If you found a stapelia growing on a window sill on Mars, it wouldn’t surprise you. Even in its native Africa, this strange plant has an out-of-this-world look.

Botanically, it is described as a succulent with four-angled. leafless stems. It grows quite close to the ground. never reaching more than a foot in height. All of its 100 or more varieties have the characteristic five-pointed starlike flowers mottled in purplish tones or brown and white and often with hairy, fringed petals. The flowers. which bloom in the Northern Hemisphere in the fall, always grow from the base of the stem and vary in width from 1 to 10 inches – often larger than the plant itself.

Stapelia is a native of Cape Province in South Africa and is especially well-known on Table Mountain in the Cape of Good Hope. As the annual rainfall in this district is often less than 10 inches, this genus has to be extremely drought-resistant to survive. During extended dry periods, stems often shrivel. No permanent harm results, however, if water is again applied at the proper season.

Outdoors, this plant can be grown in warmer sections of the United States subject to very light winter frosts. Here in Santa Barbara, where the temperature seldom falls below 27, stapelia becomes well established in any spot with plenty of sun and perfect drainage.

In all sections of the country, it makes a fine indoor pot plant. Rooted pieces or clusters should be planted in a shallow pot, where they will root readily in loose soil mixed with plenty of sand. The bottom of the pot should be filled with gravel, crushed stone or broken pieces of pots. Perfect drainage is essential. Water sparingly at all times, especially in cold weather, as too much moisture causes rot. Apply food in small amounts only during periods of rapid growth. Keep in a south window with as much sun and warmth as possible at all times.

One of the most amazing characteristics of stapelia is its method of seed dispersion. A close relative of the milkweed, it has the same long, tubular shell-like seed pods. When ripe, these split open, allowing air-borne seeds as light as spindrift to float upon the breeze.

The bloom of Stapelia variegata is a study in design, a living example of the beauty constantly presented to our sometimes unseeing eyes, a perfect example of nature’s handiwork.

“There is a stranger in our midst
With starry eyes and stubby fingers
And his name is Stapelia.”

by L Huggins – 63496

The viburnum clan contains several excellent shrubs for the landscape of small yards and properties. Among these is the linden viburnum, so named because the leaves are somewhat the same size and shape as those of the linden tree.

This viburnum is a native of China and Japan where it is a highly prized garden plant. Nearly half of the better ornamental woody plants in our American gardens originally come from China and Japan and it is interesting to note that this one, at least, is as highly valued as an ornamental in its native land as it is here.

Most viburnums are not particular about the kind of soil in which they grow, and this one is no exception. It does well in either acid or alkaline soils but, like most other plants, the more organic material present about the roots, the better it will grow and fruit.

The linden viburnum is perfectly hardy from Boston to Cleveland southward, but may have to be grown in protected places in the Chicago area. Like many other plants, it responds well to a normal moisture supply and, if the ground in which it is planted is given the minimum amount of attention required of any good garden soil, the linden viburnum should continue to thrive year after year.

Densely Rounded Bush

In appearance it is a densely rounded bush which may eventually grow 9 feet tall but it is usually seen at a height, below eye level. The flowers are very small, about 1/4 inch in diameter, but they are borne in large 3 to 5-inch clusters that are very conspicuous. These clusters are a creamy white color, all are flat and produced promiscuously about the plant so that it always appears covered with flowers in late May or early June.

Each one of these individual flowers eventually produces a small red fruit about 1/3 inch long. It is the clusters of these fruits that make the plant such an excellent ornamental for by early September they begin to turn a bright red color visible from quite a distance. These fruits do not fall off as soon as they are ripe like the fruits of Siebold’s viburnum, but remain on the plant many weeks, sometimes all winter.

Yellow Fruiting Variety

There is a yellow fruiting variety but it is not as easy to find. No better than the red fruited form, it is merely used in combination with it for special fall displays.

