JANUARY 9 



these plants. During the winter they want very little 

 watering, yet should never be allowed to get quite dry, as 

 this would make the leaves droop. If, on the other hand, 

 you see a single yellow spot on the leaves, you may be 

 sure that they are too damp ; and, if watering is continued, 

 the leaves will turn yellow, and eventually fall one by one. 

 When they are growing in heat during the summer, they 

 must be watered freely and the leaves well syringed. 

 Both kinds propagate very easily. The top shoots strike 

 in sand and heat ; and so do single leaves, if cut out with 

 the eye and stuck round the edge of the pot. Another 

 plant on the window-sill, Phalangium liliago variegatum, 

 is of the same family as St. Bruno's Lily, that lovely 

 early June flower in our gardens. It makes a most 

 excellent pot-plant, young or old, for a room at all times 

 of the year. It has a charming growth, and throws out 

 branches on which young plants grow ; these can be left 

 alone, or cut off and potted up in small pots, in which case 

 they root easily in summer, or in a little heat at other 

 times of the year. The flower which comes on the plant 

 in summer is quite insignificant. It is very easy of 

 cultivation, though not quite hardy ; and yet, when grown 

 in a little heat, has all the appearance of the foliage of a 

 delicate stove-plant. 



In the middle of the room is a Pandanus veitchii. 

 This must be sparingly watered. It is a delightful winter 

 pot-plant in all its sizes. The offsets that come round 

 the stems of the old plant root very easily in heat. It 

 does not mind the heat of the fire, but resents frost on the 

 window-pane. Cocos weddeliana and its varieties are 

 most useful and well-known drawing-room plants, from 

 South America. To save time, it is best to buy small 

 plants from a nurseryman, and grow them on. They can, 

 however, be grown from seed in a hot-bed in spring, but 

 they are not very quick growers. 



