An Amateur's Greenhouse in January 



To the true flower lover, that is one 

 who loves flowers all the year 

 round ; not only during the period when 

 the snowdrop and crocus break the bars 

 of their winter prison-house in early 

 spring, to the season when the last of 

 earth's autumnal beauties succumb to 

 the killing breath of "Jack Frost," but 

 who, also, all through the dreary, flower- 

 less time of winter, is longing for flowers, 



The Flower of the BouganviUea Sanderii Vine 



to such a one the title of these homely 

 notes will bring up pleasant memories 

 or rainbow-colored hopes. To be able 

 to step from one's dwelling in this month 

 of January into a temperate or summer 

 atmosphere laden with fragrance, and 

 full of the beauty of flowers and foliage, 

 is something worth possessing, and once 

 tasted of, will be made a permanent 

 adjunct to the home, however humble. 

 My purpose in writing this short article 

 for The Canadian Horticulturist is 

 to urge my brother amateurs, who love 

 flowers for their own sakes, to make 

 a great effort to secure this pure and 

 unalloyed and elevating pleasure. 



A. Alexander, Hamilton, Ontario 



My first greenhouse was a very un- 

 pretentious affair. It was largely form- 

 ed of old church windows. I was ray 

 own glazier and bricklayer. It was 20 

 feet long by 12 feet wide, was heated by 

 an old coil of two inch pipe, and was just 

 high enough inside that, with a little care 

 I did not knock my head against the 

 rafters every time I passed along among 

 my flowers, and what flowers they were ! 

 Such geraniums and primulas and cycla- 

 mens I have never had since. My 

 friends who saw my flowers then, and 

 see them often now, say so. Then, I had 

 three varieties of passionflower which 

 covered the entire roof (ridge) with 

 innumerable blossoms, and specimen 

 plants of Streptosolon Jamiesonii and of 

 Begonia Rubra; the former with its 

 immense drooping clusters of orange 

 scarlet bloom, and the latter with a 

 great wealth of scarlet flowers that 

 were produced all the year round, 

 which formed a picture that yields me 

 great pleasure even now. However, 

 it was condemned because, not being 

 attached to the dweUing, I had to get 

 out of bed many times during severe 

 winter weather when the outside ther- 

 mometer was zero or below, and cross 

 the yard to tend the fire. 



Mv present house is nearly square, 

 24 X 22, and is built against the south 

 wall of an addition to the dwelling. 

 It faces south and is 18 feet high 

 at the back and seven feet at the 

 front. The roof is not at one angle, 

 but there is a beam running across 



from east to west that makes a kind of 

 "hip" at about one- third of the dis- 

 tance from the top. I have found this 

 to be a mistake, as it is almost impossible 

 to prevent a drip where the angle of the 

 roof changes over this beam, and the 

 house is too high, thus making it difficult 

 to heat in severe weather. The only 

 redeeming feature of the height is that 

 it enables me to have larger specimens 

 of some plants and vines than I could 

 have in a lower house. It opens into the 

 dining-room by glass door and window. 



One of my favorite vines for the green- 

 house is BouganviUea Sanderii which was 

 planted soon after the house was built. 

 It is a very beautiful, free-growing vine — 

 has no insect enemy that I know of, and 

 blooms very profusely, being of a beauti- 

 ful rose color. It is in bloom for about 

 four or five months. It does best when 

 planted in a bed or border. The smaller 

 photo shows the details of the flower. 

 The highly colored portions of the flow- 

 ers are not petals but colored bracts, 

 the flower proper being the inconspicu- 

 ous white portion in the centre. 



Last winter I had the misfortune to 

 lose nearly everything in my house 

 from an escape of coal gas from the hot 

 air furnace in the cellar through careless 

 plumbing. I had no bloom all winter, 

 and this vine lost all its leaves. But 

 now, it is sending out immense young 

 growths, some of them already twelve 

 feet in length. My house is heated by 

 hot water from a coil in a sort of a self- 

 feeder stove. 



A January Scene in a Corner of Mr. Alexander's Greenhouse 



