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♦« ]VIY FLOWKRS." 
 
 A flowery crown will 1 coiTipo«e, 
 
 I'll wenve the CrocuB, weave the Jfose ; 
 
 I'll weave Narcissus, newly wet, 
 
 The Hyacinth and Violet; 
 
 The Myrtle shall supply me green. 
 
 And Lilies laugh in light between. 
 
 That the rich tendrils of my darling's hair 
 
 May burst into their crowning flowers, and light the painted air. 
 
EVERY WOMAN 
 
 '< ^'/ 
 
 siiEia o^vvisr 
 
 •w© 
 
 'la- JU!, 'V^) 
 
 C 
 
 A HANDY MANTJAL OF 
 
 FLOWER GARDENING FOR LADIES. 
 
 By Mrs. S. O. JOHNSON. 
 
 ( "DAISY EYEBKIGUT. 
 
 SIXTH EDITION. / 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 
 HEJ^I^Y <r. WILLIfiMS, - - - (PU^LISHEI^. 
 ©ffirc of t^e ^orliniltnrist 
 
 1876. 
 
^J,^.o^ 
 
 .J1 
 
 \ 
 
 ■^^(p 
 
 Entered accoraing to Act of Congress, in the year eighteen hundred and seventy-one, by 
 
 HENRY T. WILLIAMS, 
 
 in the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C. 
 
 By transfer from 
 
 Pat. Office Lib. 
 
 April 1914 
 
 SPRINGFIELD, MASS. : 
 
 CLARK W. BRYAN & COMPANY, 
 
 PRINTERS AND BINDERS. 
 
CONTE^NTTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. Paoe. 
 The Flower Garden — Its Uses, etc ^ 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Construction of Beds — Beds in Lawn — Ribbon Gardening — Rockeries — Directions for 
 
 Massing Flowers — Diagrams for laying out Gardens 12 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 Annuals — Their Culture and Varieties — A List of the Most Desirable for Amateur Gar- 
 deners 18 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 Perennials — Biennials — Their Treatment, etc. — Lists of Most Desirable Varieties 27 
 
 V. 
 Geraniums — Pelargoniums — The Difference between the two Plants — Their Culture 
 and Varieties — Double Geraniums — The Zonale Geraniums — The Liliputian Tribe — 
 Lists of Desirables and Novelties 32 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 Bedding out Plants — Pansics — Verbenas — Heliotropes — Feverfews, etc 38 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 The Fuchsia • 4? 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 The Cultivation of the Rose 52 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 Ornamental Vines • 62 
 
IV CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER X. Page. 
 Ornamental Shrubs for Garden and Lawn 69 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 The Carnation and Picotee Piuks 73 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 Herbaceous Plants — Pseonies — Phloxes — Chrysanthemums — Delphiniums — and a Select 
 
 List of Desirable Herbaceous Flowers 77 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 Immortelles, or Everlasting Flowers and Ornamental Grasses — Acroliniums — Globe 
 Amaranths — Helicrysums — Helipterium Sanfordii — Rodanthes — Xeranthemums — 
 and a Select List of Grasses, Annual and Perennial , 83 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 Ornamental Foliaged Plants — Coleus — Achyranthus — Caladiums — Silver Leaved 
 
 Plants — Cannas, etc. — Tri-colored Geraniums, Gold and Silver Edged 89 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 Summer Flowering Bulbs — Japan Lilies — Gladiolus — Dahlias — Vallota, etc 96 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 iSpring Flowering Bulbs — Snowdrops — Crocuses — Hyacinths — Tulips — Daffodils — Jon- 
 quils — Narcissus — Polyanthus Narcissus — Lilies of the Valley, etc 107 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 Old Fashioned Flowers 119 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 Vegetables and Hotbeds 122 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 Arrangement of Bouquets, Vases, etc. — Flowers in Churches 132 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 General Management of the Garden — The Soil — Selection of Seeds — Weeding — Water- 
 ing — Planting out — Pruning, etc. — Saving of Seeds — Preparing Pots — Taking up 
 and Preserving Flowers in Winter — Sleep of Flowers — Insects — Cultivate the 
 Beautiful everywhere — Lines of Mrs. Howitts — Let us Teach our Children to Love 
 Flowers rather than Fashion 139 
 
CHAPTER L 
 
 The Flower-Garden— Its Komance and Reality. 
 
 " There's not a flower can grow upon the earth 
 Without a flower upon the spiritual side; 
 All that we see is pattern of what shall be in the mount, 
 Related royally, and built up to eterne significance. 
 
 There's nothing small; 
 No lily, muflled hum of summer bee, 
 But finds its coupling in the spinning stars; 
 No pebble at your feet but proves a sphere ; 
 No chaffinch but implies a cherubim; 
 
 Earth is full of heaven, 
 And every common bush a-flre with God." 
 
 A beautiful garden, tastefully laid out, and well kept, is a certain 
 evidence of taste, refinement and culture. It makes a lowly cottage 
 attractive, and lends a charm to the stateliest palace. 
 
 An English writer, lately visiting our country, writes : 
 
 " I can conceive of nothing more dreary than to live in the country 
 and have no garden. To have no garden is to take the poetry, and 
 nearly all the charms away from country life. To have a garden, is to 
 have many friends continually near. 
 
 " What a difference between what Mr. Carlyle calls an ' umbrageous 
 man's rest, in which a king might wish to sit and smoke, and call it 
 his,' with its roses, and honeysuckles, and fuchsias clambering in 
 through the very windows in crowds, and the dreary, arid prospect 
 around thousands of American houses!" 
 
6 EVERY WOMAN HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. 
 
 This hardly seems a fair criticism upon our homes. Having been 
 an enthusiastic lover of flowers from childhood, and having cultivated 
 th'em ever since the use of the hands was learned, I cannot recognize 
 its truth ; — have never known of many such houses, as he describes. Yet 
 many American writers will declare that slender porticos,, fanciful 
 verandas, sculptured gables, and deep bay windows are often seen in 
 this country, without a vestige of a flower or climbing vine about them ; 
 while in England, the poorest laborer's cot is a bower of greenery ; and 
 his little plat of flowers, often vies with that of his employer. 
 
 It is not always wealth or art that gives to English homes their 
 beauty and picturesqueness, but it is the attention of their inmates, to 
 the cultivation of the "Green things of the earth." 
 
 It is not the latticed casement nor the high gable that attracts the 
 notice of the traveler, but the brilliant flowers and the trailing vines 
 that drape and embower them. 
 
 American women live in-doors too much, and thus sacrifice their 
 health and spirits. They cultivate neuralgia, dyspepsia, and all their 
 attendant ills — rather than the beautiful and glorious flow^ers which 
 God has scattered so abundantly all over the world. 
 
 This little pamjohlet is written for the purpose of coaxing them to 
 come out into the sunshine, and begging them to 
 
 "List to Xature's teachings." 
 
 A little garden, all one's own, is a real Eden! Earth possesses no 
 greater charm; and there is no cosmetic equal to the fresh, sweet morn- 
 ing air, and the cheerful sunshine. 
 
 You can make no investment which will give you such interest; 
 health, happiness, and pure enjoyment will be the coin in which it is 
 paid; and the returns are not made semi-annually, but daily. 
 
 With what intense delight one watches the first tiny leaves of the 
 seeds one has planted ; and what pleasure one takes in the unfolding 
 of the first flower I A grand garden cared for by a gardener, can never 
 give its possessor as much delight as one in which nearly all the work 
 is done by one's own hands. 
 
 To be sure, Pat O'Shovelem's aid is needful to prepare the ground, lay 
 out the beds, and harden the walks; but, gentler, smaller hands can 
 plant the seeds and roots, can keep down the weeds, tie up, stake, train, 
 water and prune. 
 
EVKRT WOMAN HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. 7 
 
 I have little faith in American women becoming farmers, — holding 
 the plow — wielding the spade or the shovel; but I do know from long 
 experience, that all the rest of the work can be accomplished by women, 
 j^ they possess a love for the beautiful. There lies the trouble ; few of 
 our children are taught to garden ; if they possess a natural taste for 
 the pursuit, sometimes it is gratified, but not always. 
 
 Mrs. Japonica and Miss McFlimsey hold up their hands in holy 
 horror at the very idea of any of their kindred soiling their hands with 
 the work. 
 
 " Flora work among her namesakes ! " they exclaim ; " forbid it all 
 JajDonicadom ! " 
 
 Yet how much harder do they Avork at the crowded party or ball! 
 To dance the " German," requires quite as much physical strength as to 
 plant a flower-garden, and rake off the weeds; — but that is the fashion, 
 and beef tea and stimulants must be resorted to, to sustain the feeble 
 knees, uplift the nerveless fingers. Women can find strength to culti- 
 vate a garden successfully, if they will commence by degrees. If their 
 muscles and sinews are not accustomed to the work, they will soon 
 rebel against it when forced to attend to it for several hours at once. 
 
 Garden by degrees, my friends, and cultivate your muscles, with your 
 plants ! 
 
 An hour, or even half an hour, is long enough for a commencement, 
 and the next day extend the time ten minutes, and so on, until you can 
 work for three, or even six hours in succession. 
 
 But take it easy; provide an old piece of carpeting to kneel upon 
 while planting, or weeding with a fork; and if your knees are not 
 accustomed to that position, humor them by placing an empty raisin or 
 soap box upon the carpet, and sit upon that; — and if a cushion would 
 also be agreeable, cover a small pillow with some dark chintz, and 
 place that on the box. Now you will have a luxurious seat, and can 
 garden without a sense of pain ; yet do^iH stay too long, nor become too 
 much heated. The cai-peting protects the skirts from the dampness of 
 the soil, and sliould always be used. It can be kept conveniently at 
 hand, with the box and the cushion. 
 
 Of course, flounces, puffs, and furbelows, with their accompanying 
 upper skirts, are not suitable for such occupations. A dark chinrz 
 dress is the best, for it can go into the wash-tub when it is in need of 
 cleansing. A woolen bathing dress makes an excellent garden costume 
 
8 EVERT WOMAN HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. 
 
 — for skirts are always in the way. If it is admissible on the beach, 
 where wealth and fashion do congregate, why not in the garden, snr 
 rounding one's house ? 
 
 A large shade hat, and a pair of old kid gloves are indispensable. Eub- 
 ber gloves are often recommended, but are far too clumsy for the fingers. 
 
 Now, the dress is bespoken, and we must purchase the tools required. 
 A large three-pronged iron fork, with a short handle, is needful for 
 loosening the ground, removing plants and uprooting weeds. I should 
 rather do without a trowel than such a fork. They can be purchased 
 of all hardware dealers. 
 
 A small set of tools, comprising a rake and hoe on one handle, a 
 trowel, and a spade, are very essential. With their aid much light work 
 can be accomplished without calling upon Mr. O'Shovelem. 
 
 A watering pot, Avith a large nozzle, and a fine sprinkler, is also 
 required. 
 
 With these implements, every iuo7nan can he her 07V7i gardener — and 
 not only raise all the flowers she may desire, but also contribute a large 
 share of the vegetables that are always welcomed at the table, during 
 both summer and winter. 
 
 The cultivation of the soil possesses a wonderful fascination ; its very 
 odor, after a refreshing shower, is inspiring ; and as you gather your 
 flowers, you will also gather improvement in many ways. 
 
 "He made them all, and what He designs, can ne'er be deemed 
 unworthy of our study, and our love." If we see a pot of flowers in a 
 window, it gives us respect for the inmates of the dwelling — but if we 
 see a beauteous garden, '^ A brilliant carpet of unnumbered dyes," yfQ 
 know that there is taste and refinement within that home. 
 
 On the European continent, women work in the fields with the men, 
 and become beasts of burden. I hope never to see them thus, in this 
 more liivored land, but I do desire to have them take a daily interval 
 from the labor and care of the house, and breathe into their hearts the 
 oxygen and iron contained in the fresh air; taste the balm and the 
 tonic of the sunlight and the garden. 
 
 Every day there is some work to be done, if the garden is well kept. 
 There is no need of having a" lueeding-day,'' like a " tuasldng-day," — for 
 the weeds can be kept down, daily. Every morning dig over one or two 
 beds, according to their size, — and continue the work until all are 
 cleaned up. Then commence again, and thus prevent the soil from 
 
EVERY WOMAN HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. 9 
 
 becoming baked ; and let the air and moisture enter the earth, and 
 nourish the tender roots. 
 
 That is my way of gardening. After the beds are made, the walks 
 prepared, no man's hand or foot enters the sacred precinct, excepting 
 to admire, and to receive the flowers. 
 
 In the early spring time a half hour may sulQSce to exhaust the little 
 strength one possesses, but before October comes, with its autumnal 
 glories, several hours can be passed in out-door work without much 
 sense of fatigue. 
 
 All the delights of a garden are not comprised in gathering nosegays, 
 and arranging bouquets, vases or festal garlands ; — there is great enjoy- 
 ment in watching the vegetating of the seeds; the developing of the 
 tiny leaves, the forming of the minute buds — and then comes at last — 
 
 " The bright, consummate flower !" 
 
 Floriculture has been called the gem of all cultures. Its influence 
 makes us more courteous, if not more intelligent; and what can we 
 find in nature so emblematical of bloom, decay, and death ? 
 
 It has been said that " as domestic floriculture and gardening has been 
 the inclination of beings, and the choice of philosophers, so it has been 
 the favorite of public and private men, a pleasure of the greatest, and 
 the care of the meanest: and indeed an employment and a possession, 
 for which no man is too high nor too low. Flowers are the relics of 
 Eden's bowers." 
 
 And there is no pastime that can give as much pleasure, with so 
 Ismail an expenditure. Gray, the poet, and also a skillful naturalist, 
 tells us that the enjoyment of life depends upon "having always some- 
 thing going forward ;" and exclaims: "Happy are they who can create 
 a rose-tree, or erect a honey sucTcle !" 
 
 It is indeed this very "having alivays something yoiiig fortvard" that 
 produces the enjoyment experienced by the amateur gardener; the 
 glory and fragrance of the flowers forming the crowning gratification. 
 There is a pride — a most pleasing pride — in culling a bouquet for a 
 friend, from flowers raised by one's own hand. 
 
 The creation of a beautiful object is certainly " a great fact," of which 
 any of iis may be justly and honestly proud. 
 
 Few of us possess the talent to transfer and perpetuate on canvas, or in 
 marble, the glorious hues and forms of nature, but the lowest and 
 
10 EVERY W03rAN HER OWN FLOWER GARDE^ER. 
 
 humblest can raise flowers which Solomon, in all his glory, could not 
 have eclipsed ! 
 
 Why does not everybody have a Geranium, a Rose, a Fuchsia, or 
 some other flower in a window, if they do not own land enough to 
 plant a garden ? They are very cheap — next to nothing, if raised from, 
 a cutting, and of small price if purchased from the florist; and there is 
 companionship in them, as well as grace and beauty. 
 
 Charming Leigh Hunt, whom I love to quote, says: 
 
 " Flowers sweeten the air, rejoice the eye, link you with nature and 
 innocence, and are something to love. If they cannot love you in re- 
 turn, they cannot hate you ; cannot utter hateful words even if neglected ; 
 for, though they are all beauty, they possess no vanity ; and living, as 
 they do, to do you good, and afford you pleasure, how can you neglect 
 them !" 
 
 There are few dwellers in the country who are so destitute as not to 
 be able to indulge in a love for flowers. The garden may be of the 
 smallest size — a mere tiny circle — and it will often be loved the more for 
 its smallness, and receive more care and attention. 
 
 It will not do to care for it a week, and then neglect it for two 
 weeks. It demands coftstant care, daily attendance, waterings, and 
 weedings. 
 
 Nothing destroys its beauty like the noxious weeds that will grow ap, 
 like Jonah's gourd, if not constantly uprooted. The tenacity of their 
 life is wonderful ; uprooting will not always kill them, and they will 
 mature their seeds, and prepare for another struggle with you in an 
 ensuing summer, even when their roots lie withering in the sun. 
 " What hidden virtue is in these things, that it is granted to sow them- 
 selves with the wind, and to grapple the earth with this unmitigable 
 stubbornness, and to flourish in spite of obstacles, and never to suffer 
 blight beneath any sun or shade, but always to mock their enemies, with 
 the same wicked luxuriance ? " 
 
 Thus enquires Hawthorne, while sturdily waging a warfare against 
 them, in the garden of the " Old Manse," at Concord, Mass., and no one 
 can " make reply." Animal manures, though very stimulating to vege- 
 table life, are the sources whence many of the grassy weeds spring. 
 Artificial manures do not introduce so many of these pests into the 
 beds and borders, yet some of them are so highly charged with noxious 
 exhalations that one dislikes to apply them. 
 
EVERY WOMAN HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. H 
 
 Mineral fertilizers are not open to these objections, and I have found 
 them preferable to others on that account. 
 
 Guano is always beneficial, if not applied in too large quantities. An 
 iron spoonful of it dug into the ground two or three inches from the 
 stems of the plants will increase their growth and beauty. A less quan- 
 tity should be given to tender annuals, and small plants. 
 
 Liquid animal manures are also easily applied, and give to the plant 
 an immediate stimulant. In pouring it on, avoid touching the leaves or' 
 the stems of the plants, but give the earth a copious supply of a weak 
 solution. Guano ajpplied in this manner is very beneficial. I have 
 used all of these with decided success; and always feed my garden 
 bountifully; and receive in return a bountiful supply of flowers and 
 vegetables. 
 
 Plant with care and skill ; water when needful ; feed plenty of nour- 
 ishment ; keep clear from all weeds ; tie, stake, prune and cultivate 
 daily, and you will never regret the small investment required to com- 
 mence and continue a garden ; but will become more and more enamored 
 with the occupation; and will yearly increase your stock, and multiply 
 your labors, and will be ready to say with Thomson, the poet of nature : 
 
 " I care not, Fortune, what you me deny, 
 You cannot rob me of free Nature's grace; 
 You camiot shut the windows of the sky, 
 Through which Aurora shows her brightening flicc ; 
 You cannot bar my constant feet to trace 
 The woods and lawns by living streams at eve : 
 Let health my nerves and finer fibres brace, 
 And I their toys to the great children leave; 
 0/ fancy, reason, virtue, nought can me bereave." 
 
CHAPTEE II. 
 
 Coi^STRUCTioN OF Beds, Beds IIS" Lawn, Ribbon Gardening, 
 
 Rockeries. 
 
 " Oh! who can speak his joys, when Spring's young morn, 
 From wooU and pasture open'd on his view; 
 When tender green buds blush upon the thorn, 
 And the llrst primrose dips its leaves in dew." 
 
 In preparing gurclens to receive our flowers, it is better to avoid raised 
 beds, Avith deep walks. They suffer from the intense heat of our sum- 
 mers; and the rains wash them down, often exposing the roots of the 
 plants. Grass edgings are objectionable, on account of the labor 
 required to keep the sods from spreading. 
 
 Beds that are artistically cut in the grass-plat produce a better effect; 
 and the brilliant hues of the flowers contrast perfectly with the soft, 
 shaven, emerald tint of the grass. One of the most attractive features 
 about a house, is a garden tastefully cut in the lawn. It is open to but 
 one objection — the dew upon the grass makes it rather unapproachable 
 in the early morning, when its owner desires to feast her eyes upon its 
 beauties. 
 
 Three designs are given for cutting beds in the grassy lawn, and an 
 artistic eye will enable our gardeners to vary them as they please. The 
 walks can be well trodden down, and hardened ■with sifted coal ashes or 
 clay. Gravel is not so desirable, as it clings to the feet. The grass can 
 be left between the beds, or cut out, but if the latter is done, they 
 can receive more care in the early hours of the day. 
 
EVERY WOMAN HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. 
 
 13 
 
 Diagram No. 1 
 
 In the center, A, place a stocky plant of Scarlet Salvia; at B, Scarlet Geraniums: D, White 
 rfection Geranium; C, Heliotropes; E, Carnations; G, Asters; F, Zinnias; II and I, Stocks. 
 
 DIACBAJI No. 2. 
 
14 
 
 EVERY WOMAN HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. 
 
 A, Ricmns, Sanvitalia procumbens roiiud it; B, Scarlet Verbenas; 
 C, White Verbenas ; D, Purple ; E, Striped, Pink and AVliite ; F, Eichest 
 Crimson ; G, Pure White ; H, Brightest Pink ; I, Darkest Maroon. The 
 outer beds can be each of one kind of plant, Heliotropes, Carnations, 
 Geraniums, Pelargoniums, Asters, Balsams, Zinnias, and Stocks, or 
 any flowers that suit the owner's taste. 
 
 OC^ <00 
 
 Diagram No 3. 
 
 In the center mound, plant a fine specimen of Arundo donax, or one 
 of the Pampas Grass. In each of the pear-shaped beds, put a different 
 colored geranium, the tallest species at the stem end, and the Tom 
 Thumb varieties at the broadest edge. In the circles plant some white 
 flowers that Avill retain their beauty. In the crescents, brilliant scarlet 
 flowers; and in the bordering of the half moon, either try ribbon 
 gardening, or fill up with a mosaic in squares of scarlet, white, purple, 
 
EVERY WOMAN HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. 15 
 
 orange, blue, bright pink, crimson, and all the numberless shades that 
 flowers afford. These beds furnish a great scope for exercising one's taste 
 in arranging colors; and very brilliant effects may be produced without 
 a great outlay of time or money. 
 
 The crescent-shaped garden can be approached from the main walk, 
 and if the walks are hardened with ashes, it can be easily tended. All 
 flower beds should be dug a foot deep ; well enriched with animal or 
 mineral manures ; the lumps all finely pulverized, and the surface of 
 the beds raked as smoothly as possible. 
 
 Portulacca, NemopMla, Thrift, GypsopJiila and Dwarf Asters make 
 
 very pretty edgings. 
 
 Rihlon Gardening. 
 
 Flowers may be planted in ribbon fashion, that is, by employing those 
 of primary colors, and arranging them with the tallest for the back- 
 ground, or in the center. If sowed in a circular bed, be sure to have a 
 brilliant scarlet or white flower in the center, which should be taller 
 than all the rest. A Scarlet Geranium {Gen. Grant), for the center. 
 White Feverfew surrounding that; Blue Larkspur should come next ; 
 Yellow Calceolarias next; and then the Dwarf Asters, of a rich crimson 
 color, bordering on purple, would contrast well. For borderings to the 
 plans given in this chapter, the Hyacinth-flowered Stocks would ribbon 
 beautifully. Plant a row of the Scarlet, then White, next Lilac, then 
 Canary Colored, then Bright Pink. They will grow to the same height, 
 and produce a fine effect. Verbenas are also excellent for this purpose, 
 and can be planted in concentric circles or in parallelograms, with six 
 or seven colors, arranging them as a rainbow. A narrow semi-circle 
 thus planted could be called the rainbow garden. Phlox Drummondii, 
 Candytuft, Lobelias and Zonale Geraniums can all be employed in 
 ribbon gardening. Take care to arrange the colors with vivid contrasts 
 — orange and purple, white and scarlet, but do not let blue and purple 
 mingle. The arrangement of the ribboning must depend, of course, 
 upon the stock of plants you possess, and after one year's trial you will, 
 doubtless, succeed in producing a fine effect. The only requisite rules 
 are, to arrange the plants according to their height and coloring, always 
 planting the outer edges with some dwarf plant that contrasts strongly. 
 The Alfernantheras, ornamental foliaged plants that grow but four or 
 five inches high, are unsurpassed for edgings. They will receive due 
 attention in the chapter devoted to Variegated Leaved Plants. 
 
16 EVERT WOMAN HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. 
 
 For plantiog iu masses of coloring, Truffanto Asters, Smith's Prize 
 Balsam, Biaiithus jlorejileno, Linum coccincum, ScMzanthus atropur- 
 puretfs, Calceolaria and Centranthus macrosi2Jho)i make a fine show. 
 Plant a small bed of each. 
 
 A bed of miniature flowers is always charming. Lobelia mar morata, 
 Leptosiphon hybridus, Clintonia azurea grandiflora, Fenzleria dianthi- 
 jlora and Grammantlies gentianoides are all dwarfs, and planted together 
 with a bordering of Gypsophylla muralis, the effect is lovely ! A bed of 
 Mignonette is indispensable, and it will flourish in the shade, and in 
 damp places, blooming luxuriantly. 
 
 Eockeiies. 
 
 There are many plants which thrive much better in a sheltered, rocky 
 situation, and thence has sprung up the fashion for constructing " Eock- 
 eries." Or it happens that some large rocks crop out on a portion of 
 ground which is within view of the house, and it is desirable to orna- 
 ment them. In the latter case, you have only to plant strong growing 
 vines with large foliage, such aa the Wild Grape Vine ; the Clematis, or 
 Virgin's liower, that trails its white, starry blossoms, and its puffy, 
 wooly seed pods all over the forests of this country. These two vines 
 will render the offending rocks most picturesque. Southern ladies can 
 entwine among them the lovely Yellow Jessamine of their woods, which 
 throws a golden hue over all their forests. The Ampelopsis (or Vir- 
 ginia Creeper), or Five Fingered Ivy, and the Aristolochia {or Dutch- 
 man's Pipe), are also desirable for this purpose ; also the Ferijjlo cagrceca, 
 or Silk Vine of the Southern States. 
 
 One, or all of these vines, will soon render the obnoxious rocks a joy 
 forever ! Artificial Rockeries are usually constructed of stones of various 
 sizes, with the soil firmly embedded betwixt them. They can be made 
 very easily from the clinkers of the coal furnace. If large pieces can 
 be obtained, whitewash some of them to increase their picturesqueness. 
 Boulders, stones from brooks, or hill sides, can all be used advanta- 
 geously. 
 
 Commence with the largest-sized stones, and build it up in an irregu- 
 lar, jagged shape to imitate nature. A Rockery can be made as a 
 receptacle of Mineralogical Specimens, which would increase its value. 
 
 If you send to the woods and brooks for the stones, bring the soil 
 thence, and, if not rich enough, add a little compost, but native Ferns 
 
EVERY WOMAN HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. 17 
 
 and Vines do not require a large supply of stimulants. Plant the Fem3 
 and Mosses on the shadiest side, and trail over the stones small vines, 
 like the LysimacJiia numerlaria, Vinca, minor and major. Moneywort, 
 Lobelias, varieties of the Sedums, and the various Annuals mentioned 
 under that head, as desirable for rock work. The varieties of the Saxi- 
 fragora, with their broad leaves, and large clusters of bright pink or 
 red flowers, are very effective among the trailing vines and furns. 
 
 A small Evergreen tree will show to advantage from some rocky 
 point. 
 
 The Alpine Plants are also lovely for such constructions. 
 
 Crocus bulbs can be j^lanted among the smaller stones, and in the 
 early Spring will make a fine show. After they have bloomed, their 
 places can be filled with Dwarf Asters and Dwarf Stocks, Phlox Drum- 
 mondii and Pmks. 
 
 Eockeries can be rendered very ornamental additions to the lawn or 
 shrubbery, but they require a tasteful eye to construct them, and a 
 loving hand to tend them ; without these they can never be eye-sweet. 
 
OHAPTEE III. 
 
 Annuals — Their Culture akd Treatment. 
 
 " Come, ye soft sjiphs, 
 Teach the fine seed, instinct with life, to shoot 
 In earth's cold bosom, its descending root; 
 "With pith elastic, stretch its rising stem. 
 Part the twin lobes, expand the throbbing gem; 
 Clasp in your airy arms the aspiring plume, 
 Fan with your balmy breath its kindling bloom; 
 Each widening scale, and bursting film unfold, 
 Swell the green cup, and tint the flower with gold." 
 
 Annuals are considered the chief ornaments of the flower garden 
 throughout the summer and autumn, and many of them are desirable 
 for house culture. 
 
 They have great claims upon our attention, and should be more 
 extensively cultivated in every garden. It is impossible to plant, in a 
 private plat of ground, all the kinds and varieties that are oflered to us 
 in the Seedsmen's Catalogues, but a judicious selection of the best kinds 
 will give a charming assortment of brilliant flowers. 
 
 It is almost superfluous to mention that annuals are plants which 
 spring from seed, and perfect their growth and seed, and perish with the 
 autumn ; though their life may be prolonged by cutting off the flowers, 
 not allowing the seed-pods to form, and keeping them housed in the 
 winter. 
 
 They are divided into hardy ; half-hardy and tender ; and are Latives 
 of various lands. Many of them have been greatly improved, by the 
 care and patience of the florist, from their normal state, and tranriformed 
 into flowers of the most gorgeous hues, and the most nerfect ^l-^pe, 
 
EVERT W03rAN HER OUTV FLOWER GARDENER, 19 
 
 Asters, Balsams, Larkspurs, Petunias, Portulaccas, Stocks and Zinnias 
 have all become exceedingly double and of every brilliant hue ; while 
 many others have had their flowers much increased in size, and other- 
 wise improved. 
 
 These flowers are more generally cultivated than any other class of 
 flowers, and they, alike, adorn the yard of the cottage, and ilaQ parterre 
 of the palace. 
 
 They will grow almost anywhere, and in any kind of soil, but thrive 
 much better if heed is paid to their wants, and they are provided with 
 a sunny location, well drained, and are well supplied with rich sandy 
 loam ; though there are some kinds which prefer a clayey soil. There 
 are only a few which require a very rich soil, yet, most of them will 
 reward you with a brighter show of flowers if well fed. It does not pay 
 to starve plants, any more than to starve animals. 
 
 It is very desirable to locate your garden where it can be in constant 
 view from the windows of the house ; flowers are our bosom friends and 
 we desire to have them always in sight ; when weary they refresh one, 
 when happy they add to one's happiness, and when sad and gloomy they 
 give to one pleasant thoughts, smooth the care-worn brow, and uplift 
 the heart to the Giver of all good things. 
 
 To prepare the soil, let Mr. O'Shovelem dig up the grass-plat, if need- 
 ful, and prepare the beds in front of the piazza, porch or sitting room, 
 if it has a southeast direction ; if not, take the next best, a southwestern 
 location. Few plants will thrive well in a northern exposure, though 
 Pansies love the shade, and will flourish there. If you can procure a 
 compost of sand (not sea sand), leaf mould, loam and manure — a quar- 
 ter of each — you will have as good soil as you can desire; but if not 
 within reach, take what offers, and if it is heavy and stiff", add sand to 
 lighten it ; if friable and light, add ashes, muck or soil from old pas- 
 tures, taken from under the sods. This is always desirable. Sand is 
 also an essential. 
 
 Laying out the Beds. 
 
 Have the garden well spaded over, and then lay out the beds. If you 
 have a geometrical eye, you can mark out circles, semi-circles, triangles, 
 stars, diamonds and all sorts of curved beds; and if you can have all 
 the assistance you desire from " men-folks," border their edges with nar- 
 row strips of turf, which must be kept closely shaven, and not allowed 
 to encroach upon the beds. 
 
20 EVERY woma:^ her own flower gardener. 
 
 If you depend upon your own exertions, avoid the turf; for it exacts 
 tuo much hard muscular work for Avomen to encounter. 
 
 A bordering is now manufactured of Terra Cotta, Avhich is highly 
 praised ; and it is said to withstand the frost and snow of the coldest 
 regions. The Drain Pipe and Terra Cotta works in New York, make 
 several styles. Tiles are also introduced with good effect. Box edgings 
 are always tasteful and pretty. If you can possess none of these, you can, 
 at least, border the beds with Dwarf Annuals and Perennials. The 
 Tom Thumb plants of every kind are very pretty for this purpose ; the 
 stone-crop and, indeed, all the varieties of Sedums, make effective 
 edgings. GypsopMla muralis is also beautiful for an edging, and its 
 spray-like flowers are indispensable for both vase and bouquet. They 
 cover the flowers like a mist, increasing their charms by partly veiling 
 them. 
 
 Sowiny the Seed, etc. 
 
 The hardy varieties, like Candytuft, Phlox Drummondii, Sweet 
 Alyssum, Sioeet Peas, etc., can be sown as soon as the ground becomes a lit- 
 tle warm, and the weather is in a degree settled. Indeed, all these kinds, 
 and many others, will bloom earlier in the summer if they are planted 
 in the autumn. The frost and snow does not disturb their rest. Sweet 
 Peas are very essential for all gardens. Their fragance is grateful to 
 all ; and a bunch of the new colored ones, mingled with the old favorites, 
 equals the soft and liquid tints of the sunset cloud. But don't put 
 Scarlet Geraniums or Verheyias among them ; their vivid hues will pale 
 and dim the beauteous Peas. 
 
 They bloom much more profusely, if planted four or five inches in 
 depth, and are not so apt to mildew. 
 
 The half-hardy annuals should not be sown, excepting in the South, 
 before the middle of May ; and the tender ones, not until June, if one 
 desires good success in their vegetation and growth. 
 
 A large amount of vexation might be avoided if amateur florists would 
 pay a little heed to natural laws. 
 
 For both half-hardy and tender Annuals, planting in-doors, or under 
 glass, is very needful. If this is done, they can be brought forward so 
 as to bloom by the last of June, or the first of July, and one is fully 
 repaid for the extra trouble by their graceful, lovely flowers. All these 
 varieties of Annuals require transplanting. No Aster, Petunia, Stock 
 or Zinnia will show its beauty if not allowed plenty of room in which 
 
EVERY WOMAN HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. 21 
 
 to grow and bloom. So, it is as well to transplant them from boxeis, or 
 hotbeds, early in the summer, when all fear of frost is past, as to do it 
 later from the garden beds. 
 
 Seeds of various sizes require different depths of covering. The 
 smaller the seed, the less the soil it needs to plant it, and the finer the 
 soil should be. 
 
 Portulaccas, Petunias, and all tiny seeds, should be mixed with sand, 
 and sprinkled or sifted on to the earth prepared for them, and then 
 gently pressed down with the flat of the trowel or the hoe. The general 
 rule for planting has been to the depth of three times the diameter of 
 the seed. 
 
 Too deep planting is a fruitful source of the usual loss of seeds, so 
 much complained of by amateur gardeners. 
 
 The several essentials to successful germination of seeds of all kinds 
 are suitable soil, suitable moisture and warmth; if these are in excess, 
 or not sufficient, some, if not all, of the seeds will fail. 
 
 In planting seeds in the open border, the soil must be thoroughly 
 pulverized, no little lumps left in it to destroy plant life. 
 
 Rake in the seeds, scattering them thinly around; or, a better way is 
 to tie a string to two small sticks ; plant one of them firmly m the earth, 
 and with the other draw a circle of the dimensions you may desire ; 
 wind up the string until you have it of the right length, then plant the 
 seeds in the circle, and label them. Don't trust to your memory for the 
 names, and then say "this pink flower, that red one, and the other blue 
 or yellow one," but learn their names, and call them by them. 
 
 One often rebels at the many-syllabled word that is applied to a tiny 
 mite of a flower; yet, that same Latin word tells to every botanist its 
 class and order, while the common, familiar, local name is recognized 
 only by one language. 
 
 Miss Mitford says : "One is never thoroughly sociable with flowers 
 until they are naturalized, as it were, christened, provided with decent, 
 homely, well- wearing English names." 
 
 The practice of giving Latin names to flowers and plants has been 
 styled pedantic. It is not so ; for it conveys an idea of the flower to every 
 student of Botany and Gardening in every nation. 
 
 Leigh Hunt thus writes upon the names of flowers: 
 
 " Pink is not by itself a pretty name, but we have associated it since 
 our first dawnings of infancy, with the sweetness of the flower, so now 
 
22 EVERT WOMAN HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. 
 
 the name and flower are one, and the poor monosyllable becomes rich in 
 sweetness and appropriateness." 
 
 And again : 
 
 " Browallia is a pretty name, and was given to a Peruvian flower by 
 Linnaeus in honor of a friend of his by the name of Browall ; yet the 
 name gives no idea of the flower which is remarkably attractive ; " and, 
 he suggests that BrowalVs Beauty would have immortalized both the 
 friend and the flower, and have advertised its claims to the regard of the 
 florist. 
 