The autumn color of the foliage is a russet red, not brilliant but nevertheless distinguishable as a good autumn color. The linden viburnum must certainly have been in this country for nearly a century, yet it is not well known today. The taller-growing American highbush cranberry, Viburnum americanum, and its European counterpart, V. opulus, are more common, probably because they are larger shrubs with more conspicuous flowers and larger fruits.

However. the linden viburnum makes a much lower and denser plant, especially well suited to growing on the small place. Taller viburnums are needed in some places, especially where background material is wanted, but this plant makes an excellent specimen by itself or it can be used to advantage in front of the shrub border where it will quickly show off its good qualities.

Insect or Disease Pests

Most viburnums are not affected by serious insect or disease pests. As far as I know, the linden viburnum has none. The twigs and leaves are slightly pubescent and these hairs seem to be stiff enough to discourage insects, especially the plant lice which sometimes seriously infest plants of the European snowball V. opulus roseum.

Propagation is easily accomplished by seeds or cuttings. Either hardwood or softwood cuttings can be used and if one is air-layering cuttings, rooting should not be difficult.

Given plenty of sunshine and good soil in which to grow, this splendid oriental viburnum should bring color into the garden several times each year. And still it is in the “low maintenance” group of shrubs which are fast becoming so popular!

by D Wynn – 63483

Answer #1: My wax plant, Hoya carnosa, is now five years old, having been started in water from a small three-inch cutting. It occupies a space in my greenhouse where the temperature runs 62 degrees nights and all. During the day, in the spring before the orchids are shaded, it gets full sun which burns the leaves of part of the plant, but it does not mind this one bit.

Hoya as I treat it is in a very small pot, being pot bound with roots running all over the bench. It started to bloom when it was three years old, now is about 15 feet long, and would get longer if I did not cut it back constantly. Blooms generally on my plant are made from the new growths, although in some cases it does throw a bloom or two from the older or back growth.

I feed it any fertilizer that comes into my hands, even dry cow manure water, and it seems to enjoy this immensely. Insects do not bother the plant, although mealy bug would enjoy living a “life of Riley” on it if they once got a good start. Feed your plant, keep it growing, and above all do not over pot; with good drainage you cannot overwater. M Leichtamer, Ohio

Answer #2: My plant is a year old; I started it from a slip. At present it has four runners eight feet long, tied to a trellis on the inside of an eastern window. By feeding, this plant has seven clusters of buds. All winter I feed, liquid cow manure water every two weeks.

In March I start to feed with a mixture, which is made as follows: Fill a container half full of dry cow manure, the rest of the way with water; let stand two weeks. Stir. To one pint of cow manure liquid add a pint of warm water in which a half teaspoon of superphosphate has been dissolved. Mix well and feed every two weeks, or until plants bud. This is my own feeding idea and it has given good results. E Anderson, Michigan

Answer #3: The wax plant does not bloom well until potbound, and it should have a period of rest in winter. I have a plant which had not bloomed for years, which was probably due to being in a large pot. Last winter I gave it but little water and toward spring I began to feed it once a week with a liquid fertilizer.

This spring it began to bloom and has put out 10 or more big clusters of flowers. The blooming continued well into July. The umbels appear on short stubby stems, and these should not be cut off, as they bloom again. E Nelson, Washington

Answer #4: Our experience is that the roots of wax plant, Hoya carnosa, must come out the bottom of the pot into the saucer of water below, before the plant will bloom. Usually this will occur about a year from time of starting slip. R Fisher, Iowa

I read an article on cardinal flower with interest, appreciation and complete agreement, except for one point: I would be less cautious and more enthusiastic in giving directions for growing cardinal flower in captivity. That any wild flower so beautiful could establish itself in the garden with the exuberance – and sometimes the willfulness – of a weed is difficult to believe; but it has done that in our garden and in many others to which seed or seedlings of our plants have gone.

