1883.] 



A NEW MIMULUS, 



Most cultivated varieties of Miinulus are 

 derived from M. cardinaUs and M. luteus, 

 both indigenous to this continent. Numer- 

 ous hybrids have been produced from these, 

 some of which are among the most orna- 

 mental of our hardy and half-hardy herba- 

 ceous plants. They are easily raised from 

 seed or cuttings, and luxuriate in a rich, 

 rather moist, and partly shaded border. 

 They are also well adapted for house and 

 conservatory culture, for which purpose the 

 seed should be sown in January or Febru- 

 ary, in gentle heat. When large enough the 

 plants should be pricked out iuto boxes or 

 pans, and, when they become crowded, trans- 

 planted again in four or five inch pots. The 

 principal objection to the older kinds was 

 their straggling habit of growth ; great im- 

 provements in this respect have, however, 

 been made within the latter years. 



The annexed illustration represents the 

 latest novelty in this class, which introduces 

 itself with the following short and terse 

 name : Mirnulus nolilis 

 (hybridus Ugrinus, na- 

 nus compactus duplex), 

 which, to relieve the 

 innocent little thing of 

 its crushing weight, we 

 will transcribe into 

 Compact Dwarf Mirnu- 

 lus. It is claimed to be 

 distinguished from all 

 other varieties by its 

 very compact and 

 dwarf growth. Its light 

 green foliage forms a 

 complete cushion, from 

 which arise in great 

 profusion its brilliant 

 flowers, varying in all 

 shades of yellow and 

 red. 



attention to details they receive in the flor- 

 ist's greenhouses or the conservatory. Nature 

 is wondrously accommodating, even when 

 modestly protesting. By mere chances that 

 | may suit plants in the humblest dwelling, 

 various kinds may grow and bloom without 

 particular care. "Experience is the best 

 teacher," has long been a saying of the wise. 

 My pleasant experience with plants in house 

 windows has suggested the following direc- 

 tions, which I have learned repeatedly to 

 observe, and can confidently recommend 

 them to lovers of flowers, in both country 

 and city homes, of modest means. 



You cannot always combine the soil for 

 your pots strictly according to the natural 

 preference of each particular genus, as flor- 

 ists do ; therefore, it is safe, with few excep- 

 tions, to mix it all alike when potting them. 

 Good "garden-soil" will always do. This, 

 of course, is neither sand, clay, nor gravel, 

 but mellow mold — sandy enough to be 

 loose, clayey enough for compact richness, 

 light with fertile mold, which not neeessar- 



CAEE OF HOUSE 

 PLANTS. 



"Plants will grow 

 for you; they will not 

 for me ! " said a lady, 

 wofully, to the writer. 

 Indeed, it was not to 

 be wondered at that 

 nature did not work 



miracles for this estimable lady — a fastidi- 

 ous and orderly house-wife. In the first 

 place, everything else in her home must be 

 attended to before her pot-plants. They 

 were moved about indiscriminately — any- 

 where, to put them " out of the way," as it 

 seemed. If watered once or twice a week, 

 it was with a cold stream from a pitcher. 

 Saucers were under them of course, which, 

 though sometimes dry, were oftener filled 

 with offensive stagnant water. Dead or yel- 

 low leaves were allowed to remain, to inter- 

 mingle their vitiated juices with the life of 

 the stem, and the hard surface of the poor 

 soil was never stirred for the admission of air 

 to the roots. They either had too much sun- 

 shine, or none at all, for days and days ; but 

 they would have long spells of ventilation in 

 the "well-ordered" house — the cold air 

 sweeping over them in a "broadside." 



How could the naturally pretty favorites 

 thrive, and, in responsive delight, display 

 their inheritance of beauty? 



In the management of plants in rooms it- 

 is not feasible to give them all the care and 



ily must be "black." After plants have 

 grown vigorously some months in the pots, 

 it may be well to remove a little of the earth 

 from the top and then fill again with decayed 

 manure, or simply to water them with a very 

 weak solution of ammonia and water — a 

 spoonful of the spirits to three or four 

 quarts of water, using it a few days only in 

 succession, taking care not to sprinkle the 

 leaves. 



Always have your pots perfectly clean — 

 well cleansed, or scoured inside and outside, 

 if they have been long used, or become in- 

 crusted. Then place a few bits of broken 

 flower-pots in the bottom, loosely, — pieces 

 of brick will answer, — a little earth at first, 

 holding the plant that has been taken up 

 from a bed with one hand, while with the 

 other gently add and press earth around the 

 roots quite firmly — not too hard around the 

 stem in tilling the pot sufficiently. Ama- 

 teurs often err in this particular, not pressing 

 the soil around transplanted plants, or over 

 seeds of annuals. 



House plants are best pleased with the 



forenoon sunshine, but they may please you 

 by doing well in windows where sun falls on 

 them only in the afternoon. Do not seek to 

 give them the sunbeams all day. 



Keep them out of the saucers mostly. If 

 your nicety will use saucers, be sure to wash 

 them frequently, and, for the sake of the air 

 in a room where you sleep or sit, as well as 

 for the health of the plants, wash the out- 

 side of the pots occasionally. A few plants 

 in your sleeping-room will not harm you, but, 

 unless the room is ventilated at night, you 

 will harm them. Never permit a dead or 

 dying leaf to remain on a plant that is not 

 altogether dying. In trimming stems or 

 leaves, use a sharp knife, not a scissors, nor 

 merely your fingers. 



The water for watering plants, summer or 

 winter, should be warm enough not to chill 

 the hand, and should be scattered over the 

 leaves of each one, or better, thoroughly 

 sprinkled with a watering-pot. Unless they 

 are vigorously growing, do not keep the 

 ground constantly wet, but, if growing at 

 all, let it not become 

 like dry sand, nor solid. 



Most plants confined 

 in pots like to be hoed 

 almost as well as corn- 

 hills. If yo u have only a 

 i&jjs^^c- _ hair-pin at- hand, when 

 ls^ilp^>- you are watching or ad- 

 miring them, gently 

 stir the earth with it 

 all around. Do not use 

 anything for this pur- 

 pose that may disturb 

 the fibrous roots — not 

 "hoeing" too deep. 



It is better for your 

 plants to cut off, near 

 the stem supporting it, 

 every flower-stem just 

 as soon as the blossom 

 begins to die, and in 

 perpetual Roses before 

 the petals drop. By 

 so doing you preserve 

 the vitality and secure 

 more flowers, and soon- 

 er. Do not let a Ger- 

 anium C Pelargonium) 

 cluster remain after 

 half of its buds, or 

 more, have opened and pleased you till the 

 petals fall. Emily Thatcher Bennett. 



OLEANDERS. 



Their culture is of the easiest description, 

 and when in full bloom nothing can exceed 

 their beautiful effect. They thrive best in 

 soil consisting of equal parts of loam, peat, 

 and well rotted cow-manure, and should have 

 plenty of pot-room. They may be wintered 

 in a light, cool cellar, giving them but little 

 water ; during their growing season, how- 

 ever, water should be given abundantly. In 

 fact they should never become entirely dry at 

 that period, else the flower-buds will drop off. 

 The proper season for transplanting is in 

 spring, when removing them from their win- 

 ter quarters. The long, straggling branches 

 should then also be cut back, and they will 

 soon throw out young shoots, forming hand- 

 some, bushy plants. Oleanders are apt to 

 be infested by a whitish scale ; this must be 

 carefully guarded against by frequent wash- 

 ing and syringing. 