 A short digression from seed planting, fair friends, which it is to be 
 hoped you will pardon and overlook. 
 
 "When your seeds are planted, unless the day is cloudy and showery, 
 they will require shading from the heat of the sun. 
 
 I find old newspapers are the best protection ; but, if the patches are 
 small, flower pots can be inverted over them. The newspapers must be 
 laid over the seeds, after they have been well watered, and fastened at 
 the corners by small stones or a handful of the earth. At night they 
 should be removed to let the dew moisten the ground, and put back 
 before it is dried up in the morning. Continue this until the tiny leaf- 
 lets appear ; then remove them entirely. If the ground is dry the seeds 
 must be thoroughly wet every night. Moisture is very needful to ger- 
 minate seeds; without its aid they cannot sprout. The would-be florists 
 often plant their seeds as the Catalogues direct and then give no farther 
 heed to them. You will often hear it said, " I can't make annuals grow. 
 I planted fifty to sixty varieties, and not half a dozen of them ever 
 sprouted. I have no faith in the seedsmen ; they send out old seeds and 
 keep all the new for their own gardens." 
 
 "Did you water them well, and shade them from the noontide heat?" 
 is asked. " Why, no ! I never thought of that. I planted them, and 
 supposed that was enough." 
 
 My fair friends, unless the clouds favor you and drop rain, or hide the 
 ^nn for three or four days, your seeds will become baked and shriveled, 
 and you cannot expect them to grow. 
 
 The thin-skinned seeds will germinate most quickly, while those that 
 are shrouded in horny textures, vegetate more slowly. It is always well 
 to soak all such seeds. Verbena seeds require twenty-four hours soak- 
 ing in warm water, and the seeds of the lovely, graceful Cypress vine 
 will not germinate unless boiling water is poured upon them. 
 
EVERT WOMAN HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. /i3 
 
 Transplanting Seedlings. 
 
 When ihe tiny plants have put forth the fourth or fifth leaf, it is time 
 to provide them with permanent homes. If this is done in the early 
 morning of a warm day — or even later in the forenoon — you may be 
 sure that you will lose your plants. But select a showery, cloudy day, 
 following a dry season, or plant after night-fall, and then water, and 
 shade from the sun of the next day, and you will hardly lose one plant, 
 or even have a leaf curl. 
 
 Annuals of most kinds must have plenty of space to grow in. There 
 are few that are not improved by transplanting. Salpiglossis will grow 
 to better advantage thickly planted ; also. Erysimum PerofFskianum, 
 whose brilliant orange flowers render it desirable to every garden. 
 Mignonette, Larkspurs and Poppies will not bear transplanting ; they 
 grow from a tap root, and do not easily attach themselves to a new home 
 after their growth is once started. 
 
 If Annuals are not planted anew after germinating, their growth is 
 weak and spindling, and they soon cease flowering ; while, on the other 
 hand, they will grow luxuriantly, and blossom until the frost withers 
 their fair bloom, if their quarters are ample. Asters should be planted 
 a foot asunder each way ; and Stocks, Balsams, Zinnias and Petunias 
 require as much room, if not more, to bring them to a state of perfec- 
 tion ; and, if mulched with fine manure early in July, they will bloom 
 magnificently. 
 
 Wliat Shall We Plant 1 
 
 This is the query of many women who examine the Illustrated Cata- 
 logues, and are not familiar with the high-sounding names, and, there- 
 fore, totally at loss to know what are desirable and needful out of the 
 thousands of varieties, illustrated and described therein. 
 
 I will give a list of those whose beauties are familiar to me, and whose 
 names are household words : 
 
 Asters, Trufi'auts, Rose Asters, Imbrique, Pompone, Chrysanthemum 
 Flowered, Bouquet, in all their varied colorings and shapes. No garden 
 can afford to be without one or all of these varieties ; and they take 
 chief rank in the tribe of Annuals. 
 
 Amaranthus melancholicus, variegated leaves. 
 
 Anagallis. 
 
 Abrobra, a lovely climber. 
 
 Abronia, very effective for rock-work. 
 
24 EVERY WOMAN HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. 
 
 Ageratum, lavender blue and white. 
 
 Acroclinium, white and pink. 
 
 Balsams, Smith's Prize and Camellia flowered. 
 
 Bartonia aurea, golden yellow. 
 
 Browallia, blue with white center, white. 
 
 Cacalia, orange scarlet, and yellow. 
 
 Calandrinia, crimson, white, pink and lilac. 
 
 Coreopsis Burridgii, and coronata. 
 
 Canary Bird Flower, beautiful vine. 
 
 Candytuft, Avhite, purple and crimson. 
 
 Celosia spicata rosea, everlasting flower. 
 
 Centranthus, white, flesh colored and pink. 
 
 Cerastium, ornamental foliage, for edgings on rock-work. 
 
 Chlora grandiflora, bright orange changing to red. 
 
 Chrysanthemum coronarium, flore pleno. 
 
 Clarkia integripetela, magenta crimson, rich. 
 
 Clianthus Dampierii. 
 
 Clintonia azurea grandiflora, desirable for rock-work and baskets. 
 
 Coba:a scandens, a climber of rapid growth. 
 
 Collinsia, various colors, pretty for ribbon borders. 
 
 Convolvulus aureus superbus, a golden yellow variety. 
 
 Convolvulus mauritanicus, perfect for roses and baskets 
 
 Cyanus (Ladies' Delight). 
 
 Cypress Vine, the most graceful of climbers. 
 
 Eschscholtzia Californica, several colors. 
 
 Euphorbia variegata. 
 
 Fenzlia, dwarf growth, effective in rustic decorations. 
 
 Gilia, various colors. 
 
 Godetia, useful in ribbons. 
 
 Gypsophylla muralis and elegans. 
 
 Helliophila araboides, bright blue, useful for edgings. 
 
 Inopsidium acaule, sky blue, loves the shade. 
 
 Ipomrea hederacea superba, a beautiful vine. 
 
 Kaulfussia atroviolacea. 
 
 Larkspur (Hyacinth flowered). 
 
 Leptosiphon hybridus, dwarf edgings. 
 
 Linum, in several colors. 
 
 Lobelia, blue, white and rose color, dwarf. 
 
EVERY WOMAN HER OWN ILOWER GARDENER. 25 
 
 Lupms, of all colors. 
 
 Macliajruntlicra tanaceifolia, bright purple, golden center. 
 Marigolds, new varieties are very attractive. 
 Mignonette, Parson's new white and the crimson lloweretL 
 Nasturtiums, of all varieties. 
 Nemesia compacta elegans. 
 
 Nemophila, delicate flowers, very dwarf, love the shade. 
 Nigella Tonlanesiena. 
 Oxyura, golden yellow, edged with white. 
 Sweet Peas of all colors. 
 Perilla Nankinensis, dark rich foliaged plant. 
 Phlox Drummondii, of every shade 
 Poppy, carnation colored. 
 Portulacca, double and single. 
 Eicinus, ornamental foliaged. 
 Salpiglossis, very beautiful. 
 Salvia splendens. 
 
 Sanvitalia procumbens, suitable for edgings and rock-work. 
 Saponaria acymoides, lovely for borderings. 
 Scabiosa (or Mourning Bride), flore pleno. 
 Schizanthus, all colors. 
 Statice hybrida. 
 
 Stocks, German Dwarf, pyramidal, new hybrid. 
 Tagetes pumila, marigold of beautiful foliage and flower. 
 Trifolium (ornamental clover). 
 Tropffiolum, finest mixed varieties. 
 Viscaria elegans picta. 
 
 Vittadina (Australian Daisy), a good edging. 
 Whitlavia, blue and white. 
 
 Zea Japonica (Japanese Maize), ornamental foliage. 
 Zinnia Elegans, flore pleno, all colors. 
 Zinnia Mexicana pumila, very double and brilliant. 
 Among this list of Annuals several climbers have been included; for 
 other species, consult the chapter on Vines and Climbers. 
 
 Training and Watering Annuals. 
 
 There are few plants that are not benefited by judicious training and 
 pruning. 
 
26 EVERT WOMAN HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. 
 
 Balsams are greatly improved by pinching oflF the side shoots, and 
 allowing only the stalks to grow ; or the main shoot may be left to 
 itself, and all the strength of the plant thrown into it, producing an 
 upright stem loaded with gorgeous chalices of bloom. Manure water 
 will increase the size of the flowers, and, thus grown, they make splendid 
 pot plants. 
 
 The scissors are useful about many other plants ; and their side growth 
 should be checked, and less latitude allowed to their branches. 
 
 Zinnias, Stocks and Asters should have the laterals trimmed off; 
 their beauty is improved, if they are kept within bounds. 
 
 In watering Annuals, and all flowers, care should be taken to apply 
 it after the sun has set ; if water is given in the morning, when the sun 
 is hastening forward to drink up every drop, it is of but little use to 
 the plant ; and, if it is given at noon-tide, when the sunbeams fall fiercely 
 hot, it scorches the plants as though Jack Frost had bitten them. The 
 cold drops, falling on the heated surface of the soil, produce the same 
 effect as a chill. 
 
 Water slightly warmed to the hand is far more eflBcacious than that 
 drawn directly from aqueducts or cisterns. If it sets in the sun all day, 
 it will be of the right temperature to apply at night. 
 
 English books on gardening, often denounce the practice of frequent 
 watering ; but they are no guides for American gardens. Their misty, 
 moisty island, enveloped in clouds, promotes moisture sufficient for their 
 needs ; while our heated atmosphere drinks up every drop from the soil. 
 If it has rained during the day the watering pot can hang upon its peg ; 
 but if not, its attendance is highly essential for the growth of all tender 
 Annuals, and delicate bedding-out plants. 
 
 Many ladies complain of their ill luck in floriculture; no plant 
 thrives with them. Why is this ? 
 
 Because they neglect the floral darlings. They are assiduous in their 
 attention to them while planting or transplanting them ; but then their 
 energy fails ; they think that the sun, rain and dew will do the necessary 
 work, and they can rest from their labors. 
 
 They never fail to do their appointed work ; but you must cultivate 
 in season and out of season if you would raise — 
 
 " Bright gems of earth in which, perchance, we see 
 What Eden was— what Paradise may be." 
 
CHAPTER lY, 
 
 Peeeknials and Biennials. 
 
 " Well they reward the toil. 
 The sight is pleased, the scent regaled ; 
 Each opening blossom freely breathes around 
 Its gratitude, and thanks us with its sweets." 
 
 Perennial plants are those which live and blossom through many 
 successive seasons. If planted very early in the border, or brought for- 
 ward in the hotbed or in window gardens, they bloom the first season, 
 and many of them are hardy enough to withstand the coldest winters of 
 northern New England, while others require protection, and the tender 
 ones must be housed in the cellar to await the return of spring. 
 
 Perennials die down every year, but the faithful old roots live, and 
 when the sun awakes them from their wintry sleep, they spring up anew, 
 and delight our senses. 
 
 These plants are very deserving of the attention of the amateur florist. 
 They ask but little at one's hands, and will grow and bloom for many 
 years under great neglect. Yet if their roots are not divided, and their 
 food renewed — after a few years they will dwindle away, and finally 
 perish. 
 
 Many kinds are raised from seeds. Others by cuttings or increase of 
 the roots ; and once in three or four years they require to be taken up, 
 divided, and reset. They flourish best in a light, rich soil. 
 
 Dicentra spectahilis, an importation from China, stands at the head 
 of the list for its beauty, grace and hardy qualities. Linnaeus knew of 
 its loveliness, and named it Corydalis formosa. Mr. Fortune introduced 
 
28 EVERY WOMAN HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. 
 
 it into England less than twenty years ago, and it has been called 
 Dilytra, Diclytra, and Dicentra, which are its proper names. 
 
 It seeds sparingly, but a white variety has been introduced, whether 
 from seed or from China, I know not. It multiplies rapidly by the 
 roots ; the foliage resembles that of a Pseony, and its flowers are rose 
 colored, tipped with white, and hang from long racemes. As a lawn 
 plant, for early spring and summer blooming, it is unsurpassed. 
 
 Perennial Flax {Li?ium pere7ine), is a native from beyond the Missis- 
 sippi, and is beautiful in color and shape. Its flowers are celestial blue, 
 and they are very abundant. The plant continues in bloom all summer, 
 and is an addition to every garden. 
 
 Missouri Evening Primrose {(Enothera macrocarpa), also blooms all 
 summer; its flowers are a golden yellow, and the plant is dwarf inhabit, 
 but the flowers do not open until the sun's rays are declining. 
 
 Petunias are half hardy Perennials, which usually rank with Annuals 
 in the northern part of the United States. They are desirable for the 
 smallest plat of ground — as they grow luxuriantly and flower profusely. 
 They take front rank now, and their curious blotchings and veinings 
 render them very beautiful. The double varieties possess a spicy fra- 
 grance, and many of them are as beautifully striped and mottled as a 
 carnation. 
 
 Columbines, Lychnis, French Honeysuckles, Phlox, Pinks, Achillea 
 and Campanula are all very beautiful, and if raised from seeds will 
 increase rapidly from the roots. 
 
 The Perennial Larkspurs have received great additions to their num- 
 bers of late years, and are greatly improved in coloring and the size 
 of the flowers. The blue species possess the most perfect tints — vie 
 with the hues of a cloudless sky ! 
 
 There are no directions needful for preparing the soil, or planting the 
 seeds, as they are given so fully in the previous chapter. 
 
 October is the best month for dividing and transplanting the roots. 
 All perennial plants admit of dividing and transplanting, and it greatly 
 increases the size and beauty of the flowers, and enhances their colors. 
 
 The roots of those kinds not found in the seed catalogues, can be 
 purchased at the florist's at slight expense, excepting the rarer kinds 
 and the novelties. 
 
 Trees and Shrubs, and nearly all the so-called bedding-out plants, 
 are strictly speaking perennials ; yet the term is more particularly applied 
 
EVERT W03IAN HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. 29 
 
 to those flowers whose stems and leaves annually decay, the roots retain- 
 ing their Yitality. I shall treat more fully of them under the chapter on 
 Pseonies and Herbaceous plants. 
 
 I append a list of the most desirable grown from seed :— 
 
 Antirrhinum (or Snap-dragon), all colors, hardy. 
 
 Aconitum napellus (Monkshood), blue and white, hardy. 
 
 Agrostemma hybride flore pleno, hardy. 
 
 Alyssum saxatile, golden yellow, hardy. 
 
 Aquilegia (Columbine), hardy. 
 
 Aralis alpine, hardy. 
 
 Aruieria splendens (Thrift), half hardy. 
 
 Astragalus galegiformis, yellow, hardy. 
 
 Aubletia deltoides, hardy, and beautiful for rock work. 
 
 Bellis (Double Daisy), half hardy. 
 
 Bryonia alba — a trailer, white flowers, hardy. 
 
 Calceolarias, half hardy, very beautiful. 
 
 Campanula, white, blue, lilac and purple. 
 
 Iberis sempervirens, Perennial Candytuft. 
 
 Carnations, half hardy, very desirable. 
 
 Catananche bicolor, hardy, white, with violet center. 
 
 Chelone barbata, hardy perennial. 
 
 Chrysanthemum japonicum, very rare. 
 
 Commelyne (Spiderwort), half hardy. 
 
 Cowslip, hardy. 
 
 Datura, half hardy. 
 
 Delphinium (Perennial Larkspur). 
 
 Dianthus of all kinds, hardy and half hardy. 
 
 Digitalis, hardy perennial, 
 
 Dodecatheon Meadia, hardy. 
 
 Forget-me-not, hardy. 
 
 Fraxinella, hardy. 
 
 Galega, lilac, white. 
 
 Gentiana macrophylla, deep blue. 
 
 Guem coccineum (Scarlet Avens), hardy. 
 
 Perennial Lupins, hardy. 
 
 Everlasting Pea, hardy. 
 
 Lavender spica, hardy, 
 
 Liatris seuarrosa (Blazing Star), a prairie flower. 
 
30 EVERT WOMAN HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. 
 
 Lobelia hybridus. 
 
 Lychnis haageane, white, red, scarlet. 
 
 Mimulus, half hardy. 
 
 Pansies. 
 
 Papaver (Perennial Poppy). 
 
 Penstemnon, white, scarlet, rose, blue, purple. 
 
 Petunia. 
 
 Phlox decussata. 
 
 Phygelius capensis. 
 
 Picotee Pink. 
 
 Paisley Pink. 
 
 Potentilla, golden, crimson, yellow and white. 
 
 Sedum (Stonecrop). 
 
 Sweet "William, Hunt's perfection. 
 
 Tritoma uvaria, half hardy. 
 
 Verbascum, hardy, white, lilac. 
 
 Verbena, half hardy. 
 
 Wall flower, very double, half hardy. 
 
 Biennials. 
 
 These are plants which, like Annuals, generally die after producing 
 their flowers and seeds, but are two years in perfecting these, and in 
 some instances may be induced to flower for two or three successive 
 seasons by preventing them from going to seed ; their general culture 
 is the same as for Annuals. 
 
 One of the most beautiful is the German Brompton Stock. The 
 greatest improvements have been made in these flowers, and they are 
 now very desirable plants for border or lawn. They are half hardy, will 
 require protection during the winter in northern climates — but will 
 fully repay the care they demand. Any particularly fine plant can be 
 propagated by cuttings, yet they do not always flower as well as those 
 raised from seeds. 
 
 Among the Biennials most deserving of culture are : — 
 
 Canterbury Bells, double and single varieties, hardy. 
 
 Carduus, hardy. 
 
 Humea, elegant, half hardy. 
 
 Hollyhocks, half hardy. 
 
 Hyoscyamus, hardy. 
 
EVERT WOMAN HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. 31 
 
 Ipomopsis, half hardy, orange, scarlet, rose. 
 
 Silene ornata, hardy biennial. 
 
 Silylum elurnium (Ivory Thistle), hardy. 
 
 German Stocks, new dwarf bouquet. 
 
 Stocks, French winter, or Cocardean. 
 
 Scarlet Giant Cape. 
 
 Trachelium coeruleum, hardy. 
 
CHAPTER Y, 
 
 Geean"iums akb Pelargoniums. 
 
 *' A brilliant carpet of unnumbered dyes, 
 With sweet variety enchants the eyes." 
 
 These well-known flowers have adorned the gardens, and been florists' 
 favorites for many years. Their pleasing foliage, and brilliant bloom, 
 well merit the estimation in which they are held. Leigh Hunt, the 
 genial Essayist, says : — " Everything about the geranium is handsome, 
 not excepting its name, which cannot be said of all flowers, though we 
 get to love ugly words when associated with pleasing ideas. The word 
 Geranium is soft and elegant ; the meaning is poor, for it comes from a 
 Greek word signifying a Crane, the fruit, or seed pod, resembling the 
 form of a crane's bill. But what a reason for naming the flower ! as if 
 the fruit were anything in comparison, or any one cared about it. It 
 would be far better to invent joyous and beautiful names for these 
 images of joy and beauty." 
 
 Linnaeus named the Geranium from Geranos, a crane, for the reason 
 that Mr. Hunt gives. The plant is often confounded with the Pelar- 
 gonium, which differs from it in size, shape and coloring of its flowers, 
 and it is strictly exotic. It was named from Pelargos, a stork, on account 
 of the resemblance of its capsules to the bill and head of that bird. 
 They are placed in the same class of the LinuEean system as the 
 Geranium {MonadelpMa), but in the fourth order (Ileptcjidria), while 
 the other is in the sixth order {Decandi'ia). 
 
 There has been a good deal of confusion with regard to the names of 
 the two plants, and their numerous varieties, but the der'va-tion of their 
 titles settles the vexed question. 
 
EVERY WOMAN HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. 33 
 
 The careful and patient hybridization of the French, English and 
 
 American florists have bronght these flowers to a high standard of 
 
 perfection. 
 
 Tlie Double Geraniums. 
 
 Lemoine, the chief of the Geranium culturists, introduced the new 
 double varieties, which have become a decided acquisition. They do 
 not drop their leaves, like the single varieties, and their clusters of 
 flowers are of an immense size. They are of all shades of scarlet and 
 bright rosy pink; some have produced heads bearing from sixty to eighty 
 perfect flowerets. They outrank all other kinds of Geraniums, and 
 yearly their number increases. They flourish better if partially shaded 
 from the intense heat of the noonday sun, and will bloom until the 
 frost comes, in the greatest perfection. 
 
 No white variety has yet been introduced, but M. Lemoine will succeed 
 in procuring one, if skill and patience can produce it. 
 
 Gloire de Nancy is a brilliant scarlet^ much admired. 
 
 Marie Lemoine is a dwarf variety, of a bright rosy-pink hue, very 
 elegant. 
 
 Emile Lemoine is of a cherry-carmine. 
 
 Gloire de Doubles is a novelty for 1871 ; of the richest cerise tint, 
 with a distinct white center ; far superior to the other varieties. 
 
 Crown Prince is of a dwarf habit, and of the brightest rose color. 
 
 TJie Zonale Geraniums. 
 
 But the double varieties are not the only ones which should claim our 
 attention. Some of the new Zonale species are admirable in coloring, 
 aiid of very free growth ; their trusses of flowers are five to six inches 
 in diameter; and they are found in all shades, from the most dazzling 
 crimson and the brightest rose to the purest white. 
 
 The most desirable are : — 
 
 King of the Eoses, a most brilliant scarlet, shaded to magenta. 
 
 Geant de Battailles, a dark, rich crimson. 
 
 Mrs. Keeler, of a rosy, peach-blossom hue. 
 
 Among the older varieties, and less costly, are: — 
 
 Christine, a lovely rosy-pink. 
 
 Gen. Grant, a dazzling scarlet, and decidedly the most profuse blowei 
 of the red varieties. 
 
 lueomparable has striped flowers, white on a clear salmon ground. 
 
34 EVERY W03IAN HER OWN FLOWER GARDENEB. 
 
 ]\raid of Kent, ricliest shade of pink. 
 Madame Werle, white, with a pink center. 
 Eeiue des Vierges, purest white. 
 
 Warrior, hirge clusters of the most intense scarlet ; very superior. 
 Blue Bells, a rich shade of magenta pink, each blossom of immense 
 size. 
 
 Coleshill, enormous scarlet truss, and blows freely. 
 
 Liliputian Zonales, or Tom Thumh Geraniums. 
 
 These comprise a dwarf section of this species, and grow from six to 
 ten or twelve inches high ; are very stocky, and their flowers equal in 
 size and beauty of coloring those of larger growth. They are a very 
 attractive plant, and make pretty borderings for beds or mounds of the 
 taller kinds. 
 
 Baby Boy, scarlet, with white eye. 
 
 Little Dear, a delicate rose, spotted with white. 
 
 Little Gem, brilliant vermillion, Avith white center. 
 
 Christabel, very dwarf, rosy pink. 
 
 Cupid, a salmon color, with white eye. 
 
 Pretty Jemima, dazzling scarlet, white center. 
 
 Golden and Silver Tri- Color Geraniums. 
 
 These varieties are noticed under the head " Ornamental " Foliaged 
 Plants; and the Ivy-Leaved Geraniums are embraced under the same 
 heading. 
 
 The Siveet Scented Geraniums. 
 
 These plants are indispensable for bouquets and vases, their fragrance 
 being agreeable to all lovers of flowers. 
 
 Formerly, the Rose and the Oak-Leaved were the only kinds commonly 
 cultivated, but now there are a dozen varieties from which to make a 
 selection, and all of them are desirable and beautiful, indeed, are quite 
 essential, for there are few plants which afford such graceful back- 
 grounds for borders or bouquets. 
 
 Denticulatum is a rose-scented variety, with finely cut foliage. 
 
 Lady Plymouth is also rose-scented, and its leaves are prettily mar- 
 gined with white. 
 
 Shrubland Pet is of dwarf growth, and very sweet scented. 
 
EVERY WOMAN HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. 35 
 
 Odoratissimum possesses a spicy apple perfume, 
 
 Graveolens is of a pleasant scent, with bright flowers. 
 
 All these plants will grow luxuriantly with but little care. Any one 
 can raise Geraniums. They delight in a good, rich Joam, Avith a mulch 
 of manure; have a special fancy for "barn -yard coffee," or liquid 
 manure. If watered with it, twice a week during the summer, will bloom 
 profusely. If your plants are old, prune them closely, cutting the 
 branches well in, and they will reward you for the sacrifice. If they are 
 taken from pots, you should also prune the roots, cutting away all the 
 largest roots to within five or six inches of the main stalk. After this 
 vigorous pruning, the plants should not be exposed to the heat of the 
 day, but must be shaded for a day or two, until they recover from their 
 loss; but thus treated they will speedily put forth new roots, leaves and 
 bads. 
 
 If the bed is shaded a little during the hottest part of the day, they 
 will bloom the better. 
 
 To produce the largest clusters of flowers, the stalk alcove the buds 
 should be pinched off, thus throwing all the strength of the plant into 
 the formation of flowers. 
 
 A rich, light loam will grow Geraniums to perfection, and the soil 
 fresh from the woods and pastures, if enriched with well-rotted cow 
 manure, is the best that can be obtained. Plants delight in a virgin 
 soil, and those who live in the country can provide themselves with it 
 by lifting the sods from cow or sheep pastures, and taking the earth 
 from under them. 
 
 If cuttings are desired from the Geraniums, they should be taken in 
 July, from the healthiest plants, and planted in small pots filled with a 
 compost of loam and sand, having one or two inches of the former on 
 top of the pot. Insert the cutting firmly, and keep the sand sopping 
 wet until it has rooted. When one or two leaves are developed, trans- 
 plant it into a larger pot, with a compost of one-third rotted cow manure, 
 one-third black loam, and one- third sand, and by November you will 
 have vigorous plants for house culture. The large roots can be lifted 
 from the ground before the frost blights their leaves, and after cutting 
 away all the tender shoots and buds, and shaking the earth from their 
 roots, hang them up in a dark, cool, dry, but frost-proof cellar, heads 
 downward. In the Spring they can be brought to the light, the 
 branches cut in, and though they will loo^c shabby enough, yet, if 
 
36 EVERT WOMAN HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. 
 
 planted in boxes in a warm kitchen, tliey will put fortli leaves and vege- 
 tate rapidly, and can then be transplanted into the borders. The tender 
 branches and buds should be cut off, else they will continue for awhile 
 to grow in the cellar, and thus lose their lives. 
 
 Cuttings can be started in the open borders, but they are not as sure 
 to live. It is no more trouble to grow a Geranium than a cabbage, 
 yet one is far more desirable than the other, unless hunger is at the 
 door. 
 
 Geraniums are never attacked by the aphis, or red spider, and this is 
 a great attribute ; one is not forced to fight for their lives. 
 
 The Pelargonium. 
 
 The flowers of this plant are much sought after on account of their 
 perfect coloriiig and blotches. There are all shades of scarlet, crimson, 
 pink, purple and white ; the lower leaves, and frequently the upper, are 
 veined and blotched with the darkest crimson, purple and red, beautifully 
 veined with the lighter shades. The leaves of the plant are more 
 pleasantly perfumed than those of the Geranium, and have no zonale, 
 or horse-shoe marldngs, but are of a rich, vivid green. No description 
 can convey any idea of the beauty of the flowers. They bloom in border 
 or bed all the summer, and are to be had in hundreds of varieties. They 
 are propagated both from cuttings and seeds, and the " novelties" are 
 produced by careful hybridization. They require a light, sandy loam, 
 well enriched with cow manure, and if they are not plentifully supplied 
 with water, their buds will wither away. They need more sunlight 
 than the Geranium to bloom in perfection. Some of them are tall in 
 growth, and produce a good effect planted singly on the lawn. They 
 are the most showy-flowered of all the bedding-out plants, excepting tiie 
 Scarlet Salvia, and their varied tints and exquisite colors make them 
 very desirable in the smallest garden. 
 
 Their habit is not always compact, but they can be cut and trimmed 
 to a fine shape, and the older X)lants require such treatment to bloom 
 well, the second year. 
 
 Among the many varieties offered for our selection, the most desirable 
 ones are : — 
 
 Gen. Taylor, of a rich crimson, blotched with the darkest tint of red. 
 
 Niagara, white, striped and blotched with crimson. 
 
 Competitor, black, edged with rose. 
 
EVERY WOMAN IIER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. '67 
 
 Emperor of Pelargonium, very large flower of snowy whiteness, 
 spotted with violet, tinged with rose; petals finely fringed. 
 
 Eligible, a pink crimson, with white edges, and violet blotches and 
 veins. 
 
 Dr. Andre, pink and white, petals fringed. 
 
 Cloth of Silver, petals of silvery whiteness, blotched with delicate 
 rose. 
 
 Crimson King, a rich crimson, beautifully veined and blotched. 
 
 Princess Hortense, orange-salmon, edged with pink. 
 
 Eclipse, clear white petals, marked with maroon. 
 
 Belle of Paris, rich violet crimson, upper petals spotted ; an immense 
 cluster of flowers. 
 
CHAPTER YI. 
 
 Bedding-out Plants, Pansies, Verbenas, Heliothopes, 
 Feverfews, Etc. 
 
 " Your voiceless lips, O flo-wovs, arc living preachers! 
 Each cnp a pulpit, every loaf a hook! 
 Supplying to my fancy numerous teachers 
 From loneliest nook.'' 
 
 The yarieties of plants called by florists bedtling-ont plants, are very 
 popular — and deservedly so. Their flowers present a brilliant mess of 
 coloring all the summer, and their hues are richer than those of moSt 
 other flowers. 
 
 Pansies are great favorites — they will grow in shady nooks where no 
 other flower can bloom — and their flowers continue from the earliest 
 spring until the latest autumn. Various and familiar are the names by 
 which the Pansy has been known for centuries. 
 
 Gerard, who wrote a long description of it, says it was known 
 as Love-in-idleness, Jump-np-and-kiss-me, Three-faces-nnder-a-hood, 
 Heart's-ease, and Pansy. The Italians named it Kola farfaUa (Violet 
 Butterfly). 
 
 Lady Mary Bennet of England, afterwards Lady Monck, first intro- 
 duced the Pansy to the attention of the florists. Early in the pi'esent 
 century, she planted all the varieties of the Heart's-ease which she could 
 procure, and with the skillful aid of her gardener, new varieties were 
 produced from seed. 
 
 About 1813, the well-known florist, Mr. Lee, of Vineyard Nursery, at 
 Hammersmith, saw Lady Mary's collection, and immediately perceived 
 the profit that would accrue from the cultivation of this flower. His 
 
EVERY WOMAN HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. 39 
 
 skill and patience were rewarded by the production of still more beauti- 
 ful varieties. Other nurserymen followed his example, and in a few 
 years the unpretending Heart's-ease took its place as a florist's flower of 
 no small pretensions. The French name Pensees Avas the origin of the 
 English word Pansy. 
 
 Milton alhides to it as the "pansy freak'd with jet" amongst those 
 "vernal flowers," whose "quaint enamel'd eyes a sad embroidery wear." 
 Another writer says : — 
 
 "Are not Pansiee emblems meet for thought ? 
 The pure, the chequered— gay aud deep by tuma ; 
 A line for every mood the bright things wear, 
 In their soft, velvety coats." 
 
 One must not suppose that rich soil or careful culture have wrought 
 such wonderful changes in the Pansey. This is only the first step in 
 the march of improvement. 
 
 The seeds of the finest flowers were carefully preserved, and the finest 
 of the young seedlings were selected for seed. Hybrids were also ob- 
 tained by fertilizing the stigma of one rarely colored flower, with the 
 pollen of another of a larger variety. These hybrids generally possess 
 in a great degree the peculiar qualities of each parent, and retain their 
 peculiar markings. 
 
 Innumerable are the varieties now cultivated ; there are upwards of a 
 thousand named kinds catalogued by the English nurserymen. 
 
 Mrs. Loudon says in her book upon " Floriculture," that " the varieties 
 of forms and colors which appear m the plants raised from seed are so 
 great that few floricultural pursuits can be more interesting than to sow 
 a bed of Pansics, and watch when they flower for the varieties most 
 desirable to perpetuate." 
 
 By judicious management, a successive bloom can be retained for 
 eight months in the year, and even a slight attention to their needs is 
 rewarded by a profusion of beautiful flowers. There is no bedding-out 
 plant which gives a more liberal supply of flowers — from the earliest 
 spring to the latest autumn. 
 
 Plants from seed blossom finely the first year, and give much larger 
 flowers when the plant is small, for as it increases in size, the blooms 
 though abundant are smaller and inferior in coloring. 
 
 A constant succession of flowering plants should be brought forward 
 daring the spring and summer months, and the plants kept young and 
 
40 EVERT W03IAN HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. 
 
 Vigorous. This is often done by cuttings as well as seedlings. They 
 can be grown more rapidly, and are certain to produce fine flowers. 
 
 The cuttings should be taken from the points of the shoots, and cut 
 about three inches long, and immediately below a joint. Strip off the 
 lower leaves, and plant them in sand, pressing the soil closely around 
 the stem. If planted on the north side of a fence or hedge in a sheltered 
 location, with an inch of sand covering the cuttings, they will strike 
 rapidly. If in pots, they should be covered with glass. In about six 
 weeks they will be well rooted, and fit to transplant into the flowering 
 beds, or into pots for window gardening. 
 
 Pansies are often layered, by pegging down the young shoots with a 
 hair pin, and covering all but an inch or two of the point with fine 
 sand. 
 
 An incision can be made at the joint, as is done in layering roses, 
 but frequently they will make . root equally as well without using the 
 knife. 
 
 "When rooted, which can be told by the growth of new leaves — separate 
 from the old plant, and either plant out in borders or in pots. 
 
 They can also be increased by dividing the old roots, and the divisions 
 will soon make fine plants. 
 
 Seed can be sown early in the season, in a hot-bed — following directions 
 given for planting seed, in Chapter II, and when the fourth or fifth leaves 
 are formed, the plants can be put into the borders, and planted a foot 
 apart each way to allow them room to grow. 
 
 Pansies are very gross feeders, delighting in the richest soil, with 
 plenty of liquid manure. If large blossoms are desired, the soil must 
 be of the richest description. 
 
 The best compost for them is one-third leaf mould, one-third thoroughly 
 decayed barn-yard manure, and one-third light loam. In this soil they 
 will blossom most gorgeously. The location should be on the north- 
 west side of the house, and shaded from the noonday sun. They will 
 not grow to advantage in either light, sandy soil, or much sunlight, but 
 require moisture and shade, and copious waterings to produce perfect 
 flowers. They are also great deteriorators of the soil, and will soon run 
 out unless it is renewed. New beds do much better than old ones. 
 After they have blossomed freely until July, cut down the branches several 
 inches, mulch with well-rotted cow manure, and by September they wilJ 
 be in a blaze of glory. 
 
EVERY ^YOMA^^ HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. 41 
 
 If tlie amateur florist desires to sow the seed from some especiall}' rare 
 flowers, they should be carefully tied up, and no other flower be allowed 
 to go to seed on the same j^lant. 
 
 The seed may be sown in spring, summer or autumn ; in the two 
 former seasons it can be planted in the open ground; in the latter in 
 pots, so that the tender seedlings can be protected from the damp. 
 Pansies are hardy perennials, but will wither away if water settles on the 
 bed. They do not like either the wintry ice, or the excessive heat of 
 summer. 
 
 Violets, Siveet Violets. 
 
 These flowers cannot compare with their beauteous sisters — the Pansiea 
 — in size or colorings; they cannot boast such varied blotchings and 
 veinings, but they possess a higher attribute in their rarely delicious 
 odor — their perfume is unsurpassed by that of any other flower. They 
 are always in demand, and are very easily raised. With slight protection 
 they will live in the coldest climate, and before the Snow-drop hangs 
 its pearly bell, they will be in full bloom. 
 
