jBJVEnr WOMAN HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. 



The Heliotrope. 



Heliotropes fill an important place among "bedding-ouf plants, 

 giving us a plentiful supply of flowers from June to October. They are 

 desirable for tbeir fragrance, as well as for their profusion of flowers. 

 They were introduced into England from Peru in 1757, and the cottagers 

 called it " Cherry Pie/' from a fancied resemblance in its fragrance to 

 the odor of that esteemed dish. It has also been called the " Vanilla 

 Plant." The flower first introduced was of a light lavender shade, and 

 for many years no change of color was effected, but now it is offered 

 from the darkest purple to the faintest shade of lavender. 



They make very fine standards, trained from a single stem, from one 

 to four feet high, with a head of several feet in diameter. 



The older the plant, the more profuse are its clusters of fragrant 

 flowers. A cutting in the first year will grow very rank, but if cut back 

 and pruned into one stem, it becomes woody, and will make a fine 

 shrub. In California, they bloom as plentifully at Christmas as at 

 Fourth of July, and it is not uncommon to see large trellises and walls 

 covered with its branches and exquisite flowers — perfect bouquets of 

 beauty, being always covered with flowers. The main stems of the plant 

 are trained to the wall, and the branches droop gracefully. Any kind of 

 turfy loam will grow it perfectly. It is propagated from cuttings with 

 great ease. 



Of the very dark varieties, Etoile de Marseilles ranks first ; flowers of 

 a deep violet with white center. 



Due de Lavendry is of a rich blush, with a dark eye. 

 Incomparable is of a lovely bluish-lilac. 

 Garibaldi is nearly white. 

 Leopold 1st, of a deep violet blue. 

 Madame Facilon, a clear violet tint. 

 Malulatie is of the most delicate lilac. 



Verhenas. 



Among all the variety of " bedding-out " plants, which contribute to 

 the gay and lively appearance of a garden, the Verbena is the most 

 generally cultivated, and claims the first rank among brilliant flowers. 

 Some of its varieties are sweet scented, but most of them depend for 

 their merit upon their showy, gorgeous coloring, and their wonderful 

 profusion of blossoms, which render them of the greatest value. There 



