That Little Greenhouse of Mine 



By L. W. C 



Mrs. Lovell slioukl have lolil this little story herself: 

 told it because in ni\ tellinij much of her delightful en- 

 thusiasm can hut he lost. However, her reply to my first 

 question of: '"What did you grow in it?" struck the key- 

 note when she replied: ■". Mostly fun — a great many 

 llowers, init mostly fun." Then followed a regular fulli- 

 sade of questions. On the following pages arc gi\cn in 

 l;rief some of Mrs. Lovell's answers. 



"How did 1 come to ha\e this little greenhouse?" Well, 

 in the house below here, on the corner, where we used to 

 live, there was a little half-conservatory, half bay-window 

 a flair that aliforded me endless pleasure, Vou see, 1 was 

 a city girl, and to bring me out here in the country aw-a\ 

 from the activity and excitement of its life, meant a call 

 for some substitute to occupy my time and thoughts, and 

 the growing of flowers proved in ni\- case the hap|)\ . 

 healthy solution. 



So when we moved into this house something had to 

 be done, a^ my love for growing things had become one 

 oi the delightful part^ of my life. As the house is of stone, 

 which meant endless tearing out, to build on a little con- 



Tuthill,:^ Hcvj York 



C"tirtcsy nl Hjtclnngs & Co. 



MRS. LdVELL'S I-ITINK CKEKXHOUSE. 



serxatory, such a thing seemed impracticable, anil besides 

 there was some tmcertainty how long we might remain. 

 So I looked about, and with the help of mv ever-read\- 

 reference friend. The Carcdii Ma»_azine. found that it 

 was |jossible to bu_\ for a surprisinglv small amount a 

 l)ortable .greenhouse which looked to be iu^t about the 

 thing we wanted. 



W'e ordered it and in a few days' time came all the 

 materials, ready for immediate bolting and screwing to- 

 gether : and with them two men, who in an incredil)ly 

 short time and set the iron posts that serve for its founda- 

 tit)n, and the house was bolted to them : the plant-benches 

 were put in place with their heating-pipes underneath, 

 and a hole made in the foundation wall of the house to 

 connect the hot-water pi]ies with the little boiler in the 

 cellar. 



When I saw them jnitting in a toylike boiler, niv nn's- 

 givings were many: but the to\- soon jjroved itself a most 

 de])endable little friend and kept the house at 7h degrees 

 all Winter long, with no trouble whatever. Tn truth, om- 

 first difficulty was in controlling the heat. 



*As told by Mr=. I". H. I.ovell. of ^tadison, N. J., in a rli.it with the 

 author. 



"I )id I reall\ get right out in the house and dig and 

 fuss with the plants?" Of course; therein lies the best 

 l)art of the fun. These poor benighted people who do not 

 make friends with their flowers lose the very best part. 

 And don't laugh at me when I say that flowers know their 

 friends — actually know them just as dogs or cats do — and 

 w by not 'l 



"\\ hat did 1 really grow?" Well, lake these twti rooms 

 for instance, with their five windows each ; all Winter their 

 window-sills were filled with blooming- plants. Stocks we 

 had in abundance, which as .soon as the blooms "showed 

 signs of fatigue" were taken back to the greenhouse for 

 rejuvenation, and others brought, giving us a continual 

 round of bloom. Stocks are decidedly satisfactory in 

 every way, being particularly free from insect pests. And 



VIEW OF IXTKUlOk iih' ( ;RKEMIOfSE. T.\KEN r.ATTEK I'ARr 

 OF M.W. WHEN MOSTLY FILLED WITH HEDDINC PL.NiNT.S. 



speaking of insects we had no real trouble with them, as 

 once a week the ventilators were shut down in the after- 

 notjn, and tobacco-])aper burned and the fimies left till 

 next morning to accomplish their deadK bug work. 



Yon will l)e surprised to know that our eight orchid- 

 plants thrived as if they were in their natural Brazilian 

 haunts. The florist tokl me how impossible it was for 

 an amateur to make them live and all that sort of thing, 

 but, nevertheless, we had eighty of those exquisitely 

 shaded lavender and jnirple blooms. 



Then there were ten pots of freesias which held their 

 heads high in full bloom for Christmas Day ; not to men- 

 tion the joyous golden sunshine of the daffodils — both 

 trumpet major, minor and all the other trumpet kinds. 



A comforting little patch of forget-me-nots always re- 

 minded me that the sky was blue no matter how grav the 

 clouds were. 



