Ji^ I N D FALLS. 



439 



sun or shade, cool weather or hot. It will grow quite 

 long and is very pretty to edge a portion of an urn where 

 other plants, long growing vines, etc., are growing. It 

 is commonly called the Wandering Jew. This plant does 

 not require rich soil ; just common ordinary soil suits it 

 best. — Joyce R.-w. 



A Patriotic Plant. — A vase of nodding wild "fire- 

 crackers " iyBrevoortia cociinca') is beautiful, and surely 

 the bulbs might be cultivated. The flower is of the bril- 

 liant red shade of the fire-crackers, and each end is 

 greenish-yellow, the delicate stems a gray-purple. The 

 effect is exactly like a bunch of fire-crackers, only they 

 last in bloom two weeks in water, which might demor- 

 alize a bunch of the noisy article. 



It differs from the brodisea in having the flower-tube 

 cylindrical, with six little pouches at the base, and in its 

 scarlet-crimson color. Its three stamens are alternate, 

 with large staminodia 

 in the centers of the 

 ends of the segments 

 of the perianth. I 

 should think it would 

 grow as well as any 

 bulb in cultivation; 

 and I know a gentle- 

 man who has it and 

 all the California wild 

 flower seeds and bulbs 

 for sale in San Fran- 

 cisco. He says that 

 it does well. 



The stems are some- 

 times a foot and a-half 

 long, and the shape 



of the flower reminds me of a greenish one I have found 

 in the Bahamas, but the name of which I do not know. 

 I never saw any drawing or painting of it, or of this 

 "fire-cracker," the seeds of which are black and trian- 

 gular. The seed vessel opens at the top in three divi- 

 sions, is rounded and flattened vertically, and the red, 

 silky flower-tube drapes it till it crumbles into dust ; 

 likewise the tiny bud is bright red, with yellowish ends. 

 — K. P. S. Boyd, Cnl. 



Evergreen Ferns. — Sister Gracious (in the Windfall 

 department of your March No., p. 185) makes a mistake 

 when she says that native ferns die down in the fall so 

 that they cannot be used in a winter fernery. Here is 

 the rock polypod, Polypodittin vtilgarc, the Aspidiiitii aa o- 

 slichoidcs, A. Ihelypteris . A. cristatuiii and dilatatiim, the 

 Cainptosoriis rhizophylhis, a botrychium or two, etc., all 

 evergreen natives, and very likely others in various local- 

 ities. Last winter I stripped a sod of the rock polypod 

 off the stone and fitted it to a large dinner plate. The 

 fronds of all sizes, some in fruit and some very small, 

 grew out of moss and a wreath of running blackberry 

 vines, purple, yellow, scarlet and green around the edge 

 completed it. By pouring water into the plate now and 

 then, it was kept bright all winter. And while upon 

 ferns let me recommend the Osiminda cinnainomea as a 



pot plant for summer. A barrel sawed in two makes a 

 good pot, and the plant is to be set before the fronds 

 have made much growth in spring. Fill up the tub with 

 the muck of its native swamp and keep well watered ; no 

 drainage is necessary. With the height of the tub added, 

 the fronds will be as high as your head or nearly so, and 

 the yellow fertile spikes add much to the effect. Give 

 shade at least part of the day and shield from rough 

 winds. — E. S. Gilbert, Nfw York. 



Ranunculus and Cosmos. — The ranunculus, which 

 is one of the best of roots to plant, is known but little 

 by amateurs. It has brilliant colors, and the flowers 

 are full and double as a rose ; they measure about two 

 inches across, and are especially fine for cut-flowers. 

 The roots should be planted in masses, about three to 

 four inches apart and a couple of inches deep, in good 

 garden soil where the earth will not dry out too quickly, 

 nor, of course, where it will 

 hold too much water ; they 

 rather like a moderately 

 moist soil. In the fall they 

 should be taken up with the 

 gladiolus. When ripened, 

 keep dry and store them 

 hrough the winter, as you 

 io with gladiolus bulbs ; the 

 wet through the winter 

 would be apt to cause injury 

 to the bulbs, if left out in 

 the beds. There are several 

 ovely varieties of this plant, 

 in colors of orange and yel- 

 low, reds, purple, violet, 

 rose, etc. 



The American cosmos is 

 1 great improvement on the 

 ^^^r** old Mexican variety. It is 

 becoming more popular and 

 more cultivated, now that 

 people have seen and ap- 

 proved it. It certainly is 

 very valuable to furnish 

 flowers for cutting. The 

 flowers resemble the single 

 dahlias ; they are of good 

 size, measuring several 

 'nches across, and are in all 

 the shades from white to deep purplish crimson. The 

 foliage is feathery, very dainty and graceful. The cos- 

 mos is most easily cultivated, and may be grown from 

 seed planted in the house in a box or pan in spring ; 

 then, when large enough and the weather is suitable, 

 they may be transplanted to the open ground, and in 

 September and October, if all goes well, they will be 

 covered with quantities of bloom. They are classed 

 among the half-hardy annuals. The cosmos may also 

 be grown in pots, exactly the same as chrysanthemums. 

 Of course, they will take up considerable room — a fault 

 that may be easily condoned. — Nemo. 



Fire-Crackek Flower. 

 ( Brevoortia coccinea . ) 



