258 



THE PLANT VERANDAH. 



that may be kept in the verandah at all periods, and indeed they form one 

 of the principal features in this style of greenhouse, namely, Camelliasj 

 OranyeSy PittisporumSy Magnolias, Rhododendrons , large and grotesque 

 specimens of succulent plants, &c. ; and these, with a judicious selection of 

 fine-flowering climbing plants, must always constitute the chief furniture 

 of such a structure. The minor decorations may consist of Geraniums, 

 Helitropeums, Fuchsias, Roses, Calceolarias, the harder and free-flowering 

 Ericce, and other fine-flowering plants that are to be brought in, in suc- 

 cession, so as to keep the verandah at all time in a full-flowering state. 



With the addition of a small brick pit of six or eight lights in length, 

 having a flue in it to exclude frost, and divided in the middle, so that 

 one end may be kept rather warmer than the other, all the plants above 

 enumerated, and many more, may be grown in great perfection, so as to 

 be brought in while in flower to decorate the verandah, and at little 

 trouble or expense, and within the means of almost every person who 

 occupies a house in the viUa or cottage style. 



It would be useless to attempt to give directions that would be gene- 

 rally applicable to all houses of this sort ; suffice it to say, that after 

 having disposed of the large specimens of plants, so as to produce the most 

 pleasing efflect in the mind of the owner, the smaller ones may be taste- 

 fully arranged on pedestals, ornamental flower baskets, and in a variety 

 of ways that would give effect to the whole. It should, however, be 

 observed, that the nearer to the light and glass that all small-leaved plants 

 are placed the better: the thicker and lai'ger leaved plants, such as 

 oranges, camellias, hydrangeas, &:c., and most succulent plants, excepting 

 the genus Mesemlryanthemum, may be placed at a greater distance from 

 the light. 



In regard to heating the verandah, it should be by means of flues or 

 hot-water pipes, placed under the level of the floor, the heat ascending 

 from them into the house through ornamental metallic plates let into the 

 pavement immediately over them, or, as the object is to repel frost only 

 during the mnter, an elegant German stove may be placed near one end, 

 having its smoke-conducting pipes stretching out towards the other ex- 

 tremity. The whole expense of such a stove for a small house would 

 not exceed five or ten pounds, and it may be used for many pur- 

 poses when not in use in the verandah, which will in few seasons be 

 longer than from the beginning of December to the middle or end of 

 Februaiy. 



Great caution ought to be observed to prevent such stoves from 

 becoming too hot, and also that they be placed sufficiently distant 



