1883.] 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



71 



Greenhouse and House Gardening. 



COMMUNICATIONS. 



FLOWERS IN NORTH WINDOWS. 

 BV MRS. R. B. EDSON. 



" How do you manage to keep your north win- 

 dows full of flowers all winter ?" was asked of the 

 writer not long since. While claiming nothing 

 original or unusual in the management — for there 

 is a certain "management" about it — it might per- 

 haps be of service to some unfortunate believer in 

 the no-flowers-in-a-north-window theory, to give in 

 the Monthly the reply given to the above ques- 

 tion. 



The windows above referred to are two long 

 windows reaching to the floor, and facing north- 

 east. To begin with early October, fuchsias, tu- 

 berous-rooted begonias, salvias and carnations. 

 All but the last flower quite as well, and last much 

 longer in full beauty than if exposed to full sun- 

 shine. 



Chrysanthemums are by this time showing 

 color. By first bringing in the most advanced 

 ones, and following them up by later sorts, Christ- 

 mas is reached with but little diminution of attrac- 

 tiveness. Like most other flowers, they remain in 

 perfection three times as long as when in full 

 sunlight. 



During this time the geraniums are kept in a 

 south window. A chamber where it does not get 

 cold enough to freeze is a good place, or any south 

 or southeast exposure, where they can get the 

 benefit of the sunshine three or four hours daily. 

 They will soon be full of buds, and as soon as they 

 begin to open they are placed at these north win- 

 dows, and go on blossoming as if nothing had 

 happened. The trusses average a full month 

 without fading, and the individual flowers are 

 much larger than if bloomed in a south window. 

 By a little care in changing them occasionally, 

 giving each their turn in the south windows, there 

 is no difficulty about having an abundance of ge- 

 raniums in perfection in north windows till May. 

 Of course these plants are not old ones that have 

 flowered all summer, and become axhausted, but 

 young plants, rooted in the spring — or at the 

 latest in August — and specially grown for the pur- 

 pose by being kept in pots and the buds rubbed off 

 through the summer. 



Chinese primroses and oxalis also bloom finely 

 in a northern exposure, and these need no prelim- 

 inary preparation. I had in October some young 

 plants of Salvia splendens, which came up from 

 self-sown seed. Some of them have been in 

 flower ever since, and still are at this writing, Jan- 

 uary 18, and one has not yet bloomed but is full 

 of buds. They are kept in the north windows 

 continually. Among annuals, Nicotiana suaveo- 

 lens succeeds admirably. Given the same treat- 

 ment as geraniums, it will go on flowering for three 

 months without a ray of sunshine. I am trying 

 for the first time this winter, the Calendula, or 

 double pot marigold, treating them as I do the 

 Nicotiana. They are marvels of luxuriant growth, 

 well filled with buds, and just now coming into 

 flower finely. For green and white foliaged 

 plants, I find Geranium Happy Thought, and 

 Coleus Retta Kirkpatrick — this last for the upper 

 shelf — the best and most showy for small plants. 

 For large plants, Palms, Ficus elastica, Cyperus 

 variegata and Aspidistra variegata are all well- 

 known, admirable sorts, beside a host of others. I 

 only intended, however, to speak of flowering 

 plants in this brief note. 



NOTES BY THE WAY. 

 BY WILLIAM F.\LCONER. 



Pteris iremula. — Hardy and wild in Connecticut! 

 Where? (See page 3.) 



Euonymus radicans. — You have, more than 

 once, called attention to the usefulness of this 

 evergreen for covering walls. We have it here, 

 and I like it much for covering boulders in the 

 rockery and the like ; but with us, at any rate, it 

 does not grow enough for an effectual wall vine. 

 It is quite hardy and a pretty evergreen. 



Steam Heating in England. — In conversation 

 with several practical horticulturists in England, a 

 month or two ago, I found they had a strong pre- 

 judice against heating greenhouses by steam. They 

 were not at all surprised that the method gave sat- 

 isfaction in America and was being adopted to a 

 considerable extent by our florists ! Don't be too 

 egotistical, John, American florists may know quite 

 as much as you give them credit for. 



The Lime Kiln System of Heating.— Yes, just 



