Show £ ) i Indoor Cacti Gardens Grow in Popularity Offer Winter Interest mon A single thick leaf of a sedum broken off and left undisturbed on the windowsill or on a table or other place will send out tiny roots from the place where it used to be attached to its parent stem and then will begin to form a small plant at the same point even with- A simple dish garden of cacti leaves like any other plant It was the changing of the climate in the countries of its birth over the ages which made the cactus what it is today In order to survive it had to learn to live without rain as deserts came into being When the rains became less and less frequent and the plant which the cactus used to be found that it must hang onto what mois- ture it possessed Instead of permitting it to pass' off into the air the surfaces of transpiration — the leaves— became lessened and lessened until finally the poor unwanted unused unnecessary leaves left forever And presto the plant found that it was a cactus! The stem of not to be left behind in this process of adaptation and knowing when the chance came gradually thickened Itself and thickened itself until it eventually emerged as the main part of the plant embelished With rows of hooks and spines all determined to save the cactus’ life by making it obnoxious to animals’ taste In its desert Jhe cactus fills all its tissues with water during the rainy season and then all through the months of drouth and heat it is saved from extermination because of that reserve supply When the spring rains come the cactus in the desert starts into new growth and as the days get warmer it produces its amazingly lovely flowers Following that it either' produces seed or not and enters a state abput equal to hibernation until the rainy season of the next year Care Necessary in Winter Treatment of cacti in the house should equal this as much as possible All winter long keep them warm and dry watering only about Give them sun when every month Then in spring you can though increase the water supply and get ready for watching the development of the blooms which are really astonishing in their silken beauty may ' he obtained with a few cactus plants amussome of various forms also Pottery designers being ones ing wise people have flooded the market with contraptions made to hold cactus assortments both handsome and funny— I mean the pieces of pottery not the cacti! We have shallow bowls and ' dishes in the ' most heavenly colors ‘as well as in graceful shapes and then we' have cats dogs donkeys fishes frogs and elephants and for all I know rhinoceruses too with holes in their backs in which the baby cacti may be planted It is the faculty which the cactus possesses for living with so tiny an amount of water that makes it a good subject for this dish culture If but herein also lies danger you are a generous' waterer you will drown your cactus because the dish offers no means whereby the excess may escape Soil suited to all cacti plants is one which is light and porous one out being planted! Becomes Independent Plant Such a leaf set In sandy soil soon becomes an independent plant Sedums have foliage which may be green yellowish bluish greyish or varlgated They flower too but usually they are grown for their foliage since many of the flowers are small and not showy Every gardener should have a collection of cacti and succulents for besides providing interest in’ the window of cacti and succulents they are so useful when you want W “ V V'- ra building Center street An extensive mebershlp drive is to be conducted by this club which intends to sponsor some community landscaping projects according to George W Strom secretary 4? Every amateur gardener shbuld try to outwit unfortunate oi weather conditions One way of doing this is to start seeds flowers in the house where the climate may be springlike or summery instead of waiting for warm temperatures outside If the mountain won’t come to Mohammed you know—ayou can and bag of always go to meet spring with a few boxes or pans common sense nice fine soil And besides the unmistakable good abbut this indoor seed planting there’s the added fascination or watching every process of germination and growth at close range which evades ou when your seeds are outdoors Also and to many amateurs this is the spice of the pudding there is the ecstasy of times to be had at the grocery ‘X MAGNA — Due to illness among members meetings of the Magna Garden club were discontinued during the winter but plans for immediate resumption will be made at a board meeting to be held the first week in March according to Mrs Helen Fitzgerald president knowing that you’ll have petunias or snapdragons in flower in the garden a month or more before poor dilatory Mrs Dlnglebuster has next door I don’t care if you have never planted a seed in your life if you follow these directions you can’t fail to have a crop of choice young seedlings ready to be put out in the garden in May when we may be fairly sure that frost will not visit SALT LAKE— The Utah Rose society heard a comprehensive description of municipal rose gardens of their reasons for being and the