PLANTS FOR WINDOW GARDENING. 



39 



Good drainage is indispensable. Keep the plants cool till 

 the leaves are well grown, always keeping them near the 

 glass. When the flower buds begin to rise on the foot 

 stalks, remove to a sunny shelf, where they will soon 

 show bloom. By shading, the duration of the flowers is 

 prolonged. When the bloom is past, gradually withhold 

 water ; the leaves will turn yellow, and the plants should 

 be kept dry, in a state of rest, all summer. Do not allow 7 

 the plants to ripen seed (which they do freely) unless you 

 desire seedlings, to increase your stock. The seed germi- 

 nates easily, sown in rich loam, and seedlings bloom the 

 third year. Some find difficulty in preventing the shrivel- 

 ling of the bulbs during the summer. Our best cultivators, 

 to prevent this, bury th^ ?;ulbs during the summer in the 

 open border ; take them up about the middle of September, 

 when they are found fresh, plump, and in good condition 

 for a start. There is one risk, however, in this method : 

 mice are very fond of the bulbs, and sometimes commit 

 great havoc. There is shown in this plant a curious pro- 

 vision of Nature : no sooner has the flower faded, than the 

 stem begins to curl up, and buries the seed capsule in the 

 ground, at the root of the plant; this is designed to pro- 

 tect the seed from birds, and to sow it in a congenial soil. 



