54 



HOUSE PLANTS 



They are white or varying in different shades 

 of pink to very dark rose colour, with a purple 

 blotch at the mouth. There is a form the 

 petals of which have fringed edges. 



These are best grown from seed, and so 

 constant are some of the strains that one can 

 buy named forms which come true. The 

 largest flowered form is called giganteum, 

 but the large flowers are produced at the 

 expense of quantity, so the amateur would 

 better content himself with the good strain 

 of a smaller flowered form. It takes fifteen 

 months to grow the cyclamens from seed to 

 flower, and they must never receive a check. 

 When through flowering throw the bulbs 

 away; they do not do well when held over. 



For spring flowers the seeds are sown in 

 November or December. These are slow 

 to appear above ground because a little bulb 

 is formed before the first leaf shows. As 

 soon as two leaves have been made, trans- 

 plant the seedlings to four or five inch pots, 

 placing several in a pot, and putting them 

 near the outside. These young seedlings 

 are very apt to suffer from too much water 

 and over-potting — when the plants have 

 about half a dozen leaves shift them to 



