372 THE PLOEAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



The cultivation of filmy ferns may be summed up in a few words. 

 Give them plenty of moisture ; keep them nearly close, allowing the 

 air to circulate only through the open crevices at the top of the case, 

 which must be loosely put on ; give them plenty of drainage, and 

 never allow the nearest approach to stagnation to take place; keep 

 them from sunlight, and give them the benefit of a little shade when 

 the light is strong ; and give water and admit air periodically as they 

 require it. Tou can always admire their exquisitely delicate and 

 transparent forms of growth without the necessity of handling 

 them. They cannot stand handling, but they will stand any 

 amount of admiration through the glass walls of their humid little 

 dwelling. 



POT PLANTS FOR WINDOWS AND THE LA r j^LLING OP 



SPECIMENS. 



I am well aware that a great many people have not the oppor- 

 tunity or the means to possess a miniature greenhouse or Wardian 

 case, but that need not prevent them from indulging in their love for 

 pot-plants as long as they have a window. Many a splendid specimen 

 plant may be seen in the cottagers' windows rivalling in health and 

 beauty the favoured inmates of the greenhouse. 



In places such as London and other large cities, where window- 

 gardening has become so fashionable, a great variety of plants are 

 grown, but in country towns and villages few seem to rise above the 

 ambition of a scarlet geranium or fuchsia. It is a great pity this 

 should be when there is so great a variety of plants as easily grown 

 and quite as cheap. The red China rose, for instance, makes a grand 

 window plant, when in bloom, and just as good, if not better, is the 

 green and variegated Hydrangea hortensis, with its immense head of 

 bloom, which lasts for months. Gems of the first water for pot 

 culture are the hybrid Begonias. Begonia Dregsi is dwarf and com- 

 pact with green foliage and a profusion of snow r -white flowers ; 

 B. Sandersonii and B. insignis are the best pink flowering kinds ; 

 B. lucida and B. manicata the best with rose-coloured flowers. 

 Then there are the Myrtle, and Calla Ethiopica, or Lily of the Nile, 

 and in fact all the plants and spring-flowering bulbs recommended 

 for the miniature greenhouse. 



I will also add several very desirable greenhouse plants, purposely 

 kept out of the list, owing to the great height they soon reach, making 

 them scarcely fit for the miniature greenhouse or plant case. First 

 we have the Acacia armata, or prickly Acacia, an excellent pot- 

 plant for windows ; then the Aoutilon striatum and A. Thomsonii, 

 and the white-flowering variety, Bircle de Neigej they have heart- 

 shaped foliage and lovely bell-shaped flowers. A. striatum has varie- 

 gated foliage. The Deutzia gracilis is a pretty pot-plant with drooping 

 white flowers. Cytisus racemosus has a profusion of yellow pea-shaped 

 flowers, and much like it in flower but larger in foliage is the Coronilla 

 glauca. Very good for window culture are some of the dwarfer- 

 growing Chrysanthemums ; they flower in autumn, and should be 