Plants Started from Seed

When we first came to our garden, some twenty years ago, I bought and planted packets of seed of a number of perennial plants, among them Lobelia cardinalis, which at that time was only an item in the catalog to me. With beginner’s luck I succeeded in raising a few seedlings. The next year brought delighted acquaintance with that most beautiful, dear, brilliant red of the cardinal flower blossoms, and I liked them so much that I bought a few additional plants. I also saved and planted some home-grown seed.

Since then we have always had cardinal flowers in profusion and have supplied both seeds and seedlings to many other gardens. Sometimes the seed is planted in a seed bed in proper fashion; more often it. is just scattered in likely places, and, most often. it self-sows in places both likely and unlikely. It comes up in the lawn, in the vegetable garden, in the perennial border, in the paths anywhere that a chance seed falls. Our soil is a very sandy loam, seemingly just suited to its fancy.

Increase by Root Division

In addition to the seedlings. I increase stock by division of the old plants. Gray describes Lobelia cardinalis as “perennial by offshoot” and it is doubtful if there is a better example of the meaning of this expression. The flowering stalk almost always dies but attached to and clustered around its base, will be found a number of young plants. These will grow if left undisturbed, only not as well as they do when the gardener separates them and gives each little rosette of green room to establish itself as all individual. Young plants so grown lire less likely to suffer from Winter heaving than old, crowded clumps.

Truly, a mass of cardinal flowers growing in the wild is something to hold one spellbound. Since they are so easily grown in the garden, it is a mystery that they are not more common in nature. I have a theory on this and also have the facts resulting from one experiment in naturalizing them.

In Its Native Habitat

In the wild, other growth around them becomes dense enough to crowd them out and the plant’s own habit of producing many off-shoots around the central stalk causes it to crowd itself out of nourishment in the same way that old phlox clumps behave. This doesn’t account for the fact that occasionally one does have the good fortune to come upon a wide sweep of cardinal flowers, but does nature ever adhere strictly to any theory? Some other wildings, purple loosestrife, for example, can be depended upon to re-appear in the same location year after year.

An Adaptable Perennial

One experiment which I made in growing them in the wild seems to prove that, while cardinal flower enjoys damp places, it resents being flooded for any length of time. In this case, seed was broadcast around a pond at a friend’s home and, for two or three years thereafter, the reward was a fine display of flowers. Then came a Winter when the water was unusually high. The area around the pond was completely flooded for some months and the following year there were no cardinal flowers. Later, a few appeared along the banks of the stream which feeds the pond, but they have never established themselves thickly in their former home.

by D Jacobs – 61912

The florist’s cyclamen has bloomed in our California garden for 20 years. At times they are difficult to grow indoors, yet we have two garden beds – one under a tree and the other on the north side of a garage – which are as unfailing as the season each year.

Our plants bloom for four months during the late winter and early spring. During this period temperatures may fall to as low as 15 degrees, but the plants always carry through, Blooming starts at temperatures vaying from 37 to 47 degrees at night and an afternoon high of 45 to 55 degrees, perhaps 60 degrees.

I use soil from a compost pile to which is added 1/2 cupful of bonemeal per gallon and. if the soil is heavy, a cupful of sand. The mixture should be rich, porous and slightly acid. Leafmold, peatmoss or cow manure can be used us substitutes.

The only way plants are increased is by seed, usually sown from August through October. Seeds may also be sown monthly to provide a succession of bloom throughout the year. I use the same soil mixture for the seed which may be sown in pots or directly into flats 1/4 inch deep and 2 inches apart each way.

In May we give the flowering plants a feeding of liquid fertilizer – a level tablespoonful of good garden fertilizer per gallon of water. This helps build up the corm for next season’s flowers.

The growing cycle generally ends in June when the corms are gradually dried off. The corms may then be taken up and sorted. but we leave them in the beds as we have no summer rains. In September or October a few corms will show sprouting eyes; then we reset them about 8 inches apart.

by G Furness – 62839

Oriental poppies are one of our hardiest and most colorful perennials. Many clumps 20 years old are still giving brilliance to gardens each spring. Unfortunately, though, many gardeners consider them hard to grow because losses have resulted from spring planting or planting pot-grown plants with poor root systems. Lack of good drainage (which is absolutely necessary) accounts for the rest of the failures.

