CHAPTER LI 



SOME FAVOURITE GREENHOUSE PLANTS 



THE majority of amateur gardeners demand of thejj 

 houses that they shall serve a double 

 They must first of all provide a harbour 'of refuge for as 

 many as room can be found for of the half-hardy summer-flowering 

 plants that have been lifted from the borders, and next they must 

 give a steady succession of flowers during the dull, cold days of the 

 year when to expect bloom out of doors is out of the question. 



The endeavour to achieve this double purpose may at times lead 

 to inconvenient overcrowding, but this can be mitigated by a little 

 careful study in the art of arrangement. For example, it is not 

 necessary that the fuchsias it is desired to preserve should all be 

 deployed on the greenhouse benches and shelves. If they be 

 trimmed back in early autumn they can be packed under the 

 benches, provided they be kept fairly dry. The pots can be 

 placed on the floor side downwards, and in this way space will be 

 saved. 



But better than all other contrivances for economising room is 

 the possession of a frost-proof frame in which to house such tender 

 subjects for the winter. And for this purpose, as I suggested in a 

 previous chapter, low frames fixed close up to the panels of the 

 greenhouse on its sunniest side will be found efficacious, especially 

 if by means of trap doors in the greenhouse panels the heat from 

 the hot-water pipes can be admitted to the frames. In this way 

 many half-hardy plants can be stored for the winter and they will 

 be safe so long as they can be kept free from frost. 



With the greenhouse thus relieved from congestion one is able 

 the better to provide with a greater prospect of success for a 

 succession of bloom throughout the winter and spring months, 

 43* 



