Tree heliotropes for decorating porches or dark halls. Young plants bought this April can be easily trained to tree form without a greenhouse and should give four 

 crops of flowers between May and October next year. The picture shows them recuperating after three weeKs' absence from full sunlight 



A Bedding Plant Grown as a Tree— By w. n. Craig 



THE HELIOTROPE OR "CHERRY PIE" AS A PLANT FOR PIAZZA 



OR FORMAL PLACES— A PLANT THAT CAN BE RAISED FROM 



SEED, AND WHICH WILL BLOOM FOUR TIMES IN ONE ^SEASON 



Photograph by Henry Troth 



Massachusetts 



T^EW plants are more useful for piazza 

 *- decoration than heliotropes, when 

 grown in standard or tree forms. The rich 

 deep mauve color of the flowers, and their 

 delicious fragrance make the heliotrope a 

 favorite with everyone. As ordinarily grown 

 it is not a very conspicuous object. If given 

 a light situation, where they can get a reason- 

 able amount of sunshine, and be watered 

 carefully, they will flower nearly all summer. 

 Even under a heavily-shaded piazza or in a 

 hallway they will keep well for two or three 

 weeks, after which they should be placed 

 outdoors in a sunny position, pruned back a 

 little, syringed two or three times daily, and 

 carefully watered. Within a month they 

 will again be a mass of blcom. Four good 

 crops of flowers can thus easily be secured be- 

 tween May and October. 



There is nothing specially difficult in the 

 growing or training of this type of heliotrope. 

 In March or April secure a few small, vigor- 

 ous plants from a local florist, which should 

 be potted along as required, taking care never 



to allow the plant to become matted with roots 

 or potbound. The top must not be pinched 

 from the main stem until the desired height 

 is reached, but all flowers and side shoots 

 should be carefully removed, and the stem 

 tied to a stake sufficiently stout to keep it 

 firm. The stem can be run up to any de- 

 sired length before being topped; the usual 

 height is about four feet. A number of side 

 shoots will soon appear, which, when they 

 have made a growth of five or six inches, are 

 pinched, and this pinching is continued until 

 the plant carries a head of the desired size. 



A cutting rooted in the spring will produce 

 large heads during the summer of the year 

 following. If started in the fall, and grown 

 all winter in a moderately warm house stand- 

 ards can be had the following July. Seed- 

 lings make better standards than cuttings. 



The plants may be flowered in either large 

 pots or tubs, preference being given to the 

 latter. We use tubs sixteen inches square, and 

 round ones of the same diameter. These 

 will carry a plant several years if liberal top 



142 



dressing and liquid stimulants are given. It 

 is a good plan to raise a few standards each 

 year: the older plants can then be set out in 

 beds or borders, where they are very effective. 



Heliotropes are best grown outdoors from 

 June ist until the first frost. They can be 

 carried over in a temperature of fifty degrees 

 in a greenhouse or light cellar, and should be 

 kept moderately dry during the severe winter 

 months. 



Care must always be taken to see that the 

 plants are securely staked, as otherwise 

 strong winds would break or seriously injure 

 them. A compost of two-thirds turf loam, 

 one-third well dried cow manure, in which 

 there is a good dash of sand is excellent. 



The one cultural fact that makes for suc- 

 cess with heliotrope, is to keep the plant 

 growing. It suffers more than most plants 

 if it once gets dried out, and must be kept 

 fairly moist at all times. 



There are several varieties offered by the 

 florists and seedsmen, but the best is prob- 

 ably Queen of Violets. 