The only satisfactory time to plant or transplant Oriental poppies is during the dormant season in late July and August, or during the fall growth in September and October. I personally prefer dormant planting, but most dealers don’t send out plants until they have started growth as they receive too many complaints from customers receiving “dead” plants. If the plants are dormant they should not be overwatered; just enough to settle the soil is sufficient as too much will cause rot.

Oriental poppies should be planted upright with the crowns 3 inches below the surface. This is very important as the 3 inches of soil protects the plant from heaving, helps support the heavy bloom and keeps out crown rot which is the only disease I know of that attacks Oriental poppies.

As soon as the plants have finished blooming cut off all bloom stems close to the ground leaving a 1- or 2-inch stub on the plant. This prevents a crop of orange red seedlings but, even more important, these short stubs will usually stay on the plant and protect the crown until fall growth pushes them off. An inch or two of soil or sand over the crown is good added protection during the dormant season.

If a well-established poppy plant fails to appear in the fall, or even next spring, do not disturb the spot for in a majority of cases it will be back as strong as ever after a year’s absence. When the root gets large it often becomes hollow and is attacked with crown rot. When this decay reaches solid root it usually stops and new buds are formed in the ends of the roots. These take lime to reach the surface.

When dividing or propagating poppies from root cuttings use heavy pieces of root 6 to 8 inches long. Plant upright, making sure you have the upper end of the root up, 3 inches below the surface and you should have one or two blooms the following spring. A light mulch of straw, marsh hay or other material is necessary the first winter to prevent heaving.

by A Curtis – 62846

The useful holly makes an ideal hedge and does well in informal groups and as a background for dogwood and other flowering shrubs, but perhaps nowhere is it more effective in landscape work than when planted with plenty of room to grow into a beautiful specimen tree. You will enjoy it a long time, for every holly should live to be at least 100 years old. Many of the hollies which furnish my cutting stock are from 300 to 400 years old; some are said to be even older.

The only hard part about growing holly is establishing it. This is easy if you use plenty of oak leafmold when planting, add more every two years and keep a blanket of oak leafmold over the roots at all times. I have found that this is the real secret of success with hollies. If you use enough of it, little else is necessary to grow beautiful specimens. Oak leafmold furnishes the necessary food, holds moisture and is a wonderful insulating blanket in both winter and summer. Frost penetrates such a cover only about 3 inches, while without a blanket, frost will penetrate into the ground beside a holly tree to a depth of 24 to 30 inches. In summer it is of equal value; many times summer heat will kill the little rootlets near the surface.

Chemical fertilizers should not be used on hollies. In fact, no food other than oak leafmold should be given unless growth seems slight and color somewhat light. If such a condition occurs put on some cottonseed meal and tobacco in early spring or fall or both times. Use a hoe and cultivator sparingly; just keep weeds and grass from growing over the roots.

Don’t worry about the right soil; holly grows equally well in sand, gravel, clay or rock. Remember, though, to use lots of oak lea fmold when you plant and to give them plenty of water. A good watering once a week until the plant is established is good practice on all newly planted trees. We always build a little ridge or dike to hold water; this allows a real soaking when you water.

Care in Winter

As hollies are most attractive in winter when they display their red berries, try to select a spot where your tree will be easily seen from indoors. If you live north of Philadelphia or in a high altitude, give some thought to protection from cold, dry winds. If there is no protection front buildings or groups of evergreens, put up a snow knee. All you have to do is break the force of the wind. Do not wrap the trees with burlap. I have seen valuable hollies injured or killed by the use of burlap wrapping. They can stand a lot more wind, for instance, than hemlocks. Ocean winds do little harm; I have sold many hollies to replace pines on the ocean front which were destroyed by hurricanes.

