18 



HOME AND FLOWERS 



but can be trained to a wall or trellis, though 

 when left to its own sweet will sends up slender 

 branches several feet high (or yards, according 

 to the richness of the soil), wliich then droop 

 gracefully till they touch the ground, making 

 a globular-shaped mass which is quite orna- 

 mental. The effect is better if given a support, 

 like a hoop, to droop over. It blooms more or 

 less all winter — every warm spell starts the 

 blossoms, though the blooming period is Febru- 

 ary or March, according to the season. Just 

 now, owing to several weeks of ideal spring 

 weather, it is blooming profusely. It is very 

 hardy and easily propagated by layering, and 

 ■when once started can take care of itself, though 

 it responds readily to good treatment. It fills 

 the description of Jasmine nudiflorum, only its 

 blossoms are not odorous like the true jasmines. 

 Its foliage, Avhich follows the flowers, is small 

 and of shining green. 



We have another yellow bloomer that must 

 not be overlooked, the "wild yellow jasmine," 

 the ever famous "Southern yellow jasmine" al- 

 luded to above, which is a true vine and very 

 graceful, especially in the woods, where it fol- 

 lows its own devices and climbs to the tops of 

 tall pine saplings, from which it droops in long, 

 golden wreaths, which drive one wild with 

 delight, and trail themselves in lovely festoons 

 from tree to tree, loading the air with the most 

 delightful perfume. It is worth going quite 

 a distance to see. How often as a child have I 

 gone with other children to "hunt yellow jas- 

 mine." We always knew where to go, when 

 some one, getting a whiff of the sweet-scented 

 flowers on a passing breeze, would cry out, "Oh, 

 I smell 'em! I smell 'em!" and what a scam- 

 pering there would be to see who would reach 

 them first. This jasmine is a hardy evergreen, 

 but doesn't take kindly to transplanting — at 

 least I found it so — but when once well started 

 is there to stay, and increases in beauty from 

 year to year. In Southern Georgia, where it is 

 much more luxuriant than in North Georgia, 

 it blooms in February and March, here in March 

 and April. 



Of course violets are blooming now out-of- 

 doors, but then they bloom for us nearly all 

 winter in protected places, and the outdoor 

 bulbs, such as hyacinths, jonquils, daffodils, 

 irises, etc., are already sending up their green 

 blades preparing for blossoms. The other day 

 I saw buds on the "butter-and-eggs," as the 

 children call them, just ready to burst into 

 bloom ; also tiny buds showing on the hyacinths. 

 Eeally, we never know how soon to expect the 

 outdoor bulbs to bloom. 



While writing the above yesterday, February 

 16, the wind veered f round to the west, the 

 morning showers turred to a cold winter rain. 



and by supper time there was a high wind blow- 

 ing full of misty snow. It blew a "blizzard" all 

 night, and this morning everything is frozen 

 up solid. Such are the changes to which we 

 are subject, and yet I would not swap "old 

 Georgia" for any other country if I thought I 

 could never see her old red hills again. But 

 now the sun is out again, and I have been out 

 looking at my pets and covering up the tender 

 young roses, which Mr. Eexford says should be 

 protected from the sun's rays while frozen, with 

 cedar boughs from a recently trimmed hedge. 

 I can not tell what damage is done— if any— 

 while everything is frozen stiff, but the sweet 

 peas, which till now have stood the cold beau- 

 tifully, have succumbed to the icy blasts, and 

 are trailing limp and black. 



Mrs. L. L. v.— I wish she had given me per- 

 mission to use her full name— sends this prac- 

 tical letter about what she calls "A New Method 

 of Growing Winter-Blooming Geraniums": 



Nothing gives me greater pleasure in summer 

 than my porch box of geraniums. Last season 

 it showed seventy trusses of bloom at one time, 

 and was simply gorgeous. I have many beauti- 

 ful varieties, and have always wished to enjoy 

 their beauty in winter. Having tried many sorts 

 of treatment, and failing in all, I last year re- 

 solved to try something entirely different. 

 About April 1, I took slips of my favorites and 

 inserted them in a deep box half full of moist 

 sand, covered it with glass, and set it in my 

 sunniest window. When rooted freely they were 

 transferred to small pots, and about May 20 

 were planted out in the flower garden. 



All summer they grew, receiving water when 

 needed. The tops were pinched out several 

 times and the buds removed until September 1. 

 All buds appearing after that time were undis- 

 turbed. About September 15 they were very 

 carefully taken up, potted in three-inch pots, 

 and placed on the porch for a week or more. 

 Then they were brought to a window in a room 

 with no fire and open doors during the day. So 

 whfen the fires were started they took kindly to 

 the change, and did not notice the transition 

 at all, as not a leaf dropped nor a bud blasted. 

 It takes about four weeks to develop a bud 

 from its first appearance to full bloom indoors, 

 so I had blossoms in November and December, 

 when there was nothing else. Then they pro- 

 duced no more buds until the middle of Febru- 

 ary, but made a fresh start then. 



I have sometimes been able to make an ob- 

 stinate geranium bloom by letting it get dry 

 enough to wilt, but not always, and I am de- 

 lighted with the results of my new method. 



Mrs. V.'s method is practically the same as 



