201 
2HE LADIES' FLORAL CABINET. 
bor, it is equally as beautifiU, and the two are m strong 
contrast but perfect bai-mony. One seems the comple¬ 
ment of the other. We have several varieties of tins 
most delightful flower. The earlier ones are newly 
white, and gi-ow along the banks of the streams. They 
are smaU, and we often gather them for use m the parlor. 
Combined witli flowers of brighter coloring, they are 
very useful and effective. By and by the larger-grow¬ 
ing varieties begin io bloom, and as the Autumn glows 
older the Asters deepen in color, untU they are of a soft 
lavender, and we often come upon some that are almost 
a purjile. I know of no other Fall flower that seems so 
much like a friend as the Aster does. It looks up at you 
tinstingly, and wins your heart once by its unassum¬ 
ing, gentle way. It always seems to me as if it reached 
out its hand and laid it in mine, as some children do 
when they want to get acquamted, and hardly have the 
courage to say much at fli'st. 
Then we have a Lobelia, the Cardinal flower you read 
so much about and so seldom see, that beai’s away the 
palm from everything else in the way of brilliance. If 
you have not seen it growing along the streams or the 
edges of marshes in the West, you have never seen it 
gi'owing in perfection, and you have but little idea what 
it is capable of doing in the way of show. It is most in¬ 
tense in color, and as it groivs in great clumps three and 
foiu- feet across, and as many in height, each spike of 
bloom from a foot to eighteen inches in length, you can 
imagine something of the effect it produces. I have 
seen the bank of the stream wholly covered with it for 
rods. One never ceases of admuing its gorgeous color, 
but it does not win your friendship as the Golden-Hod 
and Aster do. It seems a kind of gypsy among plants. 
You see itspictiu'esqueness, and think it would work up 
well in a pictare, but you don’t care to have it growing 
in yoin garden. It is sometliing to admire at a distance; 
you cannot be familiar with it; and you could not if you 
would. It will not adapt itself to domestication. If 
you want to enjoy it you must seek it out in its own 
haunts. You camiot bring it to yom'S and have it re- 
mabi the same flower you admu'ed so much in natme’s 
garden. Eben E. Rexfokd. 
Watering Plants in Pots. 
Some people attempt to keep pot-iilants without giving 
them any water at aU; the result is familiar to every 
one. UsuaUy, however, the earth in the pot or box is 
kept soaked and very much in the condition of an ordi¬ 
nary swamp. It is even said that malaria has resulted 
from living in rooms containing house plants owing to 
the damp soil. We have ourselves seen dead evergreens 
pulled out of boxes full of mud. Neuste Erfindung gives 
utterance to the following timely remarks: 
Watering plants is one of the most important things 
in the culture of house plants, and very special care 
•shonld be devoted to it. Plants ought not to be wet until 
they nfced it. It will be evident tliat they require wet¬ 
ting, if on taking the earth from the pot, it crumbles to 
■pieces like dust; a sure sign is to knock on the side of 
the pot, near the middle, with the finger knuckle. If i* 
gives forth a hollow ring, the plants needs water; if 
there is a dull sound, there is still moisture enough to 
sustain the plant. Plants must not be wet more than 
once or twice a day: on dry, cleai- days they require 
more water than on damp, cloudy days. On the other 
hand the earth must not be allowed to dry out entirely, 
for that is also very injm'ious. In wetting them the 
water must be poured on in such a way that it will run 
out again through the hole in the bottom of the pot. If 
the earth gets too dry, it is best to place the pot in 
water so that the water will saturate the dirt very 
gradually. They may be watered at any hour of the 
day, except when the sun is shining on the pot or has 
just left it; for the earth gets hot when the sun 
shines on it, and then if cold water is poiu-ed on it, it 
will cool off too rapidly. The best time for watering 
flowers in summer is the evening, and in winter noon is 
best. Well water should_nej;er be used, but always use 
either rain-water or broolk-water. 
A NEW plant possessing anti-malarial properties, as 
alleged, is receiving public attention. This is the Jus- 
sieuce grandiflora, or floating, plant of the bayous and 
lower lakes of Louisiana, which has been long observed 
to prevent the development of malaria in regions pecu¬ 
liarly adapted to its genei'ation. The claim is put forth 
for it that it purifies all stagnant water in which it 
grows, that the lakes and bayous inhabited by it are 
singularly pure to the sight, taste, and smeU; and that 
to its jiresence, and its undoubted hygienic or health¬ 
preserving qualities, is to be attributed the remarkable 
exemption of the people of lower Louisiana from malari¬ 
ous or miasmatic diseases. It is also stated that in the 
region thus reputedly fireserved from such diseases there 
are more stagnant waters and swamps than in any other 
part of the country.. 
My Wild Garden. . 
So I caU my collection of hardy plants. At this 
season of the year, when flowers are scarce, almost any- 
tliing proves acceptable, bnt those with showy petals 
are doubly so. Just now (the first of September) a little 
group of the showy yellow-fringed Orchis {Hdbenaria 
ciliars) are especially gay in a shady nook. The closed 
Gentian {Gentian Andreus) although not so sho'wy as 
most of the other species, is yet exceedingly pretty and 
easily grown. The large clusters of blue flowers are 
very conspicuous at this season of the year. The Butter¬ 
fly-weed, or Pleurisy-root, as some term it, stiU continues 
to bloom, although its regular season is past, and noth¬ 
ing remains of its clcsely allied species excepting their 
seed pots. This is the Aselepias tnberosa of botanists, 
and is one of our most showy native plants, the numer¬ 
ous umbels of bright orange-red flowers making it a 
welcome guest. The asters are just opening out; and 
what a host of them therft.is. The rays, white, purple, 
or blue, are in many instances not very showy, but in 
others particularly so. One of the finer species is the 
New-England Aster, a tall, beautiful plant, frequently 
found in cultivation. • 
The Day-lilies (Funkia) are very nearly past, the pretty 
little F, ivafolia bringing up the rear. Its multitude of 
slender stems are crowned with pale blue flowers and 
are neat and pleasing. Many of the compound flowers 
are now in their glory; a family, the largest in om: flora, 
is designated as the Compositoe. and well represented 
by the Asters and Sunflowers. In my wild garden, 
growing in the greatest luxuriance, naay be found 
