255 



THE PLANT VERANDAH. 



For cottage or villa residences, no species of greenhouse, so far as con- 

 venience is concerned, has more advantages than a structure in the veran- 

 dah fashion, that is, a covered projection, having a glazed front, and the 

 roof wholly or in part of the same material. Such a structure may be 

 placed against the front or one or more ends of the dwelUng-house, the 

 principal windows opening into it in the French manner, and the plants 

 will require to be selected, and their arrangement made subordinate to 

 the circumstances of the case. 



Such a structure will answer the purpose of an agreeable lounge or 

 promenade, which cannot fail to render them very desirable to the vale- 

 tudinarian at all seasons, and to the young and active in times of rain and 

 bad weather : it will also serve as a repository for exotic flowering plants ; 

 and if some taste be displayed in the management and arrangement of 

 them, they will produce a very pleasing effect. In the disposal of plants 

 in such houses, we would direct particular attention to be paid to a judi- 

 cious selection of choice free-flowering chmbers, to be planted in spaces 

 prepared for them under the floor, and to be trained up the front pilasters 

 and under the rafters of the roof. The spaces for these plants need not 

 be more than chambers, formed of about two feet by three, and eighteen 

 inches deep, filled with good peat and loam, in which most plants of this 

 description will grow freely. A space of a semi-circular form should be 

 left in the pavement to receive the plant, and also to supply water to it ; 

 this space need not be larger than about nine inches in length by six in 

 its greatest breadth : and the opening should have a neat ornamental iron 

 guard placed round it, about four inches in height, to prevent the stem of 

 the plant from being injured or broken. 



Prestiming that the floor is paved, elegant stages or flower stands 

 should be tastefiilly arranged, and rendered portable by being mounted 

 upon casters ; but their an-angement and position may be altered, at the 

 pleasure of the proprietor, so as to bring the plants into the light and 

 shade, as their habits and other circumstances may require. On tliese stages 

 or stands the smaller plants are to be placed. 



