ffiie floral iftaKuiet anil Pictorial Some feonipanion. 
67 
Hbritl imtfrilmlimtSu 
HINTS ON FLORICULTURE. 
We will now consider the flowers that make our 
homes attractive. 
You have never cultivated a garden orbed of flow¬ 
ers even, and yet you love these beautiful gifts of Na¬ 
ture, and wish to see the bright, dainty darlings scat¬ 
tered all around you; but though I shall endeavor 
to give you as many practical hints as my limited 
space will allow, experience is the only source through 
which you can attain real success. Flowers are class¬ 
ed as perennials, biennials, and annuals ; and these 
are hardy, half-hardy, and tender. Hardy varieties 
can be sown from the middle of April to the middle 
ol May, halt-hardy from the first to the last of May, 
and tender varieties from the last week in May to 
the middle of June. The sowing will depend upon 
the earliness of the season, some springs being more 
favorable to early planting than others ; but you can 
forward many plants by sowing the seed in shallow 
boxes, or any convenient receptacle for soil, and 
keeping them in the house until the earth is warm 
and the weather suitable for transplanting. I find 
that a mixture of garden-loam two parts, leaf-mould 
two parts, and sharp sand one part makes a good 
soil in which to plant seeds in the house; if the loam 
is heavy add more sand and mould. Sow evenly and 
thinly, that the plants may not crowd each other. 
Cover according to size of seed, the finest very slight¬ 
ly; some requiring to be sown upon the surface and 
pressed into the soil by a slight pressure. Keep your 
seeds warm and moist—not wet. The best way, 
perhaps, to secure a uniform heat and moisture is to 
keep them covered with wet flannel, paper, or glass. 
Do not allow the flannel or paper to become dry 
while germinating, removing as soon as they begin 
to appear. Give them all the sunshine possible and 
plenty of fresh air. Should they begin to crowd each 
other, thin out and transplant to other boxes, as you 
must have strong plants, otherwise they would be¬ 
come drawn and prove unsatisfactory. For trans¬ 
planting choose a cloudy day—a damp one is better, 
if not positively wet, or evening is a good time; 
press them firmly in the soil, and water with water 
from which the chill has been taken. Protect from 
sun a couple of days. Some plants require planting 
where they are to remain, as they do not transplant 
well. Perennial Peas, Sweet Peas, Delphiniums, 
Euphorbias, Lupini, Poppies, and Candytuft, all 
object to removal. As regards your beds, cut them 
any shape you fancy, provided they are not so wide 
that you cannot reach the centre conveniently when 
working them; but the soil must be light and rich, 
and deeply dug. Observe the same rule for sowing 
seeds as in the house, as nearly as possible. Keep 
them covered from the sun and drying winds by 
newspapers fastened at edges; and Rhubarb and 
Burdock leaves have only to be used to be appreciat¬ 
ed. In arranging your flowers consider adaptation 
to location, and avoid bringing together colors that 
do not harmonize. Those beds farthest from the 
walks may contain the taller flowers, and those of 
medium height of brilliant colors, which include the 
tall varieties of Asters, Balsams, Celosias, some va¬ 
rieties of Dianthus, Antirrhinums, Petunias, Delphi¬ 
niums, Lychnis, Salvias, Zinnias, etc., while in the 
beds near them and the house you may plant Abro- 
nias, Alyssum, Candytuft, Mignonette, Pansies, Por- 
tulaca, Stocks, Verbenas, Saponaria, Gj'psophila 
Muralis, and Lobelia Erinus. Nearly all I have 
mentioned commence blooming early and continue 
through the whole summer until late autumn. It 
will be better to plant mixed beds of the same varie¬ 
ties, except where you desire masses of color or rib¬ 
bon-beds. The larger varieties should be planted 
ten or twelve inches apart each way, and the smaller 
ones six. Asters and Balsams require a very rich 
soil, good cultivation, plenty of moisture, and partial 
shade to secure the finest flowers, though they will 
blossom under a great deal of neglect. Celosias are 
from one to three feet high, of many brilliant shades, 
commencing to bloom early and continuing to grow 
in beauty until destroyed by frost. To me Pansies 
seem almost human, and their bright little faces will 
look their gratitude the whole season, if you will give 
them a shad}' nook near the house where only the 
morning sun can smile upon them. Give them a 
rich soil and a plentiful supply of water, soap-suds, 
and weak liquid manure. Stocks are better with 
similar treatment, minus the suds. Dianthus and 
Phlox Drummondii rejoice in the sun, also Portulacas 
and Verbenas with a generous admixture of sand in j 
the soil. Sweet Alyssum, Gypsophila Muralis, and 
Lobelia Erinus are especially adapted to small beds, 
edging and ribboning and unexcelled for vases and 
baskets where fine trailers are desired. Remove 
all fading flowers, except those saved for seed, leav¬ 
ing only one or two, which should be of the first and 
most perfect blooms. The forming of seed exhausts 
the vitality of the plants, thus shortening their sea¬ 
son of bloom. Dahlias and Gladioli are very orna¬ 
mental with a shrubbery background. The exqui¬ 
site beauty of Lilies renders them important to the 
smallest collection. Plant six or eight inches deep 
in rich loam, well mixed with leaf-mould or any ve¬ 
getable manure; but avoid all animal fertilizers. 
