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A SMILAX HARP. 
At one of our windows, upon a pretty stand, sat a 
deep dish; within this two pots containing Myrso- 
phyllum Asparagoides, the Smilax. 
Raised from seed planted in the spring, out of doors, 
its bulbs had been transplanted in October to the sandy 
soil here given them. Between the pots we intro¬ 
duced a wire harp, or, rather, the lyre of Erato, the 
Greek muse. Hitherto the vines had cast themselves 
about in a listless, undetermined manner. Now they 
had something on which to expend their energies—an 
object worthy of their abilities—and ere long they had 
nearly covered the form with their 
shining green foliage. 
One of the most lovely of Christmas 
decorations is this Smilax harp. 
With a little care in guiding its 
sprays, the lyre will always present as 
symmetrical appearance. 
After it is well covered the vines 
may be turned downward, and al¬ 
lowed to stray over the stand upon 
which the dish is set. 
Anne G. Hale. 
was almost wilted. I have tried several of the 
flowering kind out of doors, and the experiment is in 
every way satisfactory. 
And now about those lovely creations of Nature, 
the Calla. I have had the most gratifying success in 
my experiments with them, and never again will I 
consent to dry them off in the summer. I separate the 
roots early in the summer, and that naturally retards 
the growth some, and then stand them under a tree 
out doors, and keep them wet, and let them grow in 
early September. I pot them into larger pots and 
bring them into the house, and the consequence is I 
have them in bloom before Christmas; I have them 
in bud now, so there is another slight misunderstand¬ 
ing on the part of the florists. I suppose they think 
because the Calla on the banks of the Nile dries off 
BEGONIAS AND OTHER 
FLOWERS. 
I sit down with the hope of saying 
something novel and amusing in 
floriculture, not that the ladies need 
the instruction, but to prove some of 
the floral books deceivers and snares 
for our beautiful flowers. 
To begin at the beginning, I saw a 
phrase about a year ago, saying, "Be¬ 
gonias will not amount to anything 
out doors,” that is, planted out. Now 
I deny in toto the truth of that state¬ 
ment, and my reason is plain, and 
which same I now rise to explain. I 
have always religiously kept my Be¬ 
gonias in pots until last summer. 
One day I was walking down town 
and saw a great bush growing in the 
centre of a flower-bed, and in full 
flower. I went in to make a further 
investigation, and lo ! it was a Be¬ 
gonia Oilifolia; there it stood three 
feet high and about as large round as 
a barrel, and was covered with blos¬ 
soms. I had thought mine were very 
luxuriant, but they dwindled down 
most alarmingly. I went home and 
immediately planted mine out, and 
one of them stayed out until after heavy frosts, and 
wasn’t hurt in the least, which proves beyond a doubt 
that they can be planted out to advantage, and are re¬ 
markably ornamental, especially on the north side of 
the house, where scarcely any other large plant will 
bloom. 
Of course, I do not mean that they will succeed like 
a Zinnia, anywhere, but by planting them where they 
get the sun only part of the time, and giving an abun¬ 
dance of water, you will have no reason to complain 
of its not repaying you for your trouble. They will 
stand considerable heat, as any one must know to 
have seen them flourishing last summer, when even I 
A Smilax Harp. 
part of the year, it must do so here, but we don’t live 
in Egypt, and neither does our Lily; it is a great 
wrong to the poor flower, for undoubtedly "it would 
if it could, but it couldn’t” grow when it had no 
water. 
That reminds me of a very beautiful way I hare 
fixed my Calla, and one that might be copied to ad¬ 
vantage : I took a large stone crock of my mother’s, 
that was the shape of a flower pot, only glazed 
nicely, and would not evaporate water so rapidly, and 
drilled a hole in the bottom. Yes, I really did it my¬ 
self, with a large iron nail and heavy hammer. I 
hammered very easily, and pretty soon it was done. I 
planted my Calla in the crock with nice rich earth, 
and stuck ever so many bits of Tradescantia all round 
the edge ; then I took a hand-basin and put the Calla 
in, filling the basin with water, and stood it on a little 
round bouquet table in the window, where it con¬ 
stantly attracts notice, the Tradescantia falling all 
round the table, almost concealing the pot. The 
basin and crock should both be painted alike ; mine 
is brown and is very pretty. 
I saw a lady’s article on propagating plants by 
rooting them in sand. I have no doubt it is a very 
nice way, if you can make the slips stay there; but 
mine are always getting wrong end uppermost, and as 
they refuse to root in air, I gave that up, and now I 
just plant them in little pots of light rich soil, and they 
seldom disappoint me. 
For Heliotropes, I have a way "pe¬ 
culiarly my own,” as the novels say. 
I break a number of slips from the 
parent plant in the spring, and stick 
them in a shallow box of earth and 
cover each with a flower pot, taking 
care that the earth is kept moist; after 
they are rooted I take the pots off at 
night at first, and gradually expose 
to light and sun. I have found this 
an admirable method, and thought it 
worth communicating. 
My Roses seem to be especially 
obliging this season, for I never had 
the cuttings root so readily, and my 
Roses out doors are blossoming yet. 
I have a box of earth and sand 
mixed for Rose slips, and keep it in 
a shady place, and they generally 
root if kept damp. 
I am a great admirer of handsome 
foliage, and Caladiums in particular. 
I have an elegant large one to grace 
the centre of my Portulaca bed, and 
it forms a lovely contrast to their 
bright colors; when I took the bulb 
in this fall it had a tiny little Cala- 
diutn just leaving out. A brilliant 
idea of having it in the house at once 
struck me so forcibly, that I went and 
potted it immediately, and to be sure, 
it has gone on growing as if it had 
never been disturbed, and is such a 
lovely green, that I am quite charmed. 
I had a nice cigar box last sum¬ 
mer, and thought it would make such 
a nice hanging basket, but what to 
cover it with was the question. I 
bored holes through the corners and 
put wire through to form rings to fas¬ 
ten the cords to ; then I covered the 
outside with cone work and coffee 
beans and acorns, beginning at the 
edge and ending in a cluster in the centre. I made 
acorns answer for feet; I lined the box with tin and 
filled it with striped Tradescantia and a Begonia for 
the centre. I hung it in the window with scarlet 
cords, and it is an object of beauty that would do credit 
to a professional instead of an amateur. 
I have a Salvia that I think is worth mentioning. 
I had not much faith in its blooming late, but never¬ 
theless I purchased two, and planted two ; one grew 
so large that I fastened it to the fence, and it nearly 
covers it, and notwithstanding that we have had 
several hard frosts and one severe snow storm, it still 
tosses its scarlet flowers to the wind. A F. P. 
