Talks About Flowers

When first cultivated in France it was called Reine Marguerite, meaning Queen Daisy; afterward in England it was called China Aster, which means China Star.

Asters require a rich, deep soil. Twelve inches apart is a very good distance for the large varieties, the dwarf can be set about six inches, or even less will do. The tall kinds need to be staked, or they are liable to be blown down, or prostrated by heavy rains. Do not tie one string around the entire plant, but use several, and confine a few branches with each, so that, while having sufficient support, they may retain their natural position.

BALSAMS

Have been sowing my Balsams to-day in a box, so as to have nice seedlings to bed out in six weeks from now. My Balsams last year were superior to any I had seen, but Mr. J. L. Childs, who rather prides himself on his plants, has sent me several packages for trial. He says: "My stock of Balsams is undoubtedly the finest in the world; all who saw them flowering the past season were astonished at their size and magnificence. The new variety (Child's Camellia Flowered Perfection), is indeed a great acquisition; its flowers are of gigantic size, and so double and perfect that they resemble small Camellias; it is also a very free bloomer. I have counted five and six hundred perfect flowers upon a plant at the same time." That is a wonderful yield, truly; I cannot expect so many, but half that number would satisfy me. The Camellia Flowered Perfection comes in nine colors; pink, scarlet, striped white and purple, mottled, white and delicate pink, magenta spotted with white, crimson spotted with white, purple spotted with white, pure white, and rose-flowered perfection, lavender color, buds when half open, resemble a rosebud.

I shall sow some of the seeds in June, for autumn blooming, and shall try more fully than last year the pruning method. This is done by removing all of the branches, and then the main stock will grow two or three feet in height, and be a perfect wreath of blossoms. Another method is to remove the leader and let two or three branches remain. The flowers are larger, and the plant handsomer than when allowed to grow at its own sweet will. They do best in a light, rich soil, and a liberal supply of liquid manure will greatly advance their growth. A writer in the Gardener's Chronicle says: "Considering the very effective display that these plants make when associated with stately foliage plants in sub-tropical beds, I think they are worthy of more extended cultivation. There are few plants better adapted for the above purpose than the Balsam, being easily raised from seed, and as is well known, they are rapid growers if they are planted in a rich soil. Several samples of these plants with us are now three feet through and over two feet high, and they work admirably with such things as Castor Oils, Cannas, and the beautifully striped Japonica. The plants referred to were planted out early in June, and I am so pleased with their behaviour in the sub-tropical garden, that I intend to grow them largely another year."

I know of no reason why the Balsam might not with good cultivation thrive as well here as in England. Let us try our "level best," and see what we can do.

A Talk About Geraniums

MY interest in this class of plants was specially awakened four years ago by the successful cultivation of a dozen or more new varieties which I was induced to send for by the reception of the catalogue of the "Innisfallen Green houses," containing a more attractive list of geraniums, and at lower prices than I had ever seen. I secured a Club by a little effort, and thus obtained so many fine extras, that it was a very agreeable surprise. I have since learned that very many others have had a similar surprise.

The next spring I had a much larger assortment, and last year the greatest variety I ever saw. I am sure that I had sixty kinds in bloom at once. Although very small plants, as they always are when many are ordered by mail, they throve wonderfully, and with one exception, were all in flower in a few weeks, and kept on blooming till after removal in the autumn.

