4 



THE FLORAL IVORLD 



SUGGESTIONS FOR ODD CORNERS, 



About our dwellings there are often 

 sheltered nooks where it is difficult to 

 grow even a good sod. These are 

 ideal spots for ferneries or little wild 

 woodsy nooks that are always sur- 

 prises and delights to lovers of the 

 beautiful. Perhaps my own experi- 

 ence may be suggestive along this line. 



On. the north side of the house, be- 

 tween two projecting portions of the 

 building, there was a spot where grass 

 did not thrive, and we had to sod it 

 over every year. It occurred to me to 

 try ferns and moss, and I sent to the 

 woods for as picturesque and shapely 

 hollow stump of a tree as could be 

 found. Then I carpeted the space 

 with moss and ferns, which we could 

 find on the banks of a creek in a spot 

 called the fernery, and where we could 

 roll it up like matting. In the hollow 

 of the stump I placed a silver fern, 

 also a sword fern, and a mamanda 

 vine. At the base of the stump, among 

 the projecting roots, I put the wild 

 fern in clumps, then spread the mossy 

 carpet, and every morning gave it a 

 light sprinkling. In a few days it 

 looked as though it had always been 

 there; Indeed, a friend made the re- 

 mark that "when we built our house 

 we had built around that stump, and 

 what a beautiful thing to do." This 

 shows how well we had imitated na- 

 ture in our arrangement. To my sur- 

 prise, in taking up the moss carpet, we 

 had taken seeds and roots of flowers 

 as well, and during the season thirteen 

 varieties blossomed. In all our 

 grounds nothing was more admired 

 than our bit of the wildwood, 

 New York. Mrs. D. K. Town. 



BEGONIAS FROM SEED. 



March is a good month to plant be- 

 gonia seed for winter blooming. My 

 Vernons were planted late in June, but 

 if room had been given them, fifty 



would have bloomed before Christmas. 

 I planted less than a packet of mixed 

 seed in two little tins from the gro- 

 cery. They were four inches in diam- 

 eter and less than two in height. 

 Holes were punctured in the bottom, 

 and then covered with a piece of old 

 cloth. The tins were then filled with 

 rich, well-sifted garden soil. The seed, 

 which is very fine, was placed in a tea- 

 spoon, which was gently rapped to 

 scatter the seed as evenly as possible. 

 The tins were placed in warm water 

 until the soil was damp, then covered, 

 and kept damp until the plants ap- 

 peared, which was in about ten days. 

 They were then set in an east window 

 and covered with glass. They came up 

 so thickly that they had to be trans- 

 planted when very small, some not 

 having formed their third leaf. They 

 were always watered from the bottom, 

 always transplanted into sifted soil, 

 have grown rapidly, and are beautiful. 

 There were over two hundred of them 

 and but few have died. 



New York. Mrs. Helen T. Jayne. 



FLOWERS FOR THE FARMER'S WIFE. 



"Yes, I love fiowers, but I can not 

 spare the time to cultivate them." And 

 then come thoughts of the housework, 

 care of the children, the poultry, the 

 dairy, and possibly the vegetable gar- 

 den, too, and we realize that the state- 

 ment is true. But let me offer a few 

 suggestions. 



Get some hardy bulbs and plants 

 that will root themselves year after 

 year with but little attention — for early 

 spring such bulbs as snowdrops, hya- 

 cinths and narcissus. La,ter come the 

 roses and the lily family. For fall 

 blooming get the hardier varieties of 

 chrysanthemum. Lift a few plants 

 when the buds are beginning to burst, 

 bring tnem into the house, and the 

 blooms will last until Christmas. 



One of the best all-summer bloom- 



