226 How to Make a Flower Garden 



In my opinion, no one should attempt to raise roses in such a house 

 who is not thoroughly in love with them, but ordinary plants and flowers 

 may be easily managed. 



VI. A General Collection of Plants 



By Hugo Erichsen 



A nine by iwdvc-joot hottsc containing snmctJiing besides the "easiest'' tilings 



Few things have given me greater pleasure than my little greenhouse, 

 though it is but nine by twelve feet in size — just large enough to 

 accommodate a comfortable chair (in addition to the plants), in 

 which, more than once during hours of illness, I have basked ni the sun- 

 shme that filtered through the roof. Alany and many a time it has conveyed 

 to me a cheering message of promise, presaging the joys of spring. 



A capacious bench in the form of a horseshoe accommodates three 

 rows of plants of medium size. In order to prevent overcrowding, I have 

 elevated plants with considerable foliage on iron stands. Heat is supplied 

 by water-pipes connected with a coil in our hot-an- furnace. One door 

 gives access to the dining-room, and another opens into the garden, thus 

 facilitating transplanting and other work. 



In one corner, a square opening was left in the floor, enabling me to 

 plant a Marechal Niel rose in the ground, of which that vigorous grower 

 quickly took possession. For a long time its growth was hardly perceptible, 

 but now it covers the top of the greenhouse, forming a verdant canopy 

 from which large, fragrant yellow roses depend during the season. 



I consider palms and drac£enas very useful in conservatories of limited 

 size. Among blooming plants, I like the Dutch bulbs, azaleas, some of the 

 begonias, geraniums, Olea jragrans, the baby primrose (P. Forbesii), Genista 

 Cananensis, the Japanese chrysanthemums, and some of the varieties of 

 abutilon. These, with specimens of Araucaria excelsa, philodendron, 

 aspidistra, and an Otaheite orange or two, will fill all available space. 



I make it a rule to fumigate my "winter garden" every fall, to prevent 

 an invasion of aphides. Smut, which gives me considerable trouble, is 

 controlled by applications of sulphur. 



If I could not do any better, I would convert a cellarway into a green- 



