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HOME AXD FLOWEES 



from top to bottom. Solamim Azurenimi 

 is also lovely when in flower, and is tlien adorned 

 "with bright and shining clnsters of seed berries. 

 Both are free from the invasion of insects. 



Lanier's celebrated formula for mixing a 

 salad, fignrativelv. applies to the formation of 

 the annual garden in the South. Everything is 

 either green, or in bloom, and potted plants, 

 lawn vases, hanging baskets, Cacti and succu- 



lents for the rockery, water Lilies, Eoses. and 

 even the green lawn call for the '•philosopher,"' 

 the "miser. ■■ the "spendthrift," but not for the 

 "madman to mix it." for nature does that with 

 a hand too lavish. Soil and climate foster such 

 luxuriance that, without restriction and con- 

 stant watchfulness and pmning, the natural 

 tendency would run away vrith the garden in 

 green. 



Our Readers' Perplexities 



Hardy Asters.— (:slvs. McK.) The hardy 

 fall-blooming Aster is a most desirable plant. 

 It can be grown from seed, because I have 

 often found young plants growing near my 

 old ones, but it is always offered for sale by 

 the root by the dealers, and I would advise 

 buying strong plants of it. Novae Angl.iae is 

 perhaps the best variety, large, extremely florif- 

 €rous, perfectly hardy, and increasing in size 

 from year to year. Color, rosy violet. There 

 are so many flowers on each branch that at a 

 little distance nothing but flowers can be seen. 

 You can purchase it of any dealer making a 

 specialty of hardy plants, as nearly all our 

 leading dealers do nowadays. You will be de- 

 lighted with it. Chapnianni is a smaller, variety 

 having delicate blue flowers. This is lovely 

 when grown in masses. There are a good many 

 varieties — all good — included in the cTealers' 

 lists. These Asters, you will understand, are 

 not like the annual Aster, but are domesticated 

 and improved varieties of the wild or native 

 Aster, usually found growing in old pastures 

 along vdth Goldenrod. But so desirable and 

 l^eautiful are they that they have become ex- 

 tremely popular in England, where compar- 

 atively few American flowers are cultivated. 



Trouble With Eoses.— (V^. TV.) This corre- 

 spondent writes that he has a Eose which fails 

 to do well. It first mildewed. Then its leaves 

 turned brown, and after that its stalks began to 

 die. Xow there is but one stalk left, and that 

 is dying. He adds that he has the plant in a 

 warm closet, through which a stovepipe runs. 

 This, in itself, is enough to kill the hardiest of 

 Eoses. I presume his early failures were owing 

 largely to wrong treatment, but he does not 

 enlighten me on this point, therefore I am not 

 able to give any definite opinion. The mildew 

 might have been got rid of by dusting the plant 

 with flour of sulphur, when damp. He also 

 states that he has another Eose planted in the 

 garden, which "went to the bad" in spite of the 

 fact that he fed it very liberally with horse 



manure. It probably did so lyecause of his too 

 great liberality with this fertilizer, which is not 

 adapted to successful Eose culture. About the 

 worst thing one can do for a sick plant is to 

 shut it up in a warm closet. Give it plenty of 

 air and light. 



Cestriim Parqui— (^.Irs. M. L.) The Xight- 

 Blooming Jasmine can not be kept in a very 

 small pot. When its roots fiU the old pot a 

 shift to a larger size is needed. Of course, you 

 can cut back the top in such a mauner as to 

 keep it within the limit desired, but continual 

 cutting back would interfere with flowering. 

 If you do not care to give your plant a large 

 pot make use of a liquid fertilizer, but when the 

 plant makes its annual growth do not shorten 

 the branches, as flowers are borne at the ends 

 of them. After flowering do your cutting back. 

 Withhold water to some extent and allow the 

 plant to rest during summer, but on no account 

 imt it out in the open ground. If you do it will 

 have made such root growth by fall that you 

 will need a tub to accommodate it. Small 

 plants of Eose Geranium will recjuire small pots, 

 but. like all plants grown for foliage, the beauty 

 of a fully developed plant depends uj^on giving 

 it plenty of root room, therefore you can not 

 expect to have a fine jnlant and l-eep it in a 

 small pot. 



To ILany Correspondents. — Please do not ex- 

 pect me to answer inciuiries by mail. So many 

 letters come, accompanied by a stamp or a self- 

 addressed envelope, requesting for immediate 

 attention, that often one whole day in a week 

 must be given up to answering them. I would 

 be glad to give these letters the attention their 

 writers ask for. bttt. perhaps unfortunately. I 

 am not able to devote so much time to private 

 correspondence. As a general thing all inquiries 

 are answered the next month after they are 

 received. Quite often the information sought 

 for can be found in bnck numbers of the mag- 

 azir.e. I am always anxious to oblige my read- 



