72 
THE LADIES' FLORAL CABINET. 
Anemones, Chrysanthemums, Tricyrtis and others stay 
awhile longer till harder frosts remove them. And all 
through the summer months, when tropical plants are 
at their brightest, we have hardy flowers in vast array. 
We have Paeonies, Anemones, Columbines, Pockets, 
Irises, Poppies, Lily-of-the-Valley, Pentstemons, Bell¬ 
flowers, Lilies, Larkspur, Phloxes, Aconites, Clematises, 
Japanese Skullcap, Day Lilies, Plantain Lilies, Mist 
flowers, Gaillardias, and a multitude besides. And, 
when we add to these Deutzias, Lilacs and other 
shrubs, Roses, Magnolia, Yellow-wood and other trees, 
Wistaria, Trumpet-Creeper and other vines, Eulalia 
and other grasses, Mignonette, Petunias and other an¬ 
nuals, Canterbury-Bells, Foxgloves and other biennials, 
or plants best treated as such, surely there is enough 
material to select from and furnish well our village 
plots. And, when we add to these the Dahlias, Cannas, 
Gladioluses^ Tiger-flowers, and other bulbous and 
tuberous plants, which, though tender, can be managed 
so easily, as to be, so far as care is concerned, available 
to the poorest villager, we have valuable auxiliaries to 
our garden treasures. 
But how are we to get these hardy flowers may con¬ 
cern a few of you. Go into the woods and help your¬ 
self to Hepaticas, Lady’s Slippers, Lilies, Pennsylvania 
Pinks, Bloodroot, Twin-leaf, Bellworts, and such other 
striking flowers as you may find; the meadows will 
supply you with Irises, Meadow Beauty, and Violets, 
the running-stream banks with Cardinal flowers; wet 
places with “Cowslips,” Buckbean, Water Arums, and 
Orchids; ponds with fragrant Water-Lilies, and so on. 
Grow these in your garden, keep them clean, treat 
them liberally, and give them places so far as shade 
and conditions are concerned, near like what they en¬ 
joy naturally, and you will find, that they will wax 
stronger under garden treatment than they were in 
their wild state. I have grown these and hundreds 
more of our wild plants for years as garden flowers, 
and know they respond quite cheerfully to garden 
care. 
Then you can increase your stock from seeds which 
you can buy at the seedstore, get from your neighbors or 
friends, or collect. Multitudes of our finest perennials 
are easily raised from seeds; for instance: Kcempfer’s 
Irises, Larkspurs, Pentstemons, Bellflowers, Missouri 
Evening Primrose, Statices, Thrift, Columbines, Spring 
Ordbus, and Mistflower. And once you are in posses¬ 
sion of these, they will, if you so desire it, increase 
from year to year and afford you abundance for your 
own garden, to give to your neighbors, and for ex¬ 
change. 
Among country people, exchange is a common way 
of recuperating the garden, and even if you have no¬ 
thing new or rare, grow your old-fashioned plants so 
well that your neighbors cannot help admiring and 
desiring them. 
But do not grow them for a long time undisturbed. 
You will often observe how enervated and miserable 
old plants of Phloxes, Veronicas, and Monardas appear 
even in good ground; whereas, had they been lifted, di¬ 
vided, and the thriftiest parts re-planted every year or 
two at most, in deeply-worked soil, a most beneficial 
influence would be apparent. 
When should we divide them? some of you may ask. 
Any time after the herbage has decayed and been cut 
over till when growth begins to start in spring. Rock- 
cress, Moss Pinks, and other early-blooming plants 
should be divided in August or September; but Irises, 
tall Phloxes, and other plants that do not blossom be¬ 
fore early summer are best divided and transplanted in 
spring. Plants that have not been disturbed in fall, 
winter better than those that have been broken up and 
transplanted; besides, plants set out in fall are apt to be 
heaved or thrown out of the ground by winter, and 
necessitate planting or forming again in spring. 
Wm. Falconer. 
CANNAS. 
Cannas are the most useful of all sub-tropical plants 
for general effect, whether as backgrounds in the bor¬ 
der or for large clumps, or masses on the lawn. A 
large bed filled with the different varieties, with an 
outer border of Coleus verschafeldti, on the lawn, is one 
of the most beautiful features in ornamental gardening 
A' still better effect is produced by planting a row of 
Salvia splendens between the Cannas and Coleus. The 
ease with which Cannas are managed, their rapid in¬ 
crease, and their cheapness, combined with their great 
beauty, are all inducements in favor of their genera 
cultivation. They may be grown from seed sown this 
month in the house ; the seed should be soaked in hot 
water twenty-four hours before sowing, then sow in 
boxes; they will soon make plants three to four inches 
high, when they should be potted singly and grown on 
in all the heat the house affords, until the first of June, 
when they can be turned out into the beds prepared for 
them. But a better way is to purchase dry roots of 
any desired varieties, and start them in April in boxes 
in the house; these will make fine plants by the first of 
June. These will be sure to flower, and will give abso¬ 
lutely no trouble at all. The requirements of the Canna 
for its full development, are, a deep, rich soil, a sunny 
position, and plenty of water in dry weather. When 
the season is over, and their tops have been killed by 
frost, they may be lifted, and stored the same as Dahlia 
roots; put them in boxes in a warm cellar or room, as 
they will not keep in any other, and cover them with 
dry sand. There are so many fine Cannas in cultiva¬ 
tion, that to select a few of the best is no easy task. 
Among those that have proved most satisfactory to us 
are the following : For single specimens, C. Ehmanni 
must have the first place, as it is the most distinct of all 
the Cannas, it is a strong grower, averaging five to six 
feet, its leaves are large, oval, soft, green, and finely 
bronzed. Its flowers are unlike any of the other spe¬ 
cies, deep carmine red, produced on branching stems of 
great length, with from ten to twelve flowers on each 
branchlet. The flowers are as large as those of the 
Gladiolus, and can be used to advantage as cut flowers, 
for any purpose, but more particularly in the arrange¬ 
ment of loose flowers. This species should always be 
planted alone, as it is spreading in habit, forming a 
