WIN^DOW GARDENING. 43 



Do not omit the practice of washing your pot plants in the summer^ thinking 

 that the rain will do it for you. It will help you doubtless, but if the leaves are 

 bushy, many of them will not have their full share, and should still be syringed 

 and washed with all the help of thumb and finger, sponge, brush, or garden syringe. 



Keep the soil well stirred up in these months, for if you desire healthy plants 

 the air must have access to the roots, and the surface of the pot must not be 

 allowed to cake. There are many annuals that make fine pot plants both in 

 summer and winter, but in June, July and August, they will give you most 

 brilliant flowers at a very small cost. Boxes of Portulacca, Asters, Phlox, Stocks, 

 Balsams, Pinks, Schizanthus, Zinnias, etc., are highly ornamental and within the 

 reach of all flower lovers, while each of the above named flowers make handsome 

 single plants in pots. 



We can hardly give a list of flowers that bloom in these months, for their name 

 is legion, and embraces many of those mentioned heretofore. 



The Lilies are in their glory, and there can be no finer pot plants raised than 

 the various varieties of Japan Lilies, Tigridias, Amaryllis and Vallotta Purpurea 

 Superba, all of which are mentioned in the chapter upon bulbs. 



Late in August, cuttings can be struck from all bedding-out plants that are 

 desired to be kept during the winter. At this season they strike root very freely, 

 and will frequently become fine plants by December. 



Gloxinias and Achimenes are most desirable additions to summer blooming 

 flowers. The Gloxinias are particularly beautiful and brilliant. Their exquisite 

 coloring and freshness is unequaled. 



Achimenes are, also, a genus of splendid plants, which will be described in 

 Part II. They are unrivaled in beauty of coloring and form. They produce 

 the most beautiful masses of blossoms in vases and baskets, over which they fes- 

 toon their glorious flowers and trailing branches. 



Autumn Culture of Window Gardens. 



For this season there is little to be added to the directions already given for the 

 culture of house plants in previous months. The plants that are intended for 

 winter flowering should all be repotted and prepared for their permanent quarters 

 early in September, so as to become fully established in the pots before the season 

 is cold and gloomy. The roots must be attended to as heretofore directed, and 

 if they cling to the surface of the pot, one of a larger size should be substituted, 

 and fresh earth given. Be sure to procure good soil, and to press it tightly about 

 the roots, and crown of the bulb, or stem of the plant. 



Do not attempt to cultivate too many plants, remembering that one strong, 

 handsome shaped healthy plant is worth more than ten or twelve sickly things, 

 that are lanky, scragg}- and never blossom. 



Give your plants the morning sunshine. It is far better than the afternoon, 

 and if the windows open, both to the east and southwest, so much the better for 



