6 



THE FLORAL IVORLD 



A WORD FROM ARIZONA 



I have received the first number of 

 "Floral World," and I am much 

 pleased with its size and make-up. 

 Lovers of flowers need this little new- 

 comer. I live away down in Arizona, 

 near the line of Old Mexico. There are 

 not many flowers here — too dry and 

 sandy. The cactus grows wild here, 

 and we have another plant that is quite 

 pretty to look at — they grow ten and 

 twelve feet high. These are called 

 sotos. Thej^ are stately, like sentinels, 

 standing out over the country, and 

 have white, waxy flowers. These 

 plants are evergreen, and the trunk is 

 used for fuel in some places. 



I have some cannas 1 brought here. 

 They have done well, and are still in 

 bloom. I w^ant to ask the readers of 

 our paper if it will do to leave them in 

 the ground over winter, with a little 

 mulching. Our winters are not very 

 cold. We nave a little ice and frost. 

 Will they do better to take them up, 

 as you do in colder places, and plant 

 out in the spring? The cosmos is 

 very pretty for fall blooming, and 

 does well here — very ha.rdy in this cli- 

 mate. 



Arizona. Mrs. M. I. Hopps. 



A HANDSOME BASKET PLANT 



For the amateur's window there are 

 few basket plants that will give more 

 satisfaction than the oxalis. It will 

 endure the extremes of temperature 

 better than most other plants, and if 

 given sun will bloom profusely all win- 

 ter. A season of rest can be given it 

 in summer and it will be ready for the 

 next winter. There is the Bermuda 

 buttercup, rich yellow; the grand 

 duchesse, white, pink, lavender; the 

 deep-rose bowaii lulla fl. pi. rich lem- 

 on; arborea alba and pink, vessi color, 

 white and pink; every one good. Give 

 light, rich soil and keep moist. I have 

 had them to bloom continuously for 

 six months in the year. The blooms, 

 bright and distinct, borne in large clus- 



ters, are produced so freely that 

 the plants appear as a mass of bright 

 color, and if well treated they are 

 good for many years. Oxalis ortgiesi 

 differs from the others in being of 

 shrubby growth, branching freely and 

 being loaded at all times with clusters 

 of bright golden, star-shaped flowers. 

 The leaves are rich olive green, shin- 

 ing purple underneath. It is a beautiful 

 plant for side brackets; a good, every 

 day plant, not at all fussy, which is the 

 kind most amateurs want. About the 

 only thing the oxalis demands and will 

 not do without, is sun. They will grow 

 all right, but to bloom as they ought 

 they must have the sun. 

 MisFouri. A. Elizabeth Badger. 



MY CULTURE OF CHRYSANTHEMUMS 



About the middle of June my bed for 

 chrysanthemums was spaded and well 

 prepared with mixed fertilizers, thor- 

 oughly rotted. After a good rain, my 

 small plants were taken from the- 

 three-pound tomato cans, finely rooted 

 and placed in holes two feet apart each 

 way. After the dirt was pressed firmly 

 about them, I gave them a good 

 drenching of soap suds, until they were 

 well started. About two months later 

 my plants — as I thought at the time — 

 were ruined by having old plastering 

 scattered over and around them (by a 

 careless worKman); the drouth came 

 on and I was almost in despair over 

 my poor plants. I had as much of the 

 trash removed as possible, then the 

 long-looked-for rain came, and my 

 plants once more put forth new 

 growth. I took all the fertilizer I 

 could get, piled it close about them, 

 and kept them wet with suds from 

 washings. The pinching of limbs and 

 buds kept me busy the rest of the time, 

 and not an insect about. They have- 

 repaid me in lovely blooms. I have a 

 lean-to of old sashes placed over them^ 

 against the southeast end of the house. 



Alabama. Mrs. W. D. Brown. 



