omes 
'loral Soiiiiiei twill ^ieiaruai Koine ^omimniori. 
Ipfoipdf ]fwt$+ 
A NEW PETUiNTA. 
A very desirable new variety of the Petunia, called 
Petunia Grandiflora fimbriata tlore pleno, has just 
beeu introduced from Europe. It is most beautifully 
fringed, retaining the three characteristics of the grandi- 
tiora iiore pleno, and the raiser has stated that among 
the seedlings “ might have been seen flowers rivaling 
in double size and form those of the Double Garden 
Poppies, and emulating in color the richness and deli¬ 
cacy of tints of the finest Carnations.” 
This new variety has been obtained by most careful 
fecundation of the large-flowering, single fringed Pe¬ 
tunias, with pollen taken from blossoms of the newest 
and best double fringed sorts. Blooms have beeu 
raised from these seedlings of striking beauty. 
Messrs, B. K. Bliss &, Sons have the credit of im¬ 
portation from Erfurt, Prussia. 
A VOICE FROM THE WEST. 
A few items from my own experience may not be 
amiss ; as with most things I have been successful, 
and my failures in a few may 
save others from loss and vexa¬ 
tion. To begin with the Rose, I 
put out quite a number of fine 
plants in the month of February, 
principally of the ever-blooming 
class : they began to grow and 
bloom most beautifully, but, alas! 
in my anxiety to see their unfold¬ 
ing loveliness, I had not courage 
to pick off the flower-buds; so, 
many of them died, the vitality 
of the plant being exhausted by 
the flowering, before being well 
established and rooted in the 
soil. 
For diversity of color and con¬ 
stancy of bloom, I can recom¬ 
mend this class of Roses; we 
find no yellow tints among the 
Mosses or Hybrid Perpetoals; 
with the Washington for -white, 
Madame Falcot for yellow ; Gi¬ 
ant of Battles and Madame Chas. 
Wood for crimson, we have Ro¬ 
ses all the time. 
The two latter, though classed 
among the Hybrid Perpetuals, 
are ever-blooming in this cli¬ 
mate. Who has not heard of 
the Green Roses ? and some are 
skeptical about its existence, but 
we have had it. in bloom for about six months, and 
can testify that it is really green. I have heard that 
it was produced by budding the ever-bloomer on the 
oak, thus producing the color of the oak leaf in the 
flower together with the continual bloom. 
The Mosses and Hybrid Perpetuals have grown 
splendidly, and in October the General Washington, 
belonging to the, latter class, surprised me with a beau¬ 
tiful crimson flower; in the spring I transplanted a 
large Cabbage Rose bush—florists and Rose growers 
have discarded this old-fashioned name; it failed to 
bloom, in consequence of its removal, until October, 
when it was covered with blossoms. 
With other shrubs I have been more successful. A 
short time ago I saw an inquiry in the Cabinet about 
white Oleander as a bloomer. I have one that was 
transplanted last spring, which flowered freely for five 
months; give it plenty of water and sunshine and it 
will reward you richly. 
Cuttings from Oleander root readily in bottles of 
water, or by the side of a ditch where there is water 
all the time. 
I have another which I raised from the seed planted 
last spring. Acacias, also, have grown from seed five 
feet high in one summer. Snowball, Crape Myrtle, 
Deutzia, Honeysuckles, Clematis, Hydrangeas, and 
many others have grown beautifully ; but I have ob¬ 
served all the time that those from which I picked the 
buds to prevent blooming, immediately after being 
transplanted, have been most thrifty. With bedding 
plants I have had no trouble, save to put them out in 
the soil. 
Verbenas and Sweet Allyssum, Periwinkle, Ground 
Ivy, and Tradescantia, have transformed a dusty yard 
into a green carpet all bespangled with flowers. Keep 
Double-Fringed Petunia. 
the old flowers picked off the Verbenas and they will 
bloom for six months. Sweet Allyssum blooms here 
all the time. Give the Ivy and Tradescantia plenty 
of water and shade and they will grow most vigor¬ 
ously. The latter plant is called by various names, 
Jacob’s Ladder, Wandering Jew, Joint Plant. Inch 
Plant, and Corn Geranium ; it grows finely in water, 
and has a delicate waxen bloom in the spring. 
With annuals I have been equally successful ; even 
now the buds of Zinnias, Petunias, and Sweet Sca- 
biosa, are gorgeous; only let us be generous to cut 
the flowers regularly for bouquets, and they will not 
fail to bloom. 
But the glory of our garden now is the Chrysan¬ 
themums ; to have plenty of bloom, one must keep 
the young shoots pinched off as fast as they become 
about four inches long. 
Time and space would fail to tell you of all our 
Geraniums. How the Rose Scented grows into a 
miniature tree in the open grounds, and the scarlet 
flowering varieties bloom continuously, can be trained 
on a trellis or frame, like a vine; break off a slip and 
plant it ever so carelessly, soon it is quite large and the 
double varieties look like immense Rose bushes in 
bloom. 
I attribute much of the beauty of my plants to the 
daily sprinkling they receive from our Chinaman, who 
is a firm believer in water and manure applied on the 
surface of the ground; this seems to imitate nature as 
closely as possible as the decay of vegetation aud all 
other natural sources of enriching the soil are neces¬ 
sarily on the surface. 
And speaking of Chinamen, reminds me to tell 
how they grow Polyanthus Narcissus in wafer. They 
force them into early bloom to mingle with their New 
Year’s festivities, having a na¬ 
tional superstition that if they 
flower well, the New Year will 
be crowned with success to them. 
Take two or three large bulbs 
and keep them in a basin of warm 
water for a few days until tiny 
green shoots begin to appear; 
then place them in a china or 
glass dish, or whatever you wish 
them to bloom in, with heads 
erect and surrounded by small 
rocks sufficient to hold them in 
place; fill the dish with water, 
and keep in a room where the 
temperature is mild, giving them, 
the sun if possible, as that pre¬ 
vents them from growing too 
tall. 
Every morning the bulbs, rocks 
and dish must, be cleansed thor- 
0U gfJy with pure water. In a 
few weeks they bloom most 
beautifully, their beauty and fra¬ 
grance repaying one well for the 
trouble. 
I have not mentioned the half 
of our floral beauties, nor said 
how the grand old Century Plant 
becomes a nuisance in this cli¬ 
mate ; unless some enterprising 
florist will persuade it into bloom 
oftener than once in a century, 
we will be compelled to banish it 
from our garden; for ambitious 
California, with her enormous 
vegetables, semi-tropical fruits, ever-blooming flow¬ 
ers, and sublin e scenery, to say nothing of her intelli¬ 
gent and enterprising population, cannot afford to wait 
on anything that withholds its beauty for a hundred 
years. California Lady. 
Variegation in any plant indicates effeminacy, or 
inclination to “ sport.” Plants that are healthy will 
soon return to their original color, and lose their vari¬ 
egation if placed out of doors long enough. 
The Begonia (glaucophylla scandens), which is a 
climbing vine, bearing a salmon and pink blossom, is 
one of the prettiest of that family for hanging-baskets. 