methods of laying them out at their monthly meeting held Thursday in the Newhouse hotel William Neff of Holladay the speaker is a landscape architect who has made a special study of such gardens and who recently visited large rosegrowing fields in California and observed the harvesting and storing of the huge crops of rose bushes R O Kirkland presided GerminationTime Varies V imtfr V"o n: us again- Give Seeds to Children Even if you are not anxious to rush the season yourself and you have children buy a package of seeds for them and let them experiment with an indoor garden You will find that you are providing yourself with a splendid way of teaching them many of the mysteries of life and you will also be instilling in the child’s heart a love of the green growing things of nature which will be a joy and comfort to it all its life In many homes the usual “flats' which are used by nurserymen for seed sowing will be too large and 'Sxv5MNw " v?- ' A' r 'va:'’-vA- has nurtured the fern shown above for more than 35 years- and has John L Groo who - (Keep this for reference) Seeds are sometimes temperamental about sprouting Beginners are also temperamental and notoriously impatient and have been known to denounce the seedsman from whom they bought their packets' of alyssum on ageratum when they hadn't allowed enough time for No matter what other seeds you his wares to show what they decide to start in the house this could do spring do let me beg you to plant Stale seeds of course won’t give some of the seeds of the Heavenly the best results but even at that Blue morning glory that most exit is amazing how long a time seeds quisite of all annual vines Unless seeds are given this early may be kept and still give plants If you have kept seeds from the start very often you have plenty of previous season or longer and wish green leaves and miles of twining to find out whether it is worth the stems but few or no blooms betrouble of planting them or not cause frost arrives to terminate the here’s a way of proving it plant's existence before the tardy Take two pieces of clean blotting buds can unfurl This plant is a paper and wet them Put one on a notoriously dilatory one Also when you purchase your plate and sprinkle a few of the disputed seeds on the wet blotting seeds make sure that you get the paper then put the second blotter early blooming variety in this way over the first one and finally cover you will be certain to have the with another plate inverted Leave large cerulean blossoms covering this in a warmish place for several the vines from July until frost— days provided of course that you sow the If the seeds are good they will seeds in your house at once sprout on the blotting paper and Seeds of the Heavenly Blue mornyou may go ahead and sow the en- ing glory have an unusually hard tire crop in boxes of earth coating which makes germination The same method will give you difficult To speed up things either an idea as to what percentage of soak the seeds overnight or file seeds will germinate from the total through their outer coats with a nail number you plant In all except file Then plant them in individual the very finest dust-lik- e seeds you pots will be able to count them as you Tiny clay flower pots may be “sow” them on the damp blotting bought very cheaply and each one — paperwill care for two seeds Paper pots Various kinds of seeds have dif- are excellent because when time ferent lengths of time in which they comes to put 4he young morning will show life Always give them glories outdoors may set out the benefit of the doubt and allow the entire thing you thus preventing some extra days before declaring any disturbance of the small tender that they are no good I will' give you a list of the most commonly grown seeds with their usual average periods required for germination Keep this for reference African daisy 15 days ageratum ii alyssum 5 anchusa 20 antirrhinum 20 aquilegla 15 arctotis 20 aster 8 bachelor button" 5 balloon fA2-vine 25 balsam 10 bellis perennis 5 brachycome 8 browallia 20 calendula 10 California poppy 8 ft 5 carnation 8 castor bean 15 celosia 20 cobaea scandens 15 coreopsis 20 cosmos 5 crypress vine 5 dahlia 5 datura 15 delphinium -- 15 dianthua 6r digitalis 20 dimorphotheca 15 evening 15 four primrose 5 forget-me-no'clock 5 gaillardia 20 godetia 15 gourd 15 gypsophila 20 hollyhock 5 hyacinth bean 15 iris 50 -- MSjr msmFFieHem j It never given It any plant food or fertilizer is a Boston fern Plant Heavenly Blue Morning Glory " " Outwit Bad By Starting Seeds of Flowers in the House ' ' MIDVALE— The club of Midvale will hold its first meeting of the year Monday March 1 at 8 p m in the Community club Mid-Flo- The cactus that jester of the plant family has never been so popular as it is today This is perhaps a natural event in the Course of the world’s progress because in most of the modern houses and apartments the cactys is the only plant able to endure All it asks la sunshine when possible 'All cacti are natives of the American continent where they grow in the deserts from Colqrado through Utah and Nevada down to Mexico and South America