 The Viola odorissima is the English variety most extensively culti- 
 vated. Several new varieties have been introduced; among them the 
 double blue Neapolitan is the most popular. The King of Violets has 
 a very large flower, and is much cultivated for window gardens. The 
 Czar is a fine variety ; and the Schoenbrun is a single variety, very sweet. 
 There are white varieties, that are also much used by florists, but the 
 blues are the greatest favorites. 
 
 The Violet is the emblematic flower of the Bonapartes, as the Lily is 
 of the Bourbons. Dame Rumor tells us that Eugenie expressed her 
 willingness to accept the ofier of becoming Louis Napoleon's wife by 
 dressing in an exquisite violet toilet — violets in her hair, about her dress, 
 and a bouquet of them in her hand, which were perfectly significant to 
 the wooer. The great Napoleon selected it as his flower, through 
 Josephine's requesting it as a birthday gift. 
 
 He cultivated them in large quantities in his garden at St. Helena, 
 and they were planted over the grave of Josephine , and when he "was 
 buried, his coffin was covered with the flowers he loved so well. 
 
 Louis Napoleon is said to have made himself acquainted with those 
 who were friendly to his interests, while carefully feeling his way to the 
 throne, by a cautious display of violets. Sweet violets ! 
 
43 EVERY WOUAN HER OWX FLOWER GARDENER. 
 
 The Heliotrope. 
 
 Heliotropes fill an important place among "bedding-onf' plants, 
 giving us a plentiful supply of flowers from June to October. Tliey arc 
 desirable for tlieir fragrance, as well as for tlieir profusion of flowers. 
 They were introduced into England from Peru in 1757, and the cottagers 
 called it " Cherry Pie," from a fancied resemblance in its fragrance to 
 the odor of that esteemed dish. It has also been called the "Vanilla 
 Plant." The ilower first introduced was of a light lavender shade, and 
 for many years no change of color Avas effected, but now it is offered 
 from the darkest purple to the faintest shade of lavender. 
 
 They make very line standards, trained from a single stem, from one 
 to four feet high, with a head of several feet in diameter. 
 
 The older the plant, the more profuse are its clusters of fragrant 
 flowers. A cutting in the first year will grow very rank, but if cut back 
 and pruned into one stem, it becomes woody, and will make a fine 
 shrub. In California, they bloom as plentifully at Christmas as at 
 Fourth of Jul}^, and it is not uncommon to see large trellises and walls 
 covered with its branches and exquisite flowers — perfect bouquets of 
 beauty, being always covered with flowers. The main stems of the plant 
 are trained to the wall, and the branches droop gracefully. Any kind of 
 turfy loam will grow it perfectly. It is propagated from cuttings with 
 great ease. 
 
 Of the very dark varieties, Etoile de ]\Iarseilles ranks first; flowers of 
 a deep violet with Avhite center. 
 
 Due de Lavendry is of a rich blush, with a dark eye. 
 
 Incomparable is of a lovely bluish-lilac. 
 
 Garibaldi is nearly white. 
 
 Leopold 1st, of a deep violet blue. 
 
 Madame Facilon, a clear violet tint. 
 
 Malulatie is of the most delicate lilac. 
 
 Verhe^ias. 
 Among all the variety of " bedding-out" plants, which contribute to 
 the gay and lively appearance of a garden, the Verbena is the most 
 generally cultivated, and claims the first rank among brilliant flowers. 
 Some of its varieties are sweet scented, but most of them depend for 
 their merit upon their showy, gorgeous coloring, and their wonderful 
 pi'ofusion of blossoms, which render them of the greatest value. There 
 
EVERY WOMAX HER OWX FLOWER GARDEXER. 43 
 
 have been some splendid, new varieties introduced in the few past years, 
 Avliose wondrous stripes and eyes are not approached by any of the older 
 sorts. They are selected from many thousand seedlings, and are both 
 rich and rare. 
 
 But any one can raise new varieties from seed, and good culture will 
 produce magnificent blooms. Seedlings will seed much more plentifully 
 than flowers from cuttings, and the older the cutting the less seed it 
 will give. 
 
 Verbenas do not sprout readily from seed; they are encased in a 
 horny substance, and should be soaked in warm water for twenty-four 
 hours, and then planted in a light sandy loam, Avitli a good bottom heat. 
 Thus treated they will germinate, and when the fourth leaf is formed, 
 should be potted into thumb pots in sandy loam. 
 
 Verbenas are natives of Brazil, and love the hot sun and sand. If 
 the bed in which they are planted is covered two or three inches deep 
 Avith common sand, they will bloom most perfectly. 
 
 I once raised seventy verbenas from seed, and planted them in a very 
 sandy soil. Such growth I never witnessed — they were magnificent ! 
 As the plant sends out its first shoots, they should be pegged down with 
 hair-pins, and thus coaxed to grow. When watered they desire a copious 
 supply, and the suds from washing-day are very beneficial to them. 
 Guano is also a good manure for them; dig an iron spoonful around 
 each plant, not touching the stems. The green lice, or apJiis, are their 
 plague in pot culture, but they are destroyed by smoking them with 
 tobacco. Put the plants together, and throw some tobacco on hot coals 
 in a pot saucer; cover the Avhole Avith a A\^asli tub, and let them smoke 
 for ten or fifteen minutes, and the lice can be SAvept up and burned. 
 Place the coals as far as possible from the plants, under the tubs, so 
 as not to injure them Avith their heat. 
 
 If plants are Avell shoAvered, no lice Avill appear — they do not Ioat 
 moisture. 
 
 If cuttings are desired for winter bloom, they should be taken off in 
 August, so as to become Avell rooted. It neA'er pays to take up old plants 
 for winter blooming. 
 
 Among the ncAV Verbenas for 1871, are : — 
 
 Annie, Avhite, crimson striped. 
 
 Black Bedder, richest maroon. 
 
 Conspicua, ruby-scarlet, Avhite eye. 
 
i4 EVERY W03IAN HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. 
 
 Cupitl, very large, white, tinted with pink. 
 
 Distinction, solferino, dark eye. 
 
 Gazelle, deep blue, clear white eye. 
 
 lona, large scarlet, yellow eye. 
 
 Muriel, ruby-pink, white eye. 
 
 Punctata, spotted and striped with carmine. 
 
 Rising Sun, crimson, white eye. 
 
 Sensation, waxy white, carmine eye. 
 
 SnoAV Storm, pure white, large and fine. 
 
 Spot, carmine, white eye. 
 
 Tricolor, carmine, crimson and orange. 
 
 Uniqne, white, carmine spot. 
 
 All these varieties originated with Peter Henderson, the Prince 
 of American Floriculture, and are sure to be true to description. Any 
 one can raise a Verbena, and no garden can be complete without some 
 of the hundreds of varieties offered by all florists. 
 
 Salvias. 
 
 These plants are the most gorgeous of all the fall-flowering plants; 
 they grow from four to five feet high ; and the small plant, you purchase 
 in the spring of the florist, will become by September a beautiful, sym- 
 metrical bush, covered with tassels of the brightest scarlet flowers. They 
 are unequaled for planting in masses, but are very tender, the first 
 frost rendering them a blackened mass. 
 
 Salvia splendens variegata is a novelty possessing finely variegated 
 foliage, with flowers as brilliant as the common kind. The roots can 
 be hung up in the cellar in the winter — like the Geraniums. 
 
 Salvia patens is of a deep blue color, of the most perfect shade. It 
 has a tuberous root, which can be kept like a Dahlia through the winter, 
 in sand. 
 
 The Ageratum. 
 
 These plants are excellent for beds and borders, on account of their 
 constant bloom. Their flowers are of light porcelain blue, in large 
 clusters. 
 
 Ageratum Mexicanum is of a light blue. 
 
 A, variegatiim has leaves variegated with yellow, shading with 
 crimson. 
 
EVERY WOMAN HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. 45 
 
 A, Tom Thumb variety, growing from six to eight inches, is desirable 
 for ribbon gardening ; contrasting beautifully with dark crimson leaves. 
 
 Carnations, Calceolarias, Gazanias, Feverfews, Lobelias, Lan tanas, 
 JVJ'eirembergias, Vincas, etc., etc., are all desirable for bedding-out plants 
 and can all be raised from cuttings or seeds, but the former is the surest 
 mode of propagation. 
 
 IIoio to Grow Cuttings of Geraniums, Verbenas, etc., etc. 
 
 To prepare pots for raising cuttings, fill them two-thirds full, with 
 rich loam, dark and porous, not clayey and heavy; tlien pour on an inch 
 or two of yellow sand. Wet this thoroughly, and place the cuttings 
 close to the edge of the pot; the contact of the pottery promotes the 
 growth of the cutting. Cuttings should be taken from the young and 
 newly- formed wood of the plant; but the lower extremity of it should 
 not be too young and soft, else it will absorb too much moisture and 
 decay; neither should it be too old and hard, for then it will not imbibe 
 moisture enough to enable it to throw out roots. Therefore, cuttings 
 should be taken off at the junction of the old and new wood, so that 
 these extremes will be avoided. They should be cut off just below a 
 joint or bud, as the roots start from that point; and, if a bud is not 
 left at the base, it is liable to decay ; the cut should be made smooth 
 across the stem, taking care not to bruise the bark, or leave it jagged. 
 Most of the hardy, wooded shrubs and plants are easily propagated by 
 cuttings planted in the open air; but the tender, watery-stemmed plants 
 like Verbenas, Heliotropes, Fuchsias, etc., should be covered with a 
 hand glass, or raised in a hot-bed. A certain amount of heat, moisture 
 and shade is required to enable cuttings to strike roots. Shade is need- 
 ful, because an exposure to the sun or strong light evaporates the little 
 moisture contained in the cuttings, and causes them to wither away. 
 
 So, for three days, or until the cutting becomes wonted to its location, 
 shade from exclusive sunlight. 
 
 Peter Henderson recommends saucer propagation. 
 
 Take a common saucer or shallow dish, fill it with wet sand and 
 ^'nsert the cuttings, pressing the sand close about them. Keep it sopping 
 wet ; if allowed to dry it will check the growth ; when the old leaves 
 have dropped, and new ones appear at the point of the cutting, roots 
 have formed ; and the plant may be carefully potted in light, sandy 
 
46 EVERY WOMAN HER OWN FLOWER GARDEAER. 
 
 loam shaded for a day, and then liaye all the sunshine it desires, if it 
 has also sufficient water, but you must not let it dry up. 
 
 Cuttings of many plants can be readily started in water; and, in the 
 early spring, if you have not a green-house or hot-bed, it is the safesi 
 plan. 
 
 Fill small bottles or vials, with warmish Avater, remove the lower 
 leaves of the cuttings (be sure to have a bud at the base), and put them 
 in the water; hang up the vial to the window sash, tying a string about 
 the mouth, for this purpose. If cotton wool is put around the mouth 
 of the vial, it Avill prevent the evaporation of the water, and make the 
 roots sprout more quickly by keeping up a more even temperature. 
 Oleanders can be rooted in this manner; also Heliotropes, Verbenas, 
 Roses, Fuchsias, and all kinds bedding-out plants. 
 
 The process is so simple that a mere child can succeed with it. As 
 soon as the roots are an inch long, the cutting should be transplanted, 
 taking care to spread out the tiny rootlets as they grow in the water. 
 
 Some fill up the bottle with rich earth, let it dry off for two or three 
 days and then break the glass, and pot or plant out the cutting without 
 disturbing i(s roots in the least degree. This is the most certain way 
 of obtaining plants from cuttings. 
 
CHAPTER YIl. 
 
 The Fuchsia. 
 
 " Thou graceful Uowcr, on jfi-acefiil stem, 
 Of Flora's gifts a fav'rite gem ! 
 From tropic fielils tliou cani'st to cheer 
 The natives of a climate drear; 
 And grateful for our fostering care, 
 Has loarn'd the wintry blast to bear.'" 
 
 Although Fuchsias, on their first introduction into England, seventy- 
 three or four years ago, were treated as stove plants ; they scarcely come 
 under the head of AVindow Gardening, as many of the species live in 
 sheltered gardens throughout the year, both in England and in this 
 country. In California, they bloom for twelve months in the year, and 
 grow into large bushes, perfectly covered with brilliant flowers. Their 
 light and graceful appearance renders them desirable in the smallest 
 garden. Their gorgeous pendant flowers, with petals of the richest 
 scarlet dye, shading down to the palest pink, or the purest white, with 
 corollas of glowing purple, scarlet, pink or white, produce a most 
 attractive whole, and entitle them to a chapter by themselves, for they 
 are the chief among "bedding-out" plants. 
 
 To their glorious beauty, Fuchsias add three other desirable requisites: 
 their free growth, their general hardiness, and the ease with which they 
 are propagated. 
 
 In bedding them out, a moist, shady position is the most suitable; 
 our noonday sun scorches the tender buds, and causes them to fall. 
 Their native home is in Brazil, Avhere Darwin saw large thickets of 
 them, and they choose moist locations in the woods. In rich, loamy 
 soil, well mixed with leaf mould and rotted cow manure, the groAvth of 
 
48 EVERT WOMAN HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. 
 
 a young cutting is very rapid, and will make a large plant by the 
 autumn. When it has commenced to grow, don't check it by neglect, 
 but during the Summer months water twice a day Avith tepid water, and, 
 if possible, give it liquid manure water, either from the barn-yard, or by 
 dissolving one table-spoonful of guano in one gallon of warm water ; 
 water with this twice a week, and its growth will astonish you. Fuchsias 
 are as gross feeders as the Pansy, and luxuriate in the richest soil ; thus 
 treated, some kinds will send out shoots from four to five feet in length 
 in six or eight months. 
 
 They show to great advantage when trained as standards ; to do this, 
 the side shoots of a young plant must be nipped off, and the stem trained 
 up a straight stick. When the plant grows high enough for your 
 purjDose, let the side shoots branch out, and you can grow a fine tree. 
 They can also be trained to walls, or planted in masses in beds. If the 
 young plant does not branch out, pinch off the terminal shoot, and side 
 branches will appear, and the most central shoot can be trained up for 
 a leader. If plants are set near the cooling spray of a fountain, they 
 thrive well, but must not be so near as to keep their roots constantly wet. 
 
 Culture. 
 
 Many gardeners prefer to have new plants every season, but if old 
 ones are judiciously cared for, they will produce a finer effect, and bloom 
 more profusely. Large plants can be kept in frost-proof, dry cellars 
 during the winter, either in pots or in boxes; or they can be pulled up 
 by the roots, the soil shaken from them, and packed in layers in sand 
 which is thoroughly dry, first cutting off all the tender shoots. In March 
 or April they can be brought to the light, and planted in good, rich 
 soil, pruning not only the top, but the roots. In cutting the top back, 
 have an eye to its shape, and prune accordingly. 
 
 Some of the Fuchsias are of much taller growth than others. Speciosa 
 will grow six to eight feet in height ; Pride of England is a small bush 
 compared to it ; while Souvenir de Cheswick will readily train into a 
 fine standard. 
 
 Plants must be allowed to follow their natural habits in some respects. 
 
 To Groto Cuttings. 
 
 Fuchsias will strike root as rapidly as Geraniums. Take the cuttings 
 either in February, March or April, from three to four inches long 
 
EVERY WO 31 AN HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. 49 
 
 Plant in clear sand, keep " sopping wet," and in three weeks tliey will 
 be well rooted. Pot in three-inch pots, in the richest of soil, with a 
 little sand to keep it mellow; let them grow until the pot is well filled 
 with roots, which will be in three or four weeks, then repot in six to 
 eight inch pots, if designed to grow in them ; but if raised to bed out, 
 plant in five-inch pots, and when all fear of frost is passed, plant in the 
 open borders. 
 
 Be sure not to let the summer heat kill your i^lants. They will grow 
 well under trees, if the branches are fifteen feet or more from the ground, 
 so that the air can circulate freely. These plants are liable to lose their 
 leaves and buds if the soil is not rich enough to their taste, and red 
 spiders often infest them, ruining their growth. For the poverty of the 
 soil, either repot entirely, or give a top dressing of manure; for the 
 spiders, sprinkle daily, and they may be driven off — they do not love 
 water; but if this remedy fails, dip the whole plant into water quite 
 warm to the hand. A dusting of sulphur will kill them, but it often 
 kills the leaves also. 
 
 I was much troubled with spiders last season, on fine plants of 
 Marksman and Carl Ilalt. I dusted them over with "Grafton Mineral 
 Fertilizer," and destroyed every one. I scattered the same powder over 
 the soil, digging in a teaspoonful to each pot (size eight inches), and in 
 September the plants were in a blaze of glory, the admiration of every 
 passer-by ! 
 
 The Doiilile Floivering Fuchsias. 
 
 By careful culture from seed, these brilliant varieties were produced, 
 and are unsurpassed for beauty and elegance by any plant in the floral 
 world. Studded all over with their bright wealth of jewels, they far 
 outshine their single brethren. 
 
 Elm City held front rank for some years, but Marksman f\ir surpasses 
 it now, and Warrior is said to eclipse all others. It has a scarlet tube and 
 sepals, with a rich violet-purj)le corolla, and possesses a vigorous habit. 
 So numerous are the varieties of these charming flowers, that one can 
 hardly make a selection, when all are so desirable, but from the lists of 
 English and American florists I cull the following, to add to those above 
 mentioned : — 
 
 Select List of Double Fuchsias. 
 
 Tower of London, scarlet sepals, violet-blue corolla. 
 Surpasse V. de Puebla, scarlet sepals, double white corolla. 
 4 
 
50 EVERY WOMAN HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. 
 
 IMonstrosa, bright rose sejials, double white corolla. 
 Norfolk Giant, crimson sepals, violet corolla. 
 
 Noni^areil, two corollas, the stamens forming a second corolla of a 
 purplish blue; very elegant. 
 
 E. G. Henderson, scarlet sepals, rich violet corolla. 
 Wilhelm Pfitzer, rosy-carmine sepals, corolla lavender-blue. 
 Symbol, crimson tube and sepals, creamy-white corolla. 
 Emperor of the Fuchsias, sepals crimson, white corolla. 
 Grand Duke, crimson, violet-purple corolla. 
 Picturata, scarlet sej^als, double Avhite corolla. 
 Snowdrop, sepals bright scarlet, semi-double white corolla. 
 
 Select List of Single Fuchsias. 
 
 Charming, violet corolla, crimson sepals, immense clusters. 
 
 Annie, tube and sepals white, corolla deep pink. 
 
 Arabella, Avhite sepals, corolla richest pink ; earliest variety. 
 
 Jules Calot, sepals of an orange red, orange-crimson corolla. 
 
 Lustre, vermillion corolla, Avaxy- white sepals; early. 
 
 Prince Imperial, scarlet sepals, large violet corolla. 
 
 Father Ignatius, carmine sepals, blue corolla, bell shaped. 
 
 Fairest of the Fair, violet-rose corolla, white tube and sej^als. 
 
 Land of Plenty, rich red sepals, violet-black corolla. 
 
 Marginata, white sepals, pink corolla, shaded to bright rose color. 
 
 Rose of Castile, violet corolla, sepals Avhite. 
 
 Souvenir de Cheswick, rosy-crimson sepals, violet corolla. 
 
 Striped Unique, purple corolla, striped with scarlet. 
 
 Tagliona, Avhite reflexed sepals, dark violet corolla. 
 
 "Wave of Life, violet-blue corolla, scarlet sepals, gold tinted foliage. 
 
 "Weeping Beauty, scarlet sepals, large blue corolla. 
 
 The Golden Leaved Fuchsias. 
 
 Of this variety there have been but two specimens. Cloth of Gold and 
 Golden Fleece, until the importation of 1S71, when several more Avere 
 added to the list Avhicli have attracted much attention in England for 
 their beautiful foliage and graceful habit. 
 
 Crown of Jewels, leaves clear yellow, tipped A\'ith rich red crimson, 
 ornamental at all seasons. 
 
 Golden Mantle, golden yellow leaves, flowers coral red. 
 
EVERY WOMAN HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. 51 
 
 Golden Treasure, very attractive, gold colored leaves tinted Avith 
 bronze. 
 
 Orange BoA'en, the smallest variety grown; golden leaves ^-ippedwitli 
 bronze. 
 
 The Winter Floiuei'ing Fuchsias. 
 
 These are few in number — only two varieties, which are sure to bloom 
 from December to May. 
 
 Speciosa is well known ; it produces flowers two inches in length, 
 tubes and sepals are a waxen joeach-blossom color, with crimson corolla. 
 
 Serratifolia is an equally valuable variety; the flowers are distinct 
 from any other Fuchsia. The tube of the flower is crimson, the tips of 
 the sepals shading to green, corolla light crimson, with white stamens. 
 Both these plants are extensively cultivated, and, if well fed, will bloom 
 profusely when flowers are a rarity. 
 
CHAPTER YIIL 
 
 CULTIVATIOX OF THE RoSE. 
 
 " Nymphs Avlio haunt tli' embowering sha<les, 
 Poesy's enchanting maids, 
 Woo thee, Rose! Thy charms inspire 
 All the raptures of the lyre; 
 Cull we straight the inviting Hose, 
 Shielded by tlie thorn it grows; 
 Cull the Hose! what boots the smart ? 
 Countless sweets regale the heart.' 
 
 Thus sang Anacreon, the Greek poet, hundreds of years ago, in praise 
 of the Queeu of Flowers, which was used to decorate the temple and 
 the palace — the solemn rites of religion, and the festal gayety of the 
 banquet. 
 
 France excels all other nations in the production of new varieties of 
 this lovely flower. The Empress Josephine collected every variety then 
 cultivated, for a rosary at Malmaison ; and, under her patronage, the 
 culture of roses became speedily the fashion. The skill and patience of 
 the florists produced more beautiful varieties, under the stimulus thus 
 given to their trade ; and they have continued to give us yearly many 
 rich and rare roses; but have not yet succeeded in producing a blue 
 rose. The English florists are but little behind the French, in their 
 attention to this charming flower; and our own nurserymen yearly pro- 
 duce many beautiful varieties. 
 
 Thousands of named sorts are ofiered to us ; and it is very hard to 
 make a selection when all possess so much merit. It is usually best, in 
 purchasing plants, to leave the selection to the florist, merely stating the 
 climate, and soil in which they will grow. 
 
EVERT WOMAN HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. 53 
 
 It is also best to grow roses on their roots, unless "standards" are 
 desired, for the old roots ^vill throw np strong suckers, and thus assert 
 their rights to the detriment of their nursling ; unless these are constantly 
 watched for, and cut off, they will destroy the graft. 
 
 The varieties of the rose have increased with such rapidity in the last 
 twelve years, and they have produced so many new 7'aces, that it is 
 scarcely possible for the most skillful botanist to refer each variety to its 
 proper parent species. There are Hybrid Perpetiuils, Bourbons, Bengal, 
 Chinese or Daily Rose; Tea-scented, Noisette, Perpetual Moss, Annual 
 IMoss, Prairie Eose as climbers ; Scotch, Damask and all the old varieties 
 of Garden Eoses. 
 
 From the thousands of names offered in the catalogues, lists of those 
 most desirable will be given ; but, of course, every one has his own pet 
 fancies. 
 
 There is no plant which requires a richer soil or better repays the 
 cultivator for attending to its wants; when grown in a congenial soil 
 its blossoms are perfect. 
 
 The best soil is fresh loam enriched with well-rotted cow manure, 
 with a little sand. If a top dressing of this compost is given every 
 spring before the buds start, the branches will make fine growth. 
 
 The finest clusters of flowers are always produced on new Avood, and 
 close pruning will cause more new wood to groAV, and ensure you a more 
 splendid show of flowers. Use the knife freely, though it does make 
 you ache to do so ; cut all the old growth out, and prune in last year's 
 branches a little ; thus pruned, the roots will throw up new shoots, from 
 whence will come the finest roses of the garden. 
 
 As soon as the plants have done flowering, thin out the weak shoots, 
 and even some of the stronger ones, if they are too crowded; each 
 shoot left, should be exposed on every side to air and sun. The summer 
 flowering kinds thus treated will continue their growth from the main 
 shoots, and bloom much finer another year ; while the autumnal flowers 
 push forth their buds the entire length of the stalk, and the socoiul 
 flowering is perfected. 
 
 Tlie roses are improved in both varieties ; for shoots grown at that 
 period of the year invariably produce the finest flowers. 
 
 It has been recommended by some Avriters, to destroy the first bloom 
 of those roses which bloom twice in the season ; because there is an 
 abundance of roses in June, and by so doing a finer bloom is obtained 
 
54 EVERY WOMAN HER OWX FLOWER GARDENER. 
 
 in the autumn. Too many roses ! Has any one ever witnessed such a 
 season ? Let them bloom when they Avill, and cut off the stems as soon 
 as the leaves fall ; then remove the soil to the depth of three or four 
 inches, and spread over it, almost close to the stem, a spadeful of cow 
 manure well decayed ; throw back the soil that was removed, and, if the 
 weather is hot and dry, water occasionally, and you will have a vigorous 
 growth and a profuse flowering. 
 
 The flower stalk should always be cut off; it exhausts the plant to 
 form seeds, and consumes the strength which should go to forming new 
 shoots. When roses are planted in lawns, they should have no sods near 
 the roots ; for the grass will absorb all the moisture, and also prevent 
 the air from reaching the soil. 
 
 The best time to plant hardy roses is in October or November, accord- 
 ing to the climate. 
 
 Spring months are better for planting half-hardy and tender roses, 
 as their roots will not get started before winter sets in. Of course, in 
 the mild climates of the Southern States, they can also be planted in 
 the late autumn. When first set out they should be mulched with 
 coarse manure, and watered occasionally, if the Aveather is warm and dry. 
 
 Cuttings of Roses. 
 
 Eoses are propagated chiefly by cuttings, layers and buds. Cuttings 
 of the hardy kind of roses, will strike easily in July and August. 
 Hybrid Perpetual, Chinese and Bourbon, with all the other kinds will 
 grow readily, if the cutting has, what gardeners term, a heel ; that is, 
 cut off close to the old wood. Tliree, four or even six eyes can be left 
 above ground. 
 
 Plant them as recommended in chapter six ; in wet sand. A dozen 
 cuttings can be set an inch apart, close to the pot; and the sand should 
 not be allowed to dry at all. If covered with a " cZoc/^e," or hand-glass, 
 a moist temperature will be kept up, and, in two or three weeks, they 
 will commence to grow. 
 
 Layering Roses. 
 
 Hoses grown as dwarfs or bushes are the kind that will layer advan- 
 tageously. Loosen the soil about the plant, tlicn choose a good shoot, 
 strip off a few leaves from six inches to two feet from the point of 
 the shoot; insert a sharp knife just behind an eye, on the upper side 
 
EVERT WOMAN HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. 55 
 
 of the shoot, and pass it carefully upwards cutting about half through 
 the stem, and from an inch to two inches in length. Open the soil, 
 bend down the shoots and press it in ; peg it down with a hair pin or a 
 bit of wood, two or three inches beneath the soil, and cover it firmly. 
 Each layer should be tied to a stake to prevent the wind from disturb- 
 ing the roots. 
 
 June, July and August are the best months for layering. If the 
 weather is dry and hot, water frequently. Don't let the layers dry up ; 
 about October or November they will be large enough to take away. 
 Cut them off within two inches of the root, and transplant them wher- 
 ever they are desired. In the spring prune the stem down to three or 
 four eyes, and they will bloom finely. 
 
 The Chinese method of layering is often more successful than any 
 other. 
 
 At the end of July or beginning of August, they select a strong shoot 
 of the same yeai-'s growth, tongue it, as described above, and put in a 
 small stone to keep the slit open, and bind a handful of fresh green 
 moss around the tongue. This must be kept constantly wet, and the 
 tiny roots will shoot forth into the moss so rapidly, that in five or six 
 weeks the layer can be removed from the parent stalk. The roots can 
 be planted without disturbing the moss, and fine plants are thus pro- 
 cured. 
 
 Budding Roses. 
 
 Budding roses is a very simple process, and an old razor can do duty 
 for a budding knife, and the handle of an old toothbrush, if scraped 
 down smooth, will answer for a wedge. 
 
 The latter part of June to the middle of August, is the best season 
 for budding ; or, when the bark of the stalk can be easily raised from 
 the wood, this is a sure sign that one can bud with success. 
 
 Take a smooth part of the stem at the height you desire, and on the 
 side least exposed to the sun ; with the razor make a horizontal cut 
 across the bark through to the wood, but not in to it ; from the center 
 of this cross-cut make one straight down the stem, an inch or more in 
 length ; these two cuts should be in the form of a X- 
 
 Now prepare the bud, or shield, as it is termed. Slice it off from the 
 rose you desire to bud from at one cut, and the shoot must be cut off 
 close to the main stalk ; then the bud is sliced off, with a portion of 
 the old wood adhering to it; most of this should be picked out, but a 
 
56 EVERT WOMAN HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. 
 
 little at the back of the bncl is essential to life; if you make a hole 
 through its bark throw it away, it will not grow. 
 
 Now, Avith the thin edge of the toothbrush handle, turn back the 
 stem on each side of the straight cut, and insert the bud close to the 
 wood, and fit it accurately and firmly to the cross-cut in the turned- 
 back bark; on this close contact of the two barks will depend the suc- 
 cess of your operation. 
 
 Lay the turned-back bark closely over the bud, or shield, and with 
 woolen yarn, or a bit of bass-wood, bind it down, leaving the point of 
 the bud clear. 
 
 Common adhesive plaster is said to be better for this purpose than 
 either yarn or bass. A handful of damp moss should be tied around 
 the Avhole, leaving the tiny point of the bud exposed to the air. 
 
 In six weeks at the farthest these ties can be removed. 
 
 All other shoots on that stem should be cut off, so as to throw the 
 strength of the plant into the support of the new comer. 
 
 By budding you may produce several kinds of roses upon the same 
 plant. Take a common wild rose, cut down all its suckers, and trim 
 in its branches, and bud with white, pink, crimson and yellow roses. 
 
 As soon as the buds commence to grow, cut off all the wild shoots, 
 and you will have a beautiful shoAv of flowers. 
 
 Variegated shrubs can be budded in this manner upon the plain green 
 stocks. Grafting roses is not so popular as formerly; but the opera- 
 tion is easily performed. Any one Avho can graft a tree, can graft a rose. 
 The stock to be grafted should be more forward than the scion, and the 
 operation should be performed when the sap is rising. xYpril or May 
 are the best months. 
 
 The most important points in a good rose are, that its " constitution 
 should be hardy, and vigorous, with a robust habit of groAHh, good 
 foliage and profuse bloom. The flower should be fine in form, large in 
 size, decided in color. The form of the flower, whether it be globular, 
 cupped, or widely expanded, should be symmetrical ; the petals even and 
 regular in their arrangement, full but not too crowded ; the outer range 
 broad and firmly set, rendering the flower more lasting. In texture 
 they should be firm and thick, not thin and flims}'. Fragrance, and a 
 firm upright stem are desirable points. A green or yellow center to a 
 flower when fully open, is a great fault. There is no kind of shrub in 
 existence so well adapted to take various forms as the rose. It can be 
 
EVERY WOMAN HER ()]\X FLOWER GAIWENHR. 57 
 
 used as a dwarf to fill ilie smallest beds; as a shrub to plant among 
 evergreens; and as a tail standard to form avenues of roses on each side 
 of a walk. 
 
 It can be planted in groups witli a climber in the cenlcr, half stand- 
 ards around it, and dwarfs for an edging; again, as climbers to adorn 
 a villa or a cottage, also to cover bare walls and trellises. Yet none of 
 these forms will show off its beauty and elegance as effectually as train- 
 ing it to a pillar. 
 
 Pillar Roses. 
 
 Iron rods with arches of the same material, or small chains hung 
 loosely from pillar to pillar so as to form festoons, will produce a charm- 
 ing effect, making a lovely bower. 
 
 The pillars can be made either of a single upright post, or four rods 
 can ])c set at about nine inches distant from each other, thus forming a 
 square pillar, fastened with interlacings of strong copper wire. 
 
 The rose can be planted in the center, and the branches trained to 
 each corner rod, the small shoots twined between Ihem. ]3ring all the 
 shoots to the outside, and do not let any twine round the rods, but tie 
 them to each with strings; and whenever they require painting, Avhich 
 is needful to protect the iron from rusting, or, if the plants are tender, 
 and need protection, they are easily loosened from their support. Poles 
 of oak, ash or pine can supply the places of the iron rods ; and, by 
 fixing them firmly into the ground in a triangular shape, three feet apart 
 at the base, and fastening the tops together with strong copper wire, ^ 
 pyramid of different colors can be formed, by planting three different 
 roses at the foot of the poles, ami training them so that the various 
 hues will be seen. 
 
 Weeping Roses. 
 
 These form beautiful objects when pUmted singly on lawns. Hoses 
 of a pendulous habit must be used, such as the Aryshire and Evergreen. 
 Bud them on stocks four feet or upwards in height; the main shoots, 
 after the second year, should not be shortened until they touch the 
 ground ; prune only the side branches, and the flowers will be produced 
 from all along the branches from the head to the ground. 
 
 When they attain their full size a lioop shall be attached to prevent 
 • the branches from blowin^^: about in the wind. 
 
58 i:\-i:in' woma.x hkr oir.v flo^vkr aAUDENER, 
 
 Slugs on Ixose Bushes. 
 
 For sovonil yoars past these pests liave ruineJ the gUiry of the '*' Queen 
 of I"'lo\vers," ami turueil her beauty into deforuiity, ehaugiug the oriui- 
 luents o'i the garden \vitl\ uusightly bushes, sparsely covered with skele- 
 ton leaves. 
 
 IV>tbre tlie buds are fornuHl, luiuute white spots appear on the under 
 surfai'e ol' (he leaves; these ehange raj^idly into horrid green worms 
 whieh iU>vonr all t he green part of the leaves, and also the bmls and llowers. 
 If taken in season they can be destroyed. I used " Grafton ]\[ineral Ferti- 
 lizer" with great elfect last season, keeping the foliage of a tall pink 
 JMosslvose entirely free from their ravages ; while directly across the path, 
 a yellow Harrison was left to them, anil Avas utterly ruined. 
 
 The powder is inodorous; can be scattered OA'cr the leaves before the 
 dew is dried oif, and Avill drive them away. I made the first applica- 
 tion in May, a second one early in June, and a third after the roses had 
 lied. Not a green worm was seen on the leaves. The foliage was 
 perfect. 
 
 Powdered lime, if scattered over the leaves while wet with dew, wil) 
 also keep them otV. 
 
 A few years ago I saw a most beautiful rose garden at Tlattsburgh, 
 N. v., not a slug had touched the leaves, and it was early in July. The 
 lady owner told me that the bushes were syringed with ten gallons ot 
 warm water, in which one pint of soft soap, and one pint of comnmn 
 line salt had been dissolved. This mixture killed them all. It was 
 applied in ^lay, and again in June. 
 
 Other preparations are used ; white hellebore, sprinkled on through a 
 dredging box, and Hour of sulphur, similarly applied, are found effi- 
 cacii>us. There are two crops of the slugs; the first comes in May, and 
 when the worms are fully developed they burrow in the ground, and 
 lie in a chrysalis state until August, when they appear with wings, and 
 lav a crop of eggs for the ensuing summer. If the first crop are not 
 entirely destroyed, it is well to repeat the ap^dication in August, so as 
 to diminish the supply for the next season. 
 
 The following comprises a good collection of Hybrid Perpetuals: — 
 
 Achille Gonaud, bright carmine. 
 
 Alex. l>achmetefi\ deep, brilliant rose, large and fine. 
 
 Baron Trevost, rich rose color. 
 
 Cardinal ratrizzi, dark, velvety crimson. 
 
EVERY WOjUAN her OWN FLOWER GARDENER. 59 
 
 Corate Litta, velvety purple. 
 
 Caroline cle San sal, pale flesh color. 
 
