THE WINDOW GARDEN. 



rosette of long narrow leaves lying on 

 the surface of the ground, from the 

 centre of which the leafy branching 

 flower -stalk emerges the following 

 spring. When about 2 feet high, flower 

 buds form in a dense cluster at the 

 end of each branch ; as the branch 

 grows the centre buds are carried for- 

 ward, leaving the outer one distributed 

 along the stalk, two to four of which 

 mature and open every evening. The 

 flowers are a beautiful lemon yellow, 

 broad bell-shape, about 2^^ inches 

 across, opening at sunset and remain- 

 ing open till about 9 a.m. next day, or 

 later if the morning is dull. The un- 

 folding of the flowers each evening is 

 a never-failing source of interest ; dur- 

 ing the day the calyx of the long bud 

 splits lengthways in two or three places. 



showing the color of the corolla remain- 

 ing attached at the top till sundown, 

 when the splits extending to the top of 

 the bud, the sepals reflex with a sudden 

 snap and the flower slowly un'olls 

 being fully opened in about a minute ; 

 the first ones open slowest, but as day, 

 light fades away, they open more rap- 

 idly, till all are expanded. A well- 

 grown plant is fiom 5 to 6 feet high, 

 with side branches 2 feet long and is 

 a grand sight when in full bloom. 



The number of flowers produced by 

 such a plant is very great. I had a 

 clump of three plants that frequently 

 had 150 flowers open at once. The 

 season lasts for over three months — 

 from July to October. 



Ottawa. R. B. White. 



{To be continued) 



THE WINDOW GARDEN. 



T this season of the year the plants 

 in the window garden will, if they 

 have been properly cared for dur- 

 ing the earlier months, be making a 

 vigorous growth. This growth should 

 not be so rapid as to result in weakness 

 later on, as it will be pretty sure to un- 

 less great care is exercised. All con- 

 ditions will be favorable to the develop- 

 ment of the plants, and a little un- 

 necessary urging will lead to over- 

 development, if that term is allowable. 

 In other words, it is very easy to overdo 

 the process of encouragement by mis- 

 taken kindness. In order to keep the 

 plants from making too rapid a growth, 

 the temperature of the room in which 

 they are kept must be regulated to a 

 nicety. Do not let it get above 70° 

 during the warmest part of day theif 



you can prevent it. At night it can be 

 allowed to go as low as 55° without 

 injury to tender plants. See that an 

 abundance of fresh air is admitted daily. 

 Now that the plants are growing well, 

 more air will be needed than when they 

 were at a standstill The importance of 

 giving plants pure, fresh air in liberal 

 ([uantities every day, is not sufliciently 

 understood by amateur floriculturists. 

 The lack of it accounts in a large degree 

 for the frequent failures we come across 

 in the window garden, where conditions, 

 as ordinarily considered, seem favorable 

 to the satisfactory culture of house 

 plants. When the amateur florist under- 

 stands that a regular supply of fresh air 

 is as necessary to the healthly develop- 

 ment of plants in the window as water 

 is, we shall see better specimens there. 



108 



