66 



GARDENING. 



Nov. IS, 



almost daily during the hot weather and 

 never allow them to dry out. Some plants 

 are in pots, others are planted out. The 

 small conservatorj' which you can see in 

 the picture is 8x15 feet (heated by hot 

 water) and is well filled with a choice 

 collection of palms, ferns, orchids, aloca- 

 sias, etc. "Home is what you make it" 

 dear friends, go and do likewise. 

 WilIiams])ort, Pa. Chas. T. Logue. 



PLANTS FOR VBRflNDfl DECORATION. 



And now about the pot plants arranged 

 about my veranda and doorsteps, as 

 shown on front page of Garden'ing, Nov. 1. 

 After a busy day of toil and worry in 

 the close and crowded citj', how pleasant 

 it is to rest in the easy veranda chair, 

 surrounded with growing plants, each 

 showing a peculiar leaf or flower, carry- 

 ing the weary mind away from present 

 trouble and resting it in a land of perpet- 

 ual summer. We see our baby cocos palm 

 with its ^ern-like leaves, expanding into 

 a great tree of the tropical forest, loaded 

 with the creamy cocoanut. Or our little 

 Ficus elastica, with its glossy leaves, 

 growing on the banks of the mighty Am- 

 azon, like a broad oak, rearing its head 

 above the virgin forest. 



The care of a few plants should not be 

 beneath the dignity of any man, however 

 elevated his position in life may be. Like 

 every other occupation, to be successful, 

 we must treat them intelligently, and 

 thus it brings us back to nature, teaching 

 us her many subtle ways while giving us 

 a great contentment among the plants 

 we love so well. In the spring, after all 

 danger of frost is over, the palms and 

 other decorative plants which have 

 cheered us all winter, in the house or con- 

 servatory, may be placed in convenient 

 positions about the veranda and a row 

 continued down each side of the front 

 steps. For this purpose the steps should 

 be amply wide and long. Where there is 

 a railing, it looks well to rest a palm or 

 bushy fern on the top rail centrally be- 

 tween the veranda columns. If the top 

 rail is not wide enough, or if it is made 

 convex to shed water, fasten a block of 

 suitable size onto the rail for the purpose 

 of supporting the pot. If glazed jardin- 

 ieres are at hand, use wherever desired; 

 but always put a block of wood or brick 

 in bottom of jardiniere so when pot is set 

 in, it will raise the latter an inch or so 

 from the bottom, allowing drainage wa- 

 ter from the pot to escape. This must be 

 examined and thrown out before envelop- 

 ing the bottom of the pot ; otherwise, it 

 mi^ht sour the soil in the pot and kill the 

 plant. Of course, no one will place the 

 soil directly in a glazed jardiniere, expect- 

 ing the plant to grow, as the lack of 

 drainage might be fatal to the plant, un- 

 less it be an aquatic. 



Many plants will be used that we do 

 not care to get jardinieres for, so we take 

 an empty pot of suitable size and set each 

 potted plant (pot and all) into it, having 

 the outside pot large enough to allow the 

 plant pot to set clear down, so that the 

 rims will be flush. Now place a glazed 

 saucer or plate underneath. This will 

 prevent the excess water from running 

 across the floor or steps, when watering 

 plants ; it also preventing the circular 

 stains on the paint of the floor caused by 

 the continued damp condition of pot. 

 The extra pot will prevent too rapid 

 evaporation of the soil and will prevent 

 the sun from burning the roots of the 

 plants. Another point gained by this 

 means is, that the plant is less liable to 

 be blown over by the wind, on account of 

 the extra size and weight of the base. All 



tall plants should be secured by passing a 

 light, strong cord loosely about each of 

 them and tying it to the column or hand 

 rail. This will prevent the wind from up- 

 setting the plants and save them from 

 damage, and the porch floor from being 

 soiled by the earth spilled from the pot. 



In regard to watering veranda plants, 

 they can hardly have too much if they 

 are in active growth and the drainage is 

 good. Once a day should be enough for 

 i()-inch pots and over, but smaller sizes 

 should generally be watered twice a da}% 

 and at each time see that enough water 

 is added to cause some to flow from the 

 bottom of the pot. Have the hose ar- 

 ranged so it can be brought on the porch 

 and by directing the nozzle outward 

 spray the foliage. This should be done 

 each fine day. 



The direct rays of the sun, if continued 

 all day, will ruin the foliage of most all 

 decorative pot plants. This can be easily 

 prevented bj' choosing a position on the 

 veranda to suit the requirements of each 

 variety. It may often occur that where 

 it is desired to have a delicate fern or 

 palm, it would be subject to full sun until 

 noon. If such is the case, each morning 

 remove the plant to a shady situation, 

 and after noon return it to its former 

 place. In this way, and with a little care, 

 plants will thrive wonderfully, making a 

 vigorous growth and being a source of 

 beauty and pleasure all summer. 



No doubt, most of us have our favorite 

 plants which we desire to cultivate, but 

 there are others who have not had any 

 experience, and to those we recommend 

 the following varieties as suitable for 

 either flowers or foliage : 



Plants that will thrive in full sunshine: 

 Picas e/asfica (rubber plant) and crotons. 

 In open sunshine one half the day : 

 Palms, chanijcrops, Latania Borhonica, 

 and Phcenix reclinata and rupkola, lilies, 

 auratum, speciosum rubrum, and album ; 

 also, spotted calla. 



