1883.] 



THE AMERICAN GARDEN. 



209 



THE SCARBOROUGH LILT. 



( Fallota purpurea.) 



This brilliant summer-flowering bulb is 

 nearly allied to the genus Amaryllis, from 

 which it differs mainly in that its leaves are 

 evergreen, keeping in a growing condition 

 all the time, and should therefore not be 

 dried off during winter. 



The large bright-scarlet flowers appear 

 from July to November, and immediately 

 after blooming the bulbs should be potted. 

 A mixture of equal parts of loam, leaf -mold, 

 and sand is most suitable for them, and with 

 good drainage there is little danger of giving 

 them too much water, except during the 

 few winter months, when they require not 

 more than to keep them from wilting. The 

 plant needs but little heat, but should have 

 plenty of light during its growing season. 

 The bulbs, when once established, should 

 not be disturbed often er than the roots be- 

 come too crowded 

 in the pots, when a 

 shifting of the en- 

 tire ball into larger 

 pots is preferable 

 to a separation of 

 the bulbs. 



ing in. If this is done, you will soon have a 

 plant eighteen inches or two feet high, well 

 branched and symmetrical in shape, which 

 will become covered with flowers. It is very 

 fine for using among other flowers to which 

 blue is a contrasting color. It mixes well 

 with Eupatoriums, or white and yellow 

 flowers, and is desirable for use in bouquets. 



E. E. Rexford. 



HOW TO GROW MIGNONETTE FOR WINTER 

 FLOWERING. 



Mignonette is a native of Egypt, and is 

 usually grown as an annual, as it blooms and 

 goes to seed in a few months, and is not 

 hardy enough to live in a cold, frosty climate ; 

 but with a little care a regular succession of 

 plants can be obtained, and this deliciously 

 fragrant flower may be cultivated as a pot 

 plant, and made to bloom all winter. 



THE BROWALLIA. 



We have very 

 few blue flowers 

 which bloom in 

 winter. Blue is a 

 color not often met 

 with among plants 

 which can be used 

 in the house ; there- 

 fore, when we do 

 happen upon one, 

 we prize it, espec- 

 ially if it is a 

 free bloomer, and 

 is easily managed. 

 Such a flower is the 

 Browallia. It is a 

 bright, clear blue, 

 with a white eye. 

 The flowers are 

 small, but they are 

 freely produced, 

 and the effect is 

 very pleasing in 

 the window, if one 

 has a good plant. 



The Browallia is seen oftener in the gar- 

 den than in the house. Like the Lobelias, 

 which it resembles somewhat in color and 

 flower, it is not likely to attract as much 

 attention "there as it does when grown in 

 the house, because it is a modest flower, and 

 not at all self-asserting, like the Zinnia, the 

 Phlox, or the Petunia. To grow good plants 

 for the house, I prefer to sow seeds in pots, 

 rather than take plants out of the garden 

 borders. Plants intended for use in pots 

 always do better when raised and kept in 

 pots, I think. 



When the plants are an inch or two high, 

 put them in small pots and keep them in a 

 sunny place, giving only enough water to 

 keep them from drying up. Also give plenty 

 of fresh air, and syringe often, to keep down 

 the red spider, which will quite likely attack 

 them if kept in too dry an atmosphere. If 

 the plant shows an inclination to straggle, 

 pinch it back, and force it to become bushy 

 and compact by a judicious system of pinch- 



VALLOTA PURPUREA. 



The seeds should be sown in small pots, 

 in which the plants will flower, as the Mign- 

 onette is a tap-rooted plant, and will not 

 transplant so easily as plants that are fi- 

 brous rooted. Yet by taking up the plants at 

 night-fall, after they have put forth five or 

 six leaves, and by wetting the roots well 

 before disturbing them, and then transplant- 

 ing them with a little sand about the root, 

 I have been successful in transplanting 

 them. Still, I prefer to sow in pots and 

 pull up the plants that are not needed, as 

 only one or two plants should grow in a 

 small pot. 



The best soil in which to grow Mignonette 

 consists of three parts loam, one part thor- 

 oughly decayed manure, one part leaf-mold, 

 or peaty soil, and one part sand, but it will 

 grow in any common garden loam. Scatter 

 five or six seeds over the soil in each pot, 

 and press them lightly down with the finger. 

 Water them, and put the pots in the shade 

 or, better still, in a plant frame, with a little 



bottom heat, and shade thern till the sprouts 

 appear. Then let them have plenty of sun, 

 so as to grow stocky, and not become wire- 

 drawn. As soon as the leaves are well 

 sprouted, thin out the plants, leaving only 

 two in a small pot ; but if the pot is large 

 you can plant more seeds in it, and leave six 

 or eight plants to grow. But my fancy is 

 for small pots of flowers for the window 

 garden. Large pots are better fitted for the 

 conservatory or greenhouse. 



Stir the surface of the soil, with a large 

 hair-pin, every few days, so that it will not 

 become caked and prevent the air from 

 reaching the roots. Mignonette does not 

 require much water, as the plants are liable 

 to damp off if the soil is too wet, but it must 

 not be kept dust dry. If the sun is very hot at 

 noon-day, the, small plants may be scorched, 

 and it is well to shade them with paper to 

 keep the leaves a bright green. When they 

 are four or five 

 inches high, tie 

 them to slender 

 sticks three or four 

 inches taller than 

 the plants, to keep 

 them from growing 

 straggling. If the 

 shoots are pinched 

 out when the plants 

 are three or four 

 inches tall, they 

 will make more 

 flowering shoots 

 and form hand- 

 somer plants. 



When the buds 

 appear a little 

 weak, manure wa- 

 ter once a week 

 will make them 

 bloom in larger 

 clusters. 



Miles's Hybrid 

 Mignonette and 

 Parsons's TVIiite are 

 very fine varieties 

 for the window gar- 

 den. Mignonette 

 can be sown in 

 wooden boxes and 

 kept on the window 

 sills in the dining- 

 room or kitchen for 

 winter blooming. 

 It may also be sown in large pots, and 

 kept under glass all winter, by preparing a 

 frame in a sheltered location where it will 

 have all the sunshine. Put a good supply of 

 manure, mixed with straw from the horse 

 stable, at the bottom, and over this lay rough 

 coal ashes, with six inches or more of fine 

 coal ashes on top. Sink the pots in the 

 ashes , and have the sashes about ten or eleven 

 inches above the level of the pots. When 

 the seeds sprout, give all the air on mild 

 days, so as to keep the plants strong a,nd 

 stocky. Do not water on damp, dark days, 

 as too much moisture will injure them. When 

 frosts come, and snow falls, keep the glass 

 covered with mats or carpets and loose hay. 

 Bank up the outside of the frame with 

 strawy manure, and when it storms, cover 

 the whole glass with boards. If Mignonette 

 is sown every month, fiom March to Novem- 

 ber, a constant succession of fine flowers can 

 be obtained all the year around. 



Daisy Eyebright. 



