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Cyclamen from Seed.—Will you tell me how to 
treat Cyclamen raised from seed, and how old they 
must be before they blossom ? 
Cornwall, Vt. Mbs. E. A. Warren. 
Answer.—- The little seedling bulbs as soon as large 
enough to handle, should be potted off and grown 
rapidly without drying off. If well tended they will 
soon form bulbs which will flower in from nine to 
eighteen months from the time the seed was sown. 
Under the old treatment of drying off and resting, it 
usually took three years to bring the bulb to a bloom¬ 
ing state. 
Wax Plant Seeding.—Can Hoya Carnosa (Wax 
Plant) be raised from seed? I have a large plant 
which has seeded several times. Do they often seed? 
Guilford. Mrs. H. N. Davis. 
Answer. —The Wax Plant does not often seed with 
us. If planted in bottom heat the seed would vege¬ 
tate, but it is not worth planting when increase is so 
easily effected by cuttings. 
Calla Lily leaves turning yellow.—I have a 
Calla Lily which I keep well watered, hut the leaves 
turn yellow as soon as half grown. What is the 
cause? Mrs. Sallie J. Hunt. 
Mayfield, Ky. 
Answer.- —Perhaps poor, sodden, sour soil; perhaps 
want of light, or both. Repot your plant in good light 
soil, and give it all the sun you can. 
Roses Sickly, etc.—My Roses in pots grew well 
for two months then began to look sickly, and the 
leaves dropped off. How shall I treat Tritoma ? 
Let me suggest the culture of the wild Collinsia; it 
makes a beautiful bed of blue. Can you name the 
enclosed Geranium? Mrs. M. F. Booth. 
Bardolph, Ill. 
Answer. —Your Roses were probably badly potted, 
the soil became sour and the roots died. Roses need 
a rich soil, but it should be open and well drained. 
The Tritomas are bulbs from the Cape of Good 
Hope. Pot them in October in sandy loam, grow 
them in a sunny window and they will bloom about 
February; then diminish the supply of water, and 
when the foliage dies put the bulbs in the pots away 
to rest until the season for repotting. 
The pretty blue flower you enclose as a Collinsia 
is Polemonium reptans. You probably have Collin¬ 
sia verna, a very handsome plant with blue and white 
flowers, in the woods,. and have confounded the 
names. 
Your “Geranium” is Arbiculatum, the best of tlie 
low-growing varieties for bedding. 
Akebia quinata, etc.—Please let me know when 
Akebia quinata blooms. What is the cause of Olean¬ 
der buds falling off? Hattie Sherman. 
Ohio. 
Ansiver. —Akebia quinata blooms about the twen¬ 
tieth of May. The flowers are very curious, the male 
and female looking very unlike. Your Oleander has 
been kept too dry, or you have changed the tempera¬ 
ture too rapidly. Either of these causes would make 
it drop the buds. 
Fernery doing Badly.—Can you tell me what 
to do with my Fern case ? I have bought Ferns and 
got them from tlie woods; they do well for a time and 
then rot. 
Andulasia, Ill. 
Ansiver. —You have kept them, too wet, or if under 
a glass shade, given too little air. When ferneries are 
moist'they need no water, and they should always he 
well drained. 
Variegated Ivy Geranium turning green. 
—Passion Flowers.—I have a beautiful Ivy-leaved 
Geranium. When it was small the green leaves were 
bordered with white, tinged with pink. How shall I 
restore the color ? Where can I obtain a plant of 
Passion Flower ? F. E. Huselton. 
Westford, Vt. 
Answer. —You have grown your Geranium too well 
and in the shade. Variegated plants often revert to 
the green state. Let the plant become a little pot- 
hound and expose to full sun, and the colors will re¬ 
turn. 
You can procure plants of Passion Flowers from 
any greenhouse, hut they £fre rather large for house 
plants. P. Empress Eugenie is the best purple. 
Names of Plants.—Ipomeas. —How should 
Ipomeas be planted ? Mrs. Jennie McKee. 
Chevanse, Ill. 
Answer. —Sow Ipomeas in the garden, and treat 
like the common Morning Glory. Your Fuchsia is 
F. speciosa. The tall ever-blooming shrubby plant 
with bright red upright flowers is Achania Malva- 
viseus, one of the best house plants. 
Ivy and Oak Leaved Geraniums not bloom¬ 
ing. —Can you tell me how to make my Ivy Gera¬ 
nium bloom? Does the Oak-leaved Geraniums ever 
bloom? Mrs. L. L. Phillips. 
Scranton, Pa. 
Answer. —Both the Ivy and Oak-leaved Geraniums 
usually flower when stunted in growth. Let your 
plants become pot-bound and you will get bloom, 
but the foliage is far better than the flowers. 
