Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-08-04

The Client and molIis azaieas can be had
in bloom in about six weeks from the time
they are brought into heat Some OF the
Indian azaieas. particularly Deufscne ferle'
double white. and vervaeneana, dou-
BILE pink, edged with white and more or less
blotched with red. are hard to keep from
towering. particularly II you do not want
them until late in the season. unless kept
very cool
After towering. pick OF the dead flowers.
and water freely. in order that they may
make good growth If any shoots are
growing faster than the others. pincn them
back to form a symmetrical plant. As
soon as all danger of frost Is past In the
spring, plunge the plants In the open
ground and syringe daily, to keep down the
thrips
So common that we seldom give It's trans
cendant merits a second thought yet the
easiest plant to grow In the house, is the
ordinary geranium. 1t wants a rich SOIL;
but the secret of success with 1t is not 10
over water-on the other hand. never allow
II to become dry. To use a gardeners ex-
preston, keep it on the dry side. very
pretty way of handling geraniums is as
standards. For Christmas decoration the
STANDARDS covered with large trusses OF
flowers are beautiful. 1t takes about two
years to grow a good standard two or two
and a half feet high.
A close relative of the common or zonal
geranium is the pelargoniun, of which the
Martha Washington geranfum is the
most familiar example. This does not have
as many flowers In a truss as the geranium,
but they are larger and much handsomer.
The flowers usually have white ground.
and are varfous1y marked or blotched with
red or purple
These plants are Powered In May and
June AS soon as the plants have done
Towering remove the old flower stalks and
set the plants outside in the full sun. Here
let them ripen their wood. and gradually
withhold water, giving the plants good
rest. In September prune them into shape.
cutting back as one may fancy, but remov-
ing all soft and weak shoots Then shake
the old soil from among the roots, ana re-
pot them in a sm4ller-sized pot than they
have been in one In which you can just get
the roots comfortably. Give them thor
ough watering. AMI place them in deep
coldframe. Here they may be left until
late in the fall, SO long as they are pro-
tected from froSts. In OCTOBER transfer
the plants to the house. In January they
will need a shift into the larger pots in
which they are to bloom.
During the mdwinter months give only a
small amount of water. AS they grow.
pinch out the shoots, in order to get well
shaped plant: also take out any weak shoots
which may start. Discontinue stopping the
branches in February, as the flower buds
commence to form.
The appearance of the plant will be great
~ improved If trained to stake. This
must be done before the wood hardens,
which it does quite rapidly.
AS soon as the plants are well established
in their towering pots apply manure water
and keep this up until the Towering time.
The red spider and the aphides will surely
bother. Swinging the plants with one of
the tobacco extracts which has been dilut-
ed with water will be the best preventive.
as the foliage is tender, and is easily In
jured by fumigation with tobacco stems.
The blooming season is prolonged by CIV
ing the plants a slight shade.
The showiest herbaceous plants In the
cool greenhouse during March and April
are the calceolarias and cinerarias. house
with night temperature of 45 degrees is
none too COOL and then you must put your
calceolarias in the coolest end
The flowers of the calceolarias are yellow
with brown spots, and in form remind one
very much of the wild lady's' slipper or
child. The leaves are large and coarse
dark green, and the plants from one to two
feet high.
The cinerarias grow about two feet high
have large coarse, dark green leaves, and
bear immense fiat clusters of daiSy-like
flowers, which are either blue, red or white
or have white centers edged with various
shades of blue or red. The secret of sue
cess in growing these plants is to keep
them cool
In order to have flowers during March
the seeds are sown in July. and the earlier
the better. The seed soil must be very
fine, as the seeds are very small Just
sprinkle them on the surface of the soil
and cover the seed pan with a piece of
glass until the young seedlings break
through the soil then admit the air grad
ually.
While the plants are still small prick
them out into small pots, putting them in
a soil made of rotted sod. leaf mold or
peat. well decayed manure. and sand IN
about equal parts. Keep them growing as
rapidly as possible, and shift them as fast
as they fill the pots with roots Never al
low them to become pot-bound as this will
spoil all chances of good Towering plants
Flower the plants in 9 or finch pots or if
they are extra large, in s-inch pots
Good drainage must always be supplied
to the pots The little pots in which they
are first placed should have some sphagnum
moss in the bottom. and al all subsequent
pottings give a liberal amount of drain
age
The only likely insect pests are the thrip
and saphis. Careful Swinging each day
will keep the thrips down, and tobacco
stems scattered among the pots will act as
a preventive to the aphides.
After the plants are well established in
their towering pots, and the Towering
stems are beginning to show. manure water
applied once or twice week will be a
benefit to them.
An easily grown cut flower Is not always
to be had in the small greenhouse but a
trial of few plants of snapdragons will
surprise you at the ease with which they
may be grown. These can be had In beau
uful spikes foot long, and in white, yell
low and red.
For flowers next winter sow the seed In
July( or early in August, and grow on the
plants rapidly as possible shifting them
from the pinch pots in which they are
started to 4-inch. and later 3 or 6-inch
when they demand it. Snapdragons will
do equally well. if not better. planted out
in benches a foot apart
No plant gives better satisfaction than the
Persian cyclamen. Its flowers last a long
time in good condition. and it has a wealth
of color. The flowers are very curiousIy
shaped. reminding one of its relative the
shooting star. They white or varying
in different shades of pink to very dark rose
color with a purple blotch at the mouth
There is form of the petals which have
fringed edges.
These are best grown from seed and so
constant are some of the strains that one
can buy named forms which come true
The largest lowered form is called gigan-
teum. but the large flowers are produced at
the expense OF quantity, so the amateur
would better content himself with the good
strain of a smaller Powered form. 1t takes
fifteen months to grow the cyclamens from
seed to flower and they should never re-
throw the bulbs away, they do not do well
when held over.