My method of treatment is the following: On opening the boxes I find them packed in damp moss, many closely tied together. I take off the oiled paper, loosen the moss packed around them, and put them in a shallow pan, in which is sufficient tepid water to cover the roots. After an hour or two I set them in three and four inch pots, first putting a bit of crock over the hole in the bottom of the pot, so as to keep the roots from going astray, then some of the coarse siftings of soil, or small bits of coal for drainage. As geraniums are not at all fastidious about soil, I take whatever is available, mix a small quantity of sand with it to make it friable, enriching with old manure. I nearly fill the pot, and then make a hole in the center, set in the plant, press the earth firmly around it, fill to the top and press down again, water, and set the pot in a cool and shady place for several days, then bring to the light for a few hours, gradually accustoming them to the sunshine, until they become fully established in their new quarters. When the weather is sufficiently warm, I plunge the pots in the border for the summer, covering the pots entirely. I choose a cloudy day if possible; if otherwise, I do the work late in the afternoon, so that the intense sunshine may not at the first beat upon them. I prefer massing these new plants by themselves, as the effect is more pleasing than when intermixed with other kinds. The geranium bed is the most attractive one of my garden. It is always full of bloom, and the varied hues commingled are very attractive. I remove all decayed leaves, and the trusses as soon as the flowers have faded. Frequently there will be a few decayed pips marring the beauty of a fine truss, and these I carefully remove. All of my large stock geraniums which have been wintered two years, I set by themselves, and they furnish an abundance of flowers for bouquets, and cuttings for new plants. Where one has a plenty of garden room, they need not mind having several choice geraniums of a kind. Slips will root well during the summer months, if set in the earth near the parent stock, where they are shaded from the direct rays of the sun. Care must be had to set the cuttings well down in the soil, and firm the earth compactly around them. In this way one can obtain with little care nice plants for the winter window garden, which will be more shapely than those which have become very branchy. Geraniums are ill growing plants unless pruned and trained with skill. But they are so easily cultured, adapting themselves to most any situation whether of shade or sunshine, are so hardy, and bloom so freely, that we can but admire them though they yield no fragrant flowers. There are many varieties of scented leaved geraniums, and these mixed with the odorless blossoms are almost an equivalent. Then the beautiful "Golden Bronzed Zoned" geraniums, and the "Silver Margined" and "Tricolored," are so beautiful in foliage, while Happy Thought, with its creamy yellow leaf margined with green; Distinction, with deep green leaves zoned with black; Mrs. Pollock with bronze red zone belted with bright crimson margined with golden yellow, are exceedingly ornamental. Beside these there are many perhaps equally attractive, not often named in the general collection. Freak of Nature, first sent out last year, is an improvement on Happy Thought the center of pure white narrowly margined with light green; flowers light scarlet; habit very dwarf and spreading. It originated with Mr. Gray of England, and was awarded three first class certificates.

Of the numerous classes into which geraniums are divided, few only are given usually by florists. There are the Ornamental Foliage of which we have cited a few examples, and the Golden Tricolors, Silver Tricolors, Golden Bronze, Nosegay and Lilliputian Zonale; Double and single Geraniums.

We will specify a few varieties worthy of special note, as we can testify by personal observation. Bishop Wood, Madam Baltet, C. H. Wagner, Madam Thibaut, Victor Hugo, Jean Dolfus, Cassimer Perier, John Fennely, Naomi and Rose d'Amour, all double sorts. Of the single, Dr. John Denny possesses a rare beauty, and is thus described by an English writer: "Dr. John Denny, raised by J. Sisley, has quite set at rest the probability of a blue or a purple, which is a positive fact, and great honor is due to its distinguished raiser. It also possesses another novel and distinct feature. The base of the two top petals is of a bright crimson tinted with orange, which gives it a most striking appearance; this, together with its immense sized trusses, free growth and shape of blooms, renders it one of the best for pot or house decoration, and is of great acquisition." Jean Dolfus belongs to this purple magenta class, a double geranium, very beautiful. Also Zuleika, which has larger pips and trusses. It is a little more striking in color than John Denny, but both are just as lovely as a geranium can possibly be. When Jealousy was sent out, there was much ado over it because it was the nearest approach toward a yellow Zonal, but it was eclipsed pretty soon by Guinea, which was an advance by a shade or two. We had the two in proximity last summer, and though but little difference, it was sufficiently marked to enable us to decide that Guinea for color, size and form, was preferable. We just get settled down on that, when we are startled by the announcement of another novelty, "New Guinea" by name, "a great improvement on Guinea, being two shades brighter." Well, well! we must have that, too, and see if in other respects as well as color, it is worthy to eclipse our favorite.

