THE LADIES’ FLORAL CABINET AND PICTORIAL HOME COMPANION. 
BEST CLIHBINO BOSES. 
The Prairie Roses have been the most popu¬ 
lar, on account of their hardiness, uniformly 
rapid growth, and blooming for a long time. 
They are of the greatest value in covering ar¬ 
bours, verandas, a trellis, or the side of a build¬ 
ing, and the following most generally known 
will grow in any portioi\ of the country: 
Queen of the Prairies ; the old and standard 
favorite of every flower garden; floM'ers of a dark 
rose color, cup form, very large, and frequently 
striped with white; is a strong grower, and 
. highly esteemed. 
Gem of the Prairies, a new variety of rare 
value. Has now been introduced about four 
years, and each season seems to verify its claims 
as the best climbing rose we have; not so much 
for vigor of growth, for many will surpass it in 
this respect, but for its flowers. These are very 
large double, of a fine crimson, whicli becomes 
lighter as the flower fades away. Tlie form of 
the flowers is very fine, and they possess a special 
value in their odor, which is delicate yet pleasant, 
■ like that of some of the damask or moss varie¬ 
ties. As claimed by the originator, it has the 
climbing qualities of the Prairie Rose, with the 
richness of color and delicious fragrance of the 
Hybrid Perpetual. Its growth is good but not 
rampant, averaging, with us, about three feet a 
year. 
Baltimore Belle, nearly white, flowers are 
quite double, perfectly formed, and bloom in 
■ clusters; vigorous. 
■ BusseVs Cottage; although perfectly hardy, 
yet it does not climb as rapidly as the others. 
It is best adapted for pillars, trellises or stakes; 
flowers bright crimson, borne in large clustere. 
The BoarsauU Bose (B. elegans') is one among 
that class which bloom but once in the season; 
flowers are of a vivid purple crimson, occasion¬ 
ally striped with white, nearly double, and an 
early and profuse bloomer; would be an c.\ccl- 
^Jent rose for an arbour. 
blush colors; flowers entirely double, very com¬ 
pact, grow freely, and have a delightful fragrance. 
They are very suitable for trellises or pillars. 
There are, perhaps, twenty-five more excellent 
varieties of good climbing roses, which might be 
worthy of mention, but with so good a selection 
as the above six, none need to extend their 
list unless for the sake of the name of a large 
collection. 
FLOWERS IN MIDWIKTEE. 
CUnibinff 'Rose 
the older varieties, being a vigorous grower with 
a very fine habit; lias a splendid raceme of flow¬ 
ers, bright scarlet, long tube. 
B. Vreelandii, a new variety, with large trus¬ 
ses of pure white flowers, two to three times the 
„r ntw kind • blnnnis .i—‘'■■...J , , . . -u d. ’ a 
The only green things in sight in this drear 
cold month, are our choice plants in the window. 
Very many would like to try to grow some in 
their houses, but they hardly know how, or what. 
Now suppose you begin with just one thing, viz., 
a Calla Lily. This is a beautiful and very ele¬ 
gant plant for the flower stand, and will blossom 
aU winter. It is quite hardy, and able to stand 
severer changes of atmosphere than most plants. 
The Hyacinth is one of our universal favorites, 
and there are but few chances of failure where it 
is tried. The following is a good method to 
produce fine plants or good blossoms; 
Fill a pint pot, within one inch of the top, 
with a good, soft, rich earth. Set the bulb in 
the center, leaving just the top of the crown visi¬ 
ble. Water it and place it in a warm cellar, 
where it is perfectly dark. Let it remain thei-e 
■ three or four weeks, or until it becomes thorough¬ 
ly rooted and has sent up a shoot two inches 
long It will occasionally want a little water. 
Then bring it up into the light, and into a warm 
atmosphere. It will now grow rapidly, and 
produce its. fragrant spikes of exquisite flowers 
A dozen of these Hyacinths will suit you, and 
then you may go on trying gradually some other 
flowering plants. The Geranium you will find 
quite easy to grow. Try only one pot and one 
plant at first, say the Gen. Grant, and then you 
may advance to pinks, fuchsias and roses Take 
but one at a time, like the steps up a ladder. 
Bouvardias. 
