April IS, 1907 



HORTICULTURE 



485 



Artistic Interior Arrangement of Conservatory with Tropical Plants 



The subject wliicli your California subscriber ha.^ 

 aslvcd someoue to write about is a good one, and very Ut- 

 ile has been written ujDon it. It would be much easier 

 to handle this topic if a plan of a large tropical con- 

 servatory was given, because there are so many shapes 

 and sizes of greenhouses built -now. Therefore, the 

 llrst thing we have to consider is the sort of greenhouses 

 or conservatories that are most suitable to give the best 

 and most pleasing effects. No doubt, the larger the 

 house the more imposing effects can be produced. 

 Xevcrtheless, in" houses of moderate size really pretty 

 arrangements can be produced if a person has a little 

 artistic ability. As 1 said in Horticulture a short 

 time ago about arranging groups at our exhibitions that 

 we lack originality, we have the same fault in the ar- 

 rangement of our greenhouses. Everywhere one goes 

 the arrangement is almost alwaj^s the same. 



The plants in a large conservatory or greenhouse are 

 its furnishing just as much as furniture, pictures, and 

 ■ other ornaments are the furnishing of a dwelling house. 

 The tasteful liousefurnislier or decorator places his pic- 

 tures, etc., in the places where they show to best advan- 

 tage. The same rule id ay be applied to the plants in 

 a large greenhouse. 



The great trouble with most of our greenhouses is that 

 we have too many plants in them ; with such a condi- 

 tion we are not able to arrange tJiem artistically and we 

 do not get tlie comfort or enjoyment we ought to get out 

 of them. 



A great part of the beauty of many plants is lost when 

 ajnple room is not given to display their individuality. 

 It is true that many of our greenhouse plants come 

 from tropical forest jungles where they have a very poor 

 show. The jungle in the tropics is the place where one 

 can witness tlie struggle of the plants for an existence. 

 We do not see them there under the best conditions, and 

 we do not want to copy that in our greenhouses. What 

 we want to study is a piece of tropical vegetation where 

 the conditions are all favorable, when the plants are 

 fully developed and do not have to struggle for life. 

 The plants must have ample room to develop if we want 

 to produce that beauty of stem and graceful curvature 

 of leaf and frond, which is most pleasing to the eye. 

 Large plants such as palms, tree ferns, and bananas, 

 whether planted out or otherwise, should not be arranged 

 in straight lines in the centre of the house, but should 

 be placed irregularly and far enough apart thai their 

 leaves or frond« do not touch one another. Under the 

 >liade of these plants sucli things as calatheas, maran- 

 tas, anthuriums, ferns and selaginellas may be -used. 



The advice in the above notes relates more to the 

 l)lants in the centre of the house. The plants on the 

 benches should be smaller and groups of flowering 

 ]:ilants add much to the beauty and effectiveness. Far 

 better effects can be produced if tlie plants are set in 

 groups than if mixed indiscriminately. Groups of such 

 jilants as ixora*, clerodendrons, imantophyllums, bou- 

 gainvilleas. eucharis, gardenias and stephanotis when in 

 blossum give a fragrance and brightness to the surround- 

 ings that is sure to charm anyone. The same applies to 

 plants with higlily colored foliage such as codiums, dra- 

 cffinas. acalyphas and such like; they, too, are more pleas- 

 ing when arranged in groups. 



There is nothing more lovely in a large greenhouse 

 than a roof well-covered with climbing plants. They 

 need a great deal of care and patience to get really sat- 

 isfactory results from them. They should be tied up 



carefully and neatly to wires v.liicli have-been provided. 

 At the same time the flowering branches should hang 

 down gracefully and away from the glass. Some trop- 

 ical climbers that give stunning effects when properly 

 trained are: Thunbergia grandiflora, Thunbergia lau- 

 rifolia, Stephanotis grandiflora, Porana paniculata, AU- 

 amanda Hendcrsoni, Solanum Wendlandii, Passiflora 

 quadrangularis, Petrea volubilis, Bignonia venusta, Bou- 

 gainvillca glabra and B. spectabijis. 



There are many little things that add very much to 

 the artistic effect. Nothing gives a more tropical touch 

 to a large house than a few well-grown nepenthes. If 

 they are given suitable places their pitchers are always 

 sure to attract attention.' The staghorn ferns (platy- 

 ceriums) in the same way are extraordinarily striking 

 when placed in positions where they will show to advan- 

 tage. Tillandsias and bromelias are curiously shaped 

 plants living on very little but air and moisture; their 

 ('juaintncss adds much if they are placed where tliey can 

 obtain plenty of sunlight which makes them flower 

 jirofusely. 



The stems of tree ferns can be clothed with the small 

 creeping polypodiums or climbing philodendrons. On- 

 cidiums and epidendrums can Ije attached to stems of 

 large palms or tree ferns where they will give pleasing 

 glimpses of how they grow naturally in the tropics. 

 Under benches where the ground is not covered with 

 pipes should be planted with Tradescantia zebrina, Sel- 

 aginella Krusiana, Eex begonia or Panicum variegatum. 



There is nothing that makes a more pleasing border 

 along the edges of the benches than a row of small pots 

 of Panicum variegatum. Its variegated leaves and stem 

 hang down gracefully over the front, obliterating the 

 bare and barren look of the edge of the bench. Scores 

 of little things like these can be added which are always 

 sure to give pleasure after they are once done. Plants, 

 pots, and, in fact, everything ought to be clean in an 

 artistically arranged house. Neatness and tidiness count 

 for a great deal. 



A large tropical house, to produce fine effects with 

 large plants, should measure at least 200 feet in length, 

 50 to 60 feet in width, and not less than 50 feet in 

 height. This will seem a large house to some persons 

 but I will give you the dimensions of two large houses 

 in which I helped to arrange the plants and where fine 

 effects were produced. They are the palm house and 

 the temperate house or winter garden at the Eoyal Bo- 

 tanic Gardens, Kew, England. The palm house is 363 

 feet long, the width of the centre is 100 feet and it is 

 66 feet high. The wings at both ends are not quite as 

 high or as wide. The temperate house or winter garden 

 is probably the largest plant house in the world. The 

 central division is 316 feet long, 140 feet wide, and 60 

 feet high. The octagons at both ends of the central 

 division are 54 feet in diameter. The south wing meas- 

 ures 116 feet long, 64 feet wide, and 3S feet high. The 

 north wing also measures 116 feet long, 64 feet wide and 

 o8 feet high. The total length of the structure is 638 

 feet. The cost was about $300,000. 



In the vjcin'ty of Boston the best arranged tropical 

 house is to be seen at Joseph H. White's place in Brook- 

 line where .James Wheeler presides. The large palms, 

 cycads. and other plants are given ample room to show 

 their individualitv. 