Henry Cannell—this is a new geranium, originating with Mr. John Thorp of Queens, New York, who makes a specialty of seedling geraniums, and has sent out from his grounds many of great value, one of them Happy Thought, so widely known. We have not tested H. Cannell, ours was sent from Innisfallen during the winter, and has not yet bloomed, but we are sure that it would never have received the name of the most distinguished florist in England, if it were not a superior variety.

New Life originated with Mr. H. Cannell of Swanley England, in our Centennial year, and he sent out the first thousand by subscription only, at £1 each—not one sold till the thousand were engaged! When introduced the following year to this country, stock plants were sold for $5.00 each. Now you can purchase it at prices ranging from ten cents to thirty. It is unique in color, being splashed, striped, and flecked with salmon and white on an intense scarlet ground. It is sometimes freakish, having pips with some petals salmon, others partly white and partly scarlet, others pure scarlet. But this very freak is charming, for with beautifully striped trusses there will be others thus sportive. Its habit is dwarf, compact, and its dark leaves zoned with black are very handsome. It cannot be surpassed as a free bloomer. Mr. Cannell, when sending it out, expressed the wish that the day might come when there would not be a cottage in the land where New Life was not found. John Fennely, salmon striped with white, and Fairy, flaked and striped with crimson on a bluish white ground, are very pretty. Dazzle, Harry King, Richard Dean, and Jean Sisley are scarlet with white eye. Of several single white geraniums in my garden, I gave decided preference to Madame Quinet.

There is a great difference in the duration of the flowers. Victor Hugo, a splendid geranium, retains its beautiful trusses full five weeks. Bishop Wood is also admirable in this respect, and Jenny Dolfus and Naomi we believe cannot be surpassed.

Of the Sweet Scented Geraniums, we have none equal to the hybrid, Mrs. Taylor, for beauty of foliage and of flower. It is a fine grower, and for green to mix with flowers it is admirable. Dr. Livingstone, a more recent novelty, is very handsome and fragrant. Rose and Lemon scented are delicious. Lady Plymouth is a variegated rose; leaves bronzy green, fringed with creamy white, sometimes assuming a pink tinge; very ornamental. London Blue is a very rare variety of scented geranium, of heavy creeping growth, with large crimped or curled leaves covered thickly with fine spines or hairs. Seldom blooms.

We have specified a goodly number, yet but a few from the many, and we can assure you that if you have a large bed of geraniums you will greatly admire them, and feel satisfied that you have the most effective bedding plants, requiring the least care, and for the smallest outlay, that you could possibly obtain. In California they grow without culture to an enormous size. From an editor's notes we cite the following:

"A little slip of geranium planted out in the spring, had grown in the summer to 150 branches, its stalk at its base four inches thick, and bearing over a thousand blooms! I saw a fence fifteen feet high, sixty-five feet long, covered with geranium vines that had clambered up one side, and then dropped down the other, filling both sides with a blanket of scarlet blossoms. It grows like weeds, and needs no care."

Geraniums are so hardy that one can leave them to the last in removing from the border in autumn. Frosts that kill Dahlia tops, and many other plants, do not harm geraniums. Some of mine, for lack of time to remove, are exposed till late without harm. The roots have great vitality, and when the stalk has frozen and rotted to the ground, a new growth will start forth, sometimes in a few weeks, and sometimes not for three months. I have had this proved by plants in my window boxes. So one need not be in a hurry to pull up the frozen geraniums. My large stocky plants I pack in dry goods boxes, filling in earth around the roots, and put them in the cellar where they have little light. The pot plants, also, are mostly put away so as to give all the available room to the cuttings rooted in the summer, and the rare and tender plants that will not live in a cellar. These cuttings make fine plants for bedding out in May or June.

In the spring the large geraniums are brought up to the open air and trimmed of their dead leaves, pruned of dead branches, and put in a large bed with the Hybrid Perpetual Roses.