They do best in half-shade. Ricinus, Zea (Maize), 
Euphorbia, and Amaranthus in variety are fine for 
foliage-beds, bordered with some constant-blooming 
trailer. The Amaranthus is also fine for centre of 
vases. The annual climbers are so beautiful, and 
cover our porches and windows with such exquisite 
festoons and graceful draperies, that to omit them 
would be to leave our gardens unfinished and our 
dwellings unadorned—Morning-glories, that smile 
so sweetly upon the early morning and climb and 
race up the slender cords and ramble along the eaves 
in tangled luxuriance; and Cyprus-vine, exquisite 
in flower and foliage. It loves the sun, and is suita¬ 
ble for porch and vase. Pour boiling water upon 
the seeds and let them stand over-night. Plant in 
warm soil. Tropseolums are excellent for porches, 
and unexcelled in brilliancy of flower. Sweet Peas 
require early and deep planting. Can be grown in 
clumps upon common pea-brush and are useful for 
screens, while in beauty and fragrance they vie with 
the Stock and Carnation. For a dainty bouquet no¬ 
thing is sweeter than a few Pea blossoms, with sprays 
of Mignonette and Sweet Alyssum. If you would de¬ 
rive the greatest pleasure from your flowers, cultivate 
thoroughly. Early morning is the best time to stir 
the soil, as the roots absorb the dew, giving health 
and vigor to the plants. Never work soil when 
heavy with moisture. In watering it is better to 
wait till evening, that your flowers may receive the 
full benefit. Mrs. L. D. Horton. 
Bundysburg, Geauga Co., 0. 
LICHENS. 
The heading of this article suggests something 
perhaps very uninteresting, but while all classes of 
flowers receive their share of praise, from the gaudy 
Cactus and queenly Roses and Lilies even to the 
more unpretending varieties of vines and trailing 
plants, we hear nothing of the unpretending Lichens. 
Leaving the showy garden-border or conservatory 
with their rich display of exotics, let me beg you, my 
reader, to go forth with me into the woods on a damp 
morning in October or November. Low-liung clouds 
which have been weeping the night through are being 
lifted by a gentle breeze, and mist and rain-drops 
are mantling and trembling yet among low patches 
of copse-wood. Here then, just under a spray shaken 
by the robin’s flight and brightened by a fall of scarlet 
berries, springs up a little flower-garden, quite com¬ 
plete in richness and variety. Mosses in many 
colors, from that of greenest velvet texture to the curl¬ 
ed and crisped varieties in shades of dark green, 
light brown, and dusky red, emboss and embroider 
earth’s brown bosom, and are fantastically dotted 
with what resembles a light fall of snow (though the 
snow, in these milder latitudes of the Middle States, 
is yet in the store-houses of far northern clouds). 
See the old gray rock fence, where a rough pile 
has fallen away from its moorings, and who will fail 
to admire it, all beflowered and embroidered with 
lovely crisp and curling forms, round and oblong ro¬ 
settes in delicate shades of pale green and drab, re¬ 
minding one of the soft contrasts in the dress of a 
modern belle ? But we will leave the humbler tribe 
of Lichens to speak of those which we once saw in 
an August woodland walk after a shower. Be¬ 
neath a brown and gnarled oak stump was a gor¬ 
geous display of brilliant orange scarlet blossoms 
displaying their great fleshy and leathery leaves, 
and looking almost luminous with color as a broad 
beam of sunlight shot across them. 
Again, beneath a neighboring cedar we saw with 
delight a great bunch of the same species, rejoicing 
in color of palest cream, and ruffled and crimped as 
tastily as was the crisp silk hat of Lucia, our village 
bride; so lovely was the pale cream tint of her hat 
and its graceful plume, and also the contrast with 
her soft dark eyes, that our village beauty must have 
gotten the idea from “ under the cedar.” Perhaps 
the reader may exclaim : “ What, is all this written 
about nothing but a fungus V But when we consid¬ 
er how they spangle the woods in the dreary time 
of winter with strangely grotesque and beautiful 
forms, we may really regard them as valuable acqui¬ 
sitions to Nature’s floral kingdom. 
Hans Hathaway. 