Of course this fact should endear the cactus to us although probably the word “endear” is too intimate a one to use in regard to such a prickly spiny murderous plant Those gardeners who like to spe- containing plenty of sand but they cialize in things might very ap will not thrive inland alone be propriately make an outdoor cactus pause it is lacking in nourish-garde- n an garden and ment While cactus may be abused they would have a most interest- - it shouldn't be actually murdered lng spot as well as q beautiful one and it needs food Some of the cacti would be hardy The different species of cacti but a great many of them would should be combined fn dish gar have to be housed during the win- dens for best results artistically ter Tall skinny ones like chimneys It is the special faculty which fat round ones like dumpings gro the cactus possesses for growing tesque ones which branch off at circum- all sorts of angles those displayIndoors under adverse stances however which is my sub- ing spines in many colors and ject now Being denizens of des- groupings — all of these have their erts of course the dry warm air place in the cactus garden and a of some living rooms will be like well arranged one will afford as heaven to them and the forge'tful much beauty and Interest as a boutreatment of many housewives con- quet of the choicest flowers cerning water will also be agreeClosely related to the cacti are able to them for you may go plants which we call succulents beweeks without remembering the cause of their thick fleshy leaves family cactus and It will never com- which have also been designed to hold moisture to tide the plants plain over long dry spells in their naWhy Their Naturet Most of these have Have you wondered why nature tive places come to us from South Africa and these these these freaks jesters put clowns these hobgoblins of plants while they are not cacti still they atin the world? They weren’t always get along In the same sort of so we often combine them the laughable objects that they are mosphere now you know Once they had in cactus gardens Everyone I am sure Is familiar with a plant called hen and chickens This is a succulent its true name is sempervivum which literally means “live forever” and there' are many different kinds of sempervivum Other succulents of easy culture are the sedums the crassulas the haworthias the aloes and so on Perhaps we see the sedums more frequently than the others because- they are so easy to propagate that they become com- This Fern in Salt Lake Home Sets Record News of Carden Clubs roots The paper containers soon decay and disappear Cover the seeds when you plant them with about a half inch of earth and keep well watered As the seedlings grow set a thin stake byeach oneso that they will have some support Pinching out the tip induces side branching When the weather becomes warm you will have fine plants a foot or more in height to place near your trellises or porch pillars If you have suqh climbing roses as Dorothy Perkins which is not very pretty foliage after the flowers are gone plant some of the morning glories there and you will have loveliness for the rest of the season So many times we slavishly obey cumbersome the rules that someone else has Smaller wooden boxes are some- laid down for us without question and when a person arises with original and opposing rules we regard them as heresy Here is heresy of the rankest type which has resulted in producing a Boston fern of exceptional size and healthiness John L Groo 227 Tenth East Mrs H L Cedar City writes: street Salt Lake City for more than “I am looking forward to reading 35 years has not given any plant your articles this summer and to food or fertilizer to a Boston fern obtaining much help from them in and in all that time has repotted it my gardening problems Will you — common once earth any only using please give me the name of a good old sort that came to hand on that red rose which will bloom all the one occasion instead of the scientime? I have seen one but the is concoction which mixed tifically party did not know its name It The ferns recommended for always was very fragrant and a real deep of inches earth few a has very pot red” at the top and below that for seven Ans — It may have been Etoile de or eight inches is filled with peb- Hollands or E G Hill or Hadley or bles only John Russell or several others AnyIn spite of such heresies the fern way these I have named all fill the fills a bay window Its fronds meas- bill and are inexpensive to boot ure as much as 6 feet from ground Thanks for your very nice words to tip It Is the most brilliant "Jessie J” Logan writes: HI green you can imagine and its age is going on 40 A record surely! hope you can help me with my However Mr Groo is particular fern It is a Boston fern and was in one respect— he gives a pint of not doing so good so I gave it water daily "good old City creek” fertilizer every other day for a few as he calls it That is its only food weeks but it seemed to dry right Standing on a tall pedestal It faces up It gets sun in the middle of west but gets a little sun from the the day and