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HOME AND FLO WERS 



OUR READER'S PERPLEXITIES 



Lantana. — "Is this plant of any value 

 except for snnimer nse?" Yes. It 

 blooms thronghont the greater part of the 

 season, if properly treated. Start young 

 plants in late summer from cuttings or use 

 old plants, by cutting them back and for- 

 cing them to renew themselves. Give a 

 sunny location, water moderately and 

 keep from frost. Beyond this no special 

 attention is needed. There are many de- 

 sirable sorts, yellow, rose, red, and white. 

 The best sort, all things considered, is 

 the white variety having a yellow eye. The 

 lantana is a profuse bloomer, and a con- 

 stant one, and succeeds wherever the gera- 

 ni m 'does. By cutting the plant back 

 sharply in summer it can be made very 

 compact and bushy, but if allowed to train 

 itself it generally makes a "scraggly" 

 growth which is anything but pleasing. 



Azaleas. — These plants must be care- 

 fully kept during summer. They bloom 

 in late winter and spring. Shortly after 

 flowering, they make their annual growth, 

 at which time they should be kept quite 

 close and warm, and syringed daily. After 

 completing their growth, they should be 

 put out-of-doors for the summer. Care 

 must be taken to keep them always moist 

 at their roots. They iorm buds during 

 summer and fall from which flowers are 

 produced in spring. If they are allowed 

 to get dry, they will be quite likely to drop 

 their buds. They do best in a soil of peat, 

 containing some sand. Keep in a tem- 

 perature of 65 degrees by day if possible 

 during winter, and 50 to 55 degrees at 

 night. 



Non-Blooming Fuchsia. — Fuchsias al- 

 most invariably bloom if treated as they 

 should be. But if a plant is kept growing 

 all winter, it often fails to bloom the next 

 summer, as its stock of vitality is so low 

 that it cannot meet the demand which 

 flowers will make on it. With the excep- 

 tion of speciosa, and perhaps two or three 

 other varieties, all fuchsias blooming 

 freely in summer ought to go into the 



cellar in N"ovember and remain there until 

 March. Half or two-thirds the old growth 

 should be cut away in the spring, and fresh 

 soil given. 



''Sports.'' — "What is a ^sport' among 

 plants?" It is a shoot or branch having 

 points of decided difference from those of 

 the parent plant. In other words, it 

 shows some peculiarity which makes it 

 quite imlike the plant from which- it- 

 springs, or upon which it appears. Flor- 

 ists take advantage of this tendency to 

 produce a new type of leaf or flower, and 

 by careful cultivation succeed in "fixing" 

 the peculiarity, and perpetuating it in 

 plants propogated from stock so obtained. 

 Many of our finest roses originated as 

 "sports". 



Peo7iies. — If you desire to increase your 

 stock divide the roots of the old plants 

 in October. I would prefer, however, to 

 purchase roots from reliable dealers, be- 

 cause plants which are interfered with, as 

 old ones must be in taking roots away 

 from them, often refuse to bloom for a sea- 

 son or two. If old plants which have not 

 been interfered with fail to bloom, manure 

 them heavily in fall, and see that they are 

 kept free from grass and weeds next sea- 

 son. This is about all that can be done 

 for them. 



Winteriiig Water Lilies. — When plants 

 are grown in tubs, I would advise putting 

 the roots in the cellar in winter. Many 

 varieties of these lovely plants are very 

 hardy and winter with entire safety in 

 ponds and tanks, but in a tub they would 

 most likely suffer because of exposure. 

 For information about this class of plants 

 I would advise making inquiry of Mr. 

 George B. Moulder, of Smith's Grove, Ky., 

 whose practical articles on aquatic plant 

 culture are often found in this magazine. 



Soil for Rex Begonias. — Loam, one part, 

 leaf-mold, or its substitute, turfy matter, 

 one part, and sand, one part. This may 

 seem like a large amount of sand, but it 

 answers the purpose better than less. In 



