The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1880-03-02
AGRICULTURAL.
The H6liOtrOpa


The heliotrope fourishes in the open gar
den border during the summer season, and
blooms most profusely; after a short season
of rest a free bloomer will do almost if not
quite as well in the house through the WIN
ter, provided it receives proper care. The
varieties are numerous, and differing widely
in habits of growth and color blossoms,
some being branching and Of compact form,
while the flowers range all the way from
pearl color to very dark purple. The low
growing kinds are particularly well adapted
to window culture where the space is lin
tied; the branching ones must be kept with
in bounds by trimming and training into
tree shape Or on a trellis.
All lovers of flowers admire the heliotrope
for the fragrance and delicacy of its bios
SONS, and are almost certain to give it
| place in their collection of house-plants, but
| it SO frequently disappoints its owner by re-
fusing to bloom that its culture is often
abandoned in encouragement, and it is
| great pity, for there is scarcely anything
among our commonly grown house plants
| that responds mere readily and generously
| to the care and kindness bestowed on it. 1t
| is useless to expect cuttings made during
| the summer to bloom in the winter; old
| plants are best. The older the plant, pro-
vided it is healthy, the larger and more
abundant will be the flowers, that is, when
the plant is properly trimmed and treated.
1t requires considerable nerve to lop off buds
| as we must do to insure fresh growth of
new wood, and an abundance of flowers in
| winter, and this is just where so many anna
teurs fail
Those heliOtrOpes designed for window
| culture, should not be bedded out. They
will thrive better if left undisturbed except
| to give an occasional top dressing and more
| growing space as it becomes necessary. Cut
| tings should be rooted not later than March
| if they are to be the sole dependence for the
| following winter.
The heliotrope loves a loose, rich, sandy
soil, with plenty of charcoal and potsherds
for drainage. The latter part of August is
the time for transplaLting or repotting and
then the plant should be pruned severely.
1t bears cutting admirably, in fact must
| have it in order to thrive and bloom, but is
very impatient of having its roots disturbed.
| After potting, water freely and keep shaded
| for week or longer, when it will begin to
show signs of new growth Then give it
| sunny location and water judiciously, and as
soon as frosty nights come transfer it to the
| sanniest window you can command. If you
| have no sunny window, then be content to
| let those who have, cultivate this flower of
| the sun, and save yourself trouble and dis
appointment. 1t will thrive in an etmos-
phere ranging from fifty TO seventy degrees,
provided it has frequent showerings over
| head and the heat of the room is not too
| dry. Its only enemy is the red spider, and
| plenty of moisture will keep this pest away.
Water copiously, that is until the water runs
| out of the bottom, and then not again until
| the surface of the soil is dry. Many jealous
| people kill not only heliotropes, but other
| plants as well, by partial and too frequent
watering, keeping the surface of the soil
damp while the roots are shriveled and
al IL, AZ.
| opposite extreme and drench the life out of
every thing. The heliotrope will stand nei-
ther. Give it a rich, sandy soil, plenty of
|! water, good drainage, oceans of sunshine,
/ and a daily shower, when the sun is not
shining on it, and by this time your plant
should< be mass of bloom; mine was
month or more ago, and expect it to con-
| tinue in flower until warm weather comes
again, then shall renew the soil, trim back
the branches, set the plant out of doors and
| let it blossom only moderately until time to
prepare it for the house again.
| If toward springtime the plant seems to
! flag and the leaves turn rusty and brown, re-
move the surface of the soil, and replace it
| with fresh earth mixed with some powdered
| charcoal and one teaspoonful of SCOT, or, if
you choose, try watering it once week with
SCOT tea, made by boiling teacupful of SCOT
in seven quarts of water; tie the SCOT up
loosely in a small bag. Use the same liquid
well diluted, for an occasional sprinkling
overhead, land if you have fuchsias and roses,
try the effect on them; it will be good. AL
ways use rain water if possible and never
let it be colder than the atmosphere of the
room. If rain water is not to be had, then
dissolve five cents worth of carbonate of am
monia in pint of water and add few
drops of it to each bucket of hard water
which you use abaut your plants.-Prairie
| Farmer.