Hollies can be transplanted almost any time of the year if dug with a large, tight ball of earth around the roots, but March, April, September and October are much the better months. The poorest time to move the plants is when the hollies have tender new growth; in New Jersey this is in late May and June. Our large, dense specimens, which may be 10 to 18 feet high and weight up to six tons, do better when transplanted titan our smaller stock.

Hollies with multiple stems develop, with age, into more perfect specimens than do single-trunk trees. Most single-trunk hollies after 50 years or more tend to develop open spaces and grow thinner and more scraggly, while multiple-stem stock stays compact and grows thicker and heavier with age. Unlike hemlock and arborvitae, they are not pulled apart-in winter by snow and ice, and they grow about the same number of inches in height per year as the single-trunk trees. Years ago the demand by landscape architects was mostly for single-stern hollies; now I sell ten multiple-stemmed large specimen hollies to one with a single trunk.

Named Hollies

American hollies sold today are vastly improved over most of those one could buy 25 years ago. More and more hollies are now sold by name and as a whole it is much safer in buy them by name. Named hollies are comparatively new, however, and most of us know little about the merits of the individual trees. I will try to give you some personal observations from my 40 years of experience in working with hollies.

Young hollies show little individuality, but as they mature they differ greatly. Some are quite dwarf and compact. Perhaps the most dwarf are CAPE COD and MASSACHUSETTS DWARF. These have medium-sized leaves and hear many berries. Both lose their dwarf habit when planted away from the ocean in the mountains or in the Midwest.

CLARKE is a good variety for hedges and has been used for quite a long time. It is a heavy hearer and the leaves are a good green. Unfortunately, it loses its berries in late winter and sometimes drops most of its leaves, too. CHRISTMAS HEDGE bears heavily and has larger. darker leaves.

As for specimen holly trees, there are many good ones. Griscom grows tall and narrow like some firs: and cedars and has dark leaves with lute of berries. MERRY CHRISTMAS and OLD HEAVY BERRY grow into tall trees which are much broader and not so compact.

MERRY CHRISTMAS is one of the hardiest varieties of American hollies. The parent tree is located high in the Catskills above Eldred, N. Y. Its leaves are large and dark and it bears fruit consistently year after year. It does well in Michigan and all the northern tier of states eastward and seems to do better in mountain areas than other hales.

OLD HEAVY BERRY is my favorite. Built like an oak, it has character and remarkable vigor. There is a playhouse among its branches, and I have often climbed all the way to its top. The leaves are dark, very heavy and ribbed. Its name is an indication of the way it bears berries. About 50 years ago the whole top was broken off and a bonfire built under the tree burned it so badly it seemed it could not recover, hut today this OLD HEAVY BERRY is a beautiful specimen.

BOUNTIFUL, another good holly, is quite different in structure from OLD HEAVY BERRY. It is a magnificent tree, with all its light, willowy branches radiating from a straight central trunk. With its leaves stripped, this holly tree would look for all the world like a pin oak. The tips of its lower branches touch the ground, and many have taken root.

ARDEN does not grow quite as large as the other four varieties. Its leaves are apt to lie rather light, but its berries are prominently displayed. Some of the good named hales bide their berries among the leaves. CARDINAL, like ARDEN, displays a heavy set of berries every year. CROONENBURG, with large, dark loaves and lots of berries, is one of the best of the Southern hollies. Thus6 who have tried to grow it north of New Jersey have found that it is not hardy enough for that area.

Yellow Berries

CANARY is an unusual holly with bright yellow berries. I found it growing deep in the Great Sinokies, where it stood on a small bluff at the junction of a dry gulch and a mountain stream. Probably 100 years old, it was as straight as a tulip poplar, and covered with berries. About 15 feet away stood a large red-berried holly. The limbs of the two trees interlaced, so that masses of red berries were mingled with the bright yellow ones. Branches of each tree extended far into the other, yet the same pollen brought by bees made yellow berries on one branch and red on the other. I believe those two hollies growing side by side deep in the forest made a greater impression on me than any other hollies I have ever seen.

by D Earle – 62843

Inseparably linked with Christmas and long a favorite winter decoration, the holly has established a claim upon our hearts which sets it apart among evergreens. The startling loveliness of its brilliant berries studded among lustrous, dark green leaves, at a time of year when most trees are bare or unrelieved somber evergreens, places it in the forefront of winter ornamentals.

