THE ITT AS A PARLOR PLANT. 



287 



say tliat I woiilil not be deprived of the benefit I have 

 gained from it, for the price of a hundred years' sub- 

 scription. Emily." 



THE IVY AS A PAKLOR FUIHT. 



Ix our last we gave in this department some in- 

 struction for the growth of parlor plants. We now 

 introduce to the notice of the ladies the beautiful 

 Ivr, the favorite of the poets, in an excellent article, 

 by J. Jay Smith, of Germantown, Pennsylvania. 

 Mr. Smith practices as he preaches, and his grounds 

 are beautifully ornamented with this plant. Mr. S, 

 informed us on a recent visit, that he raised several 

 hundred young plants every year, which he distribu- 

 ted among his neighbors, free, for the purpose of en- 

 couraging their growth. AVe saw more of the ivy 

 in Germantown than we have seen in all the county 

 besides. 



"One of the most beautiful plants for a drawing- 

 room, parlor, library, or dining-room, is the Giant Ivy. 

 In Gonnany, and particularly at Berlin, it is treated 

 as a window plant, where it serve for a curtain or 

 screen. As it bears perfectly furnace or even stove 

 heat, provided it is not exposed to the immediate ac- 

 tion of the tire or flue; and as it is always of the 

 deepest green, and grows rapidly during the winter; 

 we consider it a valuable piece of information to im- 

 part to our readers, that they may have at least one 

 plant that will succeed in living rooms. It should 

 have abundance of water, though never so much^that 

 the roots will be regularly covered over with the li- 

 quid. The box and mode of planting, it will be well 

 to attend to. Our draw- 

 ing represents one about 

 SIX feet high by two and a 

 h df feet broad, in the par- 

 lor of , a friend, which is 

 one dense mass of dark 

 green foliage, except the 

 p lints in growth; these are 



yS^ of a delicate pea color. 

 I he whole appearance at 

 a front window, either from 

 an inside or outside view, 

 IS rich and spring-like. 

 I here is another advan- 

 tage possessed by this plant 

 as an in-door ornament, 

 it the windows of the room 

 happen to be raised by 

 Mollv when she sweeps in frosty weather, the Ivy is 

 so hardy a plant as not to be absolutely killed in a 

 few moments, as would be the case with the wa.\- 

 plant, and many others. In short, the ivy is the best 

 house-plant we have ever seen. 



'• In the present instance, a box lined with tin, in 

 which books were received from London, was used; 

 four rollers being inserted at the corners, to make it 

 easily movable. To prevent its having too great 

 ■weight, blocks of charcoal, covered over with leaf 



mold, were placed in the bottom. This al.^o gave a 

 suitable foundation, in which the roots delight. In 

 one corner a small stiip was nailed, making a well, 

 into which a stick could be thrust to ascertain how 

 much water had accnmnlated; and rarely the box is 

 turned on its side to discharge any surplus. This box 

 externally is covered with strips of oak bark; a long- 

 er piece being used in the middle of the ends and 

 sides, to represent handles. This is all very simple 

 and easy in practice, and once obtained will last for 

 a long series of years, being moved into a shady spot 

 in summer, and brought in-doors at early frost. 



Two or three winters nursing will bring the plant 

 to the size we have mentioned; and if a little care is 

 exercised to train it on one side of the trellis, it can 

 be at any time cut from its strings, and a larger trel- 

 lis supplied, as its size increases. The supports may 

 be of oak, cut thin, interspersed with bamboo cross- 

 pieces. ]n time it may require shifting to a larger 

 ciise; and will then, if you do not choose to trim it 

 to suit yous window or corner, form a large screen in 

 a drawing-room, sufficiently dense to divide conversa- 

 tion parties from each other; or several of them 

 placed around the walls of a room used for dancing, 

 &c., would form elegant ornaments. They would al- 

 ways impart a warm and summerish hue, and should 

 thus be trained for every conservatory, as a back- 

 ground or terminating view. No person of taste ev- 

 er sees our friend's fine specimen, without expressing 

 a wish to possess just such another. 



The soil suited to this plant is a nii.xture of good 

 garden mold and thoroughly decayed leaves. Prop- 

 erly planted in this, the rapidity of the growth of the 

 (iiant Ivy will be very satisfactory, whether in a par- 

 lar box, or against a wall or tree. We should, how- 

 ever, remark that it will be best to take a well root- 

 ed plant from a pot; the ivy requiring a year at least 

 to obtain a firm foundation in the earth, after which 

 there is scarcely any limit to its progress. 



"The Giant ivy has not been generally introduced 

 in Aoierica; but every one who has coached through 

 Ireland will retain vivid recollections of its efiects on 

 the eye. In our opinion it is one of the great points 

 in the scenery, and helps materially to give that beau- 

 tiful i.slaud its designation of "Green Isle of the 

 Ocean." We should be glad to see it much more 

 generally introduced around our mansions. Even in 

 cities, a single ivy plant in a small garden, running 

 over and clinging to an old tree or the walls, is a 

 perpetual enjoyment. Where no old tree exists, you 

 can easily bring to the spot most seen from the win- 

 dow a stump ten or twenty feet high, and plant it 

 (or the purpose ; or employ a trellis, taking care in 

 the latter case to tie up the new growth regularly. 

 The ivy succeeds best in the open air when planted 

 on the north or northeast side of what it is intended 

 to cover. If you have a coppice or piece of woods 

 accessible to your country mansion, plant a few roots 

 near the trees every spring. They will sometimes 

 run among the leaves on the ground, making a su- 

 perb appearance, and ever and anon will catch hold 

 of the bark and run "high in air." when you can but 

 remark with admiration the different size and appear- 

 ance of the beautiful foliage ; that on the ground 

 will be smaller and of a different hue from that which 

 has got up into, and rejoices in, more light and air." 



