_In this department Mrs. Lora S. La Mance will answer the inquiries of
those asking information about plants, their culture, etc. The subject
of inquiry will be touched upon in a general way, instead of being made
a personal matter, in order that the information conveyed may be useful
and interesting to the greatest number. We will forward to Mrs. La Mance
for answering such inquiries as our readers may send in.--Editor_
NOTICE. Correspondents will please observe these rules: Give with every
letter your name, town and state. They will not be published. If you
wish an immediate or personal answer, enclose stamp for reply. Do not
ask for greenhouse plans. The space cannot be given. In reporting a
failure with anything, tell what treatment you have given it.
AGAPANTHUS. In early housekeeping days, when as yet I was ignorant of
the A B C's of floriculture. I bought an Agapanthus. No pains were taken
with it, but it grew right along and blossomed freely. I was much
astonished afterwards to learn that the Agapanthus is considered an
obstinate plant that can neither be coaxed nor driven to bloom. Poor
Agapanthus! It has been unjustly censured. Be liberal with it in the way
of providing a rich potting soil, and giving plenty of water while it is
growing. With autumn, let it have a taste of adversity. Put the pot on a
back shelf. Keep the earth in the pot decidedly on the dry side, giving
plenty of water when you do water, but making the intervals between long
enough for the soil to dry out well. The plant can even be placed in the
cellar to winter, provided this absolute rest is not unduly prolonged.
After three months of inaction give light, warmth and moisture.
Agapanthus will at once respond, and flowers usually follow.
TRAINING A RUBBER PLANT. A tall, straight stemmed Rubber tree finds more
admirers than branched specimens, which are more squat in shape. Those
who like the bush form best can make their Rubber Plants branch at any
desired height by cutting off the end of the stem. The part cut away may
he rooted in heat in damp sand. The best time to cut them is in late
winter, just before the time for spring growth. Branches will soon be
sent out after the top of the main stem has been cut away.
MOLES. A lady piquantly relates her trials with an army of moles that
she cannot "catch, kill, or drive away," although she has tried
everything she has ever heard of. It is a bad case when mole traps will
not catch, or corn soaked in Fowler's solution of arsenic and dropped
along their runways will not finish them. In this case I can only refer
her to other said-to-be cures that other people have tried and have
faith in. A dozen witnesses testify that the seeds of Ricinus (Castor
Bean,) dropped here and there in their tunnels will make them leave. A
Connecticut lady says a sure remedy is to drop handfuls of salt here and
there in their runways. Others put ball potash or concentrated lye in
their runs but that is cruel, for it burns wherever it touches. Some use
sawdust soaked in tar, or with a stick punch holes here and there along
their tunnels and drop in each hole a small quantity of kerosene (coal
oil). These two last substances will kill choice plants if used close to
their roots, so use caution. An ingenious soul, rightly conceiving that
the mole is highly sensitive to smells made a number of stiff pasteboard
tubes and put in the center of each a stinking moth-ball. Buried in the
runways there was a dearth of moles directly. I heartily approve of the
mole's judgment in leaving moth-ball-scented premises. I have felt like
it myself.
TROUBLE WITH LILIUM CANDIDUM. Some of our friends have had trouble with
Lilium Candidum. They purchased fine, large bulbs, potted them, and had
only leaves for their pains. That was because they were procured too
late. They are not nearly so tractable as Lilium Harrisii. It is their
natural disposition to start to growing early in autumn. If kept dormant
beyond this period their flower-buds blast. Get them if possible in
August or the first half of September. There is no difficulty in getting
them to blossom then.
BADLY SHAPED PLANTS. Every little while someone asks what to do with a
one-sided or badly shaped pot plant. Plants, and particularly pot
shrubs, ought never to be allowed to get in bad shape. It is an easy
enough matter to correct a bad or awkward tendency at the first. It is a
difficult matter to remedy it later. When a plant begins to grows
coxcomby, or develops a long, switchy growth, or twists about in an ugly
crook, begin _at once_ to overcome it. One-sidedness is usually arrested
by turning that side away from the light. A crooked, knotted limb can be
straightened by tying to a stout support or trellis, tying it every two
or three inches to take the kinks out. Long, leggy, or whip-like shoots
need the ends pinched off. If done at an early stage no sap will waste.
