This plant is a native of tropical Asia, where it is partially
parasitical, its roots penetrating the bark of the trees which support
it. It was introduced into England in 1802. There are several species,
but only one is generally cultivated. Hoya Carnosa has thick waxy
leaves, and bears umbels of beautiful flesh-colored flowers which are
very wax-like in appearance. It is an excellent plant for house culture
as it stands the extremes of heat and cold better than most plants, and
is not easily injured by neglect. It can be trained to climb on
trellis-work to almost any height, and when in bloom, which continues
for half the year, it is a very interesting plant.
There are several varieties of Hoya, but one only is generally
cultivated. _Silver Variegated Foliage_ is said to be very handsome but
is of slow growth and difficult to propagate. _Imperialis_ is a new
variety with beautiful foliage and scarlet flowers. _Cunningham_ has
light green leaves, deeper colored flowers than the Carnosa and is a
rapid grower.
They succeed best in peat, with some fibrous soil and sand. They must
have perfect drainage, and require a period of rest. Hoya Carnosa is
easily propagated from cuttings. A very good method is to wrap a cutting
in moss, keeping it moist until the roots are well started.
Among My Flowers.
August is the month when we rest from our labor in gardening, and
abandon ourselves to the full enjoyment of the varied blossoms which so
abundantly meet our eye. Now we can best determine what changes may be
required in the arrangement of our plants next year, in order to give
the most pleasing effect. A tall plant may have been inadvertently set
out in the midst of those of low growth, and we see now how awkward it
looks. Short-lived annuals may have occupied a conspicuous place, and on
their departure left an unseemly vacancy. A bed may have been filled
with a class of plants that are not free bloomers, and so there has been
little beside leaves, while another bed has been brilliant during all
the summer months with flowers. Annuals of a new kind, high-priced
novelties, have been tested; are they any better than our old favorites?
If we cannot indulge in many sorts, what do we find the most
satisfactory? Twenty-five cents per packet seemed very expensive for
Heddewigii Pinks, but Crimson Belle and Eastern Queen are of such
superior size and rare beauty that the investment is not regretted, and
then we know that they will bloom in greater perfection next year, and
that the seed saved this autumn and sown in early spring, will increase
the stock. Twenty-five cents for a paper of Candytuft seed looks
extravagant, but no one who invests in Tom Thumb would regret it. It is
so dwarf, so compact and bushy, such a long continued bloomer, so
admirable for edging a bed, that it is really almost an essential. Then
it will sow itself, and the seedlings will be up as soon as the frost is
out of the ground, and plants from self-sown seed are so much more
thrifty and early than those one sows in the spring, that this is a
great gain.
Candytuft--white, pink, light purple, dark purple and crimson, I find it
well worth while to culture for early and profuse flowers, and admirably
adapted for bouquets. I always have large quantities of the white, to
set off the brighter flowers, and by sowing seed in June and July, have
a succession of blooming plants. Foxglove, both white and purple, with
their thimble-shaped spotted blossoms profusely borne on tall spikes,
with side branches loaded with bloom, has been one of the greatly
admired flowers of my garden. Plumbago, with its clusters of tube
flowers, of the palest of blue, is very beautiful. Godetia, "Lady
Albemarle," I have found to be all that it is represented. For two
months it has been in constant bloom, and it will continue to flower
till frost. It is of a bushy, compact habit, about twelve inches high,
the flowers are from three to four inches in diameter, and of a
rosy-carmine color. Everybody who has seen it, has a word of praise for
this most beautiful of all the Godetias. _Alba_ is a new variety, having
pure white flowers; _Insignis_ is pure white with a crimson blotch on
each petal; _Whitney's_ is of dwarf habit, and has large flowers,
blush-colored, marked about the center with a handsome crimson stain.
The new French Marigolds "Cloth of Gold," and "Meteor" are just splendid
with their large and beautifully striped imbricated leaves. One has gold
bars evenly marked on the rich dark velvety petals, and the other has
deep orange stripes on a pale straw-colored, almost white ground.
"Meteor" is a perfect gem among the Calendulas.
Convolvulus minor--new crimson-violet with yellow eye encircled with a
band of pure white; dark blue and light blue with yellow eye margined
with white; pure white with yellow eye, and blue and white striped, are
very pretty free-blooming dwarfs of this species.