 Eugene Appert, scarlet crimson. 
 
 Gen. Jacqueminot, brilliant red, very large. 
 
 John Hopper, rosy-crimson, extra. 
 
 Jules Margottin, carmine, shaded to purple. 
 
 La Heine, clear rose, large cupped, superb. 
 
 Lady Emily Peel, white, edged with rose. 
 
 Mad'lle Bonnaire, pure white, tinged with rose at the C( nier. 
 
 Mad. Freeman, white, with yellowish shade. 
 
 Poeonia, deep brilliant crimson. 
 
 Heine des Violets, reddish violet. 
 
 Victor Verdier, large, full carmine, one of the best. 
 
 Boiirhon Roses. 
 
 Archduke Charles, rosy crimson. 
 
 Bourbon Queen, rich blush. 
 
 Blanche Lafitte, pale flesh color, beautiful. 
 
 Duchesse Furrijige, white. 
 
 Empress Eugene, deep rose. 
 
 Jupiter, dark purple. 
 
 Ilermosa Pink, a profuse bloomer, with lovely buds. 
 
 Malmaison, blush, large and fine. 
 
 Omar Pasha, deep carmine. 
 
 Paxton, bright rose, crimson shaded. 
 
 Sombreuil, white. 
 
 Bengal or China Roses. 
 
 Agrippina, deep crimson. 
 Archduke Charles, changeable. 
 Eugene Beauharnais, rich crimson. 
 Indica Alba, white daily. 
 Madam Preon, fine rose. 
 Lucullus, dark crimson. 
 Pink Daily. 
 
 Louis Philippe, crimson and rose. 
 Sanguinea, blood-red. 
 
60 EVERT WOMAN HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. 
 
 Noisette Roses. 
 Augusta, pale yellow. 
 Amie Vibert, pure white. 
 Beauty of Green Mount, deep rose color. 
 Gloire tie Dijon, bronze yellow, with orange center. 
 Lamarque, large, j)ure white. 
 La Pactole, pale yellow. 
 Setina, bright pink. 
 Solfaterre, yellowish white. 
 
 Souvenir de Anselm, clear carmnie, very fragrant. 
 Washington, clear white. 
 
 Tea Scented Roses. 
 
 Alba Eosea, white, with rose center. 
 
 Amabilis, rose color. 
 
 Belle Alamande, blush. 
 
 Bougere, salmon rose, bronzed. 
 
 Bon Silene, purple, shaded to carmine. 
 
 Marechal Niel, golden yellow, sweetest of the sweet, 
 
 Cornelia Cook, canary yellow. 
 
 Devoniensis, creamy white. 
 
 Leveson Gower, rosy salmon. 
 
 Madame Falcot, nankeen yellow. 
 
 Madame de Vatrey, carmine rose. 
 
 Pauline Lebonte, light blush. 
 
 Safrano, bright l.)uff, very free bloomer. 
 
 Triomphe de Luxembourg, rose color. 
 
 White Tea, pure white, blooms freely. 
 
 Moss Roses. — Perpetual. 
 
 Perpetual White, very fine. 
 
 Madame Edward Ory, deep rose. 
 
 Maupertius, velvety-red, very dark. 
 
 Eaphael, blush, large clusters. 
 
 Salet, bright rose. 
 
 Souvenir de Pierre Vibert, dark red, shaded with violet. 
 
JilVERY W03IAN HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. 01 
 
 Annual Moss Roses. 
 English Moss, old variety, very mossy. 
 Adelaide, crimson. 
 Glory of Mosses, rose color; fine. 
 Alice Leroy, pale lilac. 
 Luxembourg, crimson. 
 Henry Martin, brilliant carmine. 
 
 Prairie Roses. — Ilardij Climbers. 
 
 Baltimore Belle, nearly white. 
 
 Queen of the Prairie, rosy red. 
 
 Seven Sisters, crimson, shading to white. 
 
 Gem of the Prairies, a hybrid between the Queen of the Prairie and 
 Madame Laffay; a strong, vigorous grower, flowers rich rosy crimson, 
 and of delicious fragrance. A great acquisition to climbing roses. 
 
 The oldest Eose Bush in the world is said to be one which is trained 
 upon one side of the Cathedral of Ilildesheim, in Germany. Its age is 
 unknown, but documents exist which prove that a Bishop Hezelio, 
 nearly a thousand years ago, protected it by a stone roof, which is still 
 in existence. The largest Rose Bush is a white Banksia, in the Marine 
 Garden at London, which was sent there, the first of its kind, in 1813, 
 by Bonj)land. Its numerous branches, some of which measure eighteen 
 inches in circumference, cover an immense wall to a width of nearly 
 sixty feet, and at times, in early Spring, as many as fifty thousand flowers 
 have been counted on this Queen of all Roses ! 
 
 " Roses arc of royal birth, 
 Loveliest monarchs of the earth ! > 
 Not the realm of flowers alone, \ 
 
 But human hearts tlieir sceptre own. 
 Mark -what flowers the maiden's liand 
 Gathers for her bridal band; 
 What the sweetest influence shed, 
 Hound the grateful suflerer's bed; 
 What with holiest light illume 
 The grief and darkness of the tomb." 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Oenamental Vines. 
 
 / " Flowers! bright, beautLfiil, love-beaming flowers. 
 
 / Tliey are linked witli life's sweetest and sunniest hours; 
 
 ,■' Like stars about our pathway 
 
 / They shine so pure and lair, 
 
 I Blooming in rich profusion, 
 
 f Greeting us everywhere." 
 
 Trees and flowers are not enougli with whicli to adorn and beautify 
 our surroundings; we must have vines, an abundance of vines. A 
 house without vines is like a bird without a mate; it Avears a look of 
 'desolation. Vines grow so thriftily, bloom so profusely, and can be 
 twined into so many beautiful forms — are so fresh, blooming and 
 fragrant — that they should be trained about every house. The most 
 modest little cot can be transformed into a flowery bower by the aid of 
 a few climbing plants. Your homes may lack the paint, gilding and 
 tapestry that adorn those of your neighbors, but if vines are trained 
 over the doors and windows, they will present a fresh beauty and glory 
 every Summer's morn, which the products of art cannot surpass. 
 
 Nature has given us the means of adorning our surroundings, and 
 they are innocent, animating, and contribute to our i^iety towards her. 
 We do not half avail ourselves of the cheap riches wherewith she adorns 
 the earth. A few seeds, for instance, and a little trouble, would clothe 
 our houses every Summer as high as we choose, with draperies of green 
 and scarlet, and after admiring the beauty we might eat the produce. 
 
 ut then this produce is a bean, and beans are vulgar. Nobody despises 
 a vine in front of a house, for vines are polite, and the grapes seldom 
 
EVERT WOMAN HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. 63 
 
 good enough to be of use. Hops are like vines, yet who thinks of 
 adorning his house vnih. them ? No, they also are vulgar ! Thus writes 
 Leigh Hunt in his flowery "Essays." There are many despised things 
 that are, if properly cultivated, capable of great beauty; but I should 
 prefer the Scarlet Bean as a covering to my pantry windows, and the 
 Hop and Grape Vine to trail over the kitchen garden wall, while the 
 Morning Glory, with all its wealth of entangled vines and flowers, 
 should throw its radiance around the dining-room piazza, and shield its 
 windows from the scorching sun at noondny These same Morning 
 Glories are glories indeed, and are not half appreciated. The delicate 
 J aponica receives far more attention than its coarser parent, but it is 
 infested with bugs, which make it a nuisance, while none dare as yet to 
 molest my " Glories." 
 
 We pay high prices for exotic vines and climbing roses, and let the 
 lovely vines of our own woods remain uncultivated in their wildness. 
 There is no country that does not possess rarely beautiful vines, which 
 well reward the cultivator with their luxuriant beauty. They are 
 scattered from the White Mountains to the Gulf of Mexico, and all 
 through the Western States on to the Pacific Slope. 
 
 Climbing roses are bowers of beauty for a few weeks, but after that 
 are only briars, wormy and miserable. There is little beauty in 
 their foliage ; it is all compressed in their flowers ; yet the Prairie Rose 
 is more commonly used to twine over a verandah, while the Wistaria, 
 Jasmine, Woodbine, Honeysuckle, etc., are planted in less conspiciious 
 places, or not at all. 
 
 I delight in Climbing Roses — do not think I would disparage them — 
 but they are far prettier the greater part of the year, if trained to pillars 
 rather than to piazzas. Ampelopsis quinquefolia (Virginia Creeper or 
 Five-Fingered Ivy), is a very hardy vine that will withstand the coldest 
 New England winter. It grows most rapidly, and its dark green foliage, 
 which changes to scarlet and brown in the Autumn, makes it very 
 desirable for piazzas, rustic arbors, or trellis work. It will cling to 
 brick walls as readily as the English Ivy; it is perfectly free from 
 insects, and so flexible that it can be trained to any position. 
 
 Akebia quinata is an imported vine from Japan, with gracefully cut 
 foliage, and large clusters of very fragrant, chocolate colored flowers. 
 It is perfectly hardy. 
 
 Aristolochia Sipho (or Dutchman's Pipe), is a handsome climber for 
 
64 EVERT WOMAN HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. 
 
 verandahs ; its flowers resemble a sliort-stemmed pipe, are of a brownish 
 hue, and the leaves are very large and of a bright green. It requires a 
 rich soil to grow well. 
 
 Bignonia radicans (or Trumpet Creeper), is a very showy, robust 
 plant, and produces a profusion of reddish-orange flowers. It is well 
 adapted to plant against old trees, or to cover unsightly walls. 
 
 Bignonia grandiflora is fine for pillars or trellises, being of a more 
 graceful habit than the radicans. 
 
 Bignonia Venusta is a very beautiful half-hardy climber, but requn\3S 
 age to perfect its blossoms, which are of a beautiful orange scarlet. For 
 the Southern States it is unsurpassed in beauty, but for the Northern 
 it needs the protection of a greenhouse. 
 
 Jasminum nudiflorum (or Carolina Jessamine), is tender north of 
 Maryland, but is one of the most attractive vines in the United States. 
 Its plentiful yellow flowers are rarely fragrant, and it grows in profusion 
 all through the South, turning its luxuriant branches among the forests. 
 No matter whether it is located in the piney barrens, or the rich swamp 
 lands, it is a bower of beauty. 
 
 Celastrus scandens (or Bitter-sweet), is a very attractive climber, 
 particularly in the Autumn, when its orange berries are very handsome. 
 The scarlet seed-covers are surrounded with orange-colored capsules, 
 which open as the seeds become ripe, and make it very ornamental. It 
 twines so close to the trees that it will frequently choke out the life of 
 young saplings. In Massachusetts it is called Eoxbury Wax Work. It 
 grows abundantly all through New England, and bears transplanting 
 and cultivating with good efi'ect. 
 
 Cocculus Carolinus is a native of the Carolinas, and has bright red 
 fruit, resembling the common currant. 
 
 Of Honeysuckles (or Loniceras), we have a numerous variety. The 
 scarlet or coral species are well-known, and the fragrant pink and white 
 monthly is very popular. Of late years different varieties have been 
 imported from China and Japan, which are very desirable. Among the 
 Chinese, the Golden Leaved Lonicera is one of the finest. It is a rapid 
 grower, with small wiry stems, the foliage is netted with gold, the flowers 
 are white and very fragrant. 
 
 Lonicera Halliana is evergreen ; its flowers pure white, turning to 
 yellow ; perfectly hardy, and flowers monthly in profuse clusters. 
 
 Lonicera brachypoda, or Japan Honeysuckle, is a very beautiful vine; 
 
EVERY ^YOMAN HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. G5 
 
 its flowers are of the most delicious fragrance, and there is no hardy 
 vine that can excel it ; its leaves are evergreen, and very glossy. 
 
 The Clematis are rapid growers, the native varieties flowering in 
 August Avhen other vines are not always in beauty. Great improvements 
 have been made in them by the English florists, and there are no love- 
 lier vines for piazzas and verandahs. The following are the most 
 prominent of the cultivated varieties, flowering from June onward: 
 
 Clematis Fortuni has very large, double-white flowers. 
 
 Clematis Jackmanii is a profuse bloomer, with large, violet-colored 
 blossoms. 
 
 Clematis Standishii is blue, and flowers finely. 
 
 Clematis Rubella has rich purple blossoms. 
 
 All of these varieties are new hybrids, and cannot fail to give satis- 
 faction to the cultivator. 
 
 Hedera helix (or English Ivy), is the most popular of evergreen vines, 
 and very suitable for covering rock work, fences, walls, trees or arbors. 
 It adheres readily to a tree or to stone, but does not take as kindly to 
 brick, requiring some slight support, frequently to keep it attached to 
 the walls. It is much used for covering houses, but in climates where 
 it will live throughout the year it is unequaled for a bordering to flower 
 beds. Grass will force its tiny roots into the borders, but the Ivy is 
 contented to twine its branches along the edges. A quantity of strong 
 young plants are desirable to commence with, and they should be planted 
 rather thickly and kept well mingled together. In the Summer, their 
 fresh green leaves contrast perfectly with the darker foliage, and all 
 through the winter their verdure is pleasing. Such edgings form a 
 beautiful setting for flowers, while they are so charming as to make it 
 desirable to cultivate the " dainty plant" for its own worth. 
 
 After the edging has once become established, by pinching off" and 
 cutting back the young shoots, it can be easily kept in perfect order. 
 Xearly every courtyard in Paris displays the English Ivy, either cover- 
 ing trellises as a dark background to brilliant thickets of Geraniums, or 
 trained over a bower. 
 
 The plants are grown in large boxes, filled with a rich turfy soil, and 
 thus supplied they make rapid growth. At the French Exposition, the 
 garden was filled with all that was richest and rarest, yet Mr. Robinson 
 tells us, in his book upon "French Gardens," that a pretty circular 
 bower covered with Ivy attracted first the attention of every passer-by. 
 5 
 
66 EVERY WOMAN HER OWN FLOWER GAUDEyER. 
 
 It was composed of a wire frame, sliaped like an umbrella, with tlie 
 handle inserted iu a huge tub of very rich earth, in which the roots 
 were planted. Boards were laid over the tub, which formed a circular 
 seat, and Avith these simple means a most lovely bower was produced. 
 The Ivy was trained so as to cover every part of it, and entirely shade 
 the seat. Any ingenious boy could make a similar one, and, with proper 
 appliances, some girls could accomplish it. 
 
 As a screen, this plant is in great demand in France, and entire garden 
 walls are often covered with it, making a most perfect background for 
 the brilliant hues of the flowers. 
 
 Tliose of us who live in colder climates could substitute the German 
 Ivy for edgings. I tried it last season, and it grew beautifully, but it 
 will winter kill. An old umbrella frame, stripped of its dilapidated 
 covering, will make a fine trellis for delicate vines like the Canary Bird 
 Flower, Thunbergia, Maurandya, and Cypress Vine. 
 
 Sharpen the handle to a point, and fix it firmly in the ground, pressing 
 in the ivory tip of each end, so that the wind cannot disturb it. It will 
 look prettily on the lawn, or in the center bed of the garden, when the 
 graceful twining vines have covered it with their beautiful flowers and 
 foliage, and almost every garret can furnish the skeleton, if the closet 
 cannot provide one. 
 
 A worn-out sunshade will make a baby trellis that will be very 
 charming, Avhen covered with the gorgeous hues of the Tropseolum, 
 which should not be neglected in a chapter upon Vines. They grow 
 readily from seed, and their butterfly-colored floAvers are always beautiful. 
 If branches are broken off in the Autumn, and put into vases filled with 
 water, the fioAvers Avill bloom for a long time ; the roots starting out at 
 each joint will furnish a support for them. 
 
 Cobaa scandens is a rapid growing \-ine, with large purple bell- 
 shaped flowers. It is not hardy in the Northern States, but can be kept 
 in pots during the Winter, and Avill twine over the Avindows. 
 
 Cobsea scandens variogata is like the former, only its leaves are 
 margined with yelloAvish-Avhite. If planted in rich soil, these vines can 
 be made to groAV thirty feet in a season. 
 
 Glycine Sinensis (or Chinese Wistaria), is a very elegant A^nc of quick 
 growth ; it has long, pendulous clusters of pale blue flowers both in the 
 Spring and Autumn, and will soon cover a large surface. 
 
 Wistaria Sinensis Alba is a Avhite variety, not so robust as the blue. 
 
EXPERT WOMAN HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. 67 
 
 Wistaria Frntescens (or American Glycine), is more of a dwarf habit 
 than the above-mentioned. 
 
 Passiflora Incarnata (Half Hardy Passion Vine), is very beautiful. 
 Its flower is supposed to represent the Crucifixion of Christ, and thence 
 its name. 
 
 Periploca Grgeca (Virginia Silk Vine), is another native climber that 
 deserves attention, in preference to many that are tender. It is a hardy 
 grower, and will soon cover an arbor or wall. A native of Syria. 
 
 Care and attention must be given to the training and fastening of all 
 climbers, as their beauty is greatly injured by allowing them to grow in 
 a wild and neglected manner ; it also gives a wild look to a house, which 
 does not add to its' general appearance. 
 
 Wherever there is an unsightly fence, there is the opportunity to try 
 your hand at cultivating vines which grow wild in your woods, or which 
 can be raised from seeds at a trifling expense. Wreath all such places 
 with climbing vines, and let their ugliness be hid under the delicate 
 foliage and brilliant flowers of the climbers. Your wood, brick, or 
 stone houses are bare in their angular outlines, and lack the graceful 
 elegance which ornamental vines will give them. Twine over them some 
 climbing plant, and architecture and nature will combine to produce 
 the most picturesque effect ; and you will learn that — 
 
 " The flowers in silence seem to breathe 
 Such thoughts as language cannot tell." 
 
 And when the outside is beautiful, let the inside be replete with 
 comfort, order, taste, virtue, peace, good-will and love. 
 
 The following diagrams will furnish designs for supports for Orna- 
 mental Vines. They can be made from six to eight feet high. The 
 center piece of each trellis should be thicker than the outer or main 
 supports, at least three-quarters of an inch thick, and from an inch to 
 an inch-and-a-half wide. These frames should be painted green or 
 white, according to one's preference. 
 
68 
 
 EVERY WOMAN HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. 
 
 Fig. 2. 
 
 Fig. 3. 
 
 Fig. 4. 
 
 Fig. 
 
 Fig. 6. 
 
OHAPTEE X. 
 
 Oen'amental Shrubs foe Garden and Lawn. 
 
 " Thank God for the beautiful Flowers 
 
 That blossom so sweetly and fair ; 
 They garnish this strange life of ours, 
 
 And brighten our paths every where ; 
 They speak of the heaven above us, 
 
 Where angels are singing His praise. 
 Where dwell the dear ones who love us, 
 
 Who faded from earth's thorny ways." 
 
 Shrubs are indispensable in the smallest collection of plants. Many 
 of them are early risers, and bloom as soon as the frost and ice have 
 disappeared. Once obtained and planted out in good, rich soil, they 
 require but little attention, and will bloom for years in the same locality. 
 Yet their foliage and flowers will be more luxuriant and beautiful, if 
 they are treated to a few shovelsful of compost or manure, yearly. If it 
 is given to them in the autumn, it acts as a protection from the frost, 
 and can be dug into their roots early in the spring. When they are 
 first planted, it is better to take the autumn rather than the spring for 
 the operation ; but if done in March or April (according to the climate), 
 be sure to mulch the roots with long stable litter, or a few inches deep 
 of hay ; this will keep them from drying up during the heat of summer. 
 
 The Flowering Almond takes first rank, because it blooms so early, 
 and though very common, is always popular. If it is neglected it will 
 grow ill-shaped and scraggy, but if it is cut back as soon as its blossoms 
 are fallen, its increased growth will soon repay their sacrifice. 
 
 The Flowering Plum is called by some the White Flowering Almond, 
 and is equally hardy, its flowers being as double as those of the Almond, 
 and of a snowy whiteness. 
 
 The Lilac is always admired, will always be cultivated ; every house 
 
70 EVERY WOMAN HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. 
 
 must have at least one or more of these shrubs. The purple yariety is 
 seen everywhere; the white is not quite as common, and is not as sick- 
 ishly sweet as the purple. 
 
 The Persian and Chinese Lilacs are more beautiful than the common 
 kinds. The former is a small tree of graceful habit, and its flowers are 
 of a lighter lilac color. The latter is especially desirable, the flowers 
 are much darker than the other varieties, and its foliage is of a dark 
 glossy green, very rich. These shrubs are perfectly hardy, and are 
 usually grown without any care, yet if pruned and manured their beauty 
 will be much increased. 
 
 Cydonia Japonica, or Scarlet-flowered Japan Quince, is also a well- 
 known shrub, producing quantities of the richest scarlet flowers close 
 to its branches; it is indispensable in every garde]i. 
 
 Calycanthusfloridus, or Allspice Flower, is an old favorite, not so often 
 cultivated in these latter days. Its foliage is of a light glossy green, and its 
 flowers are of the darkest maroon, and very fragrant; both blossoms 
 and branches possess a strong spicy flavor, and it is sometimes called the 
 Strawberry Shrub, from a fancied resemblance to the odor of that berry. 
 
 Forsythia viridissima is one of the earliest of all shrubs in blossoming; 
 its bright golden-lined flowers appear before the leaves are hardly visi- 
 ble, and completely cover the branches. 
 
 Flowering Acacia, with its profusion of pink and white pea-shaped 
 blossoms, is always welcome. Its foliage is deeply serrated like the 
 Locust leaves; its habit is straggling, which detracts from its beauty. 
 
 Hydrangea quercifolia, or Oak -leaved Hydrangea, has strongly marked 
 foliage, and its blossoms are in large panicles of white flowers. It Ijlooms 
 in July, and is a great attraction on a lawn. 
 
 Hydrangea deutziafolia is a recent importation from Japan. Its 
 leaves resemble those of the Deutzia ; it blooms in August, bearing very 
 large panicles of snowy white flowers, which change to pink, and finally 
 to a brownish purple. It is a valuable addition to a garden or lawn. 
 
 The Deutzias are generally cultivated, and are always beautiful. 
 
 Deutzia gracilis is perfectly hardy, and has plentiful clusters of pure 
 white flowers. Deutzia scrabra is of larger growth, often attains to five 
 or six feet, and is covered with clusters of blossoms, which resemble the 
 Orange flower without its fragrance. 
 
 Deutzia crenata flore pleno produces double flowers, white in the 
 center, and rod in the outer leaves. It is of a strong habit, desires plenty 
 
EVERY W03[AN UER OWN FLOWER GARDEyER. 71 
 
 of room to grow in, and will often be seen over six feet high, and when 
 in flower is " a thing of beanty." All these species of Dentzias are 
 hardy, but at the far north require a little protection in winter. 
 
 Mahonia Aquifolium is an elegant, evergreen shrub. Its foliage is 
 evergreen, and of a dark rich puiqolish green. Its flowers are bright 
 yellow, and aj^pear early in the spring. 
 
 The Privet or Prim is also desirable, its foliage is attractive, and its 
 small clusters of white flowers add much to its beauty. 
 
 Philadelphus modorus, or Mock Orange, is a more delicate species of 
 the Syringa, It bears large, pure white flowers with rich yellow stamens, 
 along its slender stems, covering the shrub with a Avealth of bloom. 
 It will grow eight feet high, and blossoms in June. 
 
 The "Wiegelasare well established favorites, and deservedly so ; for their 
 brightly colored flowers, intermixed with the glossy green foliage, 
 produce a fine efiect either in the flower bed or on the lawn. 
 
 Wiegela nivea produces pure white flowers, very beautiful for large 
 bouquets and vases. 
 
 Wiegela rosea bears apple-blossom colored flowers, blending pink and 
 white in a lovely intermingling. 
 
 Wiegela alba has white flowers, which change to a pale rose tint. 
 
 Spiraeas are of a most numerous family. The florists have cultivated 
 them with great success, and wherever the Lilac and the Syringa flourish 
 they will grow and bloom in perfection. 
 
 Their flowers are of various shades of color, from pure white, white 
 tinged with pink, yellowish Avhite, purple rose, lilac, pink, etc. 
 
 Spiraea salicifolia grows from two to five feet high; is white, tinted 
 with rose, and blooms in June and July. 
 
 Spirsea opulifolia, five to seven feet high ; white flowers, with rosy tint. 
 
 Spiraea Eeevesii, one of the most beautiful of its family, flowers in 
 June in pure white clusters. 
 
 Spiraea Bella, dwarf; pink flowers. 
 
 Spiraea Japonica is also dwarf, and bears feather plumes of white flowers 
 in June. 
 
 Tartarian Honeysuckles are large shrubs of much beauty, whether 
 covered with their pink or white flowers, or with scarlet berries. They 
 will grow from cuttings or seeds, and require little care. The two 
 varieties planted together make a fine wall for a garden, and serve as a 
 protection from the north winds. There are several shrubs which bear 
 
72 EVERY WOMAN HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. 
 
 brightly-colored berries, which make them conspicuous objects in garden 
 or lawn ; so in making up a collection of slirubs we should not forget them. 
 
 Euonymus, or Strawberry Tree, is very handsome, with its purple 
 flowers, succeeded by brilliant scarlet berries curiously shaped, which 
 remain on the branches late into the Autumn. The Burning Bush is 
 the common name for it in many localities. A variety of this shrub or 
 tree grows in most of the Middle, Western and Southern States. 
 
 Euonymus atropurpureus, or Spindle Tree, is its proper title. It is a 
 very beautiful addition to every lawn. The European Burning Bush is 
 much inferior to our native variety. The Broad-Leaved Burning Bush 
 is a native of Austria; its botanical name is Euonymus latifolius, and 
 it is not commonly grown in this country, but is very desirable. 
 
 The Black Alder bears berries of a flame-like scarlet, close to its 
 branches, and is a beautiful shrub, 
 
 I have endeavored to mention a few of the flowering shrubs that will 
 not fail to give satisfaction to all amateur gardeners. Many of them 
 are old-time flowers, which possess a charm to me, as childish associations 
 of delight linger about them, and render them doubly dear. 
 
 The Rhododendrons are extensively cultivated, and greatly improved 
 from those which groAv wild in the Middle States. The English florists 
 have brought these beautiful shrubs to the highest state of perfection. 
 
 The Rose of Sharon is one of the most beautiful foreign shrubs. Its 
 blossoms are bell-shaped, and of many mingled hues. In Syria, Judea 
 and Arabia it is a sacred flower, and they have adopted it as the emblem 
 of the Resurrection. The dried flower is placed by the inhabitants of 
 Judea in a vase of water beside the beds of the sick ; if it expands, the 
 omen is favorable, but if not, death is considered inevitable. 
 
 The Yucca Filamentosa, rather a hardy herbaceous plant, though a 
 shrub, is very ornamental and hardy, its foliage resembling that of the Aloe. 
 It blooms in August and September, and the flower stem rises to the height 
 of five or six feet, surmounted with white, bell-shaped flowers. It gi^ows well 
 in common garden soil, and is very desirable as a single plant on the lawn. 
 
 All of these shrubs are most agreeable additions to every flower garden, 
 but if you cannot find room for all, be sure to select a few of them, for 
 no other plants will give you as large a supply of flowers with so little 
 attention expended on them. Most of them will readily grow from 
 cuttings, all of them will layer easily, and many of them increase by 
 suckers from the roots. 
 
CHAPTER XL 
 
 The Caenatiox, and Picotee Pinks. 
 
 " Ye are the Scriptures of the ea.rth, 
 Sweet flowers, fair and frail ; 
 A sermon speaks in every bud, 
 That woos the summer gale.'* 
 
 The Carnation has been cultivated from time immemorial in Europe, 
 and from Gerard, the herbalist of Queen Elizabeth's time, we learn some 
 of its quaint old English names, such as " Sops in Wine" (very expres- 
 sive of the variegated red and white flower), " Pagaiants," " Horseflesh," 
 "Blankets," etc. 
 
 The most common varieties of the Carnation sprung from the Clove 
 Gilliflower, or Clove Pink, and in former days was much used to distil 
 Clove Gilliflower Water, which was in great repute as a restorative. 
 The florists divide them into three classes now — flakes, bizarres and 
 picotees. 
 
 The flakes, on a pure yellow or white ground, have only one color, 
 disposed in broad flashes or stripes, and extending the length of the 
 petal. 
 
 The bizarres, on a pure white or yellow ground, have two or more 
 colors in irregular stripes of pink, or scarlet and purple, sometimes 
 running from the base to the margin of the petal, sometimes broken 
 irregularly into spots. 
 
 The Picotee was formerly spotted with purple, red or scarlet spots, on 
 a white or yellow ground; modern improvements have changed its 
 character; it is no longer a spotted carnation, but one with the colorings 
 confined to a bordering of each petal. 
 
74 EVERY WOMAN HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. 
 
 Each of tliese three classes are sub-denominated according to theij 
 colors, as scarlet-flake, pink-flake, scarlet-bizarre, etc., etc. 
 
 The stripes or spots in Carnations are usually in shades of scarlet; 
 pink and purple, on a white, pink, red or yellow ground. 
 
 The word " Carnation " is fully significaut of the flesh-color which 
 characterized the original and earlier cultivated varieties. 
 
 Of all the flowers that adorn the garden, whether they charm the eye 
 by their beauty, or regale the sense of smelling by their fragrance, the 
 Carnation may justly rank next to the Rose. 
 
 The Flemish weavers, who sought a refuge in England from the 
 religious persecutions of Philip II, and the cruelty of the Duke of Alva, 
 were renowned for their Carnations, Roses, and Gilliflowers, and they 
 introduced many of the rarest varieties of these flowers, often superior 
 tj the specimens produced by professional gardeners. Mr. Hogg, a 
 celebrated florist, and also a writer upon Floriculture, declares that " it 
 is n )t every gardener who knows how to grow a Carnation, and there is 
 not one in ten whose assistance I would claim on the most pressing 
 occasion, and leave the operation of layering to them unlocked after ; 
 whereas I would implicitly trust it to any weaver, cobbler or barber who 
 had had the least practice with his own flowers." 
 
 There is hardly any plant grown by florists to which they consider a 
 congenial soil is of so much importance. It should be composed of one- 
 half rotten horse manure, not less than a year old; that which has 
 been used in a hot-bed is just the article for composing the soil for 
 Carnations. Add to it one-third fresh loam, and one-third coarse river 
 sand. If these ingredients are mixed together in the Autumn, and 
 allowed to freeze, and in the Spring are thoroughly mixed up, a good com- 
 post will be obtained. Those of our readers who live near a florist had bet- 
 ter buy the compost for their plants. Large piles of it are always kept on 
 hand, and sold cheaply. It is better to supply the soil for all pot plants 
 in this way. Carnations are propagated by seed, layers and cuttings. 
 
 The seed should be sown in April or May, in pots filled with rich 
 compost, and a little fine sand, barely sufficient to cover them, sprinkled 
 over the seeds. As soon as the young plants are three inches high, they 
 should be planted out into a bed of rich soil. They will not bloom 
 until the following Summer, but the plants can be protected in cole 
 climates by laying sods of grass over them, or by keeping the plants l«: 
 the cellar in boxes. 
 
EVERT WOMAN HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. 75 
 
 The best time to layer is when the plant is in full bloom, which will 
 be about the middle of July, or according to the season. The shoot to 
 be layered may be four or five joints in length ; all the lower leaves next 
 to the root must be stripped off, leaving only those on the two or three 
 npper joints. The surface of the soil should be stirred up to the depth 
 of an inch; then take the shoot in the finger and thumb of the left 
 hand, and bend it npwards, so that the knife can enter a qnarter of an 
 inch below the second or third joint from the top, and on the side of 
 the shoot next the ground ; cnt upwards through the center of the joint, 
 slantingly for about half an inch. Now cut off the tip of the portion 
 underneath close to the joint. If it breaks off it is worthless as a layer, 
 so handle it very carefully, and lay the shoot into the soil, pegging it 
 down with a large hair pin. The root fibres are soonest formed when 
 the joint is but lightly covered with earth, not more than a quarter of 
 an inch. ISTo more of the stem of the layer than just close to the joint, 
 nor any of the leaves should be buried in the soil, for the dampness will 
 cause them to decay, and the whole layer will then damp off or decay. 
 
 When the layer is pegged down, give it a gentle watering, taking care 
 not to wash off the soil. 
 
 It is of no consequence if the layer does not stand straight at first. 
 It will soon grow so. 
 
 If the plants are kept moist, and well shaded from the noonday heat, 
 the layers Avill be rooted in three or four weeks. They should then be 
 cut away from the plant, witJi about half an inch of the stem Avhich 
 connects them to it, and planted in five-inch pots. 
 
 Great care must be taken not to injure the tiny roots, nor break the 
 part of the stem above the incision. 
 
 ] a raising Carnations from cuttings, good healthy slioots should be 
 sell cted, and they should be treated as described for other cuttings. 
 
 Layering and raising from cuttings are the surest modes of propagating 
 fine varieties. It is said that the chance of obtaining a good Carnation 
 from seed is one to a hundred. 
 
 The culture of the Picotee, or Paisley Pink, is the same as that of the 
 Carnation. The Picotee is the hardier of the two, and will endure the 
 cold winters without covering, excepting at the extreme north. 
 
 When the flower stems are ten or more inches high, they should be 
 supported with stakes, and when the flowers appear, if there is danger of 
 their bursting the calyx, and thus spoiling their symmetry, it is well to 
 
t6 EVERY ]y03rAN HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. 
 
 tie a bit of colored worsted yarn about tliem ; this gives support, and 
 retains the leaves in place. Monthly Carnations are the most desirable 
 of all kinds, as they bloom during the winter. 
 
 A select list of monthly varieties : — 
 
 Admirable, creamy white. 
 
 Astoria, yellow, flaked with scarlet. 
 
 Attraction, white, striped with maroon. 
 
 Betsey, brilliant sfearlet. 
 
 Blondin, buff and rose. 
 
 D'Fontana, buff, striped with cherry. 
 
 Donadi's Pride, white, edged with pink; fine. 
 
 Edwardsii, pure white ; extra. 
 
 Grant, rich crimson, striped with slate color. 
 
 Grand Conde, white, blotched with rose. 
 
 La Purite, bright rosy pink. 
 
 Ma Gloire, sulphur yellow, striped scarlet. 
 
 Queen of Whites, purest white. 
 
 Radetzky, rose color with broad purple stripes. 
 
 Star, carmine, splashed with white. 
 
 Gen. Von Moltke, orange salmon, flaked with scarlet. 
 
 Rosaline, bright buff, blotched with crimson. 
 
 Vaillante, scarlet fringed, dwarf, profuse bloomer. 
 
 Welcome, brightest red, perfect shape. 
 
CHAPTER XII 
 
 Herbaceous Plants, Peonies, Phloxes, Chrysanthemums, 
 Delphiniums, and a select list of Desirables. 
 
 " There is a lesson in each flower, 
 A story in each stream and bower ; 
 On every herb on which you tread 
 Are written words which, rightly read, 
 Will lead you from earth's fragrant sod, 
 To hope, and holiness, and God." 
 
 Herbaceous Plants are Perennials, which die down to the roots every 
 winter, but in the spring, send up fresh stems and blossoms from the 
 roots, thereby furnishing the easiest means of adorning a garden. They 
 require but very little care, as the most of them are hardy, while others 
 require a slight protection. The soil should be kept in good order, free 
 from weeds, and a yearly dressing of good compost will make them 
 bloom luxuriantly, and some species are so vigorous that they will 
 continue to bloom annually, even in a neglected grass sod. Many of 
 them bloom early in the season, as soon as the Snowdrop. Crocus and 
 Hyacinth have passed away; and by a judicious selection, a profuse and 
 gorgeous supply of flowers may be obtained from a bed of these plants, 
 until the garden is brilliant with the brightly tinted Annuals, etc. 
 
