l82 



«> IN D FA LLS. 



Detroit's Greeting to the Chrysanthemum. 



O! royal flower of far Japan, 

 Grown dear to hearts American, 



Our lovely city of the strait 



Counts you the fitting, royal mate 

 For all her golden autumn days, 

 So varied in tlieir mood and ways. 



Th_>se perfect lilooms. that time has brought 



To beauty, symbolize our thought. 

 White-petaled blooms are like the hearts 

 Of maidens; but the liame-tipped darts 



Of cupid hide in scarlet tips — 



Beware ! who press them to their lips. 

 The Tyrian purple's like the pride 

 Of stately dames; while by its side 



Nestles a gentler sister rare. — 



The peacefid lavender, so fair. 

 This sweet pink bloom, like girlish cheeks 

 In changing tints, emotion speaks. 



Bright ruby-red this blossom gleams, 



Like smiling lips, its welcome seems. 

 Bronze-browns, with golden lights are here, 

 Like "deep welled eyes, serene and clear ;" 



While, like the spirit of the fall. 



Orange and yellow rule o'er all. 

 O! flower of every glorious hue. 

 Our eyes are beauty-filled with you ; 



We greet you with our warmest smiles. 



Our queen of color's wondrous wiles. 



— . \} isLuie Aniiei son . 



House Begonias which won The American Garden 

 Prize. — The /it'L^oiua A'l W is considered by many a diffi- 

 cult plant to grow in the liv ing room ; but our e.xperience 

 is to the contrary. 



The first ones we ever owned were purchased to re- 

 lieve the monotony of the geranium, fuchsia and other 

 plants that had filled the window year after year, giving 

 no real variety. 



They were six in number, and after potting carefully 

 in equal parts sand, woods earth and old manure, the 3 

 inch pots were placed in a common platter. The space 

 between the pots was filled with moss and nicely 

 rounded over the top with living green moss from the 

 swamps. By watering carefully so as not to wet the 

 leaves, the plants thrived and the moss was fresh and green 

 from fall until spring. The following summer, the plants 

 rested and in the fall we were fortunate enough to have 

 a small greenhouse. This season many new varieties 

 have been added to our collection, but the six formed 

 the foundation of the collection exhibited twice the past 

 season, and at one of the exhibitions were awarded a 

 year's subscription to The American Garden. 



The varieties were : Queen Victoria, Queen of Han- 

 over, Rex (species), Argentea, Duchess de Brabant, 

 Louis Chretien, Mme. Treyve, Walter Ried, Argentea 

 Guttata, Silver Fleece, Gloire de Sceaux, Prince Trow- 

 betzkoy. The first six were the original, and we know 

 these can be grown in the parlor. 



Plenty of warmth, a fair amount of moisture and free- 

 dom from strong sunlight and dust, we find the im- 

 portant conditions of success with these begonias in 

 house culture. 



The last named in the above list attracts a great 



amount of attention, although we never have seen it cat- 

 alogued. The mature leaf is a light green, margined 

 with a darker shade, while the young leaves show no 

 trace of green. It is like red plush or velvet. As the 

 leaves increase in size they gradually take the green 

 while the stems retain a red cast. The under side of the 

 leaf is quite as handsome as the upper. The blossom is 

 nearly the same as most Rex. With such grand combi- 

 nations of color as we find in Begonia Rex, they are 

 flowers to use throughout the year, and especially are 

 they useful for house culture. — G. E. Phelps, Hampden 

 Co., Mass. 



Rare Lilies. — lAliuin giganletiin . The flowers are 

 white, striped on the outside with purple. The stem 

 often attains to 14 feet in height, bearing from 12 to 20 

 flowers on a stem. It is one of the most majestic of all 

 lilies. It grows freely in my nurseries in the open with- 

 out any protection. An English florist of this city first 

 called my attention to this lily by a glowing description 

 of its appearance, as he had seen it in England, where 

 it was grown in very large pots. He said the bulbs were 

 brought from Nepaul. 



As these lilies have proved hardy in New York, it 

 would be well to afford them a prominent place in the 

 garden, if the high price of $2.50 does not prove an ob- 

 jection to moderate purses. 



Gliifiosa Of Climliing Lily. A native of Nepaul, Sene- 

 gal and Mozambique. Four kinds are known. The 

 flower is more curious than pretty. Gloriosa superha is 

 thus mentioned by A. R. Wallace in "The Malay Ar- 

 chipelago ; " "The soil seems very poor, consisting, 

 chiefly of decomposing clayey shales, and the bare earth 

 and rock is almost everywhere visible. The drought 

 of the hot season is so severe that most of the streams 

 dry up upon the plains before they reach the sea. 

 * * In the lower grounds are a variety of weedy 

 bushes. * * Here is found the beautiful Crown Lily 

 [Gloriosa superba) winding among the bushes, and dis- 

 playing its magnificent blossoms in great profusion." 

 — Annie Griscom, Neailiiig, Pa. 



Box. — How shall I grow box wood for edgings ? AI?-s. 

 G. C. 



[Box is commonly grown from cuttings. These can 

 be taken from the mature wood in the fall and be treated 

 like currant cuttings ; but a surer way is to grow them in 

 boxes in a cool greenhouse with slight bottom heat. 

 Cuttings of the green wood may be made in summer, at 

 which time they had better be shaded in frames. Box 

 also grows readily from layers made in spring.] 



Conifers for Missouri. — Please let know what ever- 

 greens to plant for a wind-break. I want such as are 

 hardy, close-growing and rapid growers. — F. W. 

 HousER, Missoiii i. 



[For Kansas, Professor Popenoe (Bull. 10) recom- 

 mends red cedar, Austrian pine, Scotch pine, Piiea 

 pungens, Piniis nionlana, Pimis rigida, Pimis Diitis, white 

 pine, Norway spruce, blue spruce, Siberian arbor-vitae. 

 Perhaps these would also do in Missouri.] 



