THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



The Pandanus Veitchii is another 

 very attractive variegated plant that can 

 be highly recommended ; easy of culti- 

 vation, graceful in appearance, it is one 

 of the best we have. 



I might go on and enumerate a large 

 number of decorative plants, but I do 

 not consider it necessary. In the care 

 of what decorative plants you have, let 

 me impress upon you the importance of 

 care and judgment in watering, as the 

 all important secret in growing plants. 

 It is hard to learn and harder to teach ; 

 it is an art in itself. You must be in 

 touch with your subject, then by diligent 

 practice and close observation it be- 

 comes as it were a second nature. See 

 that the drainage is perfect. Sponging 

 off the foliage once in a while is a bene- 

 fit, but do not make the mistake of put- 

 ting them out in the rain to get a good 

 wash ; while it may not hurt them in the 

 summer, it is death to them in cold 

 weather. Decorative plants require all 

 the light you can give them, but not the 

 direct sunlight, it is apt to burn and 

 disfigure them. 



Flowering Plants. 



Azaleas are amongst the most easily 

 managed flowering plants we have ; they 

 are imported from Belgium, and are 

 now sold at very nominal prices. Con- 

 sidering their beauty and the length of 

 flowering season, they should be in 

 every collection. Great care should be 

 taken to see that they are thoroughly 

 watered, for on this depends your suc- 

 cess or failure. Placed in a moderately 

 cool room they will last in bloom from 

 six to ten weeks. 



The Chinese Primrose is perhaps the 

 most popular and altogether the most 

 satisfactory of all the flowering house 

 plants we grow, beginning to bloom as it 

 does in early fall and continuing all win- 

 ter. In its freedom it has few equals 



and no superiors ; its only requirements 

 is a cool light room and ordinary treat- 

 ment. Cyclamen, with the wonderful 

 improvement that has been made within 

 the last few years, has brought forth 

 such noteworthy praise that it is consid- 

 ered as indispensable to every collec- 

 tion. It is raised from seed which give 

 by all odds the best results. It can be 

 grown on from year to year ; but I do 

 not recommend that, as it will seldom 

 do as well after the first year. In its 

 early stages it requires the skill of an ex- 

 pert, so that here again I would recom- 

 mend that you buy the plants just as 

 they are coming into bloom, which will 

 be in November. If they have been 

 properly grown they will give you a pro- 

 fusion of bloom nearly all winter. 



There is perhaps no class of plants 

 that give more universal satisfaction 

 than the Begonia. Whether it be flow- 

 ering or ornamental, the tuberous rooted 

 begonia with its enormous and gorgeous 

 flowers, its wide range of colour, com- 

 mends itself to aU. The new flowering 

 varieties which have been introduced 

 within the last few years are such an ac- 

 quisition and improvement over the 

 older ones that no lover of flowers can 

 aff"ord to be without them ; their ease of 

 culture, and profuse blooming qualities, 

 are found in no other class of plants. 

 They require a light rich fibrous soil, 

 firm potting and a sunny situation. 



Now I have mentioned a few of the 

 standard commercial plants, but the list 

 that may be selected from is almost un- 

 limited, e g. — Fuchsia, Heliotrope, Hy- 

 drangea, Cineraria, etc., all of which do 

 equally as well and give good satisfac- 

 tion. Then if you so desire you may 

 have a succession of the softer growing 

 plants, such as Ageratum, Mignonette, 

 Petunia, Wallflower, Candytuft, Sweet 

 Alyssum, etc. These can all be raised 

 from seed in late autumn or early winter 



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