has plenty of water south wing of the bay window al- I sure hate to lose it I always enjoy reading your articles” though curtains tempe?that sunlight The magnificent plant is Ans — You will read how one fern sister-in-laowner in Salt Lake City has raised the special pet of Mr Groo’s Miss Marie Morris who — a fern on this page and all your affectionately known as Aunt Rie— ideas will be changed! With no ferhas lived in this house for 50 years tilizer whatever for 35 years this a decade longer than the fern Boston fern has thrived amazingly I am afraldyou gave your sick plant too drastic a remedy also keep it way from the sun giving it light only in a north window if post sible It should have enough water but must not stand with- - the roots constantly wet - You are very kind in your praise of my work Thank w Conservatory at School Draws Interest 1 jg r Three tiny sedum plants In novelty container to give a present to an invalid a friend with no garden of her own or to anyone at all Bits of cactus and succulent rooted i sand — and almost without exception they are very easily rooted— make these miniature gardens at no cost whatever above that of the container and while you may plant your cacti in the most costly of hand-mad- e pottery they will look as pretty in choice pieces from the T7m you Grow Dahlias From Seeds ot lobelia 8 ist 8 mignon- ette 5 moonvine ?0 morning glory 5 mourning bride 20 nasturtium 8 nicotiana 20 pansy 8 pentste-mo- n 20 perennial sweet pea 25 petunia 20 platycodon 30 poppy 20 portulaca 20 primrose 15 5 Salvia 15 stock 5 verbena 8 wallflower 5 wild cucumber 30 zinnia 5 five-and-t- Start collecting the plants now Flowers Will Reign Tribune-Telegra- m They may be bought for a few cents h in Individual pots and Institute they soon grow to good proporBecome a cactus-e- r and tions Those gardeners who love the know the joys of collecting all the You’ll find it earliest spring flowers and who available varieties grow such dainty little things as the an entrancing occupation snowdrop grape hyacinth pcilla violet species tulip'' star of Bethlehem spring adonis with the taller daffodils and the earliest Irises and who have bewailed the fact that the spring flower shows always miss creations will be thepe exquisite able this year for the first time to publicly exhibit them A tree planting campaign has been Such an early spring flower show launched by the Ladies’ auxiliary to will be held from April 4 to 6 Inthe chamber of commerce at St clusive at Covey’s Coconut Grove in connection with the George with the intention of hav- ballroom ing at least one tree or shrub plant- Women’s Institute which Is being ed for every man woman and child organized by The Salt Lake in the town — Mrs Harry L Van As a further method of beautify- Quill of Murray state chairman of ing St George residents are asked flower shows for the Utah Assoto remove barnyards from the two ciated Garden Clubs will bp general cross-tow- n highways and rows Of chairman Not only will these hardy firsthoney locust and Arizona ashtrees will be planted there Myrtle is to ling of the year be shown but be used as a ground cover in the there will be a large exhibit of cemetery and a clearing house will choice and unusual house plants be set up where residents may ex- some of which are extremely rare change their surplus shrubs or and which have not heretofore been shown to the public plants St store while cigar boxes answer perand flat coffee cans old fectly dripping or pudding pans cake tins as — all these serve beautifully cradles for baby plants They should be at the least two inches deep to permit sufficient earth being used Red clay plant pots will do for seed also Holes In Bottom When you use boxes you must make holes in the bottom to permit drain away If the excess water-tthe pudding pans you press into service have been disqarded by the family cook because they had sprung leaks through long years of service these usually have enough drainage provided but coffee cans and the like call for a nail and a hkmmer with which three or four holes can be punched Almost all of us have access to the bare ground in the garden now Even where there is still a snow covering I think you will find that if you scrape it away the ground beneath is not frozen and a pan of earth may be taken and dried out to the correct degree on the stove sowing o or radiator Don't-usclay for your seed pans as this would be too discouraging to the baby plants most of which e - HOLE FOR DRAINAGE STRANO OF WIRE TO PR tV ENT WARPINO CUT A PIECE OP 5URLAP jo fitL ' 10 t TrflS HELPS' TO O0N5ERVE M013TURE A CIGAR DO MAKES A HANDY ’FLAT’ FOR STARTING SEEDS INDOORS would lie down in despair after trying vainly to force their way through earth with the consistency of concrete If you have this heavy clay soil mix it with sand to lighten it And take out stones sticks and other extraneous matter In fact if your seeds are fine ones which cost good hard cash it will be wise to plan to sift the earth you are going to use The kitchen strainer' or a colander will make a good sifter Don’t “Bury Seeds Amateurs so often make the mistake