 A list, of the most desirable of these plants will be given, with their 
 time of flowering ; but I must first call your attention to the Herba- 
 ceous Peeonies, which form a large family of most beautiful flowers, 
 gome of which are indispensable in the smallest collection of plants. 
 
78 EVERY WOMAN HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. 
 
 Herbaceous P monies. 
 
 The common red Peeony, or, as it is usually called in the old-fashioned 
 parlance among those of an older generation, Piny, used to grow in 
 every country garden; its large and brilliant red flowers rendering it 
 very conspicuous, and delighting all lovers of gorgeous colorings. Well 
 do I remember the /wrore caused among amateur florists by the intro- 
 duction of a white Peeony, and every one must have a root of it, to 
 contrast with their fiery-red flowers. 
 
 Then the fragrant pink variety was introduced and much admired; 
 and for many years no other novelty appeared in their ranks ; but the 
 English and French florists were busily engaged in cultivating these 
 flowers, and now over one hundred varieties are given in the catalogues, 
 and described as distinct in shape, hue, time of flowering, etc. 
 
 The Pseony is very showy when planted by itself, yet when grown en 
 masse, the effect is truly magnificent. The darkest shades should be 
 arranged in the center of the bed, and the colors shaded out to pure 
 white; thus planted, a beautiful show can be obtained. 
 
 Alba Plenaia, very double flower, white. 
 
 Whitleyi, older variety, very fragrant, white with yellow center. 
 
 Virginalis, of the purest white. 
 
 Baron Eothschild, flower large, pale rose. 
 
 Queen Victoria, rose color. 
 
 Amabilis, outer petals rose color, and the inner a delicate, creamy white. 
 
 Festiva, white, shaded to carmine red in the center. 
 
 Albicans Plena, rosy pink, and blooms early and late 
 
 Maiden's Blush, fine and large, bright pink. 
 
 Duchesse d'Orleans, outside petals violet- rose, and deep salmon buff 
 at the center. 
 
 Pomponia, of a purplish pink, with salmon colored center 
 
 Pattsii, very rich, darkest purplish crimson. 
 
 Duchesse de Nemours, rosy lilac. 
 
 Tenuifolia, funnel-shaped leaves, flowers deep cnmson 
 
 Pompadoura, dark crimson, inner petals delicately cut. 
 
 Eubra Striata, richest rosy crimson. 
 
 The Moutan or Tree Paeonies are very beautiful ; they are perfectly 
 hardy, excepting in northern New England, where, to bloom in perfec- 
 tion, they should be covered with a barrel filled with leaves. They do 
 not die down to the roots every winter, and are more properly called shrubs. 
 
EVERY W 031 AN HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. 79 
 
 Phloxes. 
 
 The beauty of these Herbaceous Plants is not fully appreciated. 
 They are perfectly hardy, and their brilliant clusters of flowers, com- 
 prising all colors from Avhite to crimson and purple, striped and mottled, 
 have few superiors among hardy plants. They will thrive in almost any 
 soil, but enjoy fresh loam, and new quarters every two or three years. 
 They increase rapidly from the roots, will also grow easily from cuttings 
 or layers. 
 
 Select list of varieties: — 
 
 Albert Cameron, large white flower, with carmine eye. 
 
 Alexandrine Bellet de Varenne, carmine, with scarlet center. 
 
 Augustine Lierval, Avhite, pink center. 
 
 Chloris, vivid red. 
 
 Countess of Ilome, white, dark crimson center. 
 
 L'Orientale, amoranth, large flower, extra. 
 
 Madame Thaman, rich carmine, crimson center. 
 
 Madame d'Argent, rose colored, purple center. 
 
 Madame Henricq, velvety rose, carmine eye. 
 
 Mademoiselle Lemichez, white, scarlet center. 
 
 Monsieur Auary, very bright red. 
 
 Roi Leopold, striped rose and white, very showy. 
 
 Eaphael, rose, crimson eye. 
 
 White Lady, new, pure white, with clusters of flowers six inches in 
 diameter. 
 
 Surpasse Marie Belanger, large, white, purple eye. 
 
 Clirysantlieynums. 
 
 These come into bloom so late in the season that they are frequently 
 called the " Christmas flower " ; and, as they fill a place occupied by no 
 other flower, should therefore be cultivated in every garden. 
 
 They are most easily propagated from cuttings, taken in August, or 
 from the shoots sent up from the roots after blooming. They are very 
 hardy excepting at the extreme north, ar.d can be wintered there under 
 sods. Good specimens should have but one stem, with short, thick-set 
 branches, which may be made to grow by pinching oif the end shoots, 
 thus encouraging the side branches. They grow very vigorously in a 
 rich light soil. 
 
80 EVERY WOMAN HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. 
 
 There are three varieties or species; the large flowered, most suitable 
 for out-door culture ; the dwarf or Pompone, which blooms beautifully, 
 iu-doors, and their different colors will form a choice bouquet; and thft 
 Japan Chrysanthemums. All of these species are beautiful objects in 
 the open garden in November and December. 
 
 Largo llowering varieties: — 
 
 Boule d'Or, fine, large, golden yellow. 
 
 Boule d'Neige, large, pure white. 
 
 Captivation, light purple, splendid. 
 
 Erecta Superba, clear sulphur-yellow. 
 
 Lord Derby, deep purple, petals incurved. 
 
 Guernsey Nugget, light yellow. 
 
 Princess Teck, creamy white. 
 
 Prince Albert, crimson, red. 
 
 Queen of England, blush. 
 
 Mount iEtna, fiery crimson. 
 
 Princess of Wales, purest white. 
 
 Temple of Solomon, golden yellow. 
 
 Pompone or LiUputian Clirysanthemuws. 
 
 Acton, golden yellow. 
 
 Countesse de Mons, pale rose. 
 
 Iris, white tipped with rose. 
 
 Sinbad, light crimson. 
 
 Mad. De Soulangis, pure rose. 
 
 Trevenna, purest white. 
 
 Eoi de Liliput, maroon. 
 
 Theresita, fine, lilac. 
 
 Ragozza, yellow, tipped with ros . 
 
 Japan Chrysanthemums. 
 
 These flowers are novelties, from Japan — with tasselled or quilled 
 flowers. 
 
 Laciniatus, is creamy white, fine for bouquets and vases. 
 
 Mons. Bonnet, amber, fine large flowers. 
 
 These plants are of an elegant appearance, and by pinching off the 
 first flower buds, can be made to bloom in January and February. 
 
EVERY WOMAN HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. 81 
 
 Delphiniums, or Hardy Perennial Larkspurs, 
 Are amoug the finest of this class of plants, and if the seed-pods are cut 
 ofi", will continue in flower from July to Noyember. They will also 
 flower the first year if sown early in hot-bed, and are very desirable 
 for late blooming. They grow readily from seed or from the increase 
 of the root. The shades of blue are unsurpassed by any other flower 
 of similar color. 
 
 Delphinium Formosum is of the brightest blue with a white center. 
 
 D. Mons. Neuner, pale blue. 
 
 D. Chinensi Pumilum, azure blue. 
 
 D. Alba, paper white. 
 
 D. Belladonna, finest sky blue. 
 
 A list of Herbaceous Plants that tvill give a succession ofjloiuers. 
 
 Achillea Millefolium Kubrum, deep red, one foot high, blooms from 
 June to September. 
 
 Achillea Ptarmica Plena, pure white double flowers, in bloom from 
 July to October. 
 
 Aconitum Napellus (Monkshood), dark blue; four to six feet; June 
 to August. 
 
 Aconitum Versicolor, variegated, blue and white; three to five feet, 
 July to August. 
 
 Arabis Alpina, pure white flowers, eight inches; May. 
 
 Asclepias tuberosa, orange colored flowers; two feet; July. 
 
 Amsonia salicifolia, lavender blue, in clusters ; three feet ; June. 
 
 Anemone Japonica, purplish rose; eighteen inches; September. 
 
 Aquilegia jocunda (Columbine), dark blue, white center; two feet; 
 June. 
 
 Aquilegia striata, striped, blue and white. 
 
 Aquilegia Sibirica, dark bluish-black flowers, very double ; one foot ; 
 June. 
 
 Baptisia cerulea, brightest blue ; two feet ; June. 
 
 Baptisia alba, floweis pure white; two feet; June. 
 
 Bocconia cordata, very showy, large foliage, spikes of whitish flowers ; 
 six to eight feet; July. 
 
 Callirrhoe involucrata, trailing plant with bright crimson flowers; 
 June. 
 
82 EVERY WOMAN HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. 
 
 Hollyhocks, very double flowers, all colors; July to October. 
 
 Lupinus polyphyllus, flowers of various colors, from pure white to the 
 darkest purple; two to three feet; July, 
 
 Lychnis albo pleno, double, white ; a foot and a half high ; May and 
 June. 
 
 Lychnis Chalcedonica pleno, double, scarlet; two to three feet; June 
 and July. 
 
 Lychnis Haagena, all colors from white to scarlet. 
 
 Orobus vernus, reddish purple; one foot; April and May. 
 
 Papaver Orientale, brilliant scarlet flowers; three feet; June and July. 
 
 Penstemon grandiflora; there are many varieties from the Prairies; 
 three feet; June. 
 
 Phalangium Liliago, flowers pure white, in loose spikes, elegant ; two 
 to three feet; July. 
 
 Saxifraga crassifolia, deep pink, in large clusters ; six inches ; blooms 
 early in April. 
 
 Scutellaria Japonica, deep purplish blue ; eight inches ; July. 
 
 Lamium Maculatum album et Rubrum, flowers in short round spikes, 
 red and white ; June. 
 
 Zauschneria Californica, flowers of a bright scarlet, blossoms in July ; 
 hardy in middle States. 
 
 The varieties of the Funkia, or Day Lily, should not be omitted. 
 The common variety is of a rare fragrance, and its flowers are produced 
 in large clusters; only two or three of the pure white lilies opening at 
 once. It is perfectly hardy in all climates. The variegated species has 
 blueish- white flowers without the delicious odor of the white variety. 
 Its leaves are prettily variegated, and are its chief attraction. 
 
CHAPTEE XIII. 
 
 Immortelles, or Everlasting Flowers, and Ornamental 
 
 Grasses. 
 
 •' There is religion in a flower: 
 Its still small voice is as the voice of conscience. 
 Mountains and oceans, planets, suns and systems, 
 Bear not the impress of Almighty power 
 In characters more legible than those 
 "Which He hath written on the tiniest flower 
 Whose hght bell bends beneath the dew-drop's weight." 
 
 No collection of flowers is complete without some few varieties of 
 Immortelles, or Everlasting Flowers. When ice and snow abound, they 
 serve to brighten our in-door surroundings. Mingled with dried grasses 
 and branches of Arbor Vitae, or some other evergreen, they make good 
 substitutes for their more delicate sisters who are faded and gone. 
 
 My sitting room is always adorned, in the wintry season, with vases 
 of these bright flowers, which retain their places until forced to yield 
 them to the fragile flowers of the early spring. 
 
 So in ordering your seeds, don't forget to write down an assortment 
 of these flowers, whose beauty is not evanescent. 
 
 They are invaluable decorations for home and church, and can be 
 made into crowns, crosses and bouquets. 
 
 Their flowers should be gathered while in the bud; if allowed to 
 expand, they will not be as handsome when dried. The stems should 
 be tied together, and the bunches hung up in a dark, dry closet, taking 
 care not to tie them up in too large quantities, to dry quickly, else they 
 may mildew or mould. When well dried, put away in boxes until 
 desired for use. 
 
84 EVERY WOMAN IIER OWN FLOWER GARDENER, 
 
 To save seeds from tlicm, it is best to let the first blossoms remain 
 uncut, and mature. When ripe, cut them off, and preserve until another 
 season. 
 
 These plants will grow in any common garden soil. They are not par- 
 ticularly ornamental, as their flowers are kept well cut oflF, and it is better 
 to plant a bed of them among the vegetables, or in some out-of-the-way 
 corner, as they will not add to the beauty of your flower beds or lawns. 
 
 In the large cities, quite a trade is carried on in the way of these 
 flowers, and thousands of them are yearly imported to supply the 
 demand for crowns and crosses for the decoration of the cemeteries. 
 At all seasons of the year they are appropriate there, for neither rain 
 nor sun injures them, when well dried; while they, in their unfading 
 brightness, fully corroborate their claims to the title of Immortelles. 
 
 The florists' catalogues offer us a good variety to select from, and at 
 the head of the list stand the Acrocliniums — perhaps not quite as beauti- 
 ful as Ehodanthe Manglesii, but easier of cultivation, as they are quite 
 hardy, and not as delicate in habit. 
 
 They groAv a foot high, and are of two kinds — a bright rose color, and 
 pure Avhite — each with a yellow center. The flowers are fragile enough 
 to pass for " artificials," and they have been used in decorating ladies' 
 hats, with good effect. Vases filled with them, and mingled Avith ani- 
 mated oats and grasses, are very ornamental. No garden should be 
 without them. 
 
 Ammobium alatum is a white flower, which is very pretty in arranging 
 memorial Avreaths or crosses. 
 
 Globe Amaranth, or Gomphrena is commonly cultivated. It is found 
 in shades from a bright orange to a purplish crimson, and pure white. 
 The flowers should be gathered as soon as the colors are well developed. 
 
 Helichrysums are very desirable. They are in all varieties of color, 
 from the brightest yellow, the purest Avhite, to the richest shades of red. 
 The minimum, or dwarf species, are the prettiest for wreaths, etc. Be 
 sure to cut the buds, and they will dry into perfect flowers. 
 
 Helipterum Sanfordi is a later importation. Its flowers are of a 
 bright golden yellow, and grow in small clusters of fine flowers, making 
 an agreeable variety. Another kind produces snowy white flowers. 
 
 Ehodanthe is a charming everlasting. Its bright, bell shaped flowers 
 and graceful habit make it an addition to the flower beds, as well as foi 
 winter decorations. There are four varieties. 
 
EVERY WOMAN HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. 85 
 
 Rhodanthe alba is of silvery whiteness, and the finest white Immor- 
 telle grown. 
 
 Rhodanthe atrosanguinea has dark crimson flowers, with a violet disc 
 or center. 
 
 Rhodanthe Macnlata has larger blossoms of a bright rose color, tinged 
 tvitli violet j)urple, with a yellow center. It is a fine plant for window 
 gardening. 
 
 Rhodanthe Manglesii is the oldest variety. Its blossoms are rose col- 
 ored, suffused with white. All these flowers are the most desirable of 
 their kind. The silvery scales on the outside of the flower contrast 
 charmingly with the brighter colors of the petals. 
 
 Waitzia aurea and grandiflora have flowers of a brilliant gold color, 
 and produce a fine efiect, when mingled with others. They bloom in 
 clusters, and if left too long on the plant, become dingy and discolored. 
 
 Xeranthemnms are very easily cultivated. The seeds vegetate as 
 quickly as those of the Aster or Balsam. They are of various colors, 
 and grow about one foot high, blooming very freely. 
 
 All of these plants require some space to grow in, and the plants must 
 be transj^lanted at least a foot apart to bloom advantageously. 
 
 These Everlasting Flowers can be dyed into various colors. Last 
 autumn some bright yellow Helichrysums fell into a solution of borax, 
 and turned their petals to the most glorious sunset hue, with a fine 
 metallic lustre. It oxydized the color, and my vases are still resplend- 
 ent with the fiowers. I tried its effect upon crimson and pink flowers, 
 but it failed to beautify them, but faded out all their original brightness. 
 The yellow flowers are of a wonderful golden-scarlet hue, rarely seen in 
 any flower that grows. Dip the flowers into a cup of water into which 
 as much borax as will dissolve has been added, and see for yourself the 
 perfect shade of color. Family dyes can be used to dye purple, scarlet and 
 green, and mosses can be thus prepared to arrange among the bright-hued 
 flowers, making prettier objects for home adornment than can be pur- 
 chased at the shops. Purple dye can be made at home from one ounce 
 of ground logwood, one tablespoonful of powdered alum, and one pint of 
 soft water; boil for twenty minutes; when cool, put in the flowers. 
 
 Yellow dye can be made with one ounce of quercitron bark ; same 
 proportions of alum and water as above; boil twenty minutes. Mix 
 indigo with the yellow dye, and a beautiful green is formed, which will 
 dye mosses or grasses perfectly. 
 
8(J EVERY WOMAN HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. 
 
 Ornameiital Grasses. 
 
 The varieties of grasses are almost innumerable. There are already 
 known and described three thousand species in the world, and in Amer- 
 ica alone there are six hundred. On a small bit of turf, not a foot 
 square, you may often find five or six dififerent kinds. Our prairies 
 abound in numerous varieties — some radiated, and variegated purple 
 and green, like the peacock's plumage — others pinnated and feathery, as 
 the marabout's plume; but all exceedingly beautiful! 
 
 The Durva grass of the Hindoos is one of the most perfect that is 
 known. 
 
 Sir William Jones remarks that : — 
 
 " The flowers in their perfect state aflFord the loveliest object in crea- 
 tion ; and when examined with a microscope, they resemble emeralds 
 and rubies trembling in the slightest breath of air. Nor is the Durva 
 less esteemed for its valuable qualities. It affords the sweetest and most 
 nutritious pasturage for cattle ; and its usefulness and beauty induced 
 the Hindoos, even in the earliest ages, to believe that it was the dwelling 
 place of a presiding and benevolent nymph, who loved to listen to the 
 cropping of dewy herbage by flocks and herds in meadows, and beside 
 clear streams. Poets feigned that looking forth from her diverging 
 spike, adorned with purple flowers and ranged in two close, alternate 
 rows, wherever she presided blights and mildews were unknown, and 
 that the air was loaded with fragrance, as if from bowers of balm, 
 although neither roses, citrons, richly scented magnolias, nor orange 
 trees grew contiguous." 
 
 The Veda celebrates this inimitable grass in the following sentence 
 of the A. E. harvana: — 
 
 " May the Durva, which arose from the waters of life, and which hath 
 a hundred roots and a hundred stems, prolong my existence on earth 
 for a hundred years." 
 
 Linnaeus kneeled beside the northern holy grass, and thanked the 
 Lord for having made it. Paley, the great moralist, loved the grasses, 
 and delighted in the inspection of their tiny florets. And Christ taught 
 us a lesson of faith from them, saying: — 
 
 " Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to-day is, 
 and to-morrow is cast into the oven ; shall He not much more clothe 
 you, ye of little faith?" 
 
EVERY WOMAN HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. 87 
 
 By grasses are meant all those plants which have a round, jointed, 
 and hollow stem, surrounded at each joint with a single leaf, long, 
 narrow and pointed, and whose seeds are contained in chaffy husks. 
 This numerous family embraces even the tall Bamboo of India and the 
 tropical climates, which affords building material for houses, furniture 
 and carriages, and yet is brother to the meadow fox-tail grass. 
 
 The Ornamental Grasses are attracting more attention every year, 
 and they are especially adapted to planting en masse, or in single beds 
 on the lawn. 
 
 They are easily grown from seeds, which cost but a trifle. The per- 
 ennial kinds are more desirable on account of their permanency; but 
 there are many annual and biennial species well worthy of cultivation, 
 even in the smallest garden. They add much to the attractiveness of 
 bouquet or vase, and are truly numbered among the indis'pensables. 
 
 Andropogon Argenteum has silvery colored leaves and plumes of 
 flowers; is quite hardy, grows four feet high, and is raised either from 
 seeds or the division of its roots. 
 
 Andropogon bombycinus is a lovely novelty ; with plumes covered 
 with silky hairs of a metallic whiteness. It is a hardy perennial from 
 Persia, growing one foot high. 
 
 Arundo donax versicolor has striped foliage, and is one of the most 
 beautiful of grasses. It is not quite hardy, but should be covered with 
 sods, or placed in a dry cellar during winter. 
 
 Chloropsis Blanchardia is a very elegant species, with rose colored 
 spikes. It is also tender, requires protection in a northern climate. 
 
 Bromus brizaeformis is a hardy species, with drooping panicles ; grows 
 one foot high. 
 
 Chascolytrum erectum is also hardy, and very ornamental ; is a native 
 of Chili ; grows eighteen inches. 
 
 Chloris myriostachies is a new variety, with velvety flower heads; 
 hardy ; grows three feet. 
 
 Cyperus Paramatta belongs to the sedge family, and is very attractive. 
 
 Erianthus Ravennal is one of the most desirable species cultivated. 
 It is quite hardy, and forms large clumps from which the stems rise to 
 the height of ten to twelve feet, and are crowned with silvery plumes of 
 twenty inches in length. A clump of this beautiful grass in full bloom, 
 is an object of universal admiration. Its flowers are pure white, with a 
 silvery lustre. 
 
88 EVERY WOMAN HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. 
 
 Gynerium argenteum (Pampas grass), is truly the " Queen of Orna- 
 mental Grasses." It mnst be seen to be appreciated. It is tender in the 
 northern States, but its roots can be kept in boxes in the cellar during 
 winter. 
 
 Panicum capilaceum is hardy, and very rich in foliage of rosy hue. 
 
 Pepragmites communis grows commonly along the banks of our 
 northern rivers, but it is beautiful, and deserves a place among its 
 foreign brethren. Its spikes of flowers are covered with long, white, 
 silky hairs. 
 
 Stipa pennata (Feather grass), is very ornamental, the seeds vegetate 
 slowly, and should be started under glass. 
 
 Trypsacum dactyloides is a very handsome and hardy grass. 
 
 Among the annual varieties I should select — 
 
 Agrostis retrafracta, an extremely graceful species; a great addition to 
 bouquets and vases. 
 
 Agrostis Steveni, with beautiful, feathery panicles. 
 
 Avena sterilis (Animated Oats), with large drooping spikes of flowers. 
 
 Briza maxima (Quaking grass), very beautiful. 
 
 Briza geniculata, dwarf habit ; very graceful. 
 
 Chloris radiata, a curious variety ; very desirable. 
 
 Ohloris truncata, silvery plumes. 
 
 Eleusine barcinonensis, a novelty with out-spreading plumes of 
 flowers; lovely for house culture. 
 
 Hordeum jubatum (Squirrel-tail grass), lovely green and purplish 
 plumes. 
 
 Lagurus ovatus (Hare's-tail grass), very pleasing. 
 
 Panicum variegatum, one of the most graceful and ornamental plants 
 for baskets or vases. 
 
 Paspalum elegans, white flower. 
 
CHAPTER XIY. 
 
 Oen"amen-tal Foliaged Plants. 
 
 / " Oh 1 who that has an eye to see, 
 1 A heart to feel, a tongue to bless, 
 
 I Can ever undelighted be, 
 
 "With nature's magic loveliness." 
 
 Variegated leaved plants are quite the fashion at this time, and are 
 becoming more popular every year. They produce a fine efiect when 
 planted in oval or circular beds. The furore for these plants has pro- 
 duced a great variety ; the whole world has been searched for rare 
 specimens, and these have been hybridized, and greatly improved. A 
 bed of them, well arranged as to color, is a most gorgeous sight, equal 
 to any display of flowers. 
 
 A recent writer speaks of them thus : — 
 
 " Do not these curious plants, that among their leaves of light have 
 no need of flowers, resemble those rare human plants that develop all 
 the beauties of mind and character at an exceptionally early age, and 
 rapidly ripen for the tomb ? They do not live to bring forth the flowers 
 and fruits of life's vigorous prime, and therefore God converts their 
 foliage into leaves, crowns the initial stage with the glories of the final, 
 and makes their very leaves beautiful. By the transfiguration of His 
 grace, by the light that never was on sea or land, He adorns even their 
 tender years with all the loveliness which in other cases comes only with 
 full maturity." 
 
 A very pretty bed of Ornamental Plants can be sown from seed. In 
 the center, plant the Striped-leaved Japanese Corn. A foot from it on 
 
90 EVERY W03IAN HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. 
 
 all sides, sow seeds of the Carinas ; soak the seeds in boiling "water for 
 an hour, and pour boiling water on the ground after the seeds are 
 planted. If planted about the 10th of May, they will grow finely. 
 
 For the next row, sow Amaranthns melancholicus, and thin out the 
 plants a foot apart. Next to these put the Silvery-leaved Cineraria 
 maritima; and border the whole with Perilla Nankinensis. A row of 
 white Candytuft could come after the Perilla, but it must be pulled up as 
 soon as its flowers are past, or it will destroy the beauty of the bed. 
 Such a bed could be obtained at a slight expense, not exceeding one 
 dollar; while for a bed of Coleus — Achyranthus, Caladiums, Cineraria 
 Acanthifolia, Alternantheras, Centaurcas and Gnaphalium, sixty to 
 seventy-five dollars is often paid. Of course, a bed of the latter descrip- 
 tion is far more recherche than one of the former; but only those whom 
 Fortune has favored, can possess it; while you and I can delight our 
 eyes daily with the bed of our own planting from seeds. 
 
 Coleus. 
 
 These plants take first rank among variegated plants. Coleus Vers- 
 chaflFeltii, with rich crimson leaves, veined with bronze and margined 
 with green, was considered a rare wonder ; but the Golden Coleus far 
 surpass the early varieties. The American and English florists have 
 been very successful with these lovely plants. They ofier us this 
 year : — 
 
 Beauty of "Widmore, olive green, stained with pink, white edge. 
 
 Eolat, bronzy crimson, golden edge. 
 
 Acis, crimson, shaded carmine, golden edge. 
 
 Brilliant, bronzy crimson, broad golden margin. 
 
 Model, pinkish bronze, narrow golden border. 
 
 Princess Louise, reddish bronze, light yellow edge. 
 
 Golden Beauty, dark crimson, wavy and golden, fringed edge. 
 
 Setting Sun, rich bronze center, bright yellow edge. 
 
 Sunbeam, bronzy crimson, dark veins, yellow margin. 
 
 Unique, reddish crimson, deep golden border. 
 
 Of the older kinds the most noted are : — 
 
 Albert Victor, center purplish red, broad yellow margin. 
 
 Her Majesty, bronzy red center, greenish yellow margin. 
 
 Princess Koyal, center reddish bronze, light yellow margin. 
 
 All of these make fine bedding-out plants ; will grow in any rich. 
 
EVERT WOMAN HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. 91 
 
 sandy loam ; they are very tender, the first frost blackens their beauty ; 
 and they require much heat in the winter. A slight chill is death to 
 them. I had fine plants of several kinds last winter, but a cold night 
 in December killed every one; green-house culture is needful for them. 
 
 Acliyrantlius. 
 
 These plants rank next to the Coleus in richness of coloring, and 
 beavity of veining. 
 
 A. Acuminata has dark red leaves, marked with a salmon-red midrib, 
 and light crimson under-surface. It contrasts charmingly with silvery- 
 leaved plants. 
 
 Aureus Eeticulatus has light green foliage, veined with yellow; 
 stems crimson, very effective. 
 
 Achyranthus Lindenii is of a bushy growth, foliage rich, deep crimson. 
 
 All of these are very tender, but make good house plants during the 
 winter. 
 
 Alternantheras. 
 
 These are dwarf plants from Brazil, with leaves tinted with crimson, 
 pink, brown and green. 
 
 A. Amcena, crimson shaded to pink, and amber brown. 
 
 A. Amabilis, orange, crimson and dark green. 
 
 A. Leatifolia, foliage large, green, orange and crimson. 
 
 A. Versicolor, olive, crimson and chocolate. 
 
 These varieties are all used for edgings, and if they are closely cut, 
 the fresh growth assumes most brilliant hues. They will not outlive 
 our cold winters without protection. 
 
 Caladiums. 
 
 One of the most beautiful of the Ornamental Foliaged Plants for 
 planting on the lawn, or as a center for oval or circular beds. They 
 Avill grow five feet high, with immense leaves of a light green color, 
 beautifully veined with various colors. They are bulbous roots, and 
 must be taken up with the first frosts. 
 
 The bulbs should be kept in sand in a dry temperature, not below 50* 
 
 Caladium Chatini, green ground, red and white spots. 
 
 Due de Nassau, clear red leaf, beautifully shaded. 
 
 Emperor Napoleon, brilliant crimson, with rich blood-red ribs. 
 
 0. Houlletii, spotted and veined, with various shades of green. 
 
92 EVERY WOMAN HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. 
 
 Madame Houllet, pink spots towards the center, with white spots on 
 the margin. 
 
 C. Sedeni, clouded, green and rose. 
 
 C. Splendens, rich crimson, shaded to a green margin. 
 
 C. Verschaffeltii, green ground, with pink spots. 
 
 The oldest and best known variety is the Caladium Esculcatum, the 
 leaves are of immense size, often two feet long and six inches broad. It 
 will thrive when the other tender varieties fail. 
 
 Begonias. 
 
 This class are remarkable for the diversity of their markings, and 
 their rich crimson stems and edgings. Some of the leaves are of an 
 immense size, with broad silvery zones and snowy spots, which contrast 
 perfectly with the rich crimson-tinted, emerald-hued leaves. 
 
 Begonia Rex was the first variety ; from it have sprung many rare kinds. 
 
 Begonia Hybrida Multiflora is valuable, especially for flowering during 
 the winter months, blooming almost continually; has small ovate, 
 glossy leaves, and a profusion of gracefully drooping racemes of rosy 
 pink blossoms. 
 
 C annas. 
 
 These are highly ornamental and effective ; their broad, bright-hued 
 leaves resemble those of the Banana ; and their flowers are produced in 
 racemes of scarlet, crimson, orange-red, and buff. They are tender, and 
 must be removed to a dry cellar as soon as the frost comes. In spring 
 start them in boxes, or in a warm climate, in the open border. They 
 are grown from seed, as directed in this chapter; but one is not certain 
 of procuring the best varieties. The bulbs can always be purchased at 
 the florists at a small price. 
 
 Atropurpurea has fine dark leaves, with orange-scarlet flowers. 
 
 Insignis, leaves banded and rayed with purples ; flowers reddish-orange. 
 
 Premices de Nice, large foliage, bright yellow flowers, spotted with 
 salmon. 
 
 Rubra Superbissima, stalks crimson, leaves red, with a metallic shade, 
 flowers clear orange-red. 
 
 Nigricans, leaves green with a dark bronze shade, flowers bright Ver- 
 million. 
 
 Ne plus ultra, leaves rich purple, flowers crimson-scarlet. 
 
 Musaefolia, foliage large and handsome. 
 
EVERT W02IAN HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. 03 
 
 Silver Foliage Plants 
 Are very desirable to plant iu rows with the brightly hued Coleus, Achy- 
 lanthus, etc. 
 
 Artemisia Stelleriana is a pretty dwarf plant. 
 
 Cineraria Acanthifolia has velvety white leaves, and is the most 
 desirable of its kind. 
 
 Centaurea Gymnocarpa, very elegant, silvery leaves, with narrow, 
 pointed lobes. 
 
 Centaurea Candidissima has snowy Avhite leaves, with a frosted 
 appearance. 
 
 Centaurea Clementei surpasses all its family in the elegance of its 
 foliage. Its young leaves are like velvet, and, when fully developed, 
 retain a silvery effect. 
 
 Gnaphalium Lanatum is of a dwarf, creeping habit, very desirable as 
 a bordering. 
 
 Gnaphalium Tomentosum has long, narrow, silvery foliage. 
 
 Glaucium Corniculatum has long, velvety leaves, of a silvery white 
 hue; leaves deeply pinnated ; flowers of bell shape, orange yellow. It 
 is a novelty introduced last season, and is much admired. 
 
 Achyrocline Saundersonii is dwarf and densely branched, with pure 
 white leaves. 
 
 Coprosma Baneriana Variegata, a fine dwarf plant, with green oval 
 leaves, flecked and veined with yellow; is a novelty from New 
 Zealand. 
 
 Sinclairea Discolor has large, oval leaves, bright green on the upper 
 side, but lined Avith a downy, snowy whiteness, producing a fine effect. 
 
 Wigandia Caraccasana is a stately, ornamental plant, whose large, 
 bright green leaves are covered with hairy spines. Its flowers are of 
 rich purple, borne on a large spike. 
 
 Fittonia Argyroneura is lovely for vases, hanging baskets, or ferne- 
 ries. Its leaves are of bright green, netted with pearly white veins. 
 
 Acorus Gramineus Variegata is also desirable for baskets, etc. Its 
 narrow, grass-like leaves are margined with bright yellow. 
 
 Panicum Variegatum is also a grass, striped with white and rose ; will 
 grow two or three feet in a season ; is very elegant. 
 
 Abutilon Thompsonii is a prettily variegated shrub, with leaves mar- 
 bled with yellow. 
 
 Sedum Carneum Variegatum is of dwarf growth, with lance-shaped 
 
94 EVERT W03IAN HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. 
 
 green leaves, margined with white. Beautiful for rock work, but will 
 not endure the winter of the Northern States. 
 
 I cannot close a chapter on Variegated Plants, without mention 
 of the 
 
 Golden Bronze and the Silver Margined Oeraniums. 
 
 This class form most beautiful groups or beds, very effective either on 
 the lawn or in the garden. 
 
 Mrs. Pollock is one of the best known of these varieties, but Lady 
 Oullum surpasses it in the beauty of its .zone. 
 
 Sir Robert Napier is said to possess the handsomest coloring of all. 
 Its zone is deeply indented with brilliant scarlet; flowers flesh colored. 
 
 Sophie Dumaresque has a dark crimson zone, wdth broad yellow 
 margin. 
 
 Black Prince, dark bronze zone, on a yellow ground. 
 
 Beauty of Oulton, broad yellow leaf, with a wide bronze zone. 
 
 Bronze Queen, yellowish bronze, with a dark chocolate zone ; con- 
 trasts perfectly with the silver-edged varieties. 
 
 Southern Belle, golden yellow ground, brilliant crimson zone. 
 
 E. G. Henderson, light yellow ground, fine dark bronzy zone. 
 
 Beauty of Calderdale, reddish brown zone on a golden green ground. 
 
 Crystal Palace Gem, golden margin, green center. 
 
 Perilla, broad dark zone. 
 
 Queen Victoria, rich maroon zone, golden yellow margin. 
 
 Silver Margined Geraniums. 
 
 Cherub, silver margined, carmine zone, dwarf. 
 
 Burning Bush, sulphur white, with bronze zone of rosy crimson tint. 
 
 Beauty of Guestwick, zone bronze and rosy carmine, creamy white 
 margin. 
 
 Castlemilk, pea-green center, well defined white edge, the whitest of 
 its class. 
 
 Countess of Warwick, broad white margin, zone dark bronze, banded 
 with pink. 
 
 May Queen, fine broad silver edge. 
 
 Kenilworth, white margiji, rich crimson zone. 
 
 Mt. of Snow, pure white, broad edge. 
 
 Rainbow, silvery white margin, red zone. 
 
 Snow Storm, fine white edge. 
 
EVERY WOMAN HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. 95 
 
 Italia Uuita, silver edge, dark zone shaded to carmine. 
 Little Pet. pink zone, silver edge. 
 Snow Drop, fine silvery white edge. 
 Perfection, broad white margin, tine. 
 
 Variegated Ivy-Leaved Geraniums. 
 
 These flowers are very lovely, from their drooping growth, for vases, 
 rustic baskets and rock work. They grow readily from slips, are quite 
 tender, and must be housed during the winter months. 
 
 L'Elegante has deep pea-green leaves, with a clear white margin run- 
 ning into pink. Its flowers are pure white, borne in large clusters. It 
 is unsurpassed for ornamental purposes, where vines are required. 
 
 Duke of Edinburgh is beautifully variegated, and of very vigorous 
 growth. 
 
 Holly Wreath has leaves of deep green, with a creamy margin, white 
 flowers. 
 
 Peltatum Floribunda, leaves bright glossy green, flowers of a rosy 
 pink. 
 
 Fairy Bells, rich green leaves, flowers a light blush 
 
 Elegans, bright rich foliage, mauve colored flowers. 
 
