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HOME AND FLO^yEBS 



good, if covered with boards to shed rain. Lav 

 the plants flat on the ground and cover. All 

 clav is not velloTr, but all clay is heavy and firm 

 in texture. I would not advise salt and am- 

 monia as a stimulant for plants, and sugar L 

 Ts-ould consider a supertluitv. Bone meal, or veell 

 rotted cow manure will answer all ]3urposes. If 

 there are eggs of insects on the leaves of your 

 plants apply Sulpho-Tobacco soap infusion 

 when the eggs begin to hatch out. Better dip 

 the plants in it, to make sure of its reaching all 

 parts of the plant. 



Sowing Annuals.— (B. L. P.) The seeds of 

 annuals should be sown in spring. Some hardy 

 sorts self -sow and come up the following spring, 

 but all annuals bloom the first season from 

 seed. Your May-planted Poppies were probably 

 annuals, while those in your neighbor's garden 

 were perennials. Hence their early flowering. 



Narcissus. — (C. W. A.) I would advise you 

 to thin out your Narcissus. Cut out clumps of 

 roots here and there from the old bed, and fill 

 the vacant spaces with rich soil. The plants 

 will soon spread and fill the bed again. You 

 can set nearly all shrubs safely in fall, if you 

 do it as soon as they have ripened the growth 

 of the season. In pruning your old Eose, cut 

 out all weak, exhausted branches. Leave only 

 the strong growth of the last year or two. 

 Mulch heavily with cow manure and barn yard 

 litter. The term herbaceous means a plant 

 that dies down to its roots in fall, like the Holly- 

 hock, the Peony, and hardy Asters. 



Fonderosa Lemon.— {J. W. S.) If your 

 Lemon is "growing nicely," be content with 

 that, and let the plant take its time to produce 

 fruit. If any plant grows healthily it is un- 

 wise to experiment vnth it. 



Ants. — (M. E. E.) Powdered borax, scat- 

 tered about the places frequented by ants, will 

 drive them away. Many persons write me that 

 leaves of the common Tansy will bring about 

 similar results. 



Freesias Failing to Bloom.— (^Lrs. D.) Your 

 mistake consisted in repotting your Fi-eesias 

 -in spring. They should have been kept dormant 

 until September. Your soil was a good one. 



Specimen for Name — (Mrs. M. H.) The 

 leaf sent is apparently that of a weed. There 

 is nothing about it of a vine-like character. 



Mealy Bug.— (Mrs. H. A. W.) The "white 

 stuff" on Pansy leaves sent is mealy bug. Kero- 

 sense emulsion will rout it. 



Specimen for Name.— (Jj. M. E.) Specimen 

 sent, Myrtle communis. 



FLORAL PERPLEXITIES' FROM 

 THE SOUTH 



By Mrs. G. T. Drennan 



[All questions regarding floricultui'e, from 

 the Ohio and Potomac Elvers to the Gulf of 

 Mexico — which are the limits of Southern gar- 

 dens — will receive careful attention and prompt 

 responses.] 



Mrs. M. W., San Antonio, Teicas. — Oriental, 

 Iceland, and Alpine Poppies cease blooming and 

 go to seed the last of June. None of them en- 

 dure our Southern summers. There is only one 

 Poppy that blooms all summer, Papaver stric- 

 tum. It has reddish saffron flowers in great 

 abundance from May till October. It is a native 

 of the high Altai Mountains, and very hardy. 



Morris H., Pasadena, Calif ornia.— The Cali- 

 fornia Poppy is well adapted to all parts of the 

 South. The complaints from your patrons arise 

 from some other cause than want of adaptabil- 

 ity on the part of the Poppy. You would do 

 well to remind them that the seeds should be 

 sown in autumn. Spring sown Poppy seeds 

 never do well. 



Mr. H. Cameron, MoMle, Alahama. — The 

 plant submitted is Statice latifolia. It has in 

 other instances been mistaken for Gypsophila 

 paniculata. Statice, is perfectly hardy, not re- 

 quiring protection in Northern climates. 



Mrs. Fogers, Slireveport, Louisiana.— The 

 Morning-glory called "Heavenly Blue" is a late 

 summer and autumn bloomer. All other Morn- 

 ing-glories bloom spring and summer. Heavenly 

 Blue makes luxuriant growth from seeds sown 

 in spring, but in New Orleans no mode of cul- 

 ture has yet caused the vines to bloom before 

 the last of August, and sometimes not until 

 September. It is a very beautiful flower. 



Miss Mary T., Montgomery, Alabama. — To 

 relieve the preponderance of yellow autumn 

 flowers, introduce Dahlias of white, red, and 

 maroon ; Platycodons, white and blue, and Snow- 

 on the Mountain, with its silvery white foliage. 

 Your garden would also be improved by the 

 white crepe Myrtle and the white Japanese 

 Anemone, both fine late blooming shrubs. 



Mr. H. H. P., Charleston, South Carolina.— 

 Your Tea Eoses are evidently too much shaded. 

 Of all shade, that from trees injures a Eose 

 bed the most, because the roots of the trees 

 absorb the moisture of the soil and the over- 

 head branches exclude the sun. Shade, however, 

 from any source, is injurious to ever-blooming 

 Eoses. They must have the sunshine. 