of putting seeds into their graves They bury them instead of planting them Tiny seeds need no more than the merest sprinkling of earth or sand over them and larger ones should be covered about four times their thickness only Another mistake made is sowing too thickly Be very sparing imagining that you have Scottish blood in your veins when seed planting time comes in this way not only will a single packet of seeds go five times as far but-th- e young plants will have elbow room when they Start into growthrinstead children of the tenements After the seeds are sown in the nice boxes of fine moist earth a piece of paper or burlap or any similar material should be placed over the box to help conserve the moisture and also to aid germination If you have any glass which has been salvaged from broken windows or from pictures you will find that every single piece may be used to wonderful advantage on your seed boxes too You see when you place the glass there this really makes a tiny greenhouse of that box Have you ever tried to grow dahlias from seed? If you haven’t you have been missing a lot of fun for from a single package of sucheeeds you are likely to get all sorts of surprises As you know we usually buy roots of dahlias tubers which will always produce the same kind of flower as the parent plant in the same color and the same type either decorative of seeds d show pompon sinWatch the garden nursery very gle or so closely a(ter seeds are planted beis seeds from the of It dahlias cause one dry period may mean the that we get our new varieties By loss of every seed which has means of cross poilenation characto The method of teristics of one dahlia are mixed wateringgerminate is of extreme importance of re with those another and the qs well for a strong stream of water suiting children may show signs of would dislodge a small keed from its— or the otKer'orof their bed of earth and Bpoil it Personallone' parent grahdparents for majny generations y! I like to sprinkle my seed boxes Even back from the seeds of one with a bottle fitted with an alumiflowerhead as many different flow- num cork the sort that ers may be obtained as there are is soldperforated for sprinkling clothes seeds Keep the Glass I must warn you though-th- at ) When the infant the greater number will give sin- two plants with their embryo leaves make their way There are superior gle flowers through the soil remove the burlap people who scorn the single dahlias or paper that you placed there but but I’m not one of them Are you? Dahlia seeds should be sown now keep the glass because In this way in poxes indoors and they will you obtain an even temperature and bloom this summer along with the a moist one for your seedlings Should drops of water form too plants which are grown from tubers thickly on the under surface of the set-dthe garden in late May or you can raise it enough with Juni' ' Do try Homo and enjoy the aglass match to give a circulation of air pleasure "of" wondering all summer It won’t be very ' long before the what you’ll get in blooms young plants will be too tall for you to keep the glass there By that time you will be ready to transIvy s Decorative plant them to other boxes or pots The silhouette of ivy is a lovely but that’s another s'tory and must walls Have a be told later Now ordet your1 seeds thing hgalnst plain cascade of It falling frem each end get the earth and boxes ready and of4he mantelpiece or bookcase or prepare to triumph over Mrs place a large pot of It on a tall stand Dinglebuster ths procrastinating In the hallway or dining room creatursU be--g- Women's George Has Tree Planting Campaign Now Tribune-T- elegram M r ! r W ' Earl Taylor Margaret Alley 12 feeds the goldfish 12 arranges the plants Students at the Horace Mann high school of Salt Lake City know what it ia to go to school In a conservatory Their natural science room presided over by Mrs Mattie Sanford contains twojarge aquariums and so many flourishing ferns and other plans that- one can't count while in the natural science room st the Horace Mann high — school in Salt Lake City specimens in other buckets pots and boxes and the sunlight falling on the beautiful foliage makes the room like a big garden There are almost a dozen Boston ferns really enormous ones and the fronds of an asparagus spren-ger- ii measure five feet while its them stems are thieve with pretty red berHuge ferns in buckets and bas- ries An umbrella alm lives in one kets hang suspended by strong of the aquariums along with various chains from ceiling and’ widow-fram- e water plants There are seven or tables are filled with other eight varieties of begonia some of which are in bloom all the time There is a rubber plant an aspidistra a large philodendron a palm and some cacti every one of unusual size and of undisputed vigorThe pride of the collection probably is’the night blooming cereus which stands 5 feet high and which last year opened five superb white blooms one afterthe other to last during a single night only Many of the plants have been grown from starts by Mrs Sanfordmon-strosa - - i - cactus-flowere- two-inc- AX it a ti v Ti |