l6o HOUSE PLANTS 



wish to dispose of it, use it outdoors during 

 the summer and store it in the cellar over 

 winter as suggested for century plants. 

 Under this treatment, however, flowers are 

 the exception. 



The aloes prefer a richer soil than most 

 of the succulents. I have seen them thriving 

 when grown in nothing but garden loam, but 

 I prefer to give them a soil made up of about 

 three parts sandy loam, and one part of old 

 plaster and broken bricks. A little well- 

 decayed manure may also be added with 

 much benefit to the plants. 



A GOOD BASKET PLANT 



The best succulent for a hanging basket 

 is "little pickles" {Othonna Capensis, but 

 almost always called O. crassifolia by the 

 florists). Its leaves are shaped like cucum- 

 ber pickles, but are only an inch or less long. 

 The flowers are yellow, one-half to three- 

 quarters of an inch across and look like dan- 

 delion flowers. They only open in the sun 

 but at almost any season of the year each 

 shoot has a flower stalk on the end of it. 

 Little pickles may be increased easily by 

 planting pieces of the stem and does best 



