232 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



old soil and repot in new, and bring to 

 the light and water. 



Geraniums will be the standard 

 ))lants. Of the many good varieties, 

 Mr. Barker recommended for single — 

 GeneralGrant and Orbiculatum, scarlet; 

 May Queen and Master Christine, pink ; 

 Miss Gertrude and !Mrs. George Smith, 

 salmon ; and Paul Lueca and Snow- 

 flake, white. For double varieties — 

 Bishop Wood, crimson shaded with 

 cherry red ; Henry Cannell, bright 

 scarlet, and Mme. Thibaut, pink. A 

 few pots of cai'nations will work in well 

 Though petunias are considei'ed common, 

 nothing makes a better show. A few 

 pots of mignonette, sweet alyssum and 

 candytuft will add to the fragrance. 



As to the arrangement, the plants 

 above mentioned, and all soft-wooded 

 plants, should be placed nearest the 

 light, and the hard or smooth-leaved, 

 such as ficuses, gardenias, dracsenas, 

 coprosmas, and Iloi/a carnosa in the 

 rear. The best hoya the essayist ever 

 knew was grown in a window, where it 

 was stimulated with soapsuds as regu- 

 larly as washing day came round, and 

 the same with gardenias. 



Among bulbs, hyacinths come first, 

 and should be potted in November and 

 December and placed in the cellar, or 

 out-doors, where they will not fi-eeze, 

 covering up the pots entirely. Here 

 they will root, and by bringing in a few 

 every week or ten days after the first 

 of January a display of these beautiful 

 flowers may be kept up many weeks. 

 Crocuses and tulips may be had in the 

 same way if desii-ed. 



The oxalis, sparaxis, and tritomas 

 must not be omitted, and cyclamens 

 are admirable window plants, which 

 should not be overlooked. 



The plants mentioned have been 

 named on the supposition that the 

 grower has a good bay window. The 

 floor of this should be a little higher 

 than that of the room, with the lowest 



point in the centre, and a pipe to carry 

 off" waste water from washing or water- 

 ing. The pipe may run outside the wall 

 or into a pail or barrel in the cellar. 



For the north or more shaded windows, 

 the oak-leaved pelargoniums, Aloysia 

 citriodora, all the finer ivies, and many 

 of the variegated-leaved plants will do 

 well. Plant-cases are very desirable 

 whei'e a window cannot be entirely 

 given up. An excellent plan for de- 

 corating a room is to procure a pan 

 twelve or more inches in diameter and 

 six inches deep ; place in the centre a 

 seven or eight inch pot, then place 

 proper drainage and soil in the pan, and 

 plant Lycopodiu'in denticulatum, or any 

 of the varieties of tradescantia, which 

 will cover the surface and hang over 

 the sides. In the pot in the centre put 

 a plant o(Cop7'osma Baueriana, dracsena, 

 palm, or any which suits your fancy, 

 and place the whole in a stand just 

 large enough to hold it and set opposite 

 the window, and with one or two 

 brackets on each side of the window for 

 such plants as you may choose, you have 

 it decoi-ated with very little trouble. A 

 few cut flowers may be placed in the 

 pan, and will last a long time. The 

 vines will completely hide both pot and 

 pan, and the centre plant can be changed 

 whenever desired without breaking up 

 the ariangement. If more than one is 

 used in a I'oom they should not be alike. 



In ])otting, give plenty of drainage, 

 and cover with a little moss or rough 

 material to prevent it from getting 

 clogged up. For if the surplus water 

 does not pass ofi", the soil will become 

 sour, the roots rot, and the plants die. 

 For the plants recommended, a compost 

 of one-third leaf mould and two-thirds 

 of good turfy loam, with a little sharp 

 sand, will answer well, adding a little 

 fine manure for geraniums and other 

 soft-wooded plants, and for the bulbs, 

 especially the hyacinths, a liberal sup- 

 ply of well-decomposed cow manure. 