In sunshine until about ten in the 

 morning or after four in the afternoon: 

 Palms: Areca lutescens, Kentia Belwo- 

 reana, Seatorthia elegans, and Rhapis 

 Sabellifonniis, flowering begonias in vari- 

 ety, hydrangea, Dracasna indirisa, and 

 dwarf Japan maples. 



Shade: Most all ferns, Cocos irec/c/e/;- 

 ana, and Rex begonias. 



In addition to the above, a few 10-inch 

 pots planted with Tom Thumb and Lob- 

 bianum nasturtiums, and placed on the 

 end of the steps with their vines trailing 

 over the pots will look beautiful. 



No veranda boxes are needed when can- 

 nas are planted in front, as, when proper- 

 ly cultivated, the\' will fill the space from 

 the ground to the top of the railing. 

 Nothing in a continuous line should pro- 

 ject above this, as it would interfere with 

 a good view while sitting on the ver- 

 anda. 



When a veranda has the proper expos- 

 ure (to the east) no dense or rampant 

 growing vine is desirable, so we plant 

 the large flowering clematis, using it lib- 

 eral!}' and of different colors. Plant 

 three at a column, and if flowers are cut 

 off as their petals drop, they will bloom 

 from May until after iVost. At the south 

 end of the veranda we may have inquisi- 

 tive neighbors, so here we plant Clematis 

 paniculataand Hall's Japan honeysuckle. 

 As we recline in the easy chair, glancing 

 upward, what is prettier than to see the 

 racemes of the purple wistaria waving 

 over the portal of the main entrance? 

 and a vining rose, also the Ampelopsis 

 IWtcA;; covering part of the railing, ex- 

 tending up one column and draping the 

 veranda tower, with a companion of 



same variety growing at will over the 

 outside brick chimney. 



A novel and pretty effect can be pro- 

 duced by planting a few bulbs of Lilium 

 speciosum rubrum among the clumis of 

 Eulalia gracillima atthe end of steps. At 

 the base of the variegated Arundo Doiiax 

 plant a few blood-leaved coleus ( Ver- 

 schaffeltii). As " Eternal vigilance is the 

 price of liberty," so, also, it is the price of 

 good plants, and with the addition of a 

 strong sprayer the enemies of plant lile 

 must soon succumb. 



Pittsburg, Pa. F. P. Livingston. 



«OUSE PLANTS-QUESTIONS ABOUT TflEM. 



X., South New Jersey, asks some {[ues- 



Bad Watering. — "In Gardening, page 

 166, 15th of February 1895, you speak 

 of "bad watering" as killing more house 

 plants than any other one thing. Do you 

 mean too much water or too little? And 

 how is an amateur to know? I am hav- 

 ing plants in the house for the first time 

 this winter, and of course confidently ex- 

 pect to kill them all, but equally of course 

 should be glad to avoid it if possible." 



Ans. By "bad watering" we mean 

 watering plants that are already soaking 

 wet, giving dry plants a dribble, enough 

 to wet the surface only and insufiicientto 

 penetrate to the bottom ofthe pot; water- 

 ing overhead at night in cool, dark 

 weather, and in this waj' rotting the 

 foliage; watering from top into the heart 

 of a plant, instead of raisingthe fronds or 

 leaves a little with one hand while you 

 pour the water in with the other; water- 

 ing plants when they should be dry and 

 at rest, and other ways. There is no 

 fixed rule equally applicable to all plants, 

 for instance you may give a calla a can of 

 water a day, ii the drainage is perfect, 

 and it won't hurt the plant, but one- 

 fourth the quantity would do it as much 

 good. If you soaked an azalea or begonia 

 in this way you'd rot its roots and ulti- 

 mately kill the plant. Abeginner hasgot 

 to learn these things by practice and by 

 degrees but the knowledge is intuitive, 

 and really a person who loves plants 

 soon comes to know without any outside 

 aid the general principles of caring for 

 them intelligently. You can't "kill them 

 all," on the contrary we predict that you 

 will have very agreeable success with 

 3-our window plants. 



Temperature— kinds of Plants.—' I 

 always keep the temperature of my house 

 as low as possible, as near 60° as I can, 

 and never above 70°. It is furnace heat, but 

 there are almost always open firesalso. 

 The plants are two begonias, a Paris daisj', 

 and an azalea from the greenhouses, ard 

 two wall flowers, two single dahlias, a 

 sweet geranium, and a heliotrope from 

 my own garden. The two latter were 

 very luxuriant plants, and I cut them back 

 severely. The dahlias are also very thrifty 

 big plants, but as they had been in a 

 shady place when they had not blossomed 

 at all I thought they would be likelj/ to 

 blossom in the house, and did not cut 

 them back except as one or two big 

 stalks got broken in moving. They have 

 not wilted at all since being moved over a 

 week ago, and are in big pots on the floor 

 near a sunny window. The daisy and 

 azalea also have a good deal of sun, but 

 all the others are in a big east window, 

 where the southern sun is cut oft" by a 

 wing ofthe house and they have sunlight 

 only for a very short time in the morning. 

 Will they do well at all in such a posi- 



Ans. The temperature is good for most 

 plants. The begonias, azalea, and sweet 

 geranium will do well enough in the less 