Holly is especially adaptable as a hedge: it thrives in either sun or shade and where the hedge must run through areas variously lighted, as more hedges do, the holly remains more nearly uniform in color and texture than any other hedge except perhaps the yew. It makes a hedge of superior landscape quality, and clippings taken at the Christmas season can yield a source of income. Perhaps that is why holly hedges are so rare today: killing the goose that lays the golden egg is a temptation to most of us.

If you have ever bought a sprig of holly at Christmastime. you know how much each small brunch is worth. If you wait to cut your holly hedge until the demand has reached its height, then offer fresh greens – glossy leaves and bright red berries – you can command a better price and be assured of selling locally all you can cut. Holly shipped from a distance in wooden cases often turns brownish and loses many of its berries. But don’t cut your holly hedge so hard that next year’s crop will fail. A good hedge properly handled should yield each year double what it yielded the year before, at least for the first 20 years.

Holly endures severe pruning once the toots become established. At first only the tops of young plants should be trimmed. In no case should the amount of growth removed equal a year’s production. Even when the hedge has good proportions, it should not be sheared as hedges usually are, but left to grow throughout the season. New shoots develop in the North by late April; flowers appear about June 1, or even earlier in the South. By fall there should he some tall shoots at the top, longer branches reaching out from the body of the hedge. These will normally carry the greatest concentration of berries. It requires only a little practice to cut back these long growths in such a way that they make good sprays for decoration. The appearance of the hedge will also benefit by their removal.

Choosing a Holly

If you are planning to start a holly hedge, you have a choice of several fine varieties. The European holly, Ilex aquifolium, has not been excelled for luster of foliage or size and quality of berries. But except in the Far West and in some parts of the South, it cannot he depended upon in this country for hardiness. In the coastal region of Washington and Oregon, this holly thrives in many forms to produce bountiful harvests of Christmas greens. Certain horticultural varieties of it will persist in favored spots through southern Massachusetts, central New Jersey and the Ohio Valley, but they do not make reliable hedges.

Other beautiful but not too rugged varieties include the Chinese holly, Ilex cornuta, which in the North tends to bear few berries and which soon lose their color; Ilex pernyi, a small-leaved form which does not bear heavily; and the spineless, dainty yaupon, Ilex vomitoria, which fails north of Virginia. All of these serve excellently as hedges in the warmer regions of the country.

For the largest part of the country we depend on the native Ilex opaca, the familiar Christmas holly. It can be relied on to the limits of its natural range, from southern Massachusetts to southern Pennsylvania, the Ohio Valley. southern Missouri and eastern Texas. Planted northward of this line many individual trees brought from the wilds of the South will fail. For this reason, plantings should be selected only from the rich assortment of named horticultural varieties, certain of which are noted for hardiness. Some of these are suggested below.

Cutting-Grown Hedges

In any case, a hedge of a single horticultural variety propagated by cuttings is superior to one of assembled wild seedlings. Each seedling follows a growth pattern of its own, often astonishingly different from that of its neighbors. A line of such seedlings may become a good hedge but more likely a hodgepodge.

The farther north the hedge is to be planted, the more important it is to seek a specialist’s advice before planting.

In order to bear berries, the hedge must consist of female (pistillate) hollies. It is also necessary to plant within a rod or two a male (staminate) tree for every 10 or 15 yards of hedge. Otherwise, pollen may not reach the pistillate flowers and the berry crop will fail. Staminate trees within the hedge itself spoil its appearance and if pruned, furnish little pollen. It is best to treat these staminate trees as specimens, allowing them to grow as large and as fast as they will.

