CULTURE OF FAVORITE PLANTS. 
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L IJST A. R IA . 
INARIA cymbalaria, or cymbal-like Toad-flax, is a low-trailing plant 
of the Figwort family, with Ivy-like leaves, much used for hanging 
baskets, rockwork and pot culture. It is commonly called Kenilworth 
Ivy, because of the great quantities to be found amid the ruins of the 
famous castle of that name near Warwick, England, immortalized by 
Sir Walter Scott. It is a very easy plant to cultivate, in or out of 
doors, as it will grow in almost any soil; though like all plants it has a pref¬ 
erence, and will grow best in a light soil composed of about equal parts of 
leaf-mold, loam and sand, with a slight admixture of manure. But whatever 
the soil, it must have abundant moisture, and it will not disdain an occasional 
feast of liquid manure. It also delights in a moderate shade, which can easily 
be provided by planting it among taller-growing plants, in some shady recess, or on the 
north side of a house, fence or tree. As its free growing habit gives it a tendency to 
straggle, if space be limited it must of course be kept in place by frequent clippings or 
pegging back. It will also crowd out small plants if not kept within bounds, but with 
plenty of room it may be allowed free scope, under which conditions it presents a beauti¬ 
ful, compact mass of foliage, interspersed with numerous small, bluish flowers, not unlike 
those of the Snapdragon, to which it is related. It is easily propagated by divisions ot 
the roots. Another species, known as the L. vulgaris, or familiarly as the Butter-and- 
Eggs, is well worthy of a nook in any garden, being hardy and easy of cultivation, and 
also quite pretty with its wealth of beautiful, yellow flowers. This has underground 
stems or rhizomas, and propagates itself by what may be termed natural layering, sending 
in various directions its offshoots, any one of which can be made the germ of a new plant. 
JVTA HR R HI A . 
NOWN to science as a member of the Sterculia family, which very 
closely resembles the Mallows in mucilaginous properties, the Ma- 
hernia is a pretty little shrub growing from eighteen to twenty-four 
inches in height. It is a native of the Cape of Good Hope, and with 
careful cultivation and a fair share of sunshine it will produce an abun¬ 
dance of sweet-scented, yellow, cup-like flowers during the whole win¬ 
ter and spring. The branches are slender and the leaves laciniate, or 
lightly slashed, and small, making a pretty mass of foliage if well kept in by 
pinching or tying back. It delights in a free exposure to the atmosphere, pro¬ 
vided this is not excessively cold, and its favorite normal temperature would be 
somewhere from sixty to seventy degrees, though it will not suffer from the heat 
unless this ascend to the nineties. It should not, therefore, be crowded out or 
even shadowed by other plants, but be given plenty of room for roots and branches. The 
best soil for the Mahernia is, two parts of leaf-mold, one of common earth, one of cow- 
