196 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



November, 1907 



The echeveria (Cotyledon secunda, var. glaaca), The large flat glaucous leaves of Cotyledon The most talked about succulent (Agave Americana) may 



on the left, is most popular for edging flower gibbiflora loosely arranged give the plant a queer be had either with plain glaucous green or with yellow 

 beds. Agave Victoriae-Reginae on the right aspect. Good in the house or as a bedding plant striped leaves, good for porch decoration 



amount of plant food. Under favorable 

 conditions the century plant has been made 

 to flower in something like twenty years. 

 To accomplish this an abundance of plant 

 food and water were supplied. Although 

 this, as well as all the other agaves, come 

 from the arid portions of Mexico where there 

 is a strenuous struggle for existence, they will 

 promptly respond to good treatment. 



The century plant is very useful to the 

 amateur. If he does not care for it in the 

 living-room during the winter it can be grown 

 in a tub and set on or in the lawn during the 

 summer and stored during the cool months 

 of the year, in a rather light but frost-proof 

 cellar. Stored thus, it will require but little 

 water during the winter. 



Small plants can be grown all winter in the 

 living-room, and when warm weather comes 

 they may be used for porch decorations. 

 The century plants are well adapted for this 

 because of their symmetrical habit. A large 

 century plant will have forty or fifty fleshy 

 leaves each about three or four feet long and 

 three to four inches across, which gradually 

 taper to a point that is tipped with a very 

 sharp spine ; the edges also have a few short 

 spines. They form a large rosette which 

 sets on the ground. The leaves are of a light 

 glaucous green color in the type, but there are 

 several varieties known as picta, variegata 

 and recurvata. Some of the varieties have 

 a more or less broad yellow strip down 

 through the centre of the leaf, while in 

 others the leaves are edged with yellow. 



Should you be so fortunate as to have a 

 plant flower, do not be surprised that it dies 

 as soon as the seeds mature. It always does 

 this, but the plant may be perpetuated by the 

 numerous suckers found about the base of 

 the plant. 



The flowers are borne in clusters at the 

 top of a tall stout stem and have a weird can- 

 delabra-like effect. 



There are about 150 different species of 

 agaves, varying in the size and shape of the 

 leaves, but there is not enough difference be- 

 tween them to pay anyone but a botanist to 

 grow a large collection of them. The only 

 exception to this is the beautiful Queen 

 Victoria century plant (Agave Victoria - 

 Regince). The leaves of this are short and 



thick— so thick that sometimes they appear 

 to be three-sided — with three more or less 

 well-defined edges, having white filaments. 

 The ends of the leaves are blunt but tipped 

 with a short black spine. So closely to 

 gether and so regularly are the leaves set 

 that they form a hemispherical mass. Where 

 the room is limited this is the best one to 

 grow. 



Give century plants a sandy soil and pot 

 them firmly. If they are planted outdoors 

 during the summer, be sure they are in a 

 sufficiently large pot so that when taken up in 

 the fall they will not need repotting. 



THE ALOES 



Next to century plants I believe that the 

 aloes are the most interesting. Although 

 there are a large number of species, only a 



The euphorbias are curious plants of various 

 forms. E. neriifolia has large leaves; others have 

 thin angled stems with long spines. Some have very 

 bright bre-.s 



few are in general cultivation, the most com- 

 mon of which is the Barbardoes aloe (Aloe 

 vera). Strange as it may seem it belongs to 

 the same family as our beautiful Easter lily. 

 The light green leaves are very thick and 

 fleshy and taper gradually to a point which is- 

 not tipped with a spine. At a distance the 

 edges look as if they were set with spines, 

 but one is agreeably surprised to find that it 

 is a suggestion only. In the late winter 

 months a flower stem about one and a half or 

 two feet long is produced which bears at its- 

 top a conical-shaped cluster of yellow flowers 

 which reminds one of the flower cluster of the 

 red-hot poker plant (Kniphofia), a close re- 

 lative. The individual flowers are about 

 one and one-quarter inches long, yellow, and 

 crowded closely together. A single flower 

 lasts only a day or two, but the lower ones- 

 open first while the buds of the upper ones 

 are still forming so that one plant will be in 

 flower for a fortnight, or so. 



If you want a red- flowered aloe grow A. 

 Succrotina. 



These aloes have one bad habit : when they 

 begin to become of any size they get top- 

 heavy. To overcome this for several years 

 stake them. If the plant becomes too big for 

 the window garden and yet you do not wish 

 to dispose of it, use it outdoors during the 

 summer and store it in the cellar over winter 

 as suggested for century plants. Under this 

 treatment, however, flowers are the exception. 



The aloes prefer a richer soil than most of 

 the succulents. I have seen them thriving 

 when grown in nothing but garden loam, but 

 I prefer to give them a soil made up of about 

 three parts sandy loam, and one part of old 

 plaster and broken bricks. A little well- 

 decayed manure may also be added with 

 benefit. 



OTHONNA — A GOOD BASKET PLANT 



The best succulent for a hanging basket is 

 "little pickles" (Othonna Capensis, but 

 almost always called O. crassijolia by the 

 florists). Its leaves are shaped like cucum- 

 ber pickles, but are only an inch or less long. 

 The flowers are yellow, one-half to three- 

 quarters of an inch across and look like dan- 

 delion flowers. They only open in the sun 

 but at almost any season of the year each 