 All these Variegated Geraniums grow readily from cuttings, and will 
 bloom in almost any common garden soil. They show their bright 
 markings at better advantage if located so that they are shaded from 
 the heat of the noonday sun. Planted together, en masse, they produce 
 a gorgeous effect. All of them have brilliant colored flowers, but they 
 are not as large and handsome as those of the Zonale tribe. If planted 
 on a graduated mound, with a tall Zonale or Double Geranium for the 
 apex, they show in perfect contrast. They require watering at night, if 
 the season is hot and dry. They can be wintered in a warm window, or 
 placed in sandy soil, in boxes, and kept in a frost-proof cellar. 
 
 Of course the leaves will fall, but the roots will remain alive, and will 
 not require water more than once or twice all winter, unless they are 
 kept in a warm place near the furnace fire ; but this is not a good loca- 
 tion for them ; far better to keep them in a cool, dark cellar, where 
 vegetation can sleep quietly. 
 
CHAPTER XY. 
 
 Spking Flo weeing Bulbs. 
 
 " Odors of spring, my senses ye charm! 
 Methinks with purpose soft ye come, 
 
 To tell of brighter hours ; 
 Of May's blue skies, abundant bloom, 
 
 And sunny gales and showers." 
 
 In October and November we must plant the Spring Flowering Bulbs, 
 which are the first flowers in the spring that gladden our eyes. As 
 soon as the sun's rays have strength enough to pierce the stony ground, 
 they send up their leaves closely sheathed together to withstand the icy 
 touch of the north wind. With the first sweet whistle of the robin, and 
 the clear treble notes of the blue bird, they stand ready to burst forth 
 into gorgeous splendor. The pearly white Snowdrop, white as the 
 snow-drift which has nourished her buds, is the pale leader of the glori- 
 ously clad procession which follows the spring's footsteps. 
 
 Clusters of these roots can be planted among the grass nearest the 
 house, and early in March and AjDril they will appear in full bloom. 
 They will grow in any soil ; but will run out if new homes are not pro- 
 vided for them every three or four years. They multiply rapidly. The 
 great Snowdrop is double the size of the common kind, but does not 
 blossom so early. The small sorts can be planted an inch apart and two 
 inches deep, but the larger kinds should be planted five inches asunder, 
 and four inches in depth. 
 
 The Crocus 
 Comes next in order, clothed in purple, yellow and white, lilac and blue ; 
 striped and plain ; cloth of gold and cloth of silver. They are of easy 
 
EVERY WOMAN HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. 97 
 
 culture, and increase rapidly by oflFsets ; they can remain in the ground 
 three years, hut may he taken up every year, when their leaves have 
 hecome yellow. October is the best season for replanting them, but 
 ISTovember will do in warm climates. They should be planted two inches 
 deep, and an inch or two apart. The new varieties are raised from seed. 
 These bulbs are perfectly hardy, but will come forward better in the 
 spring, if the ground is covered with a bed of leaves or evergreen boughs. 
 
 Among the new varieties are : — 
 
 Albion, blue, striped with white. 
 
 Caroline Chisholm, purest white. 
 
 Cloth of Gold, yellow, striped with black. 
 
 Cloth of Silver, white, striped with purple. 
 
 David Rizzio, dark purple. 
 
 Elise, light shaded. 
 
 Ivanhoe, blue and white. 
 
 Ne plus ultra, blue bordered. 
 
 Miss Nightingale, light striped. 
 
 Qaeen Victoria, pure white. 
 
 Scotch, yellow, with purple stripes. 
 
 Sir Walter Scott, pencilled lilac. 
 
 Van Speyk, violet striped. 
 
 The HyacintJi. 
 
 This plant, though a native of the desert, has been domesticated for 
 many centuries, and is aptly styled the " Domestic Flower," for it is 
 dearly loved in many homes. 
 
 Haarlem is the great focus of bulbous cultivation ; its soil consists of 
 light vegetable mould mixed with sand, and under this is a substrata of 
 sand which drains off the heavy spring rains. Florists of other countries 
 have imitated this soil, thereby producing as fine bulbs as can be raised 
 in Holland. 
 
 All new varieties are raised from seeds, but much care and patience 
 are required, and often not more than six fine flowers will be found in 
 a thousand seedlings ; so it is the best to content ourselves with raising 
 them from the bulbs, which multiply rapidly by ofl'sets, which should 
 be planted out by themselves, in a dry, sunny location ; if they attempt 
 to flower the flrst spring, pick ofi" the buds, for the root needs all its 
 strength ; but the next spring they will flower well, and after that can 
 be treated like grown-up bulbs. 
 
98 EVERY W 031 AN HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. 
 
 If the beds in which the Hyacinths and other bulbs have flowered are 
 needed before the roots have fully matured, they can be taken up and 
 laid in ridges, covering the roots with sandy earth, but leaving the stems 
 and leaves fully exposed to the air; they will soon decay, and the bulbs 
 Avill swell to full maturity. If the ground is not required for other 
 plants, the beds can remain for two or three years undisturbed, but 
 larger flowers are produced by yearly transplantings. The seed-pods 
 should be broken off before they have had time to develop, as ripening 
 the seed would tend to exhaust the strength of the bulb, but the leaves 
 are needful to prepare the pulp for maturing the bulb for another sea- 
 son ; therefore they must not be cut off until they are wholly dried up. 
 When quite dry, separate the offsets, and place by themselves in paper 
 bugs or boxes, and keep in a dark, dry closet, until time to replant them. 
 Their roots Avill strike through a mellow soil, from ten to even twelve 
 inches ; therefore to raise the finest blossoms, the soil should be removed 
 at least one foot in depth, and the earth well broken up ; then spread 
 over it a layer of three or four inches of leaf mould, well mixed with 
 sand, and fill up with a compost of one-third well-rotted cow manure, 
 and two-thirds sandy loam, well mingled, If the soil under the pine 
 trees of the woods can be obtained, you will make your bulbs blossom 
 in perfection ; it is a dark, sandy loam, excellently fitted for flowering 
 all bulbs. Scouring sand, which can be found in nearly every kitchen, 
 is very useful in planting bulbs; put a table-spoonful into each hole, and 
 set the bulb upon it. Plant in concentric circles, straight rows, or clusters, 
 and cover the largest sized bulbs, at least three to four inches. A liberal 
 top dressing of sand will draw the sun's rays early in the season. As soon 
 as the gi'ound freezes hard, cover the beds with four or five inches of straw, 
 leaves, or coarse stable litter; but don't cover them too early, else the 
 ground mouse may burrow in the warm bed, and feed upon your bulbs. 
 
 As soon as the green sheathed leaves appear, remove part of the cover- 
 ing, and press the earth tightly around the bulbs, else they will crack 
 the earth, and let the chilling winds into the roots. In ten days or a 
 fortnight, if the weather is warm, remove all the coverings. 
 
 The florists' catalogiies are issued every autumn, and offer us a large 
 variety of roots with high-sounding names. In the selection of bulbs, 
 choose those that are compact, solid, and firm at the base of the root. 
 
 The double varieties are usually the most desirable for out-door cul- 
 ture, and they will often cover at least half of the stem with lovely bells, 
 
EVERY WOMAN HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. 09 
 
 forming a compact cone, terminated at the top by an uprignt flower. 
 The single varieties are better for window gardening, and some of them 
 are indispensable to every collection. 
 
 A bed of Hyacinths in full bloom is a glory and a joy, but in planting 
 them due deference must be paid to their height, and time of blooming, 
 or the whole effect may be spoiled ; and some catalogues properly men- 
 tion, not only the names, but the seasons and height of the flowers. 
 
 A select list of double and single varieties : — 
 
 Double, Dark and Light Blue. 
 
 Albion, late, low. 
 
 King of Wurtemburg, early, tall, very fine 
 
 A la Mode, early, low, a perfect blue. 
 
 Pasquiu, early, tall, a light blue. 
 
 Globe Terrestre, late, low, perfect flower. 
 
 Laurens Coster, low, early. 
 
 Koning Ascingaris, tall, early. 
 
 Bloksberg, late, low. 
 
 Lord Raglan, low, early. 
 
 Richard Steele, low, early. 
 
 Single, Blue of all shades, 
 
 L'Amie de Cceur, tall, early, very dark. 
 L'Unique, tall, early, rich purplish blue. 
 Bleu Mourant, late, low, deep blue. 
 Charles Dickens, tall, early, perfect flower. 
 Porcelaine Scepter, low, early, light blue. 
 La Peyrouse, low, early, porcelaine blue. 
 
 Double, White. 
 
 Due de Berry, late, tall. 
 
 Duchess of Bedford, late, low. 
 
 La Deese, late, low. 
 
 La Virginitie, low, early. 
 
 Virgo, tall, early. 
 
 Lord Anson low, early. 
 
 Single, White, 
 Alba Superbissima, low, early. 
 Bella Donna, late, low. 
 
100 EVERY W03rAN EER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. 
 
 Blanchard, tall, early. 
 
 La Caudeur, low, early. 
 
 Queen Victoria, low, early. 
 
 Queen of the Netherlands, tall, early. 
 
 Double, Red and Rose. 
 
 Belle Marie, late, tall. 
 
 Bouquet Constant, low, early. 
 
 La Gaiete, low, early. 
 
 Mars, late, low. 
 
 Sir Thomas Grey, late, low. 
 
 Czar Nicholas, low, early. 
 
 Lord Wellington, low, early, fine. 
 
 Perruque Eoyale, late, tall. 
 
 Single, Red and Rose. 
 Belle Corrinne, low, early. 
 Madame Hodson, tall, early. 
 Eobert Steiger, tall, early. 
 Princess Victoria, late, low. 
 Jenny Lind, low, early. 
 Duchess of Richmond, tall, early. 
 
 Double, Yellow. 
 Bouquet d'Orange, low, early. 
 Crcesus, late, low. 
 Jaune Supreme, tall, early. 
 La Grandeur, late, low. 
 Van Spek, tall, early. 
 
 Single, Yellov). 
 Alida Jacobea, low, early. 
 Anna Carolina, late, low. 
 Fleur d'Or, low, early. 
 Koning Van Holland, low, early. 
 La Pluie d'Or, tall, early. 
 Prit Hein, low, early. 
 Rhinosceros, tall, early. 
 
EVERY WOMAX HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER! 101 
 
 Tlie Tulip. 
 
 This bulbous plant has been aptly styed " The Fop of Flowers," for 
 it is the most gorgeous of all the spring flowers, and its variety of colors, 
 most delicately blended, are almost beyond the power of imagination. 
 
 Their culture is so simple, that no one can well afford to be with- 
 out a bed of them, for an early display of gorgeous bloom. 
 
 They are natives of Persia, and the name is derived from tulipan, a 
 turban, the calyx of the flower resembling that Eastern head-dress. 
 The Turks first cultivated them, and from thence they were sent to 
 Vienna. At first they were supposed to be eatable, like onions, but 
 were found unpalatable ; then they were preserved in sugar, but their 
 taste was not improved, so they were thrown out upon a refuse heap as 
 worthless trash; here they bloomed, and thus revealed the beauty of tlie 
 flower. 
 
 Conrad Gesner, the Swiss botanist, first saw the flower in 1559, and 
 described it scientifically. Many years afterwards, Linufeus gave the 
 flower the specific name of Gesneriana, in honor of Gesner. 
 
 Linnaeus styles bulbs, "The hybernacle, or winter lodge, of the young 
 plants." Darwin says, " These bulbs in every respect resemble buds, 
 3xcept in their being produced under ground, and include the leaves 
 and flowers in minature which are to be expanded in the ensuing spring. 
 By cautiously cutting in winter through the concentric coats of a' Tulip 
 root, longitudinally from the top to the base, and taking them ofl" suc- 
 cessively, the whole flower of the next summei*'s Tulip is beautifully 
 seon by the naked eye, with its petals, pistils, and stamens. The flowers 
 exist in other bulbs in the saine manner, but their individual flowers 
 bei ag of less size, they are not so easily dissected, or so conspicuous to 
 the aaked eye. The poet thus describes the bulb : — 
 
 " Qaick flies fair Tnlipa the loud alarms, ' 
 
 And folds lier infant closer in her arms ; 
 In some lone cave's secure pavilion lies, 
 And waits the courtship of sei-ener skies." 
 
 In the first half of the 17th century the historical episode of the 
 tulipomania occurred. It commenced in Holland, thence spread to 
 France, and England would have felt its influence had she not been fully 
 occupied with the more sanguinary mania of civil war. The almost 
 incredible extravagances of this mania are usually laid to the Dutch; 
 but this is erroneous. As well attribute the deeds of reckless stock spec- 
 
102 EVERY VOMAN HER OWN FLOWER GARBEKER. 
 
 ulators m railways, to the scientific engineers who planned and con« 
 structed them. 
 
 The high esteem in which the Dutch held the flower, doubtless sowed 
 the seeds of the disease ; but the immense prices given for single roots, 
 had no reference to their floral value. It was the love of gambling, and 
 not the love of flowers, which created them. Speculators bought or sold 
 tulip roots at a certain price, to be delivered at a specified time, just as the 
 frequenters of the stock exchange speculate by time bargains in stock. 
 Thus the tulip king of the era would possess himself of a certain variety 
 of Tulij-), and then offer to purchase more; other dealers, supposing they 
 could procure them easily, would undertake to deliver a certain quan- 
 tity at such a time, at an agreed price ; that variety would rise in value, 
 and so the artful speculator could obtain almost any price he pleased for 
 his roots, purchased at a low price. 
 
 "Bulls," "bears," "ducks," "gulls" and otlier like animals, well 
 known to those who frequent the stock markets, are not a modern 
 invention; but centuries ago existed in Holland and France. The 
 Dutch amateurs loved their Tulip roots as they loved their own houses 
 and lands, and Crabbe tells us that: — 
 
 " With all his plilegm, it broke a Dutchman's heart, 
 At a vast price, with one loved root to part." 
 
 Some individuals gave all they possessed for the coveted bulbs, and 
 we read that one root was exchanged for four fot oxen. 
 
 In England, as late as 1835, a root named " Fanny Kemble" sold at 
 auction for $"^25. 
 
 Tulips do not bloom quickly from the seed ; five years at least must 
 elapse before " the bright, consummate flower " appears, and its bloom is 
 usually a self, or mere ground color, and is termed a breeder ; but in a 
 lew years the calyx will become variegated, and it is termed irol'en; so 
 when a really choice vaiiety is produced, its annual offsets is its only 
 means of propagation, and it must command a high price for some years. 
 
 The late variety of Tulip mostly cultivated is T. Gesneriana, and is 
 divided into three classes, -vdz.: — roses, byblomens, and bizarres. The 
 " roses " are marked with cherry, scarlet, pink and crimson stripes or 
 veins, on a white ground. They are usually eighteen inches high, and 
 their cups are large and well formed. The "byblomens" are marked 
 with black, lilac or purple, on a white ground ; and the " bizarres " are 
 feathered witli purple, pink, cherry, scarlet, etc., on a yellow ground. 
 
EVKRY WOMAN HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. 103 
 
 These classes are still divided into flamed and feathered. A Tulip has 
 neither corolla or petal, but a calyx of colored sepals. A feathered 
 Tulip has a dark colored edge, growing lighter toward the margin. 
 
 Those of our readers who have never seen a bed of these Tulips can- 
 not even imagine the brilliancy of their colorings and gorgeous feather- 
 ings. When planted in diamonds, ovals, stars or circles, on a well kept 
 lawn, the effect is splendid ! 
 
 The "Due Van Thol" varieties are a very early kind, blossoming in 
 temperate climates early in March. They are dwarfs, their stems not 
 over six inches high, and they are excellent for winter flowering in win- 
 dow gardens. There are white, yellow, scarlet, red, rose and striped 
 varieties, and small beds of them scattered over a lawn, present at a dis- 
 tance the appearance of brilliant butterflies hovering over the grass. 
 They are perfectly hardy, but will flower more plentifully if taken up 
 every spring, when the leaves have decayed. 
 
 The " Tournesol " species come into bloom next to the " Van Thols," 
 and are double and only in two kinds; the red and yellow, and the cleai', 
 pure yellow. In mixed beds they are very gorgeous. 
 
 The Double Tulips gain in favor yearly; their flowers are very bril- 
 liant and large. 
 
 Crown of Roses is of the richest rose color 
 
 Belle Alliance, white, striped, and feathered with violet. 
 
 Gloria Mundi, delicate primrose, striped with crimson. 
 
 La Candeur, of the purest white and perfect shape. 
 
 Poupre Agreable, white and violet, late. 
 
 Marriage de ma Fille, pure white, striped with cerise, late. 
 
 Paeony Gold, yellow, beautifully shaded, late. 
 
 Lord Wellington, blue, very showy, late. 
 
 Amsterdam, brown and red, curiously blended, late. 
 
 The Parrot Tulips are the most curious and unique of all the varie- 
 ties. The flowers are magniflcently striped and feathered, with many 
 colors, most picturesquely mingled, while the edges of the sepals are 
 fringed like fretted lace work. They are very desirable for groups and 
 clumps, and, if planted around low evergreens, will stand out finely 
 against the dark, green background. 
 
 The most distinct varieties are : — 
 
 Constantinople, a bright yellow and red. 
 
 Glorieuse, a brilliant scarlet. 
 
104 EVERY WOJIAX HER OWN FLOWER GARDEXER 
 
 Markgraf, striped, red and yellow. 
 
 Moustre Rouge, large, crimsou. 
 
 Belle Jaune, large yellow, feathered with red and green. 
 
 Cultivation of the Tulip. 
 
 Fresh, sandy loam, such as is obtained from upland pastures, is the 
 best soil. Remove the sods from sheep or cow pastures, and take the 
 virgin soil. The late blooming Tulips should be planted four inches in 
 depth; the " Van Thols," etc., from two to three inches, according to 
 their size, and their roots will strike down from five to six inches. Good 
 garden soil, mixed with cow manure, two years-old; and a plentiful 
 sprinkling of sand, will grow them to advantage. Never put fresh 
 barnyard compost near them; it will burn up the bulbs. 
 
 They should be plante.d in November, and be firmly set in the soih 
 six inches apart for the tall varieties, and four inches for the " Van 
 Thols." Sprinkle sand, as directed for Hyacinths, into each hole; this 
 will keep the bulbs from rotting at the base. After the ground freezes, 
 cover with straw, or leaves, for the freezing and thawing of the ground 
 injures the blooms of the next spring. 
 
 When the leaves fall, cut oif the stems, and when the leaves are dried 
 up the bulbs can be removed, the offsets separated, and treated just like 
 Hyacinths. 
 
 In selecting the bulbs, choose those that are solid, a little pointed, 
 and the skin entire. 
 
 These flowers will richly repay the little care expended upon them, 
 and I especially desire to call the attention of lady florists to their merits. 
 
 As I write this chapter, I feast my eyes on a small bed of " Van 
 Thols" that are perfectly gorgeous, and attract the attention of every 
 passer-by. The cold north wind whistles around the windows, and 
 bends the brilliant calyx of their blooms, but does not mar their beauty. 
 By their side sweet Hyacinths bloom, and they are all the flowers which 
 my garden can boast in this young spring-time. 
 
 The Daffodils. 
 
 These are hardy bulbs, which are common in old-fashioned gardens, 
 and our grandmothers loved to cherish them. They will bloom in out- 
 of-the-way places for years and years, and ask no care or attention. The 
 flowers are of a brilliant yellow. 
 
EVERT WOMAN HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. 105 
 
 The Jonquils. 
 Their creamy, rose-tipped chalices are always lovely, and the double 
 varieties are fair and white as roses ; but some of them lack the fra- 
 grance of their sister bulbs. 
 
 The Narcissus. 
 This is an extensive family which grows freely in any good garden 
 loam. The DafiFodil and Jonquil belong to the family, and there are 
 many varieties of the Polyanthus Narcissus, which are the most lovely 
 bulbs of the class. Their flowers are formed in clusters of six to twelve 
 flowers on a single stem, and of every shade from purest white to deepest 
 orange. The cup of the white varieties is always yellow, and of the yel- 
 low, a deep orange. These bulbs flower finely in . the window garden, 
 and three or four bulbs can be grown in a small pot. The Double Nar- 
 cissus is very desirable for its perfect flower and spicy fragrance. They 
 all require the same treatment as Hyacinths, and should be planted four 
 inches deep, and set out in clumps, ten inches apart. 
 
 A nemones. 
 These are very lovely bulbs ; their colors are gorgeous, and the mark- 
 mgs, belts and stripes very charming. Double and single are both 
 beautiful. The bulbs are tender in our north countries, and can be kept 
 in the house until spring, in a dry, cool place, and set out as soon- as the 
 ground is well thawed. In mild climates they can be planted in Octo- 
 ber or November. They bloom after the earlier bulbs are gone, and 
 their flowers last a long time. When the leaves turn yellow, take up 
 the roots, dry in the shade, and pack away in sand until autumn. 
 
 The Lily of the Valley 
 Must not be forgotten among Spring Flowering Bulbs, though her roots 
 partake more of the nature of small, thin tubers. She hangs her pearly 
 bells like so many fragrant censers, and is ever welcome and ever lovely 
 — a true home flower, sanctified to many hearts by both festive and 
 faneral occasions. No garden is complete Avithout a bed of them ! 
 
 There are both double and single varieties, but the latter are the most 
 common. These sweet flowers require no care, will bloom for years in 
 the same bed, and throw out their pure white tuberous roots far into the 
 pathways. They love the shade, and flourish best in an out-of-the-way 
 
106 EVERY W03IAN HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. 
 
 corner, where tlie soil is moist and rich. Are perfectly hardy, requiring 
 no protection in the coldest winter. There is no bulb that flourishes so 
 perfectly under neglect ; and no flower which is more perfect in form 
 and fragrance. 
 
 Tlie RaJiwiculus. 
 
 There are two kinds of these bulbs — the Double Persian, and the 
 Turban ; they form a fine contrast when planted together. They require 
 a rich soil, at least a foot and a half in depth of friable, rich earth ; that 
 taken from a marshy wood — deep and dark, and mixed with A^ery old 
 decomposed manure — is the best for them. They need to be frequently 
 watered ; drought will kill their blossoms, and they are too tender to 
 endure the cold of northern winters, but must be kept in dry sand, and 
 planted out three inches deep, early in the spring. The hot sun will 
 fade out their bright colors, so it is best to plant them in the shade. 
 
 Ixias, Scillas, Irises, Colchicums and Crown Imperials are all good 
 border plants, and add variety to a bed of bulbous roots. 
 
 Generally, any well-drained garden soil will answer for them; if clay, 
 a good sprinkling of sand, and a top dressing of well decayed manure 
 will make them bloom more freely. 
 
OHAPTEE XYL 
 
 Bulbs foe Summer Flowerhstg. 
 
 " ' Look at the Lilies, how they grow! ' 
 ' Twas thus the Saviour said, that we. 
 E'en in the simplest flowers that blow, 
 God's ever watchful care might see. 
 
 Shall He who paints the Lily's leaf, 
 
 Who gives the Rose its scented breath, 
 Love all His works, except the chief. 
 
 And leave His image, man, to death ? " 
 
 The Japan Lilies. 
 
 Bulbs that can be preserved in the house in a dry state during the 
 winter, and planted in the ground in the spring, or those which live out 
 during the winter and bloom in the house, are called Summer Bulbs. 
 
 To this class belong the Japan Lilies, Gladiolus, Dahlias, Tuberoses, 
 Tigridias, Amaryllis formosissima, Valotta purpurea superba, and Tri- 
 tomas. 
 
 These flowers are of very easy cultivation, and contribute largely to 
 the beauty of the garden ; their magnificent bloom well repaying the 
 little attention they require. The peculiar nature of a bulb is not gen- 
 erally well understood ; it really partakes more of the properties of a 
 seed, for, when in the act of vegetating it sends down into the soil roots, 
 and into the air a living stem, and the matter contained in the bulb 
 decomposes and nourishes the young plant, while the seed decays in 
 giving birth to the plant ; but the bulb is renewed, and from the roots 
 another bulb is composed which appears to be the same one planted, 
 yet it is its offspring, and the offsets or young bulbs are its suckers, and 
 
108 EVERY WOMAN HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER, 
 
 are distinct from the parent bulb. Thus like the myth of the Phenix 
 springing from the ashes of the parent bulb, the offspring is formed. 
 This formation is readily seen in the Gladiolus and the Crocus. 
 
 The rarely beautiful Lilies which have been imported from Japan are 
 great additions to the list of summer flowers. They are shaped like the 
 old-fashioned Tiger Lily, always seen in old gardens, but entirely surpass 
 it in the beauty of their coloring. 
 
 They were first treated as " stove plants," and did not show forth their 
 glories, but now they will survive the coldest northern winter with a 
 slight covering of leaves, and have proved themselves indispensable. 
 
 They grow readily in any good soil, but like all other flowers, will 
 repay their cultivator if supplied with a rich, loamy soil, mixed with 
 sandy peat; this is their native soil, and they will produce many more 
 flowers upon one stalk if attention is paid to their wants. They require 
 much moisture when in flower, and if the season is very hot and dry, 
 will bloom much longer if mulched with moist manure. 
 
 We are indebted to the enterprising and scientific traveler. Dr. Siebold, 
 for the introduction of the Japan Lilies to our gardens. 
 
 Lilium speciosum has been thus described : — " The clear, deep rose- 
 color of its petals are all rugged with rubies and garnets, sparkling with 
 crystal points. Indeed, the diamond bouquets, the Queen of Spain's 
 jewels, and even the far-famed Koh-i-noor itself, must pale their ineffec- 
 tual tires, when compared with this gorgeous flower. The jeweler who 
 wishes to produce a most exquisitely tasteful, as well as dazzling and 
 brilliant ornament, should take one of these Lilies as his model." 
 
 Lilium lancifolium album has pure white flowers ; sometimes the 
 lower part of the petals are washed with violet. 
 
 Lilium lancifolium punctatum has flowers of a flesh color, with spots 
 of delicate rose. 
 
 Lilium lancifolium rubrum possesses very large flowers of rose-color, 
 suffused with carmine, and purplish colored papilla. 
 
 Lilium longiflorum is a very beautiful species, growing nearly two 
 feet high, and producing from one to five flowers, according to the size 
 of the bulb ; the flowers are of a pure, waxy white, trumpet shaped, and 
 from six to eight inches long. It blooms early in July, while the above- 
 named varieties do not bloom u.ntil August. 
 
 Lilium eximium is another handsome variety, resembling L. longi- 
 florum, but the flowers are larger and their color is of a satinsr whiteness. 
 
EVERY \V03IAN HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. 109 
 
 Liliuni Brownii possesses many of the characteristics of the two pre- 
 ceding-, but the outside of the flower is striped with deep brownish- 
 violet lines. 
 
 All these Lilies will grow and blossom luxuriantly for several weeks. 
 They increase rapidly by small bulbs below the soil, and it is well to 
 remove them every autumn, and plant them separately. Thus treated, 
 they Avill often bloom the second season. The small bulbs should be 
 planted in a light, sandy soil, and covered two inches deep. The soil 
 should not be made too rich with manure, as it tends to rot the bulbs. 
 A Double Japan Lily has been produced, but as yet the bulbs are very 
 rare and high priced. 
 
 And Mr. Fortune has introduced from China, Lilium tigrinum For- 
 tunei, which is remarkable for its vigorous growth, and its immense 
 cluster of flowers which branch out in three successive series from the 
 main stem, thus prolonging its season of bloom. 
 
 Another novelty is Lilium tigrinum splendens, introduced by M. Van 
 Houtte, which resembles the Fortune! in many respects, but differs from 
 it in color, and has more prominent spots on the perianth. Both of 
 them are considered gorgeous additions to the family of bulbous 
 plants. 
 
 LiHum auratum is styled the " Queen of the Japanese Lilies." To its 
 perfect form and rare coloring, it adds the most delicious fragrance. 
 Its blossoms are very large, and each petal is decorated with a golden 
 band running through its center. It is perfectly hardy, and often pro- 
 duces from fifteen to twenty-five blossoms on a single stalk. Good 
 flowering bulbs are now held at a low price. It flowers in August, 
 but by planting in pots its time of blossoming can be forestalled. Like 
 the other Lilies, it delights in a sandy loam. The Japan Lilies make 
 fine lawn plants. If planted in a circular bed, with the tallest in the 
 center, the effect is very pleasing. 
 
 The Gladiolus, 
 
 The Gladiolus has become the chief favorite among its class. Its 
 name is deiived from its sword-shaped leaves; it possesses upwards of 
 sixty species, divided by hybridization into an immense number of 
 varieties. In nearly all the species the flowers retain the same form, but 
 they differ in colorings and markings. These bulbs are mostly natives 
 of Cape of Good Hope, Madagascar and Southern Africa. They will not 
 
110 EVERY WOMAN HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. 
 
 survive our northern climate, and must always be kept in a cool, dry 
 place during the winter. 
 
 In their native land, they bloom during the wet season, whiish shows 
 us that they require a good supply of moisture to bloom in perfection in 
 our dry, hot summers. 
 
 These flowers were not much known until 1795, when the Cape 
 Colony was ceded to England, and her botanists and collectors of rare 
 plants seized upon them with delight. Since then they have become 
 "Florists' Flowers," and their successful hybridizations have greatly 
 increased their beauty and colorings. 
 
 To grow the bulbs in perfection, they should be planted in a sandy 
 loam, enriched with leaf mould and peat. A mixture of one-half loam, 
 one-quarter peat, and one-quarter leaf mould will suit them perfectly. 
 
 They may be planted in the open air during April or May. 
 
 If strong manur<js are used in the soil, it causes the colors of the 
 flowers to run into each other, and gives them a muddy appearance. 
 The bulbs can be planted in groups or singly. Groups of three or five 
 are the most usual way of planting them. They should be set from 
 two to four inches deep, according to the size of the bulbs. As they 
 grow up, they should be tied to a light stake, from three to four feet long. 
 
 When the frost has killed the leaves, dig up the bulbs, dry them in 
 the sun, cut off" the leaves an inch from the stem, and put the bulbs in 
 a paper bag. Kept in a frost-proof cellar, they will retain all their life. 
 From one bulb, two or three bulbs will spring ; they increase rapidly, 
 and can be purchased cheaply. 
 
 The high prices in the catalogues are no criterion of their beauty, but 
 only mark them as "novelties." 
 
 Many bulbs are held at four dollars a root, but that shows their 
 scarcity. 
 
 Low priced varieties will often please us quite as well, and are not 
 surpassed by the colors of the " novelties." 
 
 Among the most beautiful of the Gladiolus, are : — 
 
 Belle Gabrielle, a perfectly shaped flower, fine lilac-colored rose, 
 marked with a bright rose-color. 
 
 Charles Dickens, delicate rose, tinted with chamois, striped with a 
 rosy carmine. 
 
 Comte de Morny, rosy scarlet fucked with rich crimson, lower petals 
 shaded with crimson. 
 
EVERY WOMAN HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. Ill 
 
 Dr. Lindley, yery large flower of perfect shape, rose-color petals of a 
 brighter shade, feathered with cherry-color; very showy. 
 
 Lady Franklin, white, slightly tinged with rose, striped and blazed 
 with carminate rose. 
 
 La Fran^ais, flower pure white, and very large, with small bluish 
 violet blotches ; very fine. 
 
 Moliere, flower very large; a bright cherry-red with large, pure white 
 stains. 
 
 Mozart, bright rose, tinted with violet, blazed with dark carmine, with 
 pure white stains ; a very beautiful variety. 
 
 Koi Leopold, bright rose, tinged with orange, and stained with white. 
 
 Stephenson, large flower, cherry-colored, striped with white lines; 
 splendid spike of flowers. 
 
 Stella, perfect shaped flower, white ground, slightly tinged with yel- 
 low and rose; very brilliant and showy. 
 
 Sir Walter Scott, very bright rose-color on a white ground, striped 
 with carmine; very fine. 
 
 Vicomtesse de Belleval, delicate blush, stained with violet. 
 
 Good varieties can be purchased from $1.50 to $2.00 per dozen. 
 
 Gladioli show to good advantage if planted around rose bushes, or 
 among herbaceous perennials. They bloom late in the season, when 
 most of these flowers are past, and if well trained to stakes, which should 
 be set when the flower is planted, they will produce a charming eflfect. 
 They make very nice house j)lants for window gardens; six or eight 
 bulbs can be grown in a twelve-inch pot, and each kind tied to a thin 
 stake. They will bloom finely. If the stalks are cut ofi" for vases or 
 bouquets, they will continue to bloom for a week or two, sending forth 
 fresh flowers daily. 
 
 There is no bulbous root which gives a greater variety of colors in its 
 flowers, or better repays the care and attention bestowed upon it. All 
 lovers of flowers must cultivate a few of these desirable bulbs. 
 
 The Dalilia. 
 The great variety and beauty of its blossoms, and their profusion in 
 the later summer and autumn, when many of our handsomest flowers 
 are gone, make it well worthy of good culture. The Dahlia is a native 
 of Mexico, and was found by Baron Humboldt growing on the elevated, 
 sandy plains of Mexico, five thousand feet above the level of the sea. 
 
Il2 EVERY WOIfAJV HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. 
 
 He gatnered the seeds and sent tliem to the Abbe Cavanilles, Professor 
 of Botany at the Eoyal Garden of Madrid, who succeeded in flowering 
 a plant in October, 1789, to Avhieh he gave the name of Dahlia pinnata, 
 in honor of Dahl, a Swedish botanist, a pupil of Linnaeus. Objections 
 were made to this name because it resembled Dalea, a name given to an 
 entirely different plant, in honor of Dale, an Englishman. Professor 
 Wildenow, in his " Species Plantarura," calls it Georgina, after Georgi, 
 a Eussian botanist. De Candolle and other eminent writers adopted 
 that title; but the original name was the favorite, and still exists. In 
 1790, the Marchioness of Bute received some seeds from Spain, which 
 flowered finely, but not knowing how to treat the tubers in the winter, 
 the plants were lost. In 1804, Lady Ilolland sent seeds to M. Buonainti, 
 a practical gardner'and skillful botanist; he cultivated them successfully, 
 and from those seeds almost all the various kinds of Dahlias have sprung. 
 
 De Candolle obtained seeds, and in 1810 he describes only five varie- 
 ties of Variabilis, and three of Frustranea ; but he had no double flower. 
 
 The first double Dahlia was sent from Stuttgard to Mons. Von Otto, 
 who raised one similar, in the Eoyal Garden at Berlin, in 1809. He 
 labored patiently to improve the varieties, and by 1816 had three more 
 double flowers; but not until 1820 could he show six double flowering 
 kinds. Now they are counted by the hundreds and thousands ; and it 
 would seem as if there were no limits to the improvement of it. Mr. 
 Paxton asks, " Who would have supposed, that from one comparatively 
 insignificant plant, such endless, innumerable, beautiful varieties could 
 have been produced ; and what may we not anticipate ? It is not un- 
 reasonable to expect still a greater improvement. May we not have com- 
 binations of those clear, rich, and exquisitely beautiful colors for which 
 the Tulip has been so long admired ? Perhaps, ere long, our fancy may 
 be gratified by seeing Dahlias with the shades of black and white associ- 
 ated in the same flower ; and the popular taste may be also gratified 
 with globular shaped flowers." 
 
 A blue Dahlia was the ne plus ultra for which the florists strove, and 
 many watered their young seedlings with an infusion of indigo, hoping 
 thereby to give the desired cerulean hue. 
 
 Mons. de Candolle considers yellow and blue to be the fundamental 
 types of colors in flowers, and that they are antagonistic, i. e., mutually 
 exclude each other; the blue flowers can by cultivation be changed into 
 all shades of red, purple and white, while the yellow will pass into the 
 
EV^ERY WOMAN HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. 113 
 
 same shades, but never into bine. For many years the Dahlia showed 
 only the shades of purple and crimson, and it was not belieyed that any 
 other color could be produced. A pure white flower at length was 
 produced, and caused a great sensation ; and the yellow was greeted 
 with much delight. The growing of Dahlias was a passion in England 
 and the United States, twenty years ago; and new varieties were much 
 sought for. Large sums of money were paid for them. 
 
