122 
THE LADIES’ FLORAL CABINET. 
pansies, that grow large and velvety in the shade, but 
which wither in too much sunlight. You can plant some 
bulbs of the Japan lilies, only you must .be careful not to 
let fresh manure touch their roots, as it causes them to 
decay. A border of nemophila grows well without full 
sunlight; so does “ forget-me-not ” and “ London pride.” 
Of the latter I remember once seeing a thick border along 
a shaded walk in a city garden, perfectly pinky white with 
blossom, in hard, unyielding soil. A bed of fuschias will 
also do well in the shade, and if one is careful to plant the 
tall sorts is the centre, and grade down to the edge with 
the fairy or dwarf sorts, they will certainly have a beauti¬ 
ful and graceful arrangement. 
In autumn, when these plants have to be removed to 
the house, the bed can be filled wfith spring-blooming 
bulbs—the centre with hyacinths and tulips, the border with 
crocuses, and here and there a clump of snowdrops and 
scillas. 
Along the borders can be planted primroses (not “ Chi¬ 
nese,” but the hardy variety), polyanthus, auriculas, daffo¬ 
dils and violets. In one city garden I know, there is a 
bed of ferns bordered by curious stones in the middle of 
the little lawn, and in corner beds there are some of the 
flowers I have mentioned and a bush of “ sweetbriar ” 
and clump of lily-of-the-valley to help make summer fra¬ 
grant. In a home where children brighten the hours it is 
worth while giving each one a certain bed or plant to care 
for. Perhaps at first they may pull them up to find out 
where the “ grow ” comes from, but after awhile they will 
learn to be careful and can be taught to give regular wa¬ 
tering and intelligent care. No matter how small the 
lawn or how bare, it is possible, by enriching the land and 
giving it a little attention, to bring some beauty into 
growth and make it amply repay for the outlay of time 
and money. 
Annie L. Jack. 
HALF-HARDY FOLIAGE PLANTS. 
W E may include under this heading all those exotics 
which, while they flourish out of doors with us 
during the summer, require the protection of a green¬ 
house during the winter. 
The dracaenas are among the very best of this class in 
beauty and variety. They offer to amateurs the addition¬ 
al advantage of being excellent house-plants, and the 
specimens with red or bronze leaves contrast most beau¬ 
tifully with the bright green of palms or ferns. 
Draccena draco, or dragon-tree, is a vigorous species 
from the Canary Islands. In our greenhouses, it is usu¬ 
ally seen forming a graceful cluster of glaucous-green 
leaves, but, as it grows older, it assumes a tree-like form, 
branched, with a tuft of leaves crowning each division. It 
is not so graceful in this form as in the younger state. In 
its native place, this plant attains great height and age: 
a famous dragon-tree at Teneriffe—now dead—is de¬ 
scribed by one traveler as “ seventy feet high and forty- 
eight feet in circumference, with an antiquity which must, 
at least, be greater than that of the Pyramids.” The small 
pale-green flowers form a terminal panicle. It is easily 
cultivated in sandy loam and requires plenty of pot-room. 
The resinous gum of this tree was one of the sources of 
“ dragon’s blood,” so called, a medicament of high repute 
in olden times, though I believe it is entirely dropped 
from the modern materia medica. 
Draccena indivisa is another robust and easily grown 
form. It is a graceful plant, with pendent leaves from 
two to four feet long, one to two inches broad, pointed, 
and dark-green in color. Placed outside in the summer 
the pot may be plunged in the earth, or it may be placed 
in a vase, where it will be found most effective. D. indi¬ 
visa atro-purpurea is a variety with the midrib and un¬ 
der side of the leaf dark purple. D. indivisa Veitchii is 
shaded with dark red. This plant stands the winter in the 
South of England and Ireland, but I fear in our climate 
its days would soon be numbered. 
Draccena terminalis is a stately and beautiful plant, 
with richly colored leaves, shading from clear bright-red 
to bronze. It is tenderer than the foregoing varieties, but 
is of easy culture, and does well in the garden through 
the warm weather; it is very desirable as a house-plant, 
too, but we must warn the cultivator to beware of the 
greedy and insidious slug, which at the first opportunity 
will not fail to nibble the edges of the leaves in a very 
unsightly fashion. 
Draccena Australis is a strong grower, of easy culture, 
with branching stem and lance-shaped bright-green leaves. 
It is very robust, growing to a height of from ten to forty 
feet, though it must be of patriarchal age before it attains 
the latter figure. 
A very graceful thing for the summer garden is the 
Papyrus antiguorum, or Egyptian paper-plant, a reed¬ 
like plant which yielded the paper used by the ancient 
Egyptians. Its rhizomes spread under the mud in which 
it grows, throwing up stems as it advances. These stems 
are erect and triangular, from three to eight feet high, 
leafless except at the top, where there is a spreading um¬ 
brella-like tuft of slender filaments. This plant does best 
in shallow pieces of water in a warm position. When 
planted in soil it must be constantly watered. It is pro¬ 
pagated by dividing the root-stocks. 
Phormium tenax, the New Zealand flax, is a large 
plant, in habit similar to the iris, with shining leathery 
leaves from three to six feet long. The lemon-colored 
flowers are borne in loose spikes above the foliage. The 
variegated form is the handsomer, its great sword-like 
leaves being thickly striped with yellow. It is a very 
noticeable plant, impressing one with its distinct charac¬ 
ter wherever it may be placed. This plant furnishes the 
textile fibre used by the native New Zealanders in woven 
mats and cordage, a fibre of extraordinary strength and 
durability. 
The palms offer us a varied choice. Of course we 
leave out of the question the tender conservatory palms 
from equatorial regions, but the hardier sorts are equally 
