4 



THE FLORAL IVORLD 



THE OLEANDEK. MY BEGONIA EXPERIENCE. 



How many readers of this little 

 paper, I wonder, are admirers of the 

 double pink oleander? We have our 

 large bush in a good-sized box and al- 

 ways winter it in the cellar, bringing 

 it out in the spring as soon as all dan- 

 ger of frost is over, and set it not far 

 from the kitchen door, where it gets 

 considerable of the waste water, the 

 east or morning sun and is shielded 

 from the hot afternoon sun. They do 

 not need changing of soil very often, 

 but should have a good top-dressing 

 of well-rotted manure or other rich 

 soil, occasionally, at least once a 

 year. This with sun and plenty of 

 water never fails to bring a mass of 

 bloom that is much admired. 



Cuttings of the oleander are readily 

 rooted in the spring. Take a bottle 

 with a goodsized mouth, put some fine 

 sand in it to the depth of an inch or 

 two, fill with rain water, in which 

 place a cutting or two, having their 

 ends embedded in the sand. Set the 

 bottle away where it will not be dis- 

 turbed, and in four or five weeks the 

 cuttings will very likely be nicely 

 rooted. Let them stay in the bottle 

 till the roots get strong, then take 

 them out and pot in good soil contain- 

 ing considerable sand, and they will 

 never stop growing. 



I once read how the oleander re- 

 ceived its name. A maiden lost her 

 lover, whose name was Leander, and 

 this misfortune caused the girl to be- 

 come demented. Some passers-by 

 saw her sitting under a beautiful tree 

 in bloom and, not knowing, inquired 

 of her its name, but she, not thinking 

 of the tree, but bewailing the loss of 

 her lover exclaimed: "O, Leander! 

 O, Leander!" Believing this to be an 

 answer to their question, they gave 

 the bush the name of oleander, and 

 so it was ever afterward called. 

 Indiana. Miss L. P. 



The tuberous begonia is a plant I 

 can conscientiously recommend. My 

 first experience with it was not very 

 fiattering, but the last season I seem 

 to have had perfect success. I had 

 six varieties potted in six pots, in soil 

 composed of leaf mold and a little 

 sand. 



I think they require considerable 

 water, and to be kept out of strong 

 wind, as I find the branches are eas- 

 ily broken. They were given soap- 

 suds once a week, occasionally weak 

 ammonia water. They were on the 

 north porch, in front of the sitting- 

 room window, where they got the 

 morning sun for a short time. They 

 began blooming early in the season 

 and bloomed constantly till late fall. 

 Oh, but they were beauties, all of 

 them. 



When cold weather approached I 

 set them inside of the same window. 

 It made no difference on which side 

 they were, they were always there to 

 greet me with their pretty blossoms 

 whenever I went into the room. I 

 never had plants that attracted the 

 attention they did. I am going to try 

 an experiment this season — that is to 

 start some of the tubers later in the 

 season, so as to know how late they 

 will bloom. 



Indiana. Mrs. M. C. Tucher. 



HOUSE BEGONIAS. 



Rex begonias are not well adapted 

 to sitting-room culture. The atmos- 

 phere here is too dry for them. They 

 also should be transplanted just be- 

 fore they make their new growth. It 

 can easily be known when to trans- 

 plant them, if they are watched care- 

 fully. The flowering begonias are 

 much more satisfactory under the 

 conditions which prevail there. If be- 

 gonia leaves drop it is in most cases 