My Stocks are very fine, from mixed seed of the German, new large
flowering. They are mostly very double. The creamy white are especially
beautiful. The bright crimson and canary yellow are handsome. There are
many varieties of this species, but what are generally termed Ten-weeks
Stock are best known. They are classed under five heads: Dwarf,
Miniature, Large-flowered, Pyramidal and Wall-flower-leaved. Then there
are the Intermediate Stocks, prized for their late autumn blooming, of
which there are twelve or more varieties. The German Brompton Stocks are
divided into two sections; Brompton and Hybrid, or Cocordean. The latter
bloom with a single stem which forms a splendid pyramid of flowers, and
is cultivated largely in pots. Seeds sown in early spring will bloom in
autumn, and if carefully potted will flower during winter; if sown in
July and August, and cultivated in pots will flower the following spring
and summer. The Imperial or Emperor stocks, sometimes called Perpetual,
are large flowering, and white, rose, crimson and blood-red in color.
"Hardy's All-the-Year-Round," is a perpetual bloomer. The plants grow
about twelve inches high, and produce hundreds of bunches of double
white flowers.
Let us linger a little while at this rose bed. Are not those Teas
lovely? Look at Madame Lambard, one of the finest French roses imported
recently from Paris. Is not the color exquisite--a beautiful shade of
silver bronze, changing to salmon and fawn, delicately shaded with
carmine rose. And so deliciously fragrant! That rose so large and full,
with a rare shade of violet red, brightened with crimson maroon, is
Aline Sisley. It is surprising how such a tiny plant could have produced
such an immense flower! And this is Letty Coles, a new French rose, very
handsome and sweet; color rosy-pink, deeply shaded with intense crimson.
Perle des Jardins is magnificent with its rich golden yellow, and Bon
Silene has long been a special favorite. Its buds are large and
beautiful. That charming white so deliciously scented is Mademoiselle
Rachel, and this one with pure deep green flowers is Verdiflora, or
Green Rose, scentless, and of no value except as a curiosity.
This grand rose is Abel Carriere, a hybrid perpetual more beautiful I
think than the popular Jacqueminot in the perfectness of its form, and
richness of its color. The outer petals are bright glowing
crimson-scarlet, while the center is a deep fiery red. But it will never
do to linger longer among the sweet roses, for there are many other
flowers to show you.
I think that Hydrangea, with its immense trusses of bloom, is just one
of the most desirable shrubs we can have in the garden. I have had mine
six or seven years, and it bore three clusters of flowers the first
year, though a wee plant. It blooms from August till hard frost, and
needs no protection in the winter, though I do sometimes put a mulching
of straw or a bit of brush around the roots. A lady writing to _Vick's
Magazine_ says of this Hydrangea: "The first year I planted _Hydrangea
Grandiflora_ it produced three heads of flowers, the second, fifty-six,
and the third year ninety-two. Thorough cultivation and a pail of liquid
manure once a week, helped the plant to bear this enormous load of
flowers."
Hydrangea _Alaska_ is a more recent acquisition. Its flowers frequently
measure twelve inches across, and are of a bright pink color, not hardy
at the North. _Hydrangea Thomas Hogg_ would be a very unpoetical name
did it not remind one of "The Ettrick Shepherd." This variety was sent
to the United States from Japan, by that eminent botanist for whom it is
named, and has become deservedly popular. It belongs to the Hortensia
section of the family, but is a far more abundant bloomer than any
other. The flowers are of the purest white, of very firm texture, and
retain their beauty for a long time.
A more recent novelty sent from Japan by Mr. Hogg, is the "New Climbing
Hydrangea," which he describes as clinging to trees to the height of
fifty feet, producing corymbs of white flowers of the size of ordinary
Hydrangeas. It clings exactly like the Ivy, and must produce a striking
effect when in full bloom. It is entirely hardy. Mr. Peter Henderson was
the first to offer this novelty here and in Europe. _Elegantissima_ is a
novelty truly with its leaves flaked, bordered and striped with golden
yellow. I do not know whether it blossoms or not, it is handsome enough
without flowers.