A Talk About Begonias

MY first Begonia was a Rex. It thrived for several years, and then to my regret died, for it was quite a favorite with me. Its large leaves with broad silvery belt and red dots, were very handsome. This species thrive best in a Wardian case and are of rare beauty and size, grown under such circumstances. A cool, moist atmosphere is the best for them; they burn and shrivel exposed to the intense sunlight. They are easily multiplied from the leaves. Cut the leaf so that a small portion of the stem will remain, insert this in a pan of damp sand, laying the leaf out flat upon the sand, upper side uppermost. It can be retained in place by bits of stone or small pegs. Cuts must then be made in a number of places so as to sever the veins, thus checking the flow of sap. A callus then forms at the base of each piece of vein where severed, and just above it, a bud starts out, and thus a new plant is formed. It is essential for success, that there should be bottom heat, and that the air should be moist. A bell glass is the best to put over the leaf, and if there is danger that the air become too moist, the glass can be tilted up to allow of an escape. The leaves best adapted for propagation are those neither very young nor very old, but healthy and vigorous; yet that this is not absolutely essential is shown by the experience of a lady who had excellent success with a leaf that was some what decayed around the edges, and for that reason was cut off and thrown away. Remembering afterward that the plant was sometimes grown from pieces of a leaf, she hunted it up, trimmed off the decayed portion, and planted it at the foot of a tree, about half under ground, and pressed the soil firmly around it. A few months afterward she had a nice little plant from it, with its beautiful leaves unfolding finely.

There are many varieties of the Rex family; some have brilliant colors in their leaves, others are thickly covered with short hairs. These are more difficult to manage, and require great care to preserve from dust, as like all rough leaved plants, they do not enjoy spraying, as do smooth leaved ones. It is well to set them out in a mild shower occasionally. Tepid water is the best for watering.

BEGONIAS, NOT REX

This class are the most generally cultivated, and they embrace a great many varieties, which are specially distinguishable by the diversity of their leaves. Most of them are one-sided, that is, they are larger on one side of the mid-rib than on the other. Some have fern-like foliage, others lobated. Some have large palmate leaves, others are spotted and laced with white. As a class they are very beautiful for their foliage, but when to this attraction is added beauty of flowers, it will be seen at once that they are eminently deserving of the prominent position now given them both in the open border and the window garden.

We will name for the benefit of amateurs some of the most desirable as given by Mr. Vick: Fuchsioides, with its drooping scarlet flowers, is one of the most desirable of the whole class; the leaves are small, and of a dark green color, and the small, delicate brilliant flowers are produced in great profusion. As a winter blooming sort it is indispensable. F. Alba bears white flowers. Richardsonii, a variety with white flowers and deeply cleft palmate leaves, requires more heat than the former, therefore well adapted to our warm rooms. Subpeltata nigricans has large, dark purple leaves, and bears clusters of large rosy flowers, very ornamental. Grandiflora rosea, with light pink flowers, and Sandersonii, scarlet flowers; Weltoniensis, of dwarf habit and small dark green foliage, rich pink flowers, are all fine winter bloomers. Argyrostigma picta has long, thick leaves, with white spots. Metallica, an elegant plant with bronzy green foliage, and producing an abundance of pale peach-colored flowers, is of very recent introduction. Louis Schwatzer has a beautiful marked foliage in the style of Rex, dwarf habit. Mons. Victor Lamoine, leaves marbled like lace. Glaucophylla Scandens is of quite recent introduction, and the very best of all for a hanging basket. It is of a drooping habit, and its bright glossy leaves are very handsome. It bears large panicles of orange salmon flowers.

TUBEROUS ROOTED BEGONIA

This is a class of quite recent origin, and differs from the more general varieties, in that it has bulbous roots which can be taken up and stored during the winter like Gladioli and Gloxinia bulbs. It has larger flowers than the other species; red, orange, yellow, with intermediate tints. A writer in the London Garden says of them:

"The bulbous Begonias, mostly of the Boliviniensis and Veitchi sections or families, may have also a brilliant future in the flower garden. Meanwhile, their proper place seems to be in the conservatory, greenhouse and window garden. For such positions it is well-nigh impossible to match the bulbous-rooted Begonias for brilliancy, grandeur and grace, three qualities seldom combined in the same plant. The plants are also characterized by great distinctness and freshness of style and character."

