1885. 
Blniblo one. Thorofovo, let me bo,, or n. 
K AMKuir'AM n. ‘'"f’ 
readers of Tun Amhiucan Oak 
■’KN, to pur¬ 
chase Sweet Peas, Allgnonetto, etc bv ii 
.- ...wl !P _ !- ’ uy (,iie 
ounce, and if there is not room fort,, 
tbeformal garden orlawn,wI,y,p,uet,,p^ , 
the vegetable garden, wl.erc tiiey will bl o 
in odorous beauty, and food ail the boos 
the neighborhood, wiiile they will supplj 
you With liandCuls of sweets to weai- at vou,. 
beit, or buttonhoie, witli bowlfuls of /low 
ers to decorate the breakfast table, all wet 
with tlic morning’s dew, and with 
vases to adorn your parlors, and 
to send to your friends. 
Oh, plant (lowers, sweet (lowers! and 
joice in their beauty and tlicir flaigraiicc 
and let them fuKll (heir mission by upliftin''' 
your heart to tlie Giver of all good. ” 
Daisy Eyhiiuioiit. 
lovely 
basketfuls 
A BEAlJTirUL VESBENA. 
Nearly all our garden Verbenas, Verbena 
hybrida, were derived from tlic species Me- 
Undres and tenerioides, and so fixed lias become 
their habit and character, tliat among tlic 
millions of seedlings raised every 
year there is but little dillerencc 
except in the color of tlieir (lowers. 
Om-illustration represents tlie new 
seedling “America,"’ raised by 
Peter Henderson, wliicli marks a 
decidedlj' new type, and promises 
to become the forerunner of an 
entu'ely new class of tliesc cliarm- 
ing bedding plants. 
Among tlie thousands of seed¬ 
ling Verbenas that we Iiave r.aised 
in the past twenty years, says Mr. 
Henderson, we have never pro¬ 
duced one that equals this. 'J'he 
individual florets are larger tlian 
any variety of its color, being one 
inch ih diameter. Tlie trusses are 
three and a half indies across and 
of perfect form. The color is a 
striking shade of crimson scarlet 
with an immense white eye. An 
engraving, however good, can 
give but an indilFerent idea of its 
grand appearance. 
“'y, it IS a good plant tor the center 
gi' 
of a bed. 
S'umiee 
riel V oc o'* l’™'>‘dfly tlic most brilliant viir 
oxtivinil v oV*n 'onves on the 
crimson '^ e '^«i"g a shining 
'«'"i»'l"ig one, at a little distance, 
*. Prtincinff«<■ 
quite foridily of the Poinsettia. 
wtli l, 1 the foliage is of greater 
vulth hannianyotherl liaveevcrgrown, and 
he e ect s tlierel’ere more solkWnd 
are n!“'r -m "'“''-ow-leaved kinds 
re- HI , -^*1 produced un- 
((iiitc liitc la the season. 
Last season f used the Amaranthus as tlic 
principa pl.ant in a hedge, with Nasturti¬ 
ums in tlie frontrow. Thecontrast between 
tlie daik foliage of the former and the rieli 
green of the latter, with its bright flow¬ 
ers, pi'oduced a fine efl'cet. For beds near 
the bouse, A. salidfolius is to be pre¬ 
ferred, as it lias less of the coarseness 
peculiar to (his class of plants than any 
neath clumps of shrubbery where nothing 
else is planted, or among the beds of Lily of 
the Valley, where they vary the season and 
make the border more attractive in fall. 
AMPEL0P8IS VEITOHn. 
Tills is of late years becoming a common 
and popular plant for covering walls, and its • 
beauty is unquestionable. Few people, how¬ 
ever, know how much more rapidly and ef¬ 
fectively it can be grown from seed than 
from cuttings. A seedling plant will get 
nearly as far over a wall in one year as a 
cutting will hi two. If you h.ave a wall you 
wish to cover with Ampelopsis,get theseeds 
in autumn if you can, but spring will do, 
and sow them in a nicely prepared border 
along the wall where you wish them to 
climb. The seeds germinate readily and the 
young plants take to the wall at once, and 
soon get complete possession of it. 
