CULTURE OF FAVORITE PLANTS. 



L IN A R I A . 



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INARIA cymh;ihiiia, (ircynihal-like Toad-Hax, is a low-trailing plant 

 of the Figvvort family, with l\y-likc k'avo, nnich nscd for hanging 

 baskets, rockwork and pot culture. It is eoninionly called Kenilworth 

 Ivy, because of the great quantities to he found amid the ruins of the 

 famous castle of that name near Warwick, England, immortalized by 

 Sir Walter Scott. It is a very easy plant to cultivate, in or out of 

 it will grow in almost any soil; though like all plants it has a pref- 

 erence, and will grow best in a light soil composed of about equal parts of 

 leaf-mold, loam and sand, with a slight admixture of manure. But whatever 

 the soil, it must have abundant moisture, and it will not disdain an occasional 

 feast of liquid manure. It also delights in a moderate shade, which can easily 

 >e provided by planting it among taller-growing plants, in some shady recess, or on the 

 north side of a house, fence or tree. As its free growing habit gives it a tendency to 

 straggle, if space be limited it must of course be kept in place by frequent clippings or 

 pegging back. It will also crowd out small plants if not kept within bounds, but with 

 plenty of room it may be allowed free scope, under which conditions it presents a beauti- 

 ful, compact mass of foliage, interspersed with numerous small, bluish flowers, not unlike 

 those of the Snapdragon, to which it is related. It is easily propagated by divisions of 

 the roots. Another species, known as the L. vulgaris, or familiarly as the Butter-and- 

 Eggs, is well worthy of a nook in any garden, being hardy and easy of cultivation, and 

 also quite pretty with its wealth of beautiful,- yellow flowers. This has underground 

 stems or rhizomas, and propagates itself by what may be termed natural layering, sending 

 in various directions its offshoots, any one of which can be made the germ of a new plant. 



NOWN to science as a member of the Sterculia family, which very 

 closely resembles the Mallows in mucilaginous properties, the Ala- 

 lia is a pretty little shrub growing from eighteen to twenty-four 

 in height. It is a native of the Cape of Good Hope, and with 

 ireful cultivation and a fair share of sunshine it will produce an abun- 

 uice of sweet-scented, yellow, cup-like flowers during the whole win- 

 r and spring. The branches are slender and the leaves laciniate, or 

 ' lightly slashed, and small, making a pretty mass of foliage if well kept in by 

 pinching or tying back. It delights in a free exposure to the atmosphere, pro- 

 vided this is not excessively cold, and its favorite normal temperature would be 

 somewhere from sixty to seventy degrees, though it will not suffer from the heat 

 unless this ascend to the nineties. It should not, therefore, be crowded out or 

 even shadowed by other plants, but be given plenty of room for roots and branches. The 

 best soil for the Mahernia is, two parts of leaf-mold, one of common earth, one of cow- 



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