November, 1905 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



179 



sudden storm arises as you would be to cover 

 up the baby. I have given Boston ferns to 

 my friends, who have invariably closed the 

 windows at night or placed the plant on the 

 piazza, where a wind has whipped the fronds 

 to pieces. 



All that has been said of the fern applies 

 equally to all other plants. In matters of 

 sunshine and watering the different plants 

 differ in their requirements; although, with 

 the exception of the maidenhair fern, I 

 let them all dry out before watering and then 

 water thoroughly. If you know where and 

 how the maidenhair fern grows out of 

 doors, you will understand why it must never 

 be deprived entirely of moisture so that its 

 fronds wilt. No amount of water will 

 revive them after that, though the roots are 

 not dead; but they must be watched closely 

 and allowed to get as nearly dry as you dare, 

 then water in the saucer. It's a very easy 

 matter to keep the saucer full, but this 

 will not do; the earth becomes sour and 

 moldy and the fronds spindling — they are 

 being kept too wet. 



THE PROBLEM OF WATERING 



All plants are not thirsty at the same time, 

 so there can be no set time for watering all 

 alike. A sick plant or one that appears to 

 stand still requires water less often than one 

 growing rapidly. Individual attention is a 

 necessity, and care in giving water would 

 save many a plant that dies in our houses. 



As often as possible put the plants out 

 doors and shower thoroughly. This is 

 easy enough with small ones, but the large 

 ones get out only twice a year. But none 

 are allowed to get dusty. Indeed, if it comes 

 to a question of dusty plants or unswept 

 rooms let the plants have first consideration, 

 and wait until the wind will carry the dust off 

 the plants if they cannot be moved. My 

 plants are dusted as thoroughly as any other 

 article in the room after the most careful 

 sweeping. If a plant can be promptly 

 washed when swept on of course no harm 

 need come of it, but this is neither always 

 nor often possible — especially in the winter. 

 So I have found it easier for me and best for 

 their health to keep them clean. 



SUNSHINE AND LIGHT 



It isn't altogether what you do to make 

 plants grow but what you often unwittingly 

 do to keep them from growing that makes for 

 failure. Nothing makes a plant sicken more 

 quickly than to put it away from the direct 

 light to decorate with; that is, to keep it there. 

 The very few times I have attempted this, 

 the fern's appealing look soon reproached 

 me. Yet, when upon occasion one wishes 

 to make use of some plants for house decora- 

 tion no florist's battered plants ever turn 

 such glad faces to greet the guests or provide 

 such an abundance of clean glossy leaves 

 to fill a vacant corner as do one's own. 

 You will be surprised too, at their number 

 and size, when scattered about the house 

 this way. Then comes the great temptation 

 to leave them there awhile, but don't you do 

 it! You cannot afford to check their growth 

 ever so slightly. 



There is a difference between sunshine and 

 light, and the house plants don't really need 

 the direct sun. The palm garden and the 

 east bay window have the morning sun ; the 

 music room, though having large south and 

 west windows, is shaded by a wide piazza 

 roof, so it cannot have real sunshine; and 

 the west bay window has the late afternoon 



It is often because a plant is unhappy in its 

 environment of light, heat and air that it 

 remains feeble. Don't give up until you 

 have tried all the degrees of variation in 

 these conditions. 



Handle the plants gently. I have shud- 

 dered sometimes while an admiring friend 

 ran her hands through the mass of foliage 



271. This Boston fern has been grown in a living room for eight years. lis fronds get larger cacn year. 

 Numerous small plants have been started from this one. The rubber has been grown from a small one of 

 three leaves ; it is now nine feet high, and is still in the original seven-inch pot. 



sun only. Thus all the plants have plenty of 

 direct light, which is all that seems to be 

 required. 



The maidenhair fern grows best in a south- 

 east window, where it has the early morning 

 sun and plenty of air — though never in a 

 strong draft where the wind can blow in. 

 When one of my plants looks weak, a visit 

 to one of these windows is always attended 

 by prompt improvement. Unfortunately I 

 have more ferns than southeast windows. 



on my ferns, all the time exclaiming about 

 their beauty and explaining how hers won't 

 grow! And the next morning I tenderly 

 remove the bruised and dying fronds and 

 vow to stand between them and my next 

 caller. 



Among the "happy" plants besides the 

 ferns (Boston, Piersoni and several of the 

 finer sorts), are Asparagus Sprengeri, aspara- 

 gus plumosus, Norfolk Island pine (Arancaria 

 excelsa) — five different palms, of which 



