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Cri.ri'RE OF FAVfWITE Pf.AXTS. 



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MJ^H TLJiJ. 



i^l^ a tniu love of flo 



3gHERE\'ER there- eNi^l^ a true love of flowers, thir, member of the 

 Loosestrife famih' is necessarily popular. Its bright, deep-green, 

 ' glossy leaves, like those of the Myrtle, give rise to the second part 

 of the name, though there is no relationship between the two 

 families. It is called Crape from a loose resemblance between the 

 )ssoms, when seen at a distance, and a bunch of red or white crape, 

 flowers grow in large clusters or panicles, of which there are sometimes 

 hundred to a plant, and continue in bloom until nipped by the early 

 frost, the fii-st bloom varying with the latitude in which grown, from May to 

 August. Each individual blossom presents a singular appearance, the many 

 Iken stamens standing apart from the rest of the flower, and the multi- 

 tude- of these flowers, when seen against the Iwckground of the leaves and 

 gi\ e the semblance, as has been said, of masses of crape thrown loosel}' over the 

 t. The branches are thin and soft when growing, and may easily be kept in place 

 ly pinching off the straggling shoots, thus securing a compact, tidy and symmetrical bush. 

 Smaller specimens can be grown indoors for blooming in early winter, if placed in good, 

 open sunlight. The plants intended for this purpose should be allowed to rest during the 

 l^revious summer in some shady place, with only enough water supplied to keep them 

 from dyiui;-. In northern latitudes the outdoor specimens should be transferred to some 

 <hy cellar or dark corner of any spare room, which in ordinary winters is all the protec- 

 tion they need. They are all the better to withstand the frost if the wood has been well 

 ripened by withholding moisture for two or three weeks before frost, upon the first appear- 

 ance of which they should be immediately housed. A rich loam, lightened with leaf- 

 mold, or rather with peat, is the most favorable soil, which, during the season of growth, 

 ought to be further enriched by plentiful supplies of liquid manure. It is propagated by 

 new shoots, like the Abutilon. 



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L^^ theCiocu 

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cultivated, as it grows freelv in any soil not positive!}' soggy, 

 locusisan admirable little bulb to bloom in early spring. After 

 the bulbs will take care of themselves if supplied with an 

 lessing of manure. They should be set deeply, some three 

 :hes, either in groups or rows, as desired ; and should not be 

 except they appear on the surface, as sometimes happens, 

 the cause always bemg the formation of the new bulb on the top of the old one. 

 The bulbs aie\ei\ cheap, and might be set abundantly. Their most appropriate 

 use in the garden is for bordering beds of other bulbs, or they may be used with 

 great effect in forming letters or other simple designs on the lawn. Except 

 when a bed is wanted for other purposes, they ma_v be planted about an inch 

 but where that is the case they can be set at a greater distance, and after the leaves 

 357 