It is old wood that bleeds when the knife is put into it. I always
hesitate to advise re-shaping an old specimen if it is so contorted that
over half of the old wood must be cut away. It is a great shock to a
growing plant to lose half or more of its wood. It sometimes kills it,
particularly if injudiciously watered. If severe cutting is required do
it while the pot shrubbery is nearest at rest, and a little before
renewed growth may be expected again. Usually this is about the close of
mid-winter. Such shrubs as Rubber Plants, that bleed profusely, should
have grafting wax or paint daubed on the end of cut branches. If nothing
better is at hand paste a jacket of clay over the cut end until the
wound can heal. Water with much moderation until new growth appears.
SPOTTED CALLA FROM SEED. Spotted Callas are easily grown from seed if it
is sown as soon as ripe. Plant out in garden rows like dwarf peas, and
hoe them and keep weeds down. After frost dig the little tubers up and
keep in dry sand in the cellar. Plant out in the garden the next year.
Some will bloom the second season, the rest will require another year.
SOIL FOR VARIEGATED SHRUBS. Do not manure the ground for golden or
variegated leaved shrubs. The color is not as clear where fertilizers
are used. Very rich ground means a quick, lush growth. Green is the
normal color of leaf vegetation. Any departure from this rule is an
abnormal one. Whatever imparts vigor to a plant tends to make it throw
off its acquired markings and revert to its original stage. Abundant
plant food supplies more chlorophyll or green coloring matter to the sap
also.
ABOUT BROAD-LEAVED EVERGREENS IN WINTER. A lady asks, "Is it the summer
sun that is harmful to Rhododendrons, Andromedas and Mahonias, or is it
the winter sun they should be protected from?" It is the winter sun. The
reason broad-leaved evergreens are such a hard class to bring through
the winter in good condition is because the sun shines upon their
foliage while it is frozen, blistering, and searing it. It is not the
winter's cold but the winter's sun that does the mischief. Plant all
such evergreens on a north slope, or at the north side of a building
where they are protected from a glare of sunshine on their frozen wood
and leaves.
SNAILS AND SLUGS. Where they are numerous enough to do injury, get after
them. I believe a hand to hand killing is the best remedy for all such
pests. They are sluggish and cannot run away from one. They usually take
a siesta during the heat of the day under Pansies or similar low matted
plants. Some trap them by placing slices of cabbage or raw potato about.
Others kill all the slugs in a bed, then make a ring of salt all about
it to keep them out. Lime dust powdered over the plants helps to keep
them away.
WORMS BORING INTO PLANTS. A couple of cases are reported of worms boring
into the stalks of Asters, Dianthus and Carnations. Of course the tops
die, and the damage is great. There is no insecticide that can be used
against these canny worms which snugly hide themselves in the plant
stalks where not a drop of liquor can reach them. The only remedy is to
keep a sharp outlook for affected plants, cutting away each
worm-infested top and burning it. This kills the worm and cuts off
future crops of worms. It seems a hard method of ridding the plants of
their enemies. However, the plants branch out again and develop a later
crop of flowers.
HOW ANNUALS RUN OUT. "Last year I purchased the very best grade of
seeds, and my flowers were lovely. I saved from these flowers, expecting
a similar treat this year. But my Pansies, Carnations and Petunias are
nothing near as large or as finely marked as they were last year, and
the last two flowers are all single, not a double one in the lot. What
is the cause of this?"
Deterioration in the quality of bloom is what our mothers used to call
the "running out" of plants. There is no mystery about it. It is
confined to those favorite flowers that have been highly bred and
hybridized. Everyone knows highly bred stock, be it animal or vegetable,
will not stand roughing it. If the flower grower would use the nerve of
the seed-grower and pull up every inferior plant or poor flowered one;
if she would keep the ground as clean as a market garden; if she would
allow only the finest flowers to go to seed, cutting the others off as
they fade, she would have good seed for next year's flowers. Petunias
are artificially hybridized to get a double strain of seed, and this the
amateur cannot well do. It pays most of us better to buy Pansy, Petunia,
Carnation and Ten Weeks Stocks seed than to try to save it ourselves.
