Chapter IV 



FLOWERING PLANTS FOR HOUSE 

 DECORATION 



The Joy of Growing Flowers 



WHILE all the nice things that have been. said 

 of the palms and ferns and other beautiful 

 foliage plants are quite true and the pleasure of cul- 

 tivating them and watching their new and healthy- 

 leaves develop is very great, they are after all, rather 

 slow and prosy things. It is true that their presence 

 is indispensable before a house can be called a home, 

 but after a certain point of satisfaction is reached 

 there still remains a yearning for something more deli- 

 cate, more beautiful and more ephemeral. Flowers 

 alone can satisfy this and if these can be produced in 

 one's own home, then one's joy is complete. To 

 realize the universal nature of this desire, it is only 

 necessary to observe on every hand the efforts to 

 satisfy it. In England, home gardening and window 

 gardening have for generations been among the most 

 important social activities of the people, rich and 

 poor alike. Their flower shows are their public 

 holidays and the spirit of the garden seems to be 

 everywhere. Here, in this country, the climate is not 

 quite so friendly perhaps, but the sun is brighter and 

 shines for us many more days in the year; Inhere is, 

 in fact, no essential reason, granting the desire, why 

 our home gardens and window gardens should not 

 be equally successful. 



66 