Double Zinnias coming single. —How can my 
Zinnias be made to produce double bloom when seed 
is gathered from double flowers ? The tendency is to 
come single and wo lose many beautiful ones. 
Accotank, Va. James Hunter, Jr. 
Answer .—Your question would puzzle anyone to an¬ 
swer. The rules of the production of double flowers 
are yet a mystery, and we all take chances in trying. 
Save only the seeds on the outer rows of the flowers, 
and you may get better flowers. 
Cape Jasmine Culture. — I have a Cape Jas¬ 
mine two years old which I long to see bloom. Will 
you tell me how to treat it ? 
New London, Ct. Mrs. J. T. Williams. 
Answer .—The Cape Jasmine is botanically a Gar¬ 
denia. Grow it in a warm room. Give it plenty of 
sun and it should bloom from May into the summer. 
In summer set it on a piazza or plunge the pot in the 
garden. It grows in summer setting buds which open 
from February onward according to heat given. 
Roses in the Parlor.—Heavy Dew on Ivy. 
—My Ivy grows well and looks thrifty, but there is a 
sticky substance on the leaves. I wash them but it 
comes again. What will make Roses bloom in the 
window in winter ? L. P, 
Chicago, Ill. 
Answer .—The sticky substance on your Ivy is 
“ heavy dew; ” its cause is yet a disputed question ; 
it does no injury, and your treatment is correct. 
Very few Roses do well as window plants. The 
old-fashioned Monthly Roses are the best for house 
culture. None of the newer varieties will give half 
the satisfaction that one may get from a plant of the 
old. Sanguinea agrippina (red) usually does well. 
Adam (pink) and safrana (buff) will usually bloom, 
hut the large double Roses are useless for house cul¬ 
ture. 
Name of Plant. —Can you tell me the name of 
the enclosed ? It was given me as a wild flower from 
Massachusetts. Myra A. Price. 
Mendola, Ill. 
Answer. —The plant is Epigsea repens, called also 
New England May Flower, Ground Laurel, and 
Trailing Arbutus. It is found from Maine to Virginia, 
and is tlie first flower of spring. Its delicate beauty 
and delicious fragrance make it a universal favorite. 
Spots upon Foliage of House Plants. —I am 
much troubled by a disease upon my plants. I en¬ 
close two leaves, an Ivy and Abutilon. It shows it¬ 
self in large discolored spots upon the leaves, appear¬ 
ing in a few hours. E. B. F. 
Beloit, Wis. 
Answer. —The leaves sent are evidently sun-burned, 
and you must look to the glass under which your 
plants are kept for the cause. You say it did not ap¬ 
pear in winter nor until the sun grew strong. It is 
A ? ery common in greenhouses, and care has to be used 
in selecting glass. A minute dot in the glass may 
form a burning glass, and if the focus falls on a leaf it 
is burned. Your treatment of your plants is right in 
every respect. Your only remedy for burning is to 
find the lights of glass which do the mischief and re¬ 
place them with others. 
Names of Clematis.—Shape of Flower-bed. 
—Please give names and colors of four of the choice 
varieties of Clematis. Please give me an idea for shape 
of a flower-bed. Mrs. Davis. 
Upper Alton, Ill. 
Answer. —Supposing you want hardy Clematis, we 
reply Azurea grandiflora, large, blue; Juchrnani, deep 
purple ; Sophia, light-blue ; Standisliii, whitish. The 
last is a little tender. 
An oval flower-bed shows off plants to great ad¬ 
vantage. 
Name of Plant. —Enclosed I send root of a plant 
purchased of a Frenchman in Richmond five years 
ago. It comes up in the spring and every year there 
is added about ten new roots like the one sent. How 
can I make it bloom ? What is it ? 
Wilson, N. C. Jas. S. Wiggins. 
Ansiver. —It is very difficult to name a plant from a 
root, and the plants sold by Frenchmen in our cities 
every spring are generally not worth either planting or 
naming. The root appears to he a Dahlia or perhaps 
a Dioscorea if the plant is a vine ? In either case 
it should have bloomed. Send us leaves and we will 
try to assist you further. It may also possibly he 
Erythrina herbacea. 
Lemon Geranium. —Please tell me what Letnon 
Geranium needs. I have given mine all attention 
and have been unsuccessful. L. P. H. 
Austin. 
Ansiver. —Do you mean Lemon Geranium or Lemon 
Verbena? If the former, pot in common garden soil 
and grow in a sunny window. Be careful not to over 
water. If the latter, plant out during the summer 
in any common garden soil, and store in a cellar free 
from frost in winter. 
