Show Candle Plant Has 1 Interest Of Botanists By MAUD NAUD Telegram Oard Garden Editor rY Those of my readers who are makl making g ri a collection or of c cacti U and succulents for their windows should by all means have a a. candle candio plant or pr desert candle which is botanically known as artIc articulate l ta It is a plant which grows with the least least- attention and yet ct always causes comment on its strange ap ap- ap- ap from those who see it for tor forthe the tho first time Most plants Most plants grow and develop in summer but but at this tills s season ason t the e desert candle sheds its leaves a and becomes dormant Its thick green stems remain upright and very lonely looking with pretty darker green markings roughly shaped like liko an arrowhead to show where once the tho the foliage grew grew what would normally be bo the tho rainy season Beason in inthe tho the plants plant's natural habitat Then Thon in our winter new leav leaves s co- co come coe e but bu only on the new shoots never ever ever the theold theold theold old onos ones Tho The le leaves ves themselves themselves- are small bright green grCen and quite like like ivy like in fact it is closely related to the tho hanging plant known as German ivy A well well-gr well grown wn specimen is a pretty and perky sight with these cheerful leaves crowning each upright upright upright up up- right candle Later in winter flowers appear also although they are small white or yellow ones no noat not notI I at all spectacular The Tho Tho is a a. native of or South Africa and that accounts for its habit of leaf leat dropping There ho hot weather combined with with- total lack of moisture makes the plant unable un un- ablo able to support its leaves with sap and so they shrivel up and disappear pear pea pear just just at the tho time when one would expect them to be growing and thriving best Tho The desert candle is just as easy casy to start from cuttings as all aU of ot the the- cacti and succulents are Break off a single candle permit it to tolie tolie lie Ho on oft a shelf or table for tor 24 21 hours so that a a. skin will form over the broken surface and then plant il ilin it itin in sand Band until roots form It Jt needs a light and sandy soil Boil for lor its permanent permanent permanent per per- manent place If you have havo one of these plants you will find that thai your friends are aro always glad to be given a started piece From my origInal original original inal one one I must have given scores away Another odd plant for the window garden jarden is This grows in a 8 neat rosette of very dark green fleshy pointed leaves which aro ore ridged with milk white tubercles the whole giving a a very strange but handsome effect This is another native of South Africa where it grows among stones stoneson on the veldt Flowers of the sub- sub are aro rosy red coming on long stems which spring from among the foliage quite like those I of the partridge breast aloe The I are often confused with the aloes in fact tact If Ife you are a collector you ou m might very well veIl decide to collect all aU varieties varieties varie vane ties of available There are ire quite a number in the American trade rade all aU of them odd and quite easy to grow There Ther is ha a which has has transparent succulent leaves and or the cobweb thia hia with filmy threads from point to o point of oC its rosette similar to the cobweb and there them are aro still others there are arc more than 60 varieties in the world although ough some somo of at them will only be found in collections of experts or in botanical botani botani- cal gardens Q QUERIES JERIES TAJ A L L. M. M Mf Cedar City writes r I I have a cactus plant that I have havo always been proud of or beca because be- be ca cause causo sG of its many flowers it Is a spiny one Now there are aro a lot rIot of bugs hugs on it It- be between the spines little gray ones and s some some me with with woolly backs How can I I get rid of them 1 It is Is' too spiny ny to handle I much A. A Spray y the tho cactus with a solutIOn I t tIOn of made exactly as s din di- di r n 5 o on th the bottle tell y you u- u This will Wm ri rid the c cactus c of me us mealy ly bug which is what fc Ls an it Thank y you for to for or the praise yoU you give these articles but but which I am am far t too modest to o qu quote te J 1 too the hope I soon shan shall visit your your- lovely c city ty again |