 The Liliputian or Pompone Dahlias are very lovely for bouquets and 
 vases. The flowers are of the desired globular shape, and each petal is 
 perfectly cupped and tinted. They grow about eighteen inches to two 
 feet high, and are desirable for the smallest garden. Some of the flowers 
 are no larger than a Ranunculus; the plant is perfectly covered Avith 
 buds and flowers that produce a charming effect. 
 
 Dahlias will grow in almostany kind of soil, excepting wet, heavy clay 
 loam ; but a moderately rich, light loam is the best. A clear, open location, 
 well exposed to the sun, is indispensable for the finest blooms. They 
 grow finely on the southwestern side of a fence, making a hedge of 
 unsurpassed beauty. The plants should be set three feet apart; if grown 
 en masse, they should have as much room as that, and they will grow 
 so bushy, that at a little distance, they will appear closely grouped. As 
 borderings on each side of a walk, they show to great advantage, and can 
 be planted once in two and a half feet. 
 
 Dahlias can be trained by pegging down the tender shoots, so that 
 they will cover a bed; the branches must be pegged down as the plants 
 grow, until the bed is entirely covered, and will present an uniform mass 
 of flowers and foliage. Plants for this purpose should be set only two 
 feet apart. Some train them in the espalier form, by allowing three or 
 four stems to grow from each root, laying them diagonally on both sides, 
 and filling up the center with the lateral shoots. 
 
 These flowers are propagated by seeds, division of the tubers, and by 
 cuttings. Few, but experienced florists, succeed in growing them in 
 the last-named manner, but all of us can raise them from the two for- 
 mer. It is no more work to grow a Dahlia than a potato. 
 
 Keeping DcMias through the Winter. 
 
 The tubers need not be dug up until just before the ground freezes ; 
 then remove them to a dry out-house for a day or two to dry off". Don't 
 break the tubers apart, but cut the stem down to within a few inches 
 8 
 
114 EVERY W03IAN HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. 
 
 of them, and use it as a handle by Avhicli to lift them. All the flowering 
 stems of another season are situated on or near the point of junction 
 between the tubers and the stem. When they are so dried that the soil 
 will all shake off, pack them in barrels or boxes and fill up Avith sand 
 that has been dried in the sun especially for them. If you put them in 
 damp sand they will decay. After they are carefully packed, put them 
 in a dry cellar — frost-proof, and they will come out in March and April 
 fresh and vigorous. In planting them, it is considered best to set out 
 the cluster of tubers, and after the shoots have sprouted two or three 
 inches, to separate them, leaving two shoots to a tuber. "When planted 
 out into the border, put the root at least three inches under ground, 
 and water carefully, shading from the sun for two or three days. A 
 stake must be inserted close by the stem when the tuber is planted, and 
 as the shoots advance, tie them to it. If placed there after the plant is 
 growing, you may injure the roots. 
 
 It is from seeds alone that new varieties spring. They should be 
 sown early in the spring, in shallow boxes in a window or hot-bed, in a 
 rich, light soil, with a good sprinkling of sand ; as soon as the third and 
 fourth leaves are well developed, plant them in two-inch pots, or in boxes 
 three inches apart ; shade them from the light for two days or so, as the 
 seedlings are very tender. They can be planted into the border when all 
 danger of frost is past; and if the soil is enriched with well-rotted cow- 
 manure, the blooms will be finer. Until the buds show their coloring, 
 there is no way of ascertaining it with certainty, though plants with 
 pure green stems will usually produce white flowers, those with reddish- 
 brown stems the darkest colored flowers, and those with light brown 
 stems, pale or blush-colored flowers. Such plants as are not handsome 
 should be pulled up, as soon as the flowers have fully shown their char- 
 acter; and give more room for the beautiful ones to grow in. 
 
 If the finest blooms are desired, the side branches should all be 
 pinched off, and only the three or four strongest shoots allowed to gro^v , 
 and on these the buds must be thinned out, leaving only three or four 
 to come to perfection. The hot sun is injurious to the more delicate 
 shades, and careful cultivators suspend an oiled paper, to protect their 
 rare plants from it, also from heavy, drenching rains. 
 
 Soapsuds make an excellent fertilizer, and it is well to give the roots 
 a thorough drenching with it, at least once a week. Much of the suc- 
 cess in growing fine Dahlias depends upon training them carefully, and 
 
EVERY WOMAN HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. 115 
 
 fastening the shoots with soft yarn to the stake every few days. By pro- 
 tecting from the first frosts, the blossoms may be prolonged late into the 
 autumn, after the death of most flowers of the garden, and if gathered 
 and kept in fresh water, the flowers will last a fortnight, or even longer. 
 
 A select list of varieties : — 
 
 America, raised by Mr. Gerhard Schmitz, of Philadelphia, who has 
 been very successful in producing fine varieties ; white ground, striped 
 and splashed with rosy-crimson, perfect globular shade, and cupped 
 petals. Eeceived first prize from Pennsylvania Horticultural Society. 
 
 Amazon, scarlet margins, yellow center. 
 
 Alba multiflora, pure white. 
 
 Ali Baba, deep scarlet. 
 
 Amorette, light rose, edged with lilac. 
 
 Antiope, buff, shaded with carmine. 
 
 Autumn Glow, orange-salmon, buflf edge. 
 
 Bird of Passage, white, tipped with carmine. 
 
 Colossus, large yellow. 
 
 Carnation striped, buff", striped with crimson and lilac. 
 
 Charivari, yellow striped and blotched with carmine. 
 
 Conqueror of the whites, purest white. 
 
 Duchess of Cambridge, pink, edged with crimson. 
 
 Ebene, rosy-buff, mottled with white. 
 
 Gem, scarlet, tipped with white. 
 
 Glowing Coal, crimson-scarlet. 
 
 Hebe, white, edged with yellow, tipped with red. 
 
 Koh-i-noor, canary-yellow. 
 
 Maude, white, tipped with lilac. 
 
 Muriilo, salmon, shaded lilac and carmine. 
 
 Gullet Parfait, buff, striped with scarlet. 
 
 Queen Mab, scarlet tipped with white. 
 
 Striata, lilac, striped with maroon. 
 
 Talisman, rose, striped with crimson. 
 
 Tiger, maroon-purple. 
 
 Startler, maroon, tipped with white. 
 
 Select List of Liliputian or Pompone Dahlias. 
 
 Arndt, magenta, with brown stripes and spots. 
 Alba Floribunda nana, pure white, very dwarf. 
 
110 EVERY WOMAN HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. 
 
 Black Diamond, maroou. 
 Guiding Star, pure wliite, fimbriated. 
 Exquisite, rich golden yellow, tipped with scarlet. 
 Kind and True, straw-color, tipped with purple. 
 Little Nj'mpli, white, shaded with rose. 
 Little Kate, dark crimson. 
 Little Willie, richest deep pink. 
 Little Agnes, brightest of scarlets. 
 Little Dear, blush, marbled, with white. 
 
 Little Herman, the finest Liliput Dahlia in cultivation; cherry-pinK, 
 tipped with white. 
 
 Otto Weilbacher, yellow, striped with scarlet. 
 Rachel, salmon, tipped with crimson. 
 Rose of Gold, finest vermillion. 
 Tansenblitz, deep maroon, shaded with rose. 
 Utz, dark maroon. 
 
 Tuberoses. 
 
 One of the most beautiful of all the summer-flowering bulbs, and 
 unequaled in fragrance by any flower that grows. The flowers are in 
 much request upon all festive occasions, and are also in use for funeral 
 wreaths, crosses, etc. It is said that a million of roots are grown about 
 the environs of New York, and they can be purchased from a single 
 flower, with a scented leaf of geranium, to immense dishes or baskets of 
 them, arranged with other flowers. Fifty flowers have been raised on a 
 single stem, but from sixteen to twenty is the average number. The 
 bulbs never bloom but once, but numerous small offsets form round 
 the parent root, which, if kept over winter in a dry place, not less than 
 fifty degrees in temperature, will bloom in two years. In latitudes north 
 of New York city, the bulbs must be started early in March, to bloom 
 before the frost touches them. There are fcAv plants grown in the gar- 
 den which give more perfect satisfaction. 
 
 The Double Tuberose is considered the most desirable flower, but the 
 single possesses the same delicious perfume, and blooms earlier than the 
 double. A new variety, with variegated leaves striped with light yellow, 
 is admired for its novelty. They bloom best in a sandy soil, well en- 
 riched with concentrated manures; Guano water, prepared as before 
 described, will hasten their flowering, and increase the number of buds. 
 
EVEBY WOMAN HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. 117 
 
 It can be given twice a week, if the bulbs are in the open ground or in 
 large boxes. 
 
 The Tigridia. 
 
 The Tiger-flower, or Tigridia, is a very showy Mexican bulb, growing 
 about eighteen inches high ; its flowers are four inches in diameter, and 
 of most gorgeous coloring, and curious form. They require the same 
 culture as the Gladiolus ; will not live out of doors in cold latitudes. 
 There are as yet but four or five varieties, which bloom from July to 
 October. 
 
 T. pavonia, scarlet, spotted and tipped with yellow. 
 
 T. conchiflora, orange and yellow, with black spots. 
 
 T. conchiflora grandiflora, lemon-color, spotted with crimson. 
 
 T. speciosa, orange, with deep, maroon-colored spots. 
 
 Amaryllis formosissima. 
 
 The Jacobean Lily, or Amaryllis formosissima, is a dwarf-growing 
 plant, and each bulb will usually produce two flowers of the richest 
 crimson-violet hue, and of remarkably beautiful form ; the flowers have 
 six petals, three erect and reflexed, and three drooping, giving the flower 
 a jDeculiarly graceful appearance. If planted early, in the house or hot- 
 bed, it will bloom in June or July. The bulbs must be preserved like 
 those of the Tigridia. 
 
 Vallota Purpurea Superla. 
 
 This plant is of the easiest culture, and no summer flowering bulb 
 surpasses it in richness of coloring. It is a native of the Cape of Good 
 Hope ; and its leaves do not die down after the flowering season, so it 
 cannot be packed away like other bulbs, but must be kept at rest in the 
 earth, in a dry state. The leaves are flat and of a rich green, and spread 
 out like a fan. The flower stalk rises about a foot in height, and bears 
 a cluster of from six to eight scarlet, lily-shaped flowers. The bulbs 
 are increased by numerous offsets, which will bloom in three years, at 
 the latest. Botanists class this flower with the genus Amaryllis, and it 
 is called in some books Amaryllis speciosa ; but it is more commonly 
 known as Valotta purpurea, though there is no shade of purple about it, 
 for the flowers are of the brightest scarlet, with bright yellow stamens 
 and anthers. The bulbs can be planted out in the open border, and 
 repotted when the frost comes. It is such a showy and elegant plant, 
 that it should be cultivated by all who delight in Flowering Bulbs. 
 
118 EVERT W03IAN BEE OWN FLOWER GARDENER. 
 
 Tritoma Uvaria Grandiflora. 
 
 This is a splendid plant, with a magnificent spike of rich orange-red 
 flowers; from its glowing color it has been called " Eed Hot Poker." 
 It will bloom freely in any good garden soil, and is hardy in the latitude 
 of New York city, but farther north, the roots require to be kept in sand 
 during the winter. The flower-stem will often grow from four to five 
 feet in height, and it produces a very fine eflect. To bloom before the 
 frost, they require to be started in March or April, and should not be 
 planted out until there is settled warm weather. 
 
 The Summer Flowering Bulbs form a distinct class of flowers, and 
 will, of themselves, make a gloriously gorgeous garden, requiring but 
 little attention, as their bulbous roots do not usually demand the fre- 
 quent waterings that annuals and bedding-out plants must have in this 
 hot, dry climate. These bulbs, with the exception of the Lilies which 
 head the chapter, must be housed in the winter, in cold climates ; but 
 our southern sisters can plant them out, and they will only ask to be 
 removed to new quarters, as their offspring multiply and crowd them 
 out. 
 
 The florists' catalogues offer them all at small cost, and it is impossible 
 for those who have not feasted their eyes upon their glowing beauties, to 
 even imagine their glories ! 
 
CHAPTER XVIT. 
 
 Old Fashioned Floweks. 
 
 "O, Father, Lord I 
 The All-beneflcent ! I bless thy name, 
 That thou hast mantled the green earth with flowers, 
 Linking our hearts to nature I The old man's eye 
 Falls on the kindling blossoms, and his soul 
 Remembers youth and love, and hopefully 
 Turns unto Thee, who call'st earth's buried germs 
 From dust to splendor; as the mortal seed 
 Shall, at thy summons, from the grave spring up, 
 To put on glory, to be girt with power, 
 And flll'd with immortality." 
 
 " Common in old country gardens," is the term we often hear applied 
 to flowers that are a little old-fashioned ; yet to many hearts they are 
 very dear. Not all the boasted glories of Verbenas, Colens, Achyranthus, 
 and all the newer kinds of bedding-out plants can wean us from the 
 flowers our grandmothers loved to cherish. Their colors, markings and 
 veinings may be far surpassed by the flowers of the present day, yet 
 loved hands once tended them ; bright eyes grew brighter at the sight 
 of them ; and they are associated with all that is holy, pure, and of good 
 report. Who does not like to remember the days of childhood, when 
 the gathering of old-fashioned flowers in grandmothei''s garden was one 
 of the highest pleasures of life ? Cowper says, that " it is a pity that a 
 kitten should ever become a staid, old cat," and there certainly are indi- 
 viduals who are tempted to wish that they had ever continued to be 
 children. Do you remember the delicious fragrance of the white Lilac 
 bushes that grew beside the door step, at the old farm house, and the 
 handsful of Lilies of the Valley, that you used to gather under the old 
 
120 EVERY WOMAN EER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. 
 
 pear trees, beside the garden beds, where grew Sweet Eocket, Violets, 
 Columbines, SpiderAvort, Fleur de Lnce, Daffodils, Sweet Williams, 
 Grilliflowers, Larkspurs, Lychnis, and Nasturtiums, bright as butter- 
 flies? To be sure you do, and never Avill forget them while memory 
 serves to furnish pictures for the mind's eye to view. Perhaps you 
 gathered them to adorn a fair sister, when she gave her hand to the lover 
 whom all considered tried and true ; or, with fast dropping, blinding 
 tears, they Avere plucked to wither in the chilling embrace of the reaper, 
 Death, who had gathered the fairest flower of the hearthstone — the 
 dearly loved baby — the youngest of the home circle ! All these associ- 
 ations, and hundreds of others, are linked to the " old-fashioned flowers " 
 of the past; so let us make room for them in the garden, and cherish 
 them fondly for the sake of those who once loved them so well. 
 
 I have a great fondness for the older annuals and hardy perennials, 
 which are now too often despised and neglected; many of them are cer- 
 tainly more beautiful than those which are so much praised. 
 
 A well-pruned " SnoAvball," in full bloom, is surely a thing of beauty! 
 And I am certain that there are many discarded flowers which wouK 
 amply repay cultivation. 
 
 The tendency of the age is to run after all that is rare and new, anl 
 to neglect that which CA'ery one possesses, forgetting the divine command 
 to the chief of apostles, not to despise anything that God had made, no* 
 to esteem it common. The first Dandelion possesses a great charm tc 
 me, is ahvays gathered, and kept in water as long as a trace of its beauty 
 remains. If it were a rare Japanese or Chinese novelty, hoAv we shoulc 
 cherish it! but, no, it groAvs commonly by the road side, and in ever} 
 pasture, so we pass it by. 
 
 There is no sweeter flower than the old, neglected Wall-floAver, yet 
 who cultiA'ates it now? A recent Aviiter says: "These old-f\ishioned 
 flowers have a sweet fragrance which does not belong to modern faA'or- 
 ites ; and howcA^er much the last may delight us, they do not make us 
 call to mind those delightful passages of our older poets that made our 
 imaginations paint scenes of simple rural, floral beauty and loveliness 
 that no artistic pencil can realize; but these 'old ladies' floAvers,' or 
 * flowers of the poets,' often unveil to us some lovely picture or scene 
 that long since, in our earlier readings, Ave had painted in the chambers 
 of our heart, and from which memory, thus assisted, remoA'es a pile of 
 rubbish that had well nigh buried it in obli\ion." 
 
EVERY WOMAK HER OWi\ FLOWER GARDENER. 121 
 
 So we plead for the " flowers of tlie poets." They are all of easy cul- 
 tivation, requiring little care, and blooming in endless profusion and 
 beauty, aiid possessing a charm and loveliness fully equal to those which 
 their modern sisters lay claim to. 
 
 To be sure the Tiger Lily, which was supposed to be the 
 
 " Emblem of human pride that fades away, 
 Of earthly joy that blooms but to decay,"' 
 
 has been forced to feel the truth of the lines, and vacate its high estate 
 for the more beauteous families imported from Japan; but the Holly- 
 hock, of whom it was said, 
 
 " How high his haughty honor holds his head," 
 
 has grown in elegance and gorgeousuess of coloring, and has attained 
 to tne front rank among "florists' flowers." And the Aster and the 
 Balsam have increased in beauty, and now take precedence of most other 
 annuals; and the Gilliflower, like a real friend, attends us through all 
 the vicissitudes and alterations of a century, even growing more beauti- 
 ful. But the Marigold is almost superseded by its more brilliant sister, 
 Tagetes signata pumila, which, in spite of its high-sounding name, is 
 nothing but a single Marigold. 
 
 But if we read the seedsmen's catalogues attentively, we shall find the 
 seeds of all of these "old-fashioned flowers" advertised, and can supply 
 ourselves with a goodly show of them. 
 
OHAPTEK XYin 
 
 Vegetables — "What shall tte Plaint? Hot-bed — Its 
 CuLTrRE, etc. 
 
 The changes wiiicli the art of the florist has produced in double and 
 variegated flowers, are not to be compared with the eflects of cultivation 
 on vegetables which have been for ages man's peculiar property. In 
 their wild state, they are now scarcely recognizable. 
 
 From the Colewort, whose scanty leaves do not weigh half an ounce, 
 come the sixty pound cabbages which are often seen in the markets. 
 From a small, bitter root, comes the potatoes, Early Eose and Peerless, 
 which exhibit the wondrous changes which have been wrought in them. 
 And so on to the end of the catalogue of vegetables ! What encourage- 
 ment do not these facts afford to the cultivator who desires to make 
 improvements in some classes of vegetables. If he is a benefactor to his 
 race who can make two blades of grass grow in the place of one, surely 
 he is one who gives to us a '•' Trophy " Tomato or a Brezee's " Peerless I " 
 
 Leigh Hunt, speaking of vegetables, says: — 
 
 " What a perpetual reproduction of the marvelous is carried on by 
 nature, and how utterly ignorant we are of the causes of the least and 
 most disesteemed of the commonest vegetables ; and what a quantity of 
 life and beauty, and mystery, and use, and enjoyment is to be found in 
 them, composed out of all sorts of elements, and shaped as if by the 
 hands of fairies ! What workmanship, with no apparent workman I 
 What consummate elegance, though the result is but a radish or an 
 onion ! " 
 
 The care and oversight of the vegetable as well as the flower garden, 
 frequently devolves upon women, and as it costs no more time and 
 
EVERT WOMAN HER OWX FLOWER GARDENER. 123 
 
 labor to grow the most choice kinds, I propose to give a selection of the 
 varieties which are the best for home culture. 
 
 The seedsmen's catalogues present us with numerous varieties, which 
 appear quite bewildering, but I have long cared for home vegetables, and 
 have learned what are the most desirable for my table. 
 
 In buying your seeds, do not depend upon those purchased from 
 peddlers' carts, or from country stores ; they are not so certain to be pure 
 and fresh. Seeds from selected stocks are far superior to those gathered 
 at hap-hazard from fields and gardens. So be sure, and pro\'ide yourself 
 with a catalogue from a reliable source, and send thither for all you may 
 desire. 
 
 Asparagus heads the list of early vegetables; it is almost the first 
 green thing to show itself in the sj^ring. Conover's Colossal is very 
 superior to the common kinds; it will frequently send up from twenty 
 to twenty-five stalks, as large as a man's thumb, from one plant. But it 
 requires high culture, and much room to do this. The plants should 
 be set three to four feet apart each way, and be thoroughly manured, 
 and salted in November. Early in March and April, the soil should be 
 stirred up with a three-pronged iron hand-fork. Thus treated, you can 
 grow Asparagus as fine as any seen in Fulton market, New York. 
 
 Bush Bea7is. 
 
 The Newington Wonder and the Eefugee have been my dependence ; 
 but last season I tried the Dwarf Wax — a waxen-yellow, stringless pod, 
 and consider it far ahead of any other kind for table use. It makes a 
 delicious dish — nearly equal to green peas. Among Pole Beans, the 
 Lima is not surjmssed by any other kind; but in northern New England 
 the summers are too short to grow it in perfection, so I substitute the 
 Dutch Case-knife, which is hardy and productive. Butter Beans are 
 also very good, making the best succotash of any kind of Bean. 
 
 Giant Wax Beans will keep up the supply of string beans until frost 
 comes ; their waxy yellow, succulent pods, if stripped up in small bits, 
 and boiled two hours, will provide a most excellent dish for the table, 
 for many weeks. 
 
 Beets. 
 
 Early Flat Bassano has been the earliest variety grown ; but the Dark 
 Red Egj-ptiau Beet has proved to be ten days earlier than any other. 
 Its color is of the deepest red, and its flavor delicious. 
 
124 EVERY WOMAN HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. 
 
 The Swiss Chard, or Sea-Kale Beet, is a very desirable vegetable, as its 
 leaves can be boiled for greens all the season. The thick, white midribs 
 of the leaves are said to be a good substitute for Asparagus. If cut fre- 
 quently, the leaves keep shooting up afresh until autumn. 
 
 Catdiflower. 
 
 The best early variety is the Early Erfurt, a compact, dwarf kind. 
 Le Normand is of much larger growth, and later in blooming. 
 
 These vegetables should have a place in every garden, and it is vastly 
 superior to the cabbage. Dr. Johnson, of literary fame, pronounced it 
 the finest flower that ever bloomed. 
 
 Cabbage. 
 
 The Early Jersey Wakefield is considered the best among the early 
 kinds, as it rarely fails to head. Early Winningstadt is the best for 
 intermediate use; and the Premium Flat Dutch is considered unequaled 
 for winter use. The Green Globe Savoy is the most tender, and the 
 finest flavored, as a general rule ; the larger the head of cabbage, the 
 coarser is its flavor. 
 
 Be sure and plant some cabbages for winter salad. They are unsur- 
 passed for this purpose, and are far more nutritious if eaten uncooked. 
 
 Cticumbers. 
 Early Eussian Cluster is the earliest kind one can grow ; but their 
 flavor is not equal to the Early White Spine, and the pickles made from 
 the latter, are superior. The Long Green Prickly is the firmest and 
 best flavored ; but will not be ready for the table as soon as the others. 
 
 Celery. 
 
 This vegetable demands more attention. It can be easily raised by 
 growing in rows, and blanching in ridges, if trenching is too much 
 trouble. 
 
 Incomparable Dwarf White is the first; of a very dwarf habit, and 
 solid. Boston Market is very fine ; White Solid is also desirable for its 
 large size, and crisp, fine flavor. 
 
 Carrots. 
 One must have a bed of these for seasoning soups, and for the feathery 
 green leaves to mingle with dishes of flowers, and vases. 
 
EVERT WOMAN HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. 125 
 
 Bliss' Improved Long Orange is a great improvement on tlie older 
 kinds ; is better flavored, and of the richest color. Large White Belgian 
 is fine for those who like the vegetable served like squashes. 
 
 Corn. 
 
 Farmei-'s Club Sweet possesses a delicious flavor; very tender and 
 sweet. 
 
 Moore's Early Concord Sweet is a new variety, obtained from crossing 
 Ci'osb/s Early with Burr's Improved, and is said to be unsurpassed by 
 any other kind, either early or late. Trimble's Sugar is a very fine 
 variety for late purposes. 
 
 Egg Plant. 
 Pekin New Black is a variety from China, which grows to the height 
 of two feet, with very ornamental foliage; the fruit weighs from three 
 to six pounds; it is very prolific, and of delicious flavor, decidedly 
 superior to any other kind known. Seed must be sown in a hot-bed, in 
 cold climates. 
 
 Kohl Rabi, or Turnip-rooted Cabbage. 
 This vegetable is a cross between a Turnip and a Cabbage in its flavor* 
 and makes a nice dish. The Early White Vienna is the best variety. 
 
 Lettuce. 
 The Early Curled Simpson is the best for spring use, and is largely 
 grown in the neighborhood of New York. The Large Curled India is 
 better for later use ; it does not run to seed so quickly as other kinds, 
 and will bear the sun better. The Green Paris Cos is the best of these 
 varieties. Dickson's "All the Year Eound " is a valuable novelty. 
 
 Melons. 
 
 Skillman's Fine Netted takes first rank; and for later use, the White 
 Japan, Pine Apple and Green Citron are the best. 
 
 Black Spanish Water Melon is of a thin rind, and rich flavor. Moun- 
 tain Sprout is a larger and later variety. 
 
 The Long Persian, imported by Bayard Taylor, is a great acquisition 
 to the middle and southern States; is very large and of the most deli- 
 cious flavor. 
 
 Joe Johnston Water Melon is also very desirable at the south; its 
 flesh is deep red, and remarkably rich. 
 
126 EVERY WOMAN HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. 
 
 Ohra. 
 The Improved Dwarf Green is better for home culture than the com- 
 mon variety usually grown ; it is also earlier, and is equally productive. 
 The green pods of this vegetable are used in making the famous " Gumbo" 
 of the southern States ; and are always desirable for every kind of soup. 
 
 Onions. 
 Yellow Dan vers has long held first rank for family use; but now the 
 seedsmen oflFer us rare imported varieties from Italy. Early White Naples 
 is a distinct variety, of mild flavor ; often the bulbs will weigh a pound ; 
 white skins, and very tender. New Giant Eocca, of Naples, has a brown 
 skin, delicate flavor, and bulbs were exhibited in England which weighed 
 three and a half pounds. Large Italian Red Tripoli, flavor mild and 
 pleasant; bulbs have grown to weigh two and a half pounds. 
 
 Peas. 
 Landreth's Extra Early is said to be the earliest for garden use, and 
 the best, Philadelphia Extra Early is also desirable ; but with some 
 seedsmen only another name for Landreth's. Little Gem is very dwarf, 
 and of fine flavor; grows only one foot high. Hundred-fold, or Cook's 
 Favorite, is a first-class variety; early, and very prolific. Laxton's 
 Supreme is the earliest wrinkled pea, and has the largest pods of any 
 kind. The Champion is a late variety, but very luxuriant, and much 
 the best family sort raised. 
 
 ParsnijJS. 
 
 A new variety of these vegetables, called the Student, is much sweeter, 
 and pleasanter in flavor, than the older kinds. 
 
 Potatoes. 
 Early Rose is as yet unsurpassed for table purposes, both in its early 
 ripening, and its prolificness. Peerless is decidedly the best late potato 
 in cultivation ; grows a very large size, is of pearly whiteness, and very 
 delicious flavor; it surely is the we plus ultra of Potatoes. Jersey 
 Peach Blows are always good, but do not yield so plentifully. 
 
 Peppers. 
 
 Sweet Mountain Peppers should be grown in every garden, to flavor 
 the pickles. Large Bell are early and not as acrid as other kinds. 
 
 Cayenne are quite small, cone-shaj)cd, coral-red when ripe. Good for 
 pepper sauce. 
 
EVERY WOMAN HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. 137 
 
 Radishes. 
 Of the Early Turnip-rooted varieties, the Scarlet olive-shaped and 
 the White Turnip-rooted are the best. The Long Scarlet Short Top, 
 and the Long White Naj^les, are the most desirable of the long-rooted 
 sorts. The Eose-colored Chinese is good for winter forcing. 
 
 Spinach. 
 This vegetable comes so early that every garden should have a bed of 
 it. The Flanders is the most desirable kind, its leaves are the largest 
 and the most succulent. The New Zealand Spinach thrives best during 
 the heat of summer. 
 
 Sweet Potatoes. 
 The Nansemond has been the best kind to cultivate at the north ; but 
 the Queen of the South is now considered its superior. 
 
 Squashes. 
 
 The summer varieties are the Scolloped Bush and the Crook Neck. 
 Of the winter, the Boston Marrow is the best early sort. Yokohama is 
 also good; but the Hubbard excels them all, and if kept in a dry place 
 will not decay until June. 
 
 Tomatoes. 
 
 General Grant, Charter Oak, Crimson Cluster, and the Tilden have 
 been held in high esteem ; but last year the Trophy exceeded them all, 
 and is expected to hold the first rank. The White Apple Tomato is of 
 very delicious flavor, and desirable to be eaten raw. 
 
 Turni2}s. 
 
 The Eed Top Strap-leaved, and the White Strap-leaved are the best 
 white-fleshed turnips, either for early summer or winter purposes. 
 
 Among the yellow-fleshed, Robertson's Golden Ball, and Early Yellow 
 Finland are considered the finest grained, and the most delicate flavored. 
 
 Sweet Herls. 
 
 A bed of Sage, Sweet Marjoram, Lavender and Caraway must not be 
 forgotten; all of them will grow readily from seeds, if sown in beds of 
 well-prepared garden soil. The seeds are so small, that they will not 
 grow unless the earth is very finely pulverized. 
 
 Excepting in the middle and southern States, a hot-bed is required to 
 etart early plants, both for flower and vegetable gardens. 
 
128 EVERY WOMAN HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. 
 
 Boxes in tlie kitclien windows will do their work, but a liot-bed is by 
 all odds tlie easiest method of forcing- plants for early vegetables. 
 
 Directio7is for Mahing and Planting a Hot-heel. 
 
 Horse mannre is the best for this purpose, because its heating proper- 
 ties are more intense; cow manure will do, but the growth of the plants 
 will not be as rapid. For a week before using it, turn it over every two 
 or three days, and if the sun is not hot enough to cause it to ferment, 
 pour 2)ailsful of hot water over it, the first time it is stirred \x^ ; the next 
 time throw out all the coarsest part of the litter. When the whole heap 
 smokes like a river on a frosty morniug, it is ready for use. 
 
 Select a southeastern exposure, where the north wind will not strike 
 upon it; a board fence at the north is a good protection. Build up the 
 manure two or three feet in depth, and from four to six inches longer 
 and evader than the frame. This can be made of boards fastened tightly 
 together, and should be higher at the back than in front, so that it Avill 
 present a slanting surface. Set the frame securely into the manure, 
 leaving enough outside to bank it up well from the frost. Add four to 
 five inches of sandy loam, thoroughly pulverized. If it can be baked in 
 the kitchen oven, and then sifted, it will be in a perfect condition, and 
 no weeds will grow in it. Place the sashes over it, and let it heat up 
 for two, three or four days, according to the warmth of the sun. Put 
 your hand in to test the soil ; if it feels warm it is ready to receive the 
 seeds. The glass is now-a-days fitted into side sashes, lapping at the 
 edges, without transverse sash; one pane covers the other half an inch. 
 This gives less shade upon the plants from the sashes. 
 
 Have your papers of seeds in a basket, with little sticks split at the 
 top to hold either the printed papers or written labels ; thus, when your 
 seeds are up, you can tell an early or a late cabbage, tomato, etc. Also 
 have a pan of common or scouring sand, well warmed in the oven. This 
 is to scatter over the seeds, and it will make them grow more quickly 
 than loam. 
 
 Plant your seeds in regular rows, an inch, at least, apart. Thus 
 l)lanted, you need not transplant all of them, some can grow in the bed 
 all summer. Eadishes should be planted three inches apart. Scatter 
 the warm sand over the seeds, water thoroughly with a fine rose sprink- 
 ler, with warmish water; don't use cold at any time, always treat your 
 plants to a slightly warm shower. Rain never falls chilly cold. 
 
EVERY WOMAN HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. 129 
 
 When thoroughly wet, spread newspapers all over them, and for two 
 or three days sprinkle the seeds every night through the newspapers. 
 This keeps the soil moist, and the seeds will sprout very quickly. In 
 two days lettuce will show itself; and as soon as the tiny seedlings are 
 up, the papers must be removed directly, else they will damp off. 
 Planting in sods has been recommended for those vegetables which, 
 having a top root, would not transplant readily. I have tried it with 
 great success, with melons and cucumbers. Sods can be cut from the 
 orchard around the apple trees, or from the road sides. Put them grass 
 side down in the hot-bed, and plant the seeds in the soil clinging to 
 their roots. Cover them with sand. Water and shade with papers. 
 Squashes, Corn and Egg plants can be planted in the same way. The 
 sods can be put into, or near a window in the barn, and the seeds will 
 sprout soon. To transplant, the sods can be cut into pieces, and the 
 plants in them placed in the holes prepared for them. For Melons and 
 Cucumbers, they should be made very rich with manure ; the grass will 
 soon decay, and the vines will grow most rapidly. 
 
 Transplantiiig. 
 This should always be done after sunset. If the plants are removed 
 at this time, they will never know that they have changed their quarters. 
 I have transplanted tomatoes, peppers, lettuce, etc., after seven o'clock 
 in the evening, and not a leaf has wilted the next day. Ehubarb leaves 
 are excellent to cover young plants that are planted by daylight; they 
 are a better protection from the sun than newspapers, as they wilt, and 
 do not blow off. 
 
 Care of Hot-bed. 
 
 Any one can make and plant a hot-bed, but it requires more brains 
 than a common laborer always possesses, to take care of one. One hour's 
 neglect at noontime will scorch every tender plant; the same time, at 
 night, may freeze it. Every morning, noon and night, it should be 
 visited. If the night is chilly, cover it tightly with old carpets, mattings 
 or boards ; and let them remain until the sun strikes clear and warm 
 upon the sashes. If the morning air is warm, lift the glasses a little, 
 and by noontime admit more air. Don't keep the plants so warm that 
 they will spindle up — nor so cool that they will chill. You must exer- 
 cise your common sense, and thereby learn to keep just the right heat; 
 a little experience will soon teach you how to manage the sashes. The 
 9 
 
130 EVERY WOMAN HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. 
 
 weeds mnst not be allowed to grow, and on a sunny day when the sashes 
 can be removed, pull them all up. 
 
 The Gardenei'^s Mo7it]ilij recommends the following plan for a minia- 
 ture hot-bed, for raising slips in the summer time: "Get two or three 
 boxL-s, eighteen inches long and ten or twelve inches wide, with a pane 
 of glass to cover one exactly; have a hole dug deep enough, in a sunny 
 location, to place the boxes in on a level with the ground, first taking 
 off the bottoms of the boxes, and fitting one closely on to the other; 
 fill up the first with fresh stable manure; in the second, place three or 
 four inches of earth, allowing space enough between the earth and the 
 top of the box to set in the pots and leave three or four inches of space 
 above it; pour in a bucket of warm water, and set on the glass; let it 
 ferment two or three days, then fill the flower pots with yellow or silver 
 sand, and plant your cuttings; whitewash, or smear with whitening and 
 water, the under side of the glass; set in the pots, and cover with the 
 glass." 
 
 Of course, some of the slips will die, and they will need to be watered 
 daily and aired. I intend to try the process this season in raising plants 
 for window gardening. 
 
