Parlor-Plants. 34 1 



PARLOR-PLANTS. — No. L 



Among the hundreds of plants which crowd the greenhouse, there are 

 comparatively few which can be grown to advantage in the parlor. 



Yet parlor or window gardening is certainly the most popular of horti- 

 cultural operations, because it is that which is adapted to the capabilities 

 of the many, and not that which can only be indulged in by the few who 

 can command the necessarily larger means which the construction and 

 care of greenhouses require. 



A plant which will grow, flourish, and bloom in the window, which will 

 thrive with little care, and repay that care by healthy foliage and cheerful 

 bloom, is of far greater value than one which will only do well under green- 

 house treatment. 



Such a plant will always be popular. It may, in time, be scorned by 

 florists, because it is old and common ; but the very fact of its recom- 

 mending itself to the masses is that which will insure its continued culti- 

 vation long after a large proportion of costly novelties have, in turn, given 

 place to newer discoveries, and been cast aside into not unfrequently well- 

 merited oblivion. Now, in fact, many plants which we seldom see except 

 in greenhouses succeed perfectly in the parlor ; and, stranger still, many 

 plants which we commonly see grovvn in windows never do well under 

 such culture, and utterly refuse to be reconciled to it. 



Our purpose in these papers is to describe a few plants, which, with 

 ordinary care, will succeed under window-culture, and to give the proper 

 treatment which each should receive. 



The plants suited for this culture are far more numerous than is gener- 

 ally supposed. We can, therefore, only mention comparatively few, and 

 those such as occur most readily to us. 



'And, first, a few general cultural directions may not be out of place. 



Plants in rooms generally suffer from dust, by v/hich the leaves become 

 clogged, and the vital functions of the plant impaired. To remedy this, it 

 is only necessary to sponge or syringe the plant as often at least as once 

 a week. The syringing or showering can easily be done in the kitchen 

 sink ; the pot being laid on its side, and both sides of the leaves thoroughly 



