WINTER PROTECTION 201 



tend to that if you will just leave it alone and, in a 

 few weeks, will present a solid bank of perfect, beau- 

 tifully colored foliage with buds springing from 

 every twig. No one thing, unless it is poor drainage, 

 will so surely cause the buds of many plants to blast 

 as changing their position when they are coming into 

 bloom. 



It is always a misfortune that plants in the house 

 have to receive their light from one side, but, as one's 

 house or bays are usually arranged, this is unavoid- 

 able, and the best thing to do is to give the plant 

 room and let it adjust itself. 



Another very common mistake in growing house- 

 plants is to give them too large a pot which the 

 plants waste their energy in a vain attempt to fill 

 with roots. Of course there are a few plants which 

 make an excessive root growth, such, for instance, as 

 the Asparagus Spr&ngeri or the cyperus. These both 

 require large pots and generous feeding to be at their 

 best at any time, while, on the other hand, geraniums, 

 which make a small growth of fibrous root, require 

 rather limited quarters in which to do their best. 



It is better to grow plants in quite small pots and 

 shift frequently into those just one size larger as 

 they fill the pots with roots, not before, and always, 

 always give abundant drainage of broken crock, char- 

 coal and sphagnum moss in the bottom of the pots. 

 The bigger the pots the more drainage material is 



