BUDS, BLOOM, AND EARLY BIRD 



expand the plant gets top-heavy, and, if not supported, Feb. 

 falls overboard. Then there is a to-do. The florist sells I5~28 

 wire supports suitable for supporting the plants, and one 

 should be procured for each plant. The lower part will 

 clasp the neck of the bottle, the upper will hold the 

 truss. Hyacinths in pots will also want stakes, but these 

 may be ordinary wooden ones. 



Orange and Salmon Clivias. — Winter is the flowering 

 season of the Clivia, with its orange, salmon, or vermilion 

 bell-shaped flowers, and long, narrow leaves. It is a 

 capital plant for the amateur's conservatory, and also 

 for rooms. It is bright, and lasts well. When a large 

 plant has gone out of bloom (and some which flowered 

 early may have done so already), it may be split up into 

 several smaller ones, which, if potted separately in fresh 

 soil (mostly loam and sand), will develop, and flower well 

 'next winter or spring. There need be no nervousness 

 about tearing a clump to pieces. It is built up of a series 

 of rhizomes, each of which is really a separate organism, 

 with its own roots and leaves. Each individual that is 

 taken away from a mass will make a better bloomer if 

 treated as a separate plant than if left as a mere item in a 

 crowded mass. 



The Snow-white Eucharis, — There is no more pleasing 

 warm-house plant than the pure white Eucharis Ama- 

 zonica, and I refer to it now because the present is a 

 good time to give it cultural attention. The foliage may 

 be cleansed by drawing a damp sponge over it. If the 

 pots are very much crowded with bulbs, the whole mass 

 may be shaken out and a separation effected, the bulbs 

 being placed in fresh pots. If the plants have not been 

 thriving, from some unexplained cause, it will be wise to 

 take the opportunity of the bulbs being out to search 

 carefully, especially at the neck, for a transparent mite. 

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