IRISH GARDENING 



5' 



Plants in Rooms. 



" What causes the leaves of my palm to turn 

 brown ? " or " Why do the leaves of my 

 Geranium turn yellow and drop off ? " These 

 and many similar questions are often fired off 

 at anyone presuming to have a knowledge of 

 gardening. " Want of care, want of thought " 

 would often be a blunt but true answer. How 

 is it that many women of the labouring class 

 can grow and flower Fuchsias, Geraniums, &c, 

 in their cottage windows year after year, while 

 others of higher rank cannot keep these plants 

 for more than a few weeks or months ? In 

 many cases the explanation lies in the fact that 

 the cottager's wife realises that a plant is a 

 living organism. The effect of gas may account 

 for many of the tenderer kinds of plants, but 

 there are other causes which hasten and con- 

 tribute to a premature death. A wise plan is 

 not to buy a plant from a casual hawker, for 

 possibly it is defective, or has been brought 

 direct from a moist, warm greenhouse, conditions 

 which are impossible to produce in an ordinary 

 room. Purchase from a respectable nurseryman 

 a well hardened plant, for you have a certain 

 security in his natural desire to do further 

 business with you. For permanent occupants of 

 the dwelling-house one has to rely upon foliage 

 plants, but for spring and summer many 

 flowering plants may be used. Plants like 

 Geraniums will become leggy with age and also 

 lose their lower leaves, but let this evil day be 

 put back materially by thoughtful care and 

 attention. When the weather is mild, plants 

 like a lot of fresh air, but they do not benefit 

 by a window sash raised a couple of inches with 

 a cold wind blowing directly upon them, for 

 they will catch cold like a human being. Rather 

 put your plants right out on the window sill 

 when the weather is mild and while the rooms 

 are being dusted. If a gentle shower is falling 

 place the plants where they will receive the full 

 benefit of it, for it will cleanse the foliage as well 

 as water them. If you value your plants never 

 let dust remain upon the leaves any more than 

 you would upon your piano. Plants breathe as 

 we do, and dust and dirt will clog the breathing 

 pores and, gradually hindering the work of the 

 leaves, will lessen the plant's vitality. Plants 

 with smooth shiny leaves benefit greatly by 

 being sponged occasionally, or they may be 

 held over a basin and douched with lukewarm 

 water. 



Watering is the stumbling block to many 

 people. " Give a little water every day " is a 

 common but a bad rule, equally bad is the plan 

 of letting a plant stand in a saucer of water, 

 with the exception of such thirsty subjects as 

 the Spiraea. 



The safest plan to water a plant is to remove 

 it from its receptacle and stand it in a pail of 

 water sufficiently deep to cover the rim of the 

 pot. When the air bubbles cease coming up 

 from the soil in the pot, the plant may be stood 

 to drain. This method is particularly well 

 suited to plants having a dense mass of roots 

 in a pot, like Palms and Ferns. The plants 

 should not receive any more water until the 

 soil in the pot shows signs of becoming dry again ; 

 this will depend altogether upon the heat of the 

 weather and the activity of the plant. 



Again, plants require food One cannot 

 expect luxuriant plants to live on the same 

 soil for ever without any food. 



In villages one often sees windows full of 

 bloom ; there the favourite Geranium is usually 

 re-potted annually and given various " feeds " 

 during the summer. Artificial manures may be 

 used for feeding, so there can be no excuse for 

 starving a plant on the plea of cleanliness. 

 Judicious feeding means finer flowers and a 

 greater quantity, especially if the old flowers 

 are cut off as they fade. 



Spring is the time to repot, and while plants 

 like Fuchsias and Geraniums will be all the 

 better for an annual repotting, other slower 

 growing plants like Palms and Aspidistras will 

 not require the yearly potting, but if an inch of 

 the old soil is taken off the top and renewed 

 with a mixture of good turfy soil, leaf -mould and 

 sand, the plants will appreciate the change. 



Light is life to a flowering plant. The very 

 fact that the green colouring matter (Chlorophyll) 

 is in the leaves is evidence to this statement, for 

 the green matter is only developed in the pres- 

 ence of light, and requires light to do its impor- 

 tant work of changing inorganic matter into 

 organic or preparing food for the plant. Such 

 plants as the Aspidistras and Ferns will thrive 

 where it would be folly to place other plants 

 requiring more light. 



A beginner should start with the Aspidistra, 

 for it is a welcome green or variegated plant the 

 whole year round, and is long suffering, and will 

 endure a great deal of hardship. Aralia Sieboldi, 

 sometimes called the Caster Oil Plant, is also 

 good for a start, and if in time it lives to get 

 leggy it can be planted in the open ground in a 

 sheltered place. 



Ferns are grown in quantity for decorating. 

 Those with hard stiff fronds usually stand the 

 best, such as Cyrtonium, Pteris serrulata, &c. 

 Some of our native Ferns are handsome as pot 

 plants if grown well ; the Hartstongue and Aspi- 

 dium are good, while Woodwardia radicans can 

 also be recommended for a cold room of fair size. 



Numerous flowering plants will thrive in well 

 lighted windows during the summer months if 

 carefullv tended. 



