribs are 

 slightly crinkled throughout. 



The plant would prove handsome and 

 striking in appearance in any collection 

 however large. Its season of bloom is mid- 

 summer and later. Should there be a 

 desire to make a group of plants comprising 

 such as are somewhat odd in the appearance 

 of the leaves, like Yuccas, German Iris, 

 Sedums, large-leaved Saxifragas, etc., we 

 could think of no better addition to the 

 list than the present sub.iect. 



and a few of them dried can hang on picture 

 frame all winter. But the most._; curious 

 plant is Martynia. Don't attempt to plant 

 one, unless you have plenty of room, for it 

 spreads over and around as if it wanted the 

 earth. The seed pods are curious enough 

 to put on your shelf of curiosities. They 

 have curved horn-like appendages, and when 

 dry they are as bard as bone. A common ! 

 name for this plant is Demon's Claw. 



My Floral Door Mat. Close to.the'back 

 steps I had a garden bed laid out thirty feet 

 long and about three feet w ide. I planned 

 to have it look like a door mat, and as the 



A Detroit Amateur Talks of Various 

 Matters. 



CuEious Annuals. Petunias, Sweet Alys- 

 sum and Mignonette may be styled the 

 proper flowers, and bloom all their sweet 

 lives among others, making the garden a 

 lovely spot, but they surprise no one. Every 

 season a few of the crooked specimens in 

 plant life, keep up an interest. We had 

 three annuals that might well be called the 

 eccentrics of the garden. One is Molucca 

 Balm. The flowers are green, and we have 

 to look closely to distinguish them from 

 leaves. In fact, its almost all flower and no 

 leaves. But pick a spray of it, and also a 

 rosy pink Phlox Drummondi, place them 

 in a small vase and see what a pretty com- 

 bination they make. 



Another curious plant is the Balloon vine. 

 The leaves are a vivid green, and cover an 

 old fence nicely. But the seed pods are a 

 curiosity. Light, puffy, green balls, they 

 are the delight of the children. They are 

 pretty wora in the hair, or as a breast knot, 



THE MOTTLED PLANTAIN LILY. JJraio)) fiiiyn hifK. Flowers White. 



effect was pretty, I will tell how it was made: 

 They were all low growing things, and 

 planted to contrast the colors. At one end 

 Phlox Drummondi was planted by the side 

 of purple Verbenas; then came pink and 

 white Verbenas, Dianthus Pinks of all 

 colors, and in contrast. Mignonette and 

 Sweet Alyssum. A dwarf Marigold of a 

 vivid orange gave the touch of yellow nec- 

 essary to set off the rest. And around the 

 edge was a border of Madame Salleroi Gera- 

 niums. This is the most obliging of plants 

 if you want plenty of slips, and the roots 

 appear iu a very few days after putting them 

 in the earth. The plants produce a great 

 number of cuttings each. I had a dozen 

 plants and pulled them all apart in 

 very small bits and stuck all around my 

 mat, and very soon they were good sized 

 plants and made a beautiful border. I never 

 saw a blossom on them, but some of the 

 leaves are pui'e white and others white 

 tinged with green. My floral door mat was 

 one of the quaint ob.iects in my garden that 

 was much admired by visitors. 



Spideks i's. Ixsect.s. As amateurs with 

 window gardens to care for and delight in, 

 how often we get discouraged and disgusted 

 fighting the insects that generally select the 

 most cherished plant for their headquarters. 

 Chrysanthemums are the worst; the black 

 aphis will line the flower buds up and down 

 near the buds spite of all one can do. To- 

 bacco dust does not wholly remedy the 

 difficulty, and leaves a dirty smear that calls 



for continued showering, and even this 

 hardly makes the plant what one can con- 

 sider fairly presentable. 



The other morning I was watering my 

 Chrysanthemums in a sunny garret win 

 dow, when I noticed a spider's web that had 

 been wound round and round one of the 

 bios.som stalks, and fastened also to a corner 

 of the window. Not one black bug was on 

 the stalk, and Master Spider had stored up 

 lots of plant lice in his sunny corner in the 

 window for fixture dinners. No hunter 

 can possibly be busier than he when game 

 is around. Now cannot our scientists raise 

 a genteel spider that will have 

 his home in our windows and 

 small conservatories, make him 

 spin a lovely silken web, use- 

 ful as well as ornamental, and 

 clean out these hordes of ani- 

 mated plant nuisances that are 

 so troublesome to amateurs? 



Water Cure for Dyspepsia. 

 My "cure "is not taken inter- 

 nally, but consists of a hose, 

 say fifty feet long, fastened to 

 a penstock in the garden. The 

 sufferer from dyspepsia must be 

 dressed loosely in washable 

 material, and with stout shoes. 

 Now turn on the water and 

 shower the plants for two hours. 

 The fresh air, the smell of the 

 water as it falls on the thirsty 

 leaves, are beneficial. The eye 

 too is often gladdened by the 

 sight of a beautiful rainbow 

 when the sun shines on the 

 drops. The paths between the 

 beds may be kept hard by turn- 

 ing the full force of the water 

 upon them, and letting the sun 

 dry to the consistency of clay. 

 The flower beds would get 

 crusted and hard if you did not 

 stir the soil often with a hoe. 

 This, too, is beneficial as a cure. 

 When you have washed the 

 dust from the leaves, wet down 

 the paths, make the air sweet 

 and clean, you can indulge in a 

 supper of baked beans and hard 

 boiled eggs, and sleep like baby. 

 Fre.sh air and an interesting 

 occupation have a very exhilarating effect 

 on one's health. Sister Gracious. 



What is an Orchid? 



{Abstract of lecture by the late Shirley Hihberd, Editor 

 nf the Gardener's Magazine, at Bath, Eng.) 

 {Continued from page 62) 



Let us not be too hasty here, for these Air 

 Plants seem to teach us in a pleasant way 

 what the story tells us was learned with pain 

 and loss ; that is how to live on nothing at 

 all. The Frenchman's horse, the story says, 

 died in the discipline, but the air living 

 Orchids lead a joyous life on the waving 

 boughs, and publish it in their colours and 

 perfumes. V^Tience the perfume of a plant 

 that lives on nothing ? We shall find that 

 they contain earthly matters, and yet they 

 go not to the earth to obtain them ; and in 

 addition to these, many kinds of gums, bit- 

 ters, essential oils, benzoic acid, and other 

 compounds. 



The Vanilla is the product of an serial 

 Orchid, for the sphagnum employed in 

 growing it affords it little else than mois- 

 ture, but the fruit of this plant is deliciously 

 odorous, and is employed to flavour choco- 

 late; and we ask, how does it obtain or 

 manufacture the essential oils and acids 

 that render it so valuable !' The fact is, air 

 and water are never absolutely pure, and 

 the Orchids have the ability to extract from 

 them all that they require, not only to pro- 

 duce evanescent odors, but the stout veg- 

 etable fabric of bulbs and leaves that bring 



