The Floral Instructor , 
9 
OUR LETTER-BOX. 
The following from Dayton, 0.: "‘Can 
Verbenas and Heliotropes be kept in a 
north window, and does the former need 
much water ? I could not do without 
your valuable little magazine. J.C.” 
Verbenas can be kept over in a cool 
room. They being natives of moun¬ 
tainous regions, do not require much 
water. 
The Heliotrope is a native of Peru, 
whence it was introduced in 1757. Its 
name was given by Linnaeus, from Helios , 
the sun, and trope , a turn, in allusion fo 
the flowers being turned by the sun. 
The genus has not been changed by the 
cultivators haud as much as many other 
species of plants, although we have 
sorts that range from the deepest purple 
through all the shades of violet to al¬ 
most pure white, and all retain the de¬ 
licious vanilla-like fragrance which has 
given it prominence above many a more 
showy flower. It makes a rapid growth 
and under proper treatment produces an 
abundance of flowers the entire year. 
For winter decorations, young plants 
started in the spring and kept growing 
In pots, either in .a conservatory or 
being plunged in the garden, and brought 
in the house in early fall, is the best. 
In fact, for bedding, we prefer them to 
old worn out plants, which are much 
more liable to be infected with insects, 
and take a long time before starting to 
grow. In winter give plenty of sun¬ 
light—too much cannot be had, and 
plenty of water. Washing or syringing 
the foliage is essential to keep off the 
red spider, and when other plants are 
being smoked with tobacco to kill the 
aphis, the Heliotrope should be re¬ 
moved, as an abundance of tobacco 
smoke will blacken the leaves and de¬ 
stroy the buds and flowers. A soil com¬ 
posed of leaf mold and well rotted 
compost suits them best. 
The plants that are propagated from 
cuttings, and we recommend that all 
old plants be superseded by new, thrifty 
ones, each spring, when growing in 
pots care shonld be exercised not to 
allow the roots to become pot bound, as 
we know of no plant that suffers so 
easily from this as the Heliotrope. Re¬ 
potting in a size larger should be at¬ 
tended to every time the plant forms a 
mat of roots around the side of the jar. 
This can be easily detected by turning 
the plant out in the hand at any time. 
Mrs. Harry is enthusiastic over the 
“ large beautiful ” day lily we sent, and 
requests treatment of the same. This 
is a herbacious plant—one that throws 
up its leaves in the spring, and in Au¬ 
gust produces a number of very fragrant 
pure white flowers, and dies down in 
fall. It is perfectly hardy, but we are 
accustomed to throw a bunch of straw 
over the roots to protect them. If left 
undisturbed it will grow to a great size 
in a few years. 
Mima M. had some plants from us 
last spring. The box was bursted open 
when received, but plants all revived 
and grew nicely. After a while Mima 
discovered aphis, but kept at work till 
she rid her plants of them. Later she 
noticed the leaves dry up and fall off, 
and after long searching ‘‘ could detect 
very small insects on the under side of 
the leaf/’ She thought the insects were 
mealy bugs and tried every remedy to 
extirpate them without success. Now, 
the mealy bug is easily seen and recog¬ 
nized. It is a white, wooly looking in¬ 
sect, nearly always found in the axils of 
the leaves. Many remedies have been 
given, but we find none so effectual as 
hand-picking. The pests attacking M.’s 
j plants are red spiders, caused by the 
i atmosphere in which she grows her 
j plants being too dry. What must be 
| done is to throw water violently on the 
