230 



HOME AND FLOWERS 



roots "which have been growing this season. 

 They should be transplanted now, or very early 

 in the spring, in order to be at their best. 



' ' If you have a long strip of board fence 

 bounding your yard, with an unused corner ad- 

 joining it, plant hollyhocks by all means. Set 

 the plants about one foot from the fence and 

 about three feet apart. Set two * or three of 

 the hollyhock plants, then leave space to put in 

 a dahlia bulb, or two, then another hollyhock, 

 then a space for nasturtiums, then more holly- 

 hocks. You will be surprised at the artistic ap- 

 pearance of this growth in the summer — a 

 broken row of harmonious color along the 

 fence. I am not in favor of so close a growth 

 as to hide the fence entirely, because the gAiy 

 of an old high-board structure is beautiful be- 

 tween green leaves. 



' * When you reach the corner, set two or three 

 hollyhocks in a clump in the angle of the fence, 

 being careful not to crowd them too closely to- 

 gether. In front of them, across the corner, 

 sow nicotiana seeds, not in a row, but rather a 

 large patch of them, and finally, a row of mig- 

 nonette in front of all. The nicotiana is a 

 plant about two and a half or three feet in 

 height, bearing showy, star-shaped white flow- 

 ers with a delightful fragrance. The flowers 

 on this spreading plant open during the after- 

 noon and remain open until the sun strikes full 

 upon them the following morning. The nico- 

 tiana thrives in partial shade, and presents the 

 most pleasing appearance in patches or clumps. 

 They must be heroically thinned when they 

 come up in profusion — as they are apt to do — 

 as each plant, if thrifty, grows to a large size. 



' ' Avoid flower beds which break up the lawn, 

 unless you can plant a group of harmonious 

 coloring and undefined shape, trailing away 

 from a bit of shrubbery already growing upon 

 the lawn. Even pansies, which are so often 

 grown in geometrical beds, are far more beau- 

 tiful as a foreground to the picturesque row 

 already described, along the fence, but this line 

 of pansies should not be continuous, but broken 

 by an occasional patch of forget-me-nots and 

 bachelor buttons (cornflower). 



* ' Sweet alyssum will grow anyvvhere and may 

 be sprinkled among low-growing plants, or used 

 as a border, but must be continually thinned 

 and cut back as summer advances. A few roots 

 of lavender and a root of mint will add to the 

 charm of this garden, and make it it a spot in 

 which to linger on a summer morning. 



"If you are fond of portulaca (rose moss), 

 select a spot which the sun warms all day, or 

 at least through the hottest portion of the day, 

 and which may be often slighted when the rest 

 of the yard is sprinkled, and you will be sur- 

 prised at the large, beautiful blossoms which a 



hot sun and a dearth of water will bring out. ' * 



A. Wohlwend (Knoxville, Tenn.) sends 

 this formula for a fertilizer, and directions 

 for its use : 



A GOOD FERTILIZER. 

 "A good, quick-acting fertilizer for flowers 

 and vegetables is made rs follows : Stock solu- 

 tion 6 oz. nitrate of soda, dissolve in 3 quarts 

 of water. To use take 2 oz, of this and mix 

 in 3 gal, of water. Sprinkle around the roots ; 

 don't let it touch the leaves. Use every 15 

 days, ' ' 



Mrs. Helen M, Hinkle (Cincinnati, 0.) 

 writes most entertainingiv on topics which 

 will be of interest to the general reader, as 

 well as to those who grow the plants men- 

 tioned in her letter : 



THE TREATMENT OF THE BOSTOX FERX. 



**In Maine last summer I saw Boston ferns 

 that would arouse the envy of all fern lovers 

 in this part of our country. They were all in 

 the living rooms of private houses, and were 

 never put outside. The fronds were from one 

 and a quarter to two yards in length, and on 

 one plant there were, by actual count, two hun- 

 dred such long, drooping fronds, besides forty 

 which stood erect. As to the care given them, 

 I was told, water thoroughly when they seem 

 to be in need, say three or four times a week. 

 Be sure to clip off aU the thread-like runners 

 that appear, not the leaves, and keep the 

 plants standing up high. All I saw stood on 

 pedestals or shelves higher than my head, in a 

 fairly good light, but not in the sunshine. In 

 the winter these plants are kept in the sitting 

 rooms, which are heated by furnaces. 



' ' In my own house I find the occasional use 

 of a plant food very beneficial to my ferns. 



' ' Up there in Maine the huge leafed Eex be- . 

 gonias (light green with red underneath) are 

 treated much as is the Boston fern. They are 

 placed on a high shelf (on top of a bookcase, 

 or on a pedestal) in a strong light, but not 

 where the direct rays of the sun fall on them. 

 The stem grows to an enormous size, as large 

 as a broomstick. These, each tipped with a 

 leaf certainly eighteen inches across, hang down , 

 from four to five feet. Both begonia and fern j 

 seem to reach for the floor. I am trying simi- ! 

 lar conditions in my own house and the results { 

 already are surprising. The Chinese prim- j 

 roses which bloomed in my conservatory last i! 

 winter were sunk, pot and all, in the ground | 

 in a shady place during the summer. Xow they jl 

 are again thrifty plants covered with bios- I 

 soms. " ll 



