Flowers for a Makeshift Greenhouse —By Martha Haskell Clark, 



Hampshire 



SUCCESSFUL RESULTS IN AN UNLIKELY SITUATION, AND PRODUCING A CONTINUOUS SUCCESSION OF FLOWERS 

 FOR HOUSE AND TABLE DECORATION ALL THE YEAR ROUND — FLOWERS THAT ANY ONE CAN GROW 



MY LITTLE conservatory certainly 

 qualifies as a makeshift. Strictly 

 speaking, it is not a greenhouse at all, but 

 merely a small room, eight feet square, sit- 

 uated in the southeast corner of our house, 

 and given over to the growing of plants. 



The only attribute of a veritable green- 

 house that it could boast, when first built, 

 was an unlimited supply of sunlight. 

 In all other respects, its original, unim- 

 proved form, was woefully lacking, and 

 even now in the light of three years' hard- 

 won experience, and many sadly needed 

 changes and additions, it leaves much to 

 be desired. 



Window-strips have, to some degree, 

 modified the mistake of casement windows 

 with their inevitable cracks. Boxes, fash- 

 ioned like greenhouse benches, allowing 

 plenty of root-room, and minimizing the 

 labor and frequency of watering the plants, 

 have taken the place of the plain board 

 shelf that was our first provision for the 

 many inconvenient flower pots; a stand- 

 pipe and faucet have done away with the 

 daily necessity of bringing water across 

 two rooms — but double windows are 

 still a much-needed requirement for winter 

 nights. 



But if the particular mission of any 

 greenhouse is to furnish its owner with 

 a healthful hobby, never-failing pleasure 

 and interest, and a sufficient quantity of 

 flowers and artistic effect to warrant its 

 existence, then my little makeshift green- 

 house has not been found wanting. 



Three conditions stand out predomin- 

 antly as necessities in the success of any 

 accommodation for plants: 



First, there must be enough humidity 

 in the atmosphere, or red spider will 

 prove an ever-present nuisance. 



Second, the first appearance of green 

 aphis must be promptly discouraged, for 



even a day's neglect will see hordes of the 

 pests in unroutable possession. 



Third, you must suit your list of plants 

 to existing conditions, and not to your 

 own desires or ambitions. 



Two years of greenhouse beauty lost 

 through experimenting with plants unfitted 

 for my conservatory's atmosphere, have 

 taught me to lay particular stress upon 

 this point: "Not what I want, but what 

 I can grow most successfully." 



The condition of humidity I have 

 fulfilled, by boiling a chafing-dish, half full 

 of water for one hour a day, or until the 

 windows are thoroughly covered with 



The Chinese primrose has the largest individual 

 flowers of the family 



Primula Kewensis. with yellow flowers is unusual 

 in color and slightly fragrant 



steam. A flat pan of water is also kept 

 evaporating on the radiator. 



The pest of aphis, is easily managed by 

 close attention, and the prompt use of any 

 of the advertised aphis remedies. Even 

 a powdering of common snuff is sufficient 

 to hold them in check, if applied in time. 



The answer to the third stipulation, that 

 of the plants used, I have discovered from 

 my own experience, as far as concerns my 

 own needs. The plants of which I now 

 speak, will stand, with only slight loss; 

 great extremes of heat and cold, from nearly 

 ninety degrees in the full noon sunlight, 

 to almost freezing at night, and yet will 

 thrive, and give a good percentage of 

 blossom. To any owner of a " cool green- 

 house" or of merely a shelf window garden, 

 they will prove dependable friends. 



VINES FOR COVERING WALLS OR TRELLIS 



Nothing is so sure as the common 

 nasturtium. Seeds planted in the con- 

 servatory by the first of September blos- 

 18 



som by late January, and continue through- 

 out the spring. If given plenty of root- 

 room (not being planted in a flower pot) 

 the leaves will equal the size and general 

 vigor of those grown out-of-doors. Over- 

 crowding must be avoided. Three plants 

 are sufficient for a trellis six inches wide, 

 as they branch freely. A pretty effect is 

 gained by using one color to one trellis. 



Concerning the different varieties that 

 I have tried, Lobb's climbing hybrids are 

 the freest-blooming, although Madam Gun- 

 ter's hybrids are a close second, and give 

 many unusual color combinations. The 

 new variegated-leaved, are not particularly 

 free in bloom, but the marbled foliage is 

 so beautiful as to make them desirable. 

 The ivy-leaved kinds are rather weak in 

 growth, and not at all lavish in blossoms. 



BULBS THE SERE STANDBYS 



Bulbs are among the most satisfactory 

 plants for any makeshift corner for plants. 

 Bulb culture is so well known that only a 

 word will be necessary here. The bulbs are 

 potted in fall and left in the dark, for a 

 period varying from sLx weeks to three 

 months according to the variety; one 

 thorough watering every two weeks suffices. 

 I plant mine in a modified florist's "flat," 

 fifty bulbs in a box. These are brought 

 into the light in succession to get a long 

 season of bloom from January on. Roman 

 hyacinths, Dutch hyacinths, narcissus 

 (trumpet and polyanthus) and crocus are 

 grown. 



The above, while by no means the only 

 satisfactory bulbs for conservatory cul- 

 ture, are by far the most satisfactory for 

 the amateur, or for any one who must 

 depend upon a window garden, or a make- 

 shift for their flowers. 



Taking this list for your mainstay, how- 

 ever, it is always interesting and enjoyable 

 to try a few dozen bulbs of unfamiliar 

 kinds, merely for the fun of experimenting 



Of begonias. Gloire de Lorraine can be depended 

 upon to give a profusion of pink flowers 