Hollies must not be set too close together in the hedge or they will enfeeble each other by crowding. A spacing of 4 or 5 feet is hest, although in a deep, rich soil 3 feet may be enough. The roots prefer silt or loam. They thrive well in sand but often assume an inferior yellow color. For success in a clay soil, quantities of sand and peat must be dug in to a depth of 2 or 3 feet and mixed with the clay.

In the South manure may be given; in the North, no manure or fertilizer should be used. It may force fall growth, which is inevitably destroyed in severe winters. The exception is cottonseed meal, which does not seem to force growth; even with it, caution is advised. Water should be withheld in the fall. An occasional application of rich soil dug in around the roots is helpful, as is a mulch or cultivation while the plants are young.

Transplanting

In the South the season of transplanting is less important than in the North. September is a good transplanting month south of the Mason-Dixon line; north of it. April is much better and north of the native holly’s natural range, April is the only month. For April transplanting, it is advisable to prepare the soil in the fall; in spring a heavy soil tends to lie in lumps which invite disaster.

Hollies require great care in moving, and it is vital to have the soil settled snugly around them with no air-spaces. Arrangements to obtain holly plants from r. nursery should be made in the fall also, as the choicest varieties are not too plentiful.

A well-grown holly hedge will be a source of great pleasure for years to come. But don’t cut the branches too severely for Christmas decoration. With proper handling your hedge will double in beauty and value each year, brightening up your winter garden with its bright red berries and beautiful waxy green leaves and bringing Christmas joy into your own home and many others.

by N Gearling – 62842

Taking up little space, but enjoying a front seat in a south window, the South American Oxalis brasiliensis makes a lovely pot plant. Many oxalis tend to recline or droop, but this is a neat-appearing plant with upright leaf stems 4 or 5 inches high.

Its trifoliate, shamrock-like leaves are barely an inch wide on opening, but when full size may be 1-1/2 inches across. The wine red blooms are about an inch wide, coming two or three on a 7-inch stem. It increases prolifically by means of stolons (underground stems) sent out from small bulbs just under the surface of the soil. More bulbs are formed on these stolons, soon filling a good-sized pot.

Loves Light Soil

This oxalis delights in a light soil. Not knowing its exact soil requirements at the time bulbs were first acquired, they were potted in equal parts of sand, leafmold and well-rotted cow manure. This suited the bulbs so well that buds soon formed and the plants bloomed profusely throughout the entire winter.

Oxalis brasiliensis seems to be less sensitive to extreme light, or lack of light, than many of the other oxalis species grown in pots. The flower petals do close in the evening, but the leaves remain open as in the daylight hours; quite a contrast to other oxalis which are very sensitive to light changes.

Late in the summer there is apt to be a gradual drying off of the foliage, and water then should be given sparingly until all leaves have turned yellow. At this time plants can be divided or repotted, or left to rest and then repotted when the bulbs start new growth. For two or three months this oxalis will show no sign of life.

After the rest period water is again given carefully in small amounts. As soon as good growth has begun, they require more.

62837

I have harped on the desirability of Hunnemannia fumuriaefolia before, but this Mexican tulip poppy is still too seldom seen in Southland gardens. Full sun and good drainage are imperative to the comfort of this delightful wild flower from Mexico, where it receives good rains during its growing season and the early part of its blooming period and drought during its time of rest.

When established, the tulip poppy, like the bright horned poppy (glaucium) from Europe, which requires much the same treatment and makes a good companion plant, is self-perpetuating. This is fortunate, for neither of these poppies are easy to transplant after they are a few inches tall. Now is the time to sow the seed, which, when fresh, germinates quickly. The 2-foot plant is a handsome one with beautifully cut gray foliage and large flower-bowls of light buttercup yellow which are excellent for cutting. The selected form called Sunlite equals the best that can be found in Mexico.

by R Lester – 62840