These splendid winter blooming plants seem 
to bo just now increasing rapidly in popularity, 
owing, doubtless, to the introduction of several 
new and very desirable varieties. _ 
Bouvardia Hogarth is the most popular of 
very' vigorous as well as hardy. 
B. Jasminoides; eonipact; a variety propa- 
g.ated easily by cuttings; grows r.apidly, and 
bears a gi’eat profusion of wax-like white flowers, 
which resemble a jasmine both in appearance and 
fragrance. It is much used for bouquets and bas¬ 
kets of flowers, giving a very rich appearance; a 
dwarf grower, and very fragrant; desirable either 
for pot culture or bedding. 
B. Davidsonii; flowers white, immense lru.s- 
ses. 
B. Leiantha; flowers dazzling scarlet. 
B. Grandiflora ; flower pure white, wax-like, 
very sweet. 
B. elegans) a sport from Hogarth, racemes of 
immense size, the largest of all in this respect; 
flowers carmine and scarlet. 
The Rouvardias are of very easy management, 
requiring only ordinary care, and flourisliing in 
good garden soil. In the fall of the year, they 
may be lifted and packed very closely m sand 
to keep through the winter. If desired for flow¬ 
ering, in the window or conservatory, cut back 
one-half of the wood, water spai ingly, and place 
in the cellar for six weeks; then bring to the 
heat and light, give a copious watering, and in a 
few days you will have a fine bloom. 
tlie pbants—giving the effect of their growing 
directly from the bed of bright green moss—but 
the continual ev.aporation from the moss will 
impart a considerjible degree of humidity to the 
air immediately surrounding the plants. If the 
durability. In addition to any such arrange¬ 
ment the leaves of the plants should be frequently 
washed or syringed. 
“ To protect plants from freezing at night, 
nothing is more simple and eflcctual than news¬ 
papers. A single thickness of newspaper folded 
around a tender plant is sufficient protection 
against a moderate degree of frost. The most 
convenient form for the paper is that of a coni¬ 
cal cap. It is quickly slipped on at night and 
off in the morning.” 
PbAHTS FOB WINDOW OABDENS. 
Daisy F.yebright” suggests the following as 
very desirable: 
Fuchaias. 
There are several new varieties very beautiful 
for in-door culture. 
Carl Halt is of German origin, as its name de¬ 
notes; and its beautiful rose-colored corolla is 
distinctly striped with white, resembling the 
variegated leaves of a carnation, while its sephls 
are of a pure white. 
- - —w..,..,ade Puebla is a double variety,' 
witli brilliant scarlet sepals, producing a lovely 
effect; it flowers very profusely. 
Freund Jc Durr is very peculiar in shape; each 
flower pos.scsses two corollas—a double and a 
single one—four of the stamens bearing a second 
leaf or corolla. Its sepals are of a bright scar¬ 
let; and the corollas are dark bluish purjfle, 
spotted with crimson. 
Marksman has a double dark purple corolla 
with scarlet sepals. The flower is almost round, 
so double is the corolla, so short its sepals. It 
blooms all summer, is perfectly covered with its 
bright bells. 
Geraniums. 
The Double Flowered Geraniums are the great¬ 
est improvement upon the old-fashioned varie¬ 
ties. The leaves of the flowers do not fall, and 
the clusters of flowers are in bloom for many 
days. A white variety has not yet been discov¬ 
ered; but ro.sy vi:ilet, ro.sy pink, deep carmine, 
and the richest shade of scarlet, have been pro¬ 
duced. 
Captain L’Hermite has a large truss of bright 
ro.sy .scarlet flowers. 
Madame Lunoine is of a bright rosy pink, 
with enormo'is eh sters of flowers. 
Andrew Henderson is of a deep rich scarlet, 
very double. 
Triomphe Do Thumesnil has violet carmine 
flowers. I cultivated these four v.arieties last 
summer, and delighted in their rich and rare 
bloom. They are in my “window garden” 
now, but have not yet budded, though they .are 
putting forth fresh and tender leaves. The va¬ 
rieties are to be bought at fifty cents each. 
CASE OF HOUSE PLANTS IN WINTER. 
PRESERVATION OF TENDER BULBS. 
