PLANTS FOR WINDOW GARDENING. 85 



The plant is very hardy, yet impatient of the least neg- 

 lect. A single day's -omission to water, or a drenching, 

 with poor drainage, will kill the plant; yet it will lan- 

 guish for months, and all your care will fail to restore it. 

 If the hair-like roots once become parched or sodden, the 

 plant will die. 



We do not recommend it for a window plant, yet its 

 beauty is worth all the care required ; and will not some 

 be fired by ambition to make the heath a window plant ? 



THE CYCLAMEN. 



This pretty flower is too little known. It is a native of 

 Europe and Asia, some varieties being very abundant in 

 Switzerland and Italy, and is to be found in almost every 

 green-house. It is of the easiest culture. Pot about the 

 latter part of November, in a rich loam, with a dash of 

 silver sand ; an addition of about a spoonful of the old soot 

 from a flue will increase the size and brilliancy of the 

 flowers. It must be well incorporated with the soil. Bits 

 of charcoal, broken fine, serve the same purpose. Place 

 the crown of the bulb just above the surface of the soil. 

 The size of the pot must be determined by the size of the 

 bulb ; as a general rule, cyclamen do not require large pots. 

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