 A dry-goods box will make a good small hot-bed. Saw ofifthe side 
 boards and the front one, so that the sash will slide in obliquely; put 
 cleats on all sides to support the sash; sink two feet into the ground; 
 fill up with fermenting manure and good sandy soil, and you will find 
 it large enough to raise tomatoes and peppers, with a large supply of 
 flower seeds and cuttings. An old window sash can do duty for the 
 glass. A little ingenuity will help one greatly in making hot-beds out 
 of little material. A good kitchen garden is a capital investment for 
 every family. It requires labor and some brains to run it — but children 
 will often supply the former, and the housewife must not lack the latter. 
 It should not be left entirely to the mercies of Sambo or Patrick, unless 
 they have been well trained in its culture. As I have said before, do 
 not expect that women can do the hard work of a garden — but they 
 can plant the seed, and pull the weeds — if they will not let them get 
 the start early in the season. " One year's weeding maJces seven years' 
 seeding,'' is an old but trite proverb. Hoe up the weeds when only 
 three or four leaves at the most are visible, and the hot sun will kill 
 them off. 
 
EVERY WOMAN HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. 131 
 
 Men must take care of the paths, and prepare the soil. We, of the 
 weaker sex, can surely do the rest — if we please so to do. One of the 
 finest vegetable gardens I ever saw, was tended by a lady over sixty 
 years of age, and so crippled, by an accident, that she could not walk 
 without a crutch. Yet, she planted corn and cucumbers; beets and 
 beans; potatoes and peppers; tomatoes and turnips; squashes and 
 spinach ; and her garden was always ahead of all her neiglibors. She 
 kept her beds without a weed, and her walks Aveie as hard as if rolled — 
 no weed dared show its tiny head long enough to mar their surface. 
 She was a lady, delicate, refined and lovely, and her flowers and straw- 
 berries fully equaled her vegetables. Will not our fair sisters strive to 
 imitate her example ? 
 
C LI AFTER XIX. 
 
 Arrangement of Bouquets and Vases. 
 
 Flowers in Clmrchcs. 
 
 It has been said that a person must possess the " knack " — must 
 have a taste, an eye for colors — in order to arrange flowers in bouquets, 
 baskets, etc., artistically. And, doubtless, there is a great deal of truth 
 \\\ tlie remark. One who does possess this " knack" can walk through 
 a garden, gathering the flowers here and there, and arranging them 
 with a perfect blending of color, which will result in a faultless bou- 
 quet; while another, with the same flowers, fails utterly to produce a 
 charming effect. So, one sees that the art of flower arranging is too 
 fine and delicate to be reduced to rules. Yet, there are a few which 
 may be of use to flower lovers who are not gifted with a truly artistic 
 eye. All flowers will not mix readily, but are only seen in perfection 
 when arranged by themselves. "Wild flowers will not mingle tastefully 
 with their cultivated brethren, but must be arranged by themselves. A 
 bouquet of Laurel is very beautiful; but mingle with it the coral and 
 topaz bells of the Columbine and you spoil its effect. And Gentians, 
 Azaleas, May-flowers, and last, but not least, the pearly white Water 
 Lily, are seen to the best advantage when in clusters by themselves. 
 
 Lilies of the Valley require only a background of their own green 
 leaves, to show forth most charmingly their perfect beauty. Balsams 
 can only be arranged in flat dishes, with a mingling of Kose Geranium 
 leaves to add the fragrance which they lack. Sweet Peas, so soft and 
 liquid in tint, with their exquisite rose colors, purple and browns, and 
 pearly whites, are ruined if mingled with dazzling Geraniums or Verbe- 
 nas. Put them in a tall stemmed glass, and cover them with the 
 
EVERY WOMAX HER OWN FLOWER GARDEXER. 133 
 
 feathery mist of the Oliver, or Gjpsophila Muralis, then they will glow 
 like a sun-set cloud at eve. 
 
 Eoyal Lilies must be placed in tall vases or glasses, and Eoses blend 
 perfectly with them, while Fuchsias will droop lovingly between them. 
 
 Give Pansies and Anemones a tiny vase by themselves, and see 
 how glorious they are. When you have a large basket of flowers to 
 arrange, make a harmonious blending. Put the celestial blues of the 
 Larkspurs beside the brilliant scarlets of the Verbenas and Geraniums; 
 then add the snowy whiteness of some Phlox or Candytuft, and judge 
 for yourself of the effectiveness of the tri-color. Yellow is very useful 
 in the vivid arrangement of bouquets and vases. Place it beside the 
 ruby-red Fuchsias, near to the royal purple Verbenas, and see how it 
 enhances the brightness of their hues. Among the white Roses, min- 
 gle pink Verbenas or Geraniums; and with royal purple add cream- 
 colored Stocks or Roses ; then fill in with the neutral tints of the 
 Mignonette, Ageratum, Heliotrope, etc., etc., — soft and sweet — and 
 they will heighten the contrast of the more gorgeous hues, yet do not 
 conflict with them. A Sofrano rose bud, a sprig of Mignonette, a Tube- 
 rose, and a bit of scarlet Verbena, mingled with Heliotrope and sweet 
 Verbena, and some feathery green leaves, make as perfect a bouquet as 
 one can desire to see. 
 
 If flowers could only pose themselves, it would be a great saving of 
 trouble to many flower raisers — and doubtless the efiect would be very 
 charming ; but this pleasure is denied to them, and our ignorant fingers 
 put them hither and thither, often in most horrid contrasts and shad- 
 ings. 
 
 Remember this one rule — never put blue and purple together ; never 
 let crimson and scarlet be in juxtaposition ; nor bright pink and scar- 
 let. Arrange your flowers in shadings of the same color, or in contrasts, 
 with a plentiful mixture of white and neutral tints. In shading flat 
 dishes of flowers, place the darkest in the center and shade out to 
 white. 
 
 The present fashion among florists is to arrange bouquets, baskets, 
 etc., so as to consume as many flowers as possible ; and the crowding 
 together of such quantities produces stiff"ness and formality — where 
 lightness and gracefulness should be especially sought for. 
 
 The foliage belonging to each plant is, usually, the best adapted to 
 its peculiar beauty. The Camellia, without its leaves, is a chilly, oold 
 
134 EVERY WOMAN HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. 
 
 flower,: but combined with its rich, glossy foliage, it produces a charm- 
 ing effect. The contrast of their perfectly curved lines and their har- 
 monious substance, reveal the pure beauty of the flower. 
 
 Bouquets for the hand should not be composed of solid, heavy flowers, 
 but of those of delicate structure, and of exquisite fragrance. Such 
 bouquets naturally undergo close inspection, and they should consist of 
 rare ferns and bright flowers, intermingled with those that are sweet as 
 well as lovely. Always place the most gorgeous colors in the center of 
 bouquet, vase or basket, and shade out into perfect whiteness, relieved 
 by green foliage. 
 
 If you desire to arrange a central piece for a dinner or supper table, 
 at its base place the feathery leaves of ferns, lycopods, etc., and twine 
 around the vase light, graceful vines. In the center arrange scarlet 
 flowers, mingled with blue and white, and edge the vase with the veined 
 leaves of the Ornamental Foliage Plants. These plants are very useful 
 in arranging floral devices; they provide the snowy whiteness and the 
 rich wine-red colors of flowers. 
 
 Experience is the best teacher in directing us to arrange our flowers 
 most advantageously. And we need to heed her teachings in every 
 department of life. 
 
 A lovely dish of flowers can be made out of soup, oyster and preserve 
 plates. Take the largest sized deep plate your pantry will give, fill it 
 with scouring sand, thoroughly wet; edge it with the leaves of some tri- 
 colored Geranium, or with the bright-hued Achyranthus, mingled with 
 some white flowers — Feverfew, Candytuft, or Sweet Alyssum will do — 
 cover the stems with another soup plate, not so large, so that the floAvers 
 and leaves will project beyond it; fill it as before directed, and edge it 
 with some yellow flowers, Chlora, Oxura, Calceolaria — or any you can 
 select. If the Geranium leaves were used_ before, mingle with these the 
 wine-red leaves of the Variegated Plants. Proceed as before, and place 
 on the edge of the dish bright blue Delphiniums, Blue Salvia, or the 
 lovely Forget-Me-Not, mingled with sweet-scented Geranium leaves. 
 In the center add a large cluster of scarlet Geraniums, Verbenas, etc., 
 mingled with white flowers. A vase of Sweet Peas can crown the whole ; 
 and over it all, mingle the misty Cliver or Gypsophila Muralis, whose 
 soft veil I deem indispensable. The effect is truly artistic ! Purple 
 flowers can be substituted for the blue, and you can make your own 
 selection of colors and flowers. The fairy bells of the Fuchsias are very 
 
EVERY WOMAN HEti. OWN FLOWER GARDENER. 135 
 
 lovely among the silvery-edged leaves. Tropaeolums mingle prettily 
 with the darker leaves. 
 
 A disli of flowers thus arranged will be "a thing of joy" for two or 
 three days. The sand can be wet every day with tepid water. It will 
 make a beautiful ornament for a dinner or supper table. Flowers are 
 always delightful when arranged in the dining room. The wise man of 
 Queen Elizabeth's court — the immortal Bacon — never sat at his table 
 without flowers. In his " Essays," Leigh Hunt says : " What ornament 
 is there — what supply of light or beauty could we discover, at once so 
 exquisite and so cheap, that should furnish our table with a grace 
 precious in the eyes of the most intelligent ? " Set flowers on your table, 
 a whole nosegay if you can get it, or but two or three, or a single flower 
 — ;i rose, a pink, even a daisy, ay, or a bunch of clover and a handful of 
 flowering grasses, one of the most elegant as well as the cheapest of 
 nature's productions — and you will have something on your table that will 
 remind you of the beauties of God's creation, and give you a link with 
 the poets and sages that have done it most honor. Put but a rose, or a 
 lily, or a violet on your table, and you and Lord Bacon have a custom 
 in common, for he was in the habit of having the flowers in season set 
 upon his table, morning, noon and night. The fashions of the 
 garments of heaven and earth endure forever, and you may adorn your 
 table with specimens of their drapery — with flowers out of the fields and 
 golden beams out of the blue ether. 
 
 The first new boughs in spring, plucked and put into a vase, have 
 often an efiect that may compete with flowers themselves, considering 
 their novelty ; and indeed, " leaves would be counted flowers if earth 
 had none." Does any reader fancy that to help himself to comforts like 
 these, would be "trifling"? Oh, let him not so condescend to the 
 Ignorance of the proud or envious. If this were trifling, then was Bacon 
 a trifler, also the great Cond6, and the old republican Ludlow, and all 
 the great and good spirits that have loved flowers, and Milton's Adam, 
 nay heaven itself, for heaven made these harmless elegancies, and blessed 
 them with the universal good-will of the wise and innocent. 
 
 And surely there is nothing more interesting than the world of 
 flowers. Earth, with seemingly careless prodigality, throws them out, 
 masterpieces of infinite fiiiish — all difierent, each perfect. 
 
 Nothing in life has aff'orded so much delight to so many hearts ; and 
 nothing has gladdened and brightened so many eyes ! 
 
13G EVERT W03IAX HER OWN ELOWER GARDENER. 
 
 Cutting and Preserving Floivers. 
 
 Flowers should never be cut during the intense heat of the day, but 
 either while wet Avith dew in the early morn, or after sunset, when the 
 falling dew has revive«il them. 
 
 Do not break them off harshly, but cut them with a knife or scissors ; 
 the former is the best, as it cuts the cleanest, and does not lacerate the 
 minute tubes which draw up the water that nourishes the flower; if 
 these pores or tubes are closed up the flower soon withers. I find sand 
 far cleaner to place them in than pure water; that soon becomes dis- 
 agreeable, while the sand can be thoroughly wet every morn, and keep 
 for weeks with no unpleasant odor about it. If flowers are desired to 
 be kept a great while, the ends of the stalks should be cut off a little 
 every time you change the water, and a pinch of saltpetre and salt tends 
 to prevent their decay. Soap suds, which have been widely recommended, 
 spoil the flowers very quickly. Warm water ^\\\\ revive wilted flowers; 
 put the bouquet into water warm to the hand, let it remain for an hour 
 or more, then cut off the stalks a little and put into fresh warm water, 
 only lukewarm, and they will brighten wonderfull3^ 
 
 A few drops of liquid ammonia added to the water are said to revive 
 faded flowers, but I have never tried the remedy. 
 
 If sand cannot be obtained, put a few bits of charcoal in the water, 
 or fill the vase with them and water, and put the stalks between them; 
 add fresh water every day, turning out the old, and your flowers will 
 keep a week or more. Never turn ice water into the vases, it chills the 
 life out of the flowers — is murder in the first degree. To be sure, the 
 ice pitcher is always at hand, but keep its contents away from your 
 vases. Eain water is always the best for watering plants, or for keeping 
 fresh floAvers, and it should be given a little warm, even if the tea- 
 kettle has to be resorted to to render it so. 
 
 While gathering flowers, don't pick such quantities that some will 
 wither before they can be placed in water. If you have too many to 
 care for directly, put them on a tray and sprinkle them with water, then 
 they will not wither and become limp. Geranium leaves once withered 
 never regain their fresh beauty, and Pansies once curled up will never 
 unroll in perfect loveliness. Don't be chary of picking your flowers — 
 the more you gather the more you will have. Give them to all your 
 friends — a bounteous giver is always rewarded. In selecting vases, don't 
 buy the gorgeous flowered china ware, or the brilliant Bohemian glass, 
 
EVERY WOMAN HEE OWN FLOWER GARDENER. 137 
 
 but the pure, transparent glass that shows the twining stems of the 
 flowers, and the ivory white Parian marble, around which the graceful 
 vines will clasp so tenderly. 
 
 Silver and bronze are always beautiful, but a tasteful straw basket, 
 holding a glass dish filled Avitli flowers, will often produce as lovely an 
 efiect as the precious metals. 
 
 Floiuers in Churches. 
 
 In adorning the Communion Table or the Font with flowers, we 
 should select those that are bright and gorgeous, as such colors -were 
 used by the artists of the middle ages, and from time immemorial there 
 has been a symbolism, especially in religious ceremonies and decorations. 
 Eed is the symbol of Divine love; white, of Divine wisdom; yellow is 
 a symbol of the revelation of the love and wisdom of God; blue, of 
 Divine eternity and of human immortality. 
 
 Our Puritan forefathers, in fleeing from the persecutions and cere- 
 monies of an established Church, cast from them all outward adorn- 
 ments ; we, of these later days, desire to see our churches adorned with 
 the " Green Things of the Earth," and the practice of adorning our 
 churches with vases and baskets of flowers is becoming quite universal. 
 I hope it Avill spread, until every little village church can boast of its 
 sweet floral adornments, from the earliest May flowers of the Spring to 
 the crosses and crowns of " Christmas Greens." 
 
 It is but little labor for several ladies in each congregation to agree 
 to furnish the flowers. A large mai'l^le "tazza" can be purchased either 
 out of the church funds, or through the benevolence of the rich of the 
 parish. To fill these every Sunday morn with all that is lovely and 
 sweet, cannot but be a work of love. 
 
 I recall a village church which I once attended, whose pulpit was 
 made beautiful with large vases of Eoses and Spireas, mingled with the 
 trailing vines of the Money Wort. The old deacon brought them in, 
 with an half-concealed air of pride, and placed them on each side of the 
 pulpit cushion, upon which lay the Bible. His daughter arranged them 
 from the flowers that were in season every Aveek, and he delighted to 
 carry her floral oflFering to the Lord, and lay it upon His altar. 
 
 " If there is any kind of adornment which more than another seems 
 fitted to God's house, it is that thoughtful use of the ' Green Things 
 of the Earth.'" 
 
138 EVERY WOMAN HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. 
 
 Flowers are the painted sculpturings of nature — the shapes and colors 
 of beauty, Avhich the Creator has lavished upon the world — and surely 
 they can never be employed for a better purpose. In the church, flowers 
 suggest thoughts that are in unison with the occasion, and the time 
 and care thus bestowed on the adornment of the church are not without 
 their reward. 
 
 Pious thoughts arise while skillful fingers are busy with the work 
 which, as it is done for the sake of God's honor, must, from its very 
 nature, be linked with good to all concerned in it. " "Whoso offeretb 
 me praise, glorifieth me." 
 
 " Bring flowers lo the shrine where we kneel in prayer, 
 They are nature's oflering'. their place is there 1 
 Tliey speak of hope, to the fainting heart, 
 AVith a voice of comfort tliey come and part ; 
 Tlioy sleep in dnst through the wintry houts, 
 They break forth in glory — bring flowers, bright uowers." 
 
UHAPTEE XX. 
 
 Geneeal Management of the Garden. 
 
 Tlie Soil Best Adapted to its Growth. 
 
 The most desirable soil for flowers, particularly for Annuals, Peren- 
 nials, etc., is a mellow loam, that will not bake down and crack open 
 under the influence of hard showers and hot suns. If you do not pos- 
 sess a good soil, why, of course, you must do the best you can, and you 
 can improve a stiflF, clayey soil by adding sand or ashes and manure. 
 
 A flower garden must have good drainage ; if water settles upon its 
 surface, and freezes and thaws during the winter, you may be sure that 
 your plants will not survive. There is no use in trjring to grow flowers 
 in poor soil ; but every one can make a small compost heap, in an out-of- 
 the-way corner, and give it all the soap suds on washing days that are 
 not needed on the borders. When the leaves fall, secure all you can ; 
 hire a small boy to gather them for you, and put them on the pile ; they 
 are said to be the very poetry of manure — certainly, they contain the 
 best elements of flower food. Add to this heap the weeds that are col- 
 lected, but don't have any seed-pods among them ; throw upon it all the 
 Blops from the house, and, by the next year, you will have good plant 
 food. It must be turned over several times so as to expose it to the 
 action of the air. A load of. grass sods from the meadow is the best 
 foundation for such a " bank." To use this season, procure a large bar- 
 rel, and fill it up with as good soil as your garden can boast, then turn 
 into it, every morning, the slops from the chambers. No disagreeable 
 odor will arise from it, but a rich soil will be made. Use it carefully, 
 putting a few tablespoonsful about the roots of the plants, and digging 
 
140 EVERT WOMAN HER OWN FLOWER OARDESER. 
 
 them in, so as not to toucli the stems. Dig this about the roots of your 
 Geraniums, Roses, Verbenas, Pansies, etc., not letting it come in direct 
 contact with the tender roots, and you need not complain of the poverty 
 of the soil; while the rich blooms of your flowers will fully repay the 
 extra labor. The barrel can be hid away under vines; and, as the eartli 
 is used up, add more to it. The Japanese and Chinese gardeners can 
 teach us a lesson in these matters. Nothing is wasted in their country 
 and their flower gardens are wonderfully beautiful and gorgeous. 
 
 "Eternal vigilance," Gen. Jackson's pet phrase, applies particularly to 
 gardening. One cannot grow fine flowers without some labor; and you 
 will soon learn that constant efibrts are needed to make the flowers grow 
 into fine-shaped plants, filled with blossoms. You cannot garden one 
 week, and let it alone the next ; but you must watch it, and Avater it, and 
 weed it, daily, if you would be successful. It requires as much care to 
 cultivate a handsome garden, as to grow cabbages, melons and tomatoes, 
 and no more. 
 
 An open exposure is desirable, where the sun will have free access to 
 the plants; there are some flowers like Fuchsias, Primroses, Daisies 
 Pansies, etc., which bloom far better in beds that are sheltered from the 
 noonday sun ; and their tastes should be gratified. Yet nearly all plants 
 love the sun, and grow better, if directly under its influence. 
 
 Selection and Soiuing of Seeds. 
 
 This is a matter of importance to amateur gardeners, who usually 
 desire the handsomest kinds that can be grown. It takes no more time 
 and care to grow a small, poor, single flower than a rich, double variety ; 
 and the cost is but little more. Always purchase your seeds of reliable, 
 well-known seedsmen, and do not content yourself with those offered by 
 small traders. 
 
 Seed raisers who make it a business, raise only the finest kinds ; the 
 poorer sorts do not pay. Hundreds of dollars Avorth of good seeds are 
 annually wasted because the groAvers do not know hoAV to plant them. 
 They require a very finely pulverized soil ; and, if the coarser particles 
 are sifted out, the seeds will germinate more surely. In the Chapter 
 on Annuals, minute directions are given for sowing seeds. Since writ- 
 ing it, I have soAved sixty, or more, different varieties, and hardly one 
 hits failed to germinate. Every seed of some varieties has come " up." 
 There is no difiiculty in their culture, if you will only take a little pains 
 
EVERY WOMAN HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. 14] 
 
 in planting them, and sliield them from the sun, with newspapers, for 
 two or three days. 
 
 Weeding. 
 This is usually considered a terror; but if you will use a small rake 
 and hoe, as heretofore advised, every morning, for a few minutes, you 
 will keep the upperhand of them. The first leaves of weeds or plants 
 are their sole nourishment ; cut them off and the young weeds must 
 die, however tenacious of life they may be. 
 
 Watering. 
 Leaves absorb and give out moisture, and inhale and exhale air; they 
 are the lungs of every plant, and if they are destroyed the whole plant 
 suffers. The pores in the leaves of all plants, by which they transmit 
 air and moisture, are exceedingly small, and liable to be filled up if 
 exposed to smoke and dust ; therefore, if there are not plentiful showers, 
 you must water them freely every evening. It is of but little use to 
 give water after the sun has risen. In this hot, dry climate the water- 
 ing pot is a necessity, and tubs of water should be drawn from hydrant 
 or pump every morning, and allowed to set in the sun, to take off the 
 chill; then, after seven o'clock p. 3i., apply it. 
 
 Planting Out, Pruning, etc. 
 
 The branches and leaves of plants rarely touch one another while 
 growing, and you should learn from them not to crowd your plants in 
 bed or border ; for air and light are quite as needful as water and good 
 soil. 
 
 When shrubs produce an abundance of foliage and no flowers, either 
 remove them to a purer soil, or cut through some of the principal roots. 
 Root-shortening is often resorted to, by florists, to force plants to bloom. 
 
 By checking the growth of plants, you throw strength into the flow- 
 ers. All shrubs produce their flowers on the terminal points of the 
 branches ; after the bloom is past, if these are pinched off, you will have 
 two or three branches for one in the succeeding year. 
 
 All plants are in their most vigorous growth while in flower, and 
 should never be transplanted at that time, for it will check their growth, 
 if it does not kill them. This is the time for taking cuttings, as they 
 are then most ready to send forth roots. The throwing off of its leaves 
 by a newly planted cutting, is a sign that it has begun to grow, while 
 
143 EVERT WOMAN HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. 
 
 if tlie leaves wither on the stem, it shows that the cutting had not 
 strengtli enough to send forth shoots. 
 
 You can train a plant into any shape you please, by pinching off the 
 shoots, for the plant will avenge itself by sending forth two or three 
 more, in lieu of the one you pinched in. A plant pinched in June will 
 flower in July ; if pinched in July, it will flower in August. All buds 
 proceed from the tips, and by pinching in Carnations, Bouvardias, Fuch- 
 sias, etc., their flowers will be jDut back and they need not be allowed to 
 bloom until autumn. This method of training will produce thick, 
 bushy plants, filled with many small shoots, which, when left unmo- 
 lested, will produce hundreds of buds and flowers. 
 
 To procure a succession of Eoses, j)rune down to three eyes on all 
 the branches of some bushes, as soon as the buds begin to expand ; 
 defer the same operation with others, until the leaves are expanding; on 
 the former bushes the three buds will bear early flowers; in the latter, 
 they will not begin to expand until the others are in full foliage, and 
 will bloom later in the season. 
 
 Dry, east winds are very injurious to plant life, by absorbing the 
 moisture from the leaves of the plants more quickly than they are able 
 to give it out ; they will often wither the plants as badly as a frost, and 
 should be guarded against in the same way. Cover all your plants with 
 papers, boxes, etc., if they are so unfortunate as to be exposed to it. I 
 have seen an east wind nearly ruin a flourishing bed of Verbenas and 
 Heliotropes in the month of May. If your grass-plat becomes overrun 
 with moss, manure the surface, and the grass will soon catch in and 
 expel the intruder. 
 
 Plants, when in bloom, have all their juices in the most perfect state; 
 therefore cut all aromatic and medicinal herbs just as they begin to send 
 up flowering stalks. 
 
 Profuse flowering exhausts the strength of plants ; therefore remove 
 all seed pods that are not especially desired for seed. Do this to all 
 perennials, and you will have much finer blossoms the ensuing season. 
 
 Saving of Seeds. 
 
 Though the gathering of seeds reminds us that the beauty of the 
 
 flower is gone, it is a pleasing occupation, because it promises us pleasure 
 
 for another year. As an usual thing it is better to depend upon the 
 
 seedsmen for your supply, but if you have very fine flowers, choose two 
 
EVERY WOMAN HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. 143 
 
 or three plants and pick off all the side buds, sending the whole strength 
 of the plant into two or three blossoms at the most ; frequently one is 
 quite enough. Tie up the plants with colored yarn, so that no one will 
 pick them ; pull up all the single flowers that might mix with them, 
 and you may be quite sure of saving good seed. Gather them on a dry 
 day, when the seeds are thoroughly dry. Seeds preserved in the seed vessel 
 are more clumsy to pack away than those which are cleaned, but they 
 are said to keep fresher. When ready to sow them, clean them by pass- 
 ing them through sieves, having holes large enough to let the dust 
 escape and retain the seeds. Small sieves can be made of a thin bit of 
 pasteboard cut in a circular form, and the edges turned up, then pierce 
 the bottom of it with holes made with a pin or a darning needle. Make 
 several different sized sieves, and rub the seeds through the different ones* 
 A lady can make a small cabinet of pasteboard, with as many drawers 
 in it as there are letters of the alphabet, and as she ties up the packets, 
 each can be put into its corresponding drawer; or a paper bag with each 
 letter of the alphabet marked upon it, can hold the seeds until desired 
 for planting. 
 
 Preparing Pots. 
 
 If new pots are used for any kind of seeds or plants, they should be 
 soaked in water for a few hours, as they will otherwise suck away the 
 moisture from the earth, and nothing is worse than to water seeds too 
 often, or let them become dried up. All empty pots should be washed 
 and cleaned before using again. 
 
 Taking up and Preserving Flowers in Winter. 
 One is often in a great quandary to know what to do with large bushes 
 of Geraniums, Roses, Feverfews, Heliotropes, etc., that have grown so 
 finely all summer, and now the frost threatens to lay them low forever- 
 All the plants that have a woody nature, can be preserved in a dry, 
 cool, perfectly dark cellar. Last autumn, I had a splendid bed of Zonale 
 Geraniums — every color and hue, and some fifteen plants. What should 
 I do with them? I could not bear to lose them forever! So I took a 
 large box, and filled it with a light soil, and planted the roots in it, first 
 cutting off all the tender branches, and leaving none over twelve or 
 fifteen inches long; on these the leaves were left, but every blossom was 
 cut away. The box was placed in a cold, damp, perfectly dark cellar, 
 where potatoes never freeze; no water was given it the whole winter. 
 
144 EVERT WOMAX HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. 
 
 and the first of May it was brought up with every root alive. The leav( r 
 had all ftillen, and the stems were dead down three or more inches. I 
 cut them back six inches, and bright leaves are now starting from every 
 branch. 
 
 I live in the coldest climate in New England, where one has to fight 
 for flowers or fruits. "Nine months of winter, and three months of 
 spring," describes the rigorous climate, and all Eoses excepting the 
 tender Teas, will live under sods. They are cut from the meadows or 
 road sides early in November; then the bushes are carefully laid down ; 
 and the sods are placed over them grass side up. Last winter there was 
 but little snow, but my roses kept finely. A large shovelful of manure 
 was thrown around the roots before the branches were laid down, • As 
 the sods were being placed over the Eoses, I laid a small piece over two 
 Feverfews that grew near, and they are both alive. They will live out 
 in milder climates, but are rarely known to do so in this frigid zone, 
 under Mt. Washington's shadow. Fuchsias and Heliotropes can be kept 
 in boxes in the same manner. Also Oleanders, Sweet Verbenas, and 
 nearly all flowers but Verbenas; they require light, heat and moisture to 
 live. 
 
 Zonale Geraniums can be wintered in most cellars, if the earth is 
 shaken from the roots, and they are tied up by them to the beams of 
 the cellar. All blossoms should be cut off, or the sap that is in the 
 branches will cause them to bloom, and thus rob the roots of the 
 strength they need to live on through the winter. A damp cellar will 
 cause them to decay. Scarlet Salvias can be kept in the same way. 
 
 Eoses and Gi-eraniums, etc., can be buried in trenches. Dig it two 
 and a-half feet in depth, and where the water will not settle; lay in the 
 plants, first throwing in a few shovelsful of dried leaves, or boards can 
 be laid over the plants; fill in with sandy loam, and finish ofi" with a 
 ridge that will carry off the Avater. If the trench is lined with straw 
 before the plants are laid in, they are less liable to decay. It is no use 
 trying to make " window gardens" out of plants that have flowered all 
 summer. They must have a season of rest, and they are only desirable 
 for another summer after they have slept away the winter in the cool, 
 dark cellar. 
 
 Sleep of Floiuers. 
 
 It is said that nearly all flowers sleep at night. The j\Iarigold goes 
 to sleep with the sun, and awakes at its bidding. The Dandelion shuts 
 
EV'ERT \V03IAN HER OWJS' FLOWER GARDENER. 145 
 
 tightly its bright blossoms before nine iu the evening, and does not fully 
 open them until at six in the morning. The Daisy closes its flowers in 
 the evening, and opens its " day^s eye" to meet the earliest beams of the 
 rising sun. The Goat's Beard wakes at three in the morning, and goes 
 to sleep by five or six in the afternoon. The Crocus, Tulip and many 
 others sleep peacefully at night. The Ivy-leaved Lettuce awakes at 
 eight in the morn, and closes forever by four in the afternoon. The 
 Night Blooming Cereus turns night into day ; it expands its magnificent 
 fragrant chalices in the twilight, is fully blown at midnight, and sleeps 
 never to awake again at the dawn of the morning. In a Clover field, 
 not a leaf opens until touched by the sun's rays. An English florist 
 has closely watched the habits of the flowers, and thus reports concerning 
 them. 
 
 Insects. 
 
 Insects abound in every month of the year, but they are especially 
 annoying in Summer time. With the first warm days they appear in 
 numbers, and cover the Eoses, etc. Eain causes them to disappear, but a 
 dry, east wind increases them. A small painter's brush, dipped in quassia 
 or aloes water, will brush them off and destroy them. 
 
 The caterpillars of many moths and butterflies are destructive in the 
 garden, and one death in the Spring will save much warfare ; so if you 
 see one resting on a stem or leaf, with folded wings, it is probably a 
 female and should be killed directly. If one is found dead on a plant, 
 she has doubtless laid her eggs, and you must search for them under- 
 neath the leaves and burn them. A garden syringe or engine is the best 
 weapon with which to wage warfare against l)oth aphides and caterpillars. 
 You must hold the pipe close to the plant, and pump hard, so as to 
 bring a considerable stream upon it, and it will soon be free from them. 
 Every time you i;se it, you should rake the earth away from under the 
 plants, and trample upon the insects you have washed ofi". 
 
 Earwigs are very destructive insects. Their favorite food is the petals 
 of roses, pinks, fuchsias, dahlias, etc. They eat at night, and in the 
 daytime hide away in the dark vegetation. They can be caught by 
 driving stakes into the ground and inverting a flower-pot directly over 
 them, leaving just room for them to crawl under, and then look for 
 and destroy them every morning. 
 
 Grubs on orchard trees and small fruits, will sometimes spoil the 
 whole harvest ; but if a bonfire is made with dry sticks and weeds on 
 10 
 
146 EVERY WOMAN HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. 
 
 the windward side of the orchard, the smoke will blow among the trees 
 and destroy hundreds, while the flames will attract many moths. Make 
 the fire after nightfall. 
 
 Wasps destroy a quantity of fruit, and all that you can kill in the 
 spring will save a swarm in the autumn. But be careful about letting 
 them sting you, for the smart is severe. If stung, get out the blue-bag 
 from the laundry, and rub it well into the sting, or cover the spot 
 with soft soap, or liquid ammonia, to neutralize the acid of the poi- 
 son. Saleratus wet and rubbed on the wound will also mitigate the 
 pain. 
 
 Cherish the little black and red lady-bug, for it will destroy many 
 green lice, or ajjliides. They are often to be found on the currant 
 bushes, and I always catch them and give them a home among my roses 
 and geraniums. 
 
 Toads are among the best friends that we can cultivate, so be sure to 
 treat them with kindness. They may eat a few straw berrries, but let 
 them have that privilege in return for the immense quantities of insects 
 they will also eat. If you can have none in your garden, it is well to 
 seek for them in your walks, and bring them home, handling them 
 carefully, for though they have no power to injure you, being perfectly 
 harmless, you can easily kill them. I have a portly couple of them who 
 live under my front door-step, and nightly come forth to feed upon my 
 enemies — the noxious insects — eating bugs, grubs, moths, millipedes, 
 and caterpillars. 
 
 Bees, of various kinds, are useful in spreading the pollen, so be 
 sure to bid them welcome to all the hidden sweets your flowers con- 
 tain. 
 
 Cultivate tlie Beautifid. 
 
 " Flowers seem intended for the solace of ordinary humanity. Chil- 
 dren love them ; quiet, tender, contented, ordinary people love them as 
 they grow; luxurious and disorderly people rejoice in them gathered. 
 They are the cottager's treasure, and, in the crowded town, mark, as 
 with a little broken fragment of rainbow, the windows of the workers, 
 in Avhose hearts rests the covenant of peace. To the child and the girl, 
 to the peasant and manufacturing operative, to the grisette and the nun, 
 the lover and the monk, they are precious always." Thus writes Euskin, 
 the prose poet of the century. 
 
EtERT WOMAN HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. 147 
 
 The cultivation of " The Beautiful " should be the desire of every 
 woman's heart. Goethe's sentiment, "We should do our utmost to 
 encourage the Beautiful, for the useful encourages itself," should be our 
 watchword. There are few women who do not take delight in flowers, 
 and the object of this little book is to encourage them to cultivate them 
 around and about their own homes, where their fragrance will delight 
 every one that passes by them. 
 
 They speak to us of love and ]oj; of hope and peace; of humility 
 and confidence; and also of bitter sorrow and grief — for they are asso- 
 ciated with those who have passed away, and whose loss has darkened 
 the horizon of our lives. They also teach us of the resurrection of the 
 dead, and the life immortal that fadeth not away. They adorn the sol- 
 dies s grave; they circle the brow of loveliness; they crown the festive 
 hall ; they are everywhere, and are closely mingled with both joy and 
 sorrow. 
 
 They are not a necessity to many of us ; but they teach us to live 
 nearer to God. Truly Mrs. Howitt writes of them : 
 
 " Our outward life requires them not, 
 
 Then wherefore have they birth ? 
 To minister delight to man, 
 
 To beautify the earth ! 
 g To comiort man — to whisper hope, 
 
 Where'er his faith is dim, 
 For whoso careth for the flowers, 
 
 Will much more care for Him !'" 
 
 I truly pity those who cannot turn from the hurry of business with 
 all its corroding cares, from the pomp of wealth, and the gay devices of 
 fashion, and feast their senses and their souls upon the sight and per- 
 fume of a flower ! 
 
 Far better to teach our daughters to cultivate roses on the cheeks, 
 and in their gardens, to ornament their rooms with the fragrance and 
 beauty of roses and lilies, and all the gorgeous sisterhood of flowers, than 
 to make ruffles, and puS"s, and plaits and endless puckers wherewith to 
 adorn themselves. Children can easily be taught to love flowers, and 
 the taste can never be used to deteriorate the character. 
 
 Linnaeus, the renowned Swedish botanist, was the son of a poor 
 country clergyman, who had a small flower-garden, in which he culti- 
 vated all the flowers which he could procure, and his means wouW 
 permit. 
 
148 EVERY WOMAN HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. 
 
 From the earliest childhood he taught his son to love them, cultivate 
 them, and rejoice with intense delight in their rich and varied color- 
 ings. In this way he created in him the tastes and desires which made 
 him the first botanist and naturalist of his age. 
 
 FINIS. 
 

 
 
 
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