HOUSE, AREA, AND WINDOW GARDENING. 



285 



HOUSE, AEEA, AND WINDOW 

 GARDENING. 



By William Thomson. 



PLANTS IN ROOMS. 



Plants for Invalids. — Those of our readers wh.o 

 are in the enjoyment of good health -will doubtless 

 willingly consent to our attention being first devoted 

 to the requirements of those who are unable to partake 

 of out-door amusements, and who desire to know to 

 what extent they can indulge in gardening in a room. 

 Invalids have bought certain plants, or had them 

 given to them ; they wish to know which plants will 

 live longest and give the most satisfaction under the 

 circumstances ; and they desire to be informed how 

 they are to keep those plants in health, and how to 

 recover them when they get out of health. In short, 

 they want the greatest possible amount of pleasure 

 with the smallest expenditure of time and the least 

 possible fatigue. 



An invalid cannot always give regular attention to 

 matters horticultui^al ; hence those plants which will 

 bear some neglect, and yet look not much the worse 

 for it, are evidently the sorts which should be recom- 

 mended for such positions. In this category few will 

 dispute our claim to give the first place to the India- 

 rubber [Ficus elastica.) It would be difficult to find a 

 plant whose wants are more easily satisfied. Only 

 take care that there is always some water in the pan 

 in which the pot stands, and that the dust which may 

 have settled on the leaves is occasionally sponged off, 

 and nothing more is required. It must be taken for 

 granted that it is a healthy specimen when received, 

 that it has been properly potted, and that it has not 

 come straight from a hot-house where it has only 

 just made its first roots, but that it is well rooted and 

 has been properly hardened off. If the roots are 

 kept well supplied with water, and the leaves are 

 kept clean, this plant will retain its leaves for a long 

 time in perfect health. On the other hand, if the soil 

 is allowed to get dry a few times, or the dust allowed 

 to accumulate on its foliage, the plant will in due 

 time show its disapproval of such treatment by shed- 

 ding its lower leaves and forming brown spots upon 

 those which remain. But under fair treatment it 

 will continue to improve in size and appearance until 

 its roots have not room for further growth, and then 

 it must be sent away to be moved into a larger pot 

 — shifted, as gardeners call it — which is too laborious 

 a work for an invalid to attempt. 



The next place upon the list of invalids' plants 

 must be awarded to Aspidistra hirida ; the variety 

 which has broad white bands down its long leathery 

 leaves is very ornamental. This species came from 

 China some sixty years ago, and is particularly inte- 



resting from its most unusual mode of flowering ; this 

 takes place in July or August, when upon looking at 

 the base of the leaves you will find little purplish - 

 brown saucer-shaped flowers, so nearly the colour of 

 the soil, and so little projecting above the surface of 

 the soil, as to escape the observation of most people. 

 Though so unlike a Lily in appearance, it really be- 

 longs to that beautiful order of plants. It should 

 not stand in water like the India-rubber tree, but 

 should be occasionally watered, so that its soil is 

 not allowed to become either very wet or very dry ; 

 and its leaves must be kept clean by washing or 

 sponging. 



Another plant which can be recommended as re- 

 quiring little attention beyond judicious watering 

 and sponging, is the Scarborough Lily ( Valotta 

 purpurea), which can be grown in the same pot for 

 three or four years, if properly planted at first. It 

 probably will not flower the first year after being 

 potted, as it requires time to nearly fill the pot with 

 its roots before it throws up a flower-spike ; but when 

 it does bloom, its crimson Amaryllis-like blossoms 

 amply reward the grower for a little patience. 



As a contrast to this in many ways we next men- 

 tion the large white Arum {liicliardia cethiopica) ^ 

 often called Calla or White Lily. It likes plenty 

 of water and its leaves kept clean; and then it 

 repays one with fine white trumpet-shaped flowers, 

 of the form of the Lords and Ladies in our hedge- 

 rows, only much larger. It does best in a rich 

 light soil. 



Other plants, suitable for growing in a room, and 

 dependent for their well-doing much upon the use 

 of a sponge over their leaves periodically, are to be 

 found amongst Palms, Dracaenas, Aralias, and many 

 other genera with smooth leaves. There are, how- 

 ever, very many plants which cannot be kept clean 

 in this way. These must be occasionally sent out of 

 the room in which they are kept, to have the dust 

 blown oflc their leaves with a pair of bellows, or 

 washed off by being held sideways over a sink, 

 and watered from a watering-pot with a rose, taking- 

 care that the water has the chill taken off before 

 it is used. Of these, one of the most ornamental is 

 Acacia lophantha, or more correctly, Albizzia lophan- 

 tha, a Mimosa-like plant, with very elegant foliage, 

 and almost hardy. Another pretty plant, with 

 feathery leaves, is Grevillca robusta, but this is liable 

 after a time to shed its lower leaves, in which case 

 it loses much of its beauty. 



Attention has recently been called by Mr. Caparn 

 to the usefulness of Tacsonia Van Volxemi as a room 

 plant. He grows it in a pot in an unheated green- 

 house from May to September, and keeps it in a 

 sitting-room window for the rest of the year ; it 

 begins to flower in August, and notwithstanding 