They are both double and single. Of the single flowered, the most important sent out last year was Davisii. It is a native of the Andes of Peru. Dwarf in habit, the leaves and flowers all springing from the root stalk. "The scapes which rise erect above an elegant bluish green foliage, are light red; each scape bears three dazzling scarlet flowers. The plant is of very free growth, and a profuse bloomer." Frobelii, a new species from Ecuador, said to be very attractive, producing, well above the foliage, erect branches of large brilliant scarlet flowers; the foliage is of bright green, furnished on the under side with a thick covering of white hairs. White Queen, a very elegant variety with numerous racemes of ivory white blossoms.

Of the new double flowered, Glorie de Nancy is represented as a magnificent variety, with large very double carmine flowers, and very floriferous. Louis Van Houtte, flowers large, of a crimson scarlet color; of fine habit, and a free bloomer.

"Comtesse Horace Choeteau, is an inch or more in diameter, very double, and of a delicate, soft shade of rose; the young plant in a three-inch pot presented a number of flowers and buds, indicating a good blooming habit. As a double flower it is remarkably fine, the petals being well formed, pretty smoothly laid and imbricated."—James Vick.

The soil best adapted for Begonias is turfy loam, leaf-mold, sand, and old well-rotted manure in equal parts. When growing, they require a liberal supply of water, applied directly to the soil.

The Begonias are natives of the tropical countries of Asia, Africa, and America, and most of them inhabit the mountainous regions at a considerable elevation. They were first brought to notice and introduced into cultivation about two hundred years ago by a French naval officer, Michel Begon, from whom they derived their name.

GLOXINIA

This bulbous plant is a native of the tropical region of South America, and deserves a more general culture, for all the varieties of this genus are very handsome, magnificent is not too strong a term to apply to many of them. They may be raised from seed by sowing early in spring in a finely sifted soil of leaf mold and garden loam. But great care is needful, and then one has to wait the following year for the flowers. It is better to obtain the bulbs in the spring all started, then they will bloom during the summer. Mine had several leaves, and I removed them from the thumb pots to five-inch size, which I judged would be sufficiently large for them. They need plenty of light and heat and plenty of air. To prolong the flowering an occasional watering with manure water should be given. In the autumn they must be gradually dried off and the bulbs kept in a warm, dry place, secure from frost. They can be potted any time from February to May. The bulb must be planted so that its top will be level with the surface of the soil, and watered sparingly until the leaves appear.

I will describe a few "superlatively beautiful." Cinderella, pure white with pink band. Brilliant, bright crimson, margined with rose, rich violet throat. Rose d'Amour, rose carmine, cream colored throat, zone of cerise. Nero, dark purple, white throat. Princess Royal, tube and edges white, throat mottled with dark blue. Lamartine, very beautifully undulated, magnificent shape; white bordered rose limb, veering to cochineal, marbled with white and elegantly veined with rose. Boule de Neige, pure snowy white, an abundant bloomer. These are only a few selections from the many, but sufficient to give you an idea of the variety of colors.

TUBEROSE

What flower can be whiter, sweeter, and more lovely than the Tuberose? As the flowering bulbs can be bought for ten and fifteen cents, according to size, no one need be without this charming flower. It is a native of the East Indies, and was introduced into Europe more than two hundred years ago. Until recently Italy grew the tubers for Europe and America, but it has now been discovered that American grown tuberoses are superior in quality to the imported, and many florists of Europe now advertise them.

Here is a description of the tuberose, which appeared originally in a volume entitled "The Flower Garden Displayed," published in England in 1732:

"This is a bulbous root, brought to us from Italy every year. It brings a spike of white flowers on the top of a stalk about three feet high, and is very sweet scented. The flower buds are a little tinted with a lake or carmine color. We raise this by planting the roots in pots of fine earth, and plunging them in hot beds in February or March; but give them no water till they sprout, then we have this flower in July. Or else set the roots in a warm border under a south wall, and they will some of them flower in August and some in September, or this month or the next. When these blossom you may pot them and set them into the green-house, and some will even bloom in December."