FAILURE OF PEONIES TO BLOOM. Everyone says the Peony will endure
anything, heat, cold, rain or dry weather or any kind of soil. It is
true the plant is tenacious of life. It is just as true that it knows
when it is not well treated. It evens up matters many times by refusing
to bloom. Any one of the following reasons may cause it to be barren of
bloom. (1) Poor, hard ground. (2) Deep shade, as when grown under
evergreens or behind thick shrubbery. (3) Spring planting in hot
climates, or (4) clumps allowed to get too dry in droughty summers.
BRUGMANSIA. I admire this plant when in bloom. Its magnificent ivory
trumpets are a grand sight. It is a fine thing for piazza decoration
during summer, and may be grown in a greenhouse or warm plant room in
winter. It is not, however, suitable for ordinary window culture. It
needs good care and freedom from dust, and moreover chills easily. If
placed in the cellar in November it will winter there safely. Bring up
as early as possible in the spring, water with moderation until new
shoots start from the root, then give abundance of water.
EUCHARIS. This is a beautiful flower worth taking a little pains to
grow. It is more often seen in greenhouse than in a window, as it is
easier in the former to secure a warm, moist, even temperature. Shortly
after New Year Eucharis grow very fast. Keep them warm and moist until
through flowering when they can be kept ten to fifteen degrees cooler
and watered less freely. This gives them the needed semi-rest to enable
them to get ready for bloom again. In summer they need plenty of water
again. When fall comes keep them pretty dry for the next three months,
supplying only enough water to keep them from losing their leaves. Pot
them in loam and sand, with a small quantity of old crumbled manure and
leaf loam.
A PLAGUE OF ANTS. A correspondent has suffered for years from annual
raids of ants that literally swarm over everything and everywhere. "Last
year," says this lady, "they killed ever so many plants, from Pansies to
trees. All of our outdoor flowers were almost ruined by them. I have
tried molasses and Paris green, but they only increase in numbers. They
are everywhere, but I cannot find their holes or nest."
There is no use trying to depend on killing all these ants after they
have taken possession. A bushel of pyrethrum powder would not pepper
them all or a hogshead of kerosene emulsion last long enough to get them
all. They must be killed at the fountain head, in their nesting places.
A few years ago a certain set of our pear trees had their blossoms
ruined year after year by hordes of ants. We could not kill them off,
for there were always new ones to take their places. One day we found
their nest, a very large one, but entirely underground. A speedy and
therefore merciful death was decreed for them. Big pot, little pot,
kettle and boiler were filled with water which was brought to the
boiling point. We used it, _every day_, on that ant nest. That was 15
years ago, and there has been no recurrence of the trouble.
HOLY THISTLE. Some one asks about a curious plant of which no one knows
the name. It blooms quickly from seed, making a plant several feet tall.
It has long and wide leaves, waved along the margins, and very spiny.
Along each vein is a wide milk-white band or mottling. The flowers are
like a purple thistle. Strange how the wheels of time go round. This new
(?) plant is so very old that hundreds of years ago it was a common
garden ornament. It is Carduus Maritima, a near relative of the common
thistle. Everyone notices it because of its odd milky splashes, and it
every now and then enjoys a brief popularity again. Our superstitious
forefathers believed that a drop of the Virgin Mary's milk fell on its
leaves, which ever after bore milk-white markings because of it. The old
names for it were Milk Thistle and Holy Thistle. The peasantry used to
eat its tops as greens, and cook the roots in stews. Like all thistles
this will become a weed if not kept down with a firm hand.
AN IMPOSSIBILITY. A lady asks us to give a list of the six best Roses.
"I acknowledged to stand at the head of the Rose kind." It can't be done
as long as the old adage holds true of
"Many men of many kinds,
Many men of many minds."
A correspondent wants a companion Rose to a Crimson Rambler, which she
enthusiastically declares is the grandest Rose in the world. Side by
side with her letter is one from an artist. "I don't like Ramblers,"
writes he. "An artistic Rose to my mind is like a jewel in a right
setting. Too many jewels denote vulgarity." Every class of Rose has its
enthusiastic devotees. The best Hybrid Teas come nearer combining all
merits of a Rose, and nearer pleasing all standards of taste than any
other; yet any florist will tell you that they are by no means the Roses
most freely purchased. In other words, no one Rose suits all.
_Lora S. La Mance, Mo._
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