The dryness and heat of the atmosphere of all 
our living rooms is a gi-eat hindrance to the suc¬ 
cessful growth of parlor plants. Likewise, the 
gas escaping from coal fires, is almost an entire 
prohibition. , Wardian cases are much the easiest 
way to grow the plants, or, still better, if the 
entire window garden can be enclosed behind as 
well as before, with glass partitions, separating 
it from the room, it will be found very little 
trouble to. grow any plant successfully. But 
there are many who cannot afford the expense 
of such devices for their floral pets, so we suggest 
a -ood substitute. Set the pots into a broad 
sh“allow box, and fill the space between the 
pots with mosk. Then lay over all a smooth 
coat of moss, covering everything but the earth 
immediately around the pots. The moss should 
then be kept moderately damp. This arrange¬ 
ment not only adds much to the appearance of 
The presci-v.ation during winter of such bulbs 
as Tuberose, Gladioli and Tigridias depends very 
much upon thorough drying before storing. 
Tuberoses and Tigridias in particular contain a 
large amount of moisture when first taken from 
the ground, and this must be driven off, else they 
are sure to become mouldy, and decay. It is for 
this purpose that T always commence taking up 
these bulbs as early as possible in autumn, in 
order to have sufficient time for drying before 
cold weather. When first removed from the 
ground they arc spread over the surface for a 
few hours, if the weather is fine, and then take 
up the loose earth shaken off; after which they 
are carried into a room or open shed and spread 
out upon shelves, and allowed to remain in this 
condition for a few days, or until an opportunity 
occurs for removing the dead leaves .and roots. 
There are two reasons why I do not remove the 
dead leaves at the time of diggingfirst, we arc 
always in a hurry to get such. bulbs up in fair 
weather; second, wo can trim them in stormy 
weather, when no outside work can be done. 
If one has but a few dozen or hundreds of bulbs 
they may be trimmed at the time of digging; but 
when larger quantities are cultivated and a number 
of men employed, it is weU to make calculations 
accordingly. Of course if a man has plenty of 
store room in a conservatory, there will not be so 
great a necessity of early di^ng, because the 
bulbs can be dried by artificial heat. Amateurs, 
as a class, have very poor success in keeping 
tender bulbs and tubers through the winter, and 
their losses arise mainly from a want of proper 
preparation before storing .—Bural New Yorher. 
ionablo just now for parlor culture, and .are well 
worthy of cultivation. 
I h.ave Mrs. Pollock, one of the best of the 
tri-colors. Its leaves are bordered with a golden 
hue, and overlaid with a zone of bronzed red. 
Golden Vase has its bright green leaves mar¬ 
gined with gold. 
United It.aly has a silver margin, and the zone 
of the leaf is blended with a rich rose color. 
ilountain of Snow is also silver margined, 
and is considered the handsomest of its kind. 
Crimson Wonder is golden-edged, with a dis¬ 
tinct zone of crimson encircling the margin. 
All these geraniums bloom, but the blossoms are 
not equal to those of the Zonale tribe. They are 
cultivated for the beauty of their leaves, and the 
flowers arc usually secondary .and are often cut off. 
A variegated rose-scented geranium. Lady Ply¬ 
mouth, has lovely leaves, edged with while. 
Coleus. 
The variegated Coleus and Achyranthus are 
also indi.spensable in every collection. I have 
an Achryantheus Gilsonii standing on the win¬ 
dow close beside me, and as the sunlight strikes 
through its bright crimson leaves, striped with 
dark brown, it is as rich and rare as flowers. 
Mingled with the bright green foliage of the 
Zon.alc geraniums, it produces a perfect contrast. 
There is another .species with light green leaves, 
marked with an interlacement of gold, mingled 
with crimson. There are several beautiful varie¬ 
ties of Coleus also, with their bright tints of 
bronzy crimson, magenta, purple, gold and green. 
Gem is of a deep claret colored center, mar¬ 
gined and netted with green. 
Perfection has a bronze purple ground work 
to its leaves, spotted and netted with green. 
Queen Victoria is of a bright crimson color, 
with a golden edge. 
Albert Victor has a red center, blotched with 
purple and margined with gold. A stand of these 
plants makes a goodly show as the sun strikes 
through their brilliant .leaves. Some of these 
flower, but their blossoms are not any addition 
to their beauty. 
Coliseum Ivy and Smilax are graceful, drooping 
vines, universally cultivated at present. They 
will grow from seed readily,, and nothing can be 
prettier fqr hanging baskets or vases. 