AMAEANTHUS. 
Years ago we used to see 
a rather coarse-growing plant 
in most country gardens, bear¬ 
ing long, drooping, tassel-like I'acemes of 
small flowers of a dark, blood-red coloi. 
This plant was called “Prince’s Feather.” 
It did not attract much attention then, foi 
few tried to produce “startling” eftcct in tlie 
flower-garden. But of late, since large 
masses of color have been “the fasliion,” 
rather than individual beauty, this plant has 
received more attention, and is behig ^ quite 
extensively used. For this pui'pose it is ex¬ 
tremely valuable. The foliage is, in almost 
all varieties, quite as strildng as tlie flowers, 
being of a dark, rich crimson or maroon. 
To insure the best results, the soil should 
flot be made very rich. In a iiiodeia e y 
good soil the plants are more compact an 
of a better color. For large beds, or a hedge, 
this plant is very effective. It shoul , ou 
f er, on account of its rather coarse habit, 
h® kept in the background, wheie on y 
general effect can be seen. 
-4. salidfolius grows to the height of t u 
It has long, narrow foliage, of dim 
tipped with mai’oon. 
PLANTma (ILADIOLUS. 
Don’t plant them all at once. Plant a few 
about the first of June, more about the mid¬ 
die, and some in the last week of 
this or first of next month, and, 
in this way, weather permitting, 
j'ou will have flowers till the end 
of October. Plant in rows and 
veiy thickly, say two to three 
inches apart in tlie row. Brench- 
lej'ensis is one of tlie che.apest, 
brightest and most useful 
varieties of a beautiful genus. 
OITE PLOWEE BASKET. 
Tlie annual Chrysanthemums, 
are worthy of a trial in every 
garden. For a corsage bunch 
nothing is more appropriate. 
Five cents’ worth of Phlox 
Drummondii seed udll, if given 
decent treatment, produce a wealth 
of brilliantly-colored flowers all 
through the summer. 
For a sh.ady spot, under trees 
.and shrubs where the soil is rich 
and not too diy, there is nothhig 
more, satisfactory than Lily of the 
Valley. To plant it once is to 
have it forever in the g.arden. 
VERBENA AMERICA. 
other variety. For broad eflects of color, 
Suiu'ise is the best of .aU the varieriesjinhls 
sliow}' class of iilants. 
E. E. R. 
STEEBBEEfllA LUTEA. 
One of tlie prettiest of fall-blooming flow¬ 
ers .and one of the most uncommon, is the 
Golden Crocus-like Amaryllis, Stenibergia 
(Amaryllis) lutca. It is a good comp.auion 
flower to the Colchicum and iimkes a pleas- 
luo- variety iu color. The bulbs should be 
planted late in spring or in early summer. 
Wevrcm.ain dormant so far as visible groivth 
is concerned until early .autumu, when the 
h.andsoine, dark-green foli.age appears, fol- 
iowed quickly by a profusion of golden 
flowers. The foliage retains its beauty .aU 
throuo-h the ivinter and gradu.ally ripens ofl 
!sthe“warm weather comes in spring, and 
SJ'X 5 “ '~".r 
into its summer rest. The 
As it 
during 
clumps. 
the 
winter, and will make large 
In the latitude of New York it is not safe 
to turn out tender bedding-plants before the 
last week of May, or better still, the first of 
June. Last year frost killed many Coleus 
on the 30th of May. 
Tlie Dwarf Flowering Almond is one of 
the prettiest little shrubs in cultivation, and 
deserves a place in every garden. As it 
flowers on the yoimg shoots it should be cut 
back severely after flowering. 
For the protection of single plants against 
slugs there is nothing safer than to sprinkle 
a ring of salt around them. A slug can no 
more cross it than a man could swim through 
an ocean of fire. 
Our hot, dry summers are not as conge-i 
nial to the English Daisy as the damp at¬ 
mosphere of Em-ope, but it may be grown 
successfully in frames during winter, and 
eMyin spring transplanted to an open border 
A good location for them is be- as a most appropriate companion to Pansies. 
■ .1 "■ 
:I.'! 
ih 
