WINDOW AND ROOM GARDENING. 



591 



Foliage 



Aralia Sieboldi.- The reason thai this is an excellent 

 room plant, though not so serviceable as the Aspidistra, 

 is because the foliage is leathery. It must be an impure 

 air to affect the tough shining coat, impervious to dust, 

 and easily sponged to remove all sediment. One is 

 able to realise how dusty a room is when such a plant as 

 this is not sponged for a week. The drawing of the 

 finger across the leaf leaves a distinct impression in the 

 layer of dust, which of course chokes up the pores, so 

 to speak, and the plant dies prematurely. Very often 

 w indow and room plants f;iil through having been drawn 

 up in heat, " made to sell," and this fresh glossy appear- 

 ance, attractive to the eye at first, soon vanishes when 

 the plants have been in the room for a week or so. 

 Market growers, to obtain saleable stock quickly, lorce 

 along the plants, even the hardiest kinds, in heat, and 

 when fresh from the house they look vigorous and hand- 

 some. Of course this healthiness does not last, and 

 plants grown thus require careful treatment afterwards, 

 avoiding cold currents of air and giving no more w ater than 

 is absolutely necessary. Foliage plants may be successfully 

 managed, but flowers and the Winter Cherry (Solarium) 

 are difficult to retain in health for any length 61 lime. 



Aspidistra (the Parlour Palm). — This is popularly 

 called a Palm, but there is no relationship between the 

 Aspidistra and the Palm of the greenhouse. The 

 Aspidistra is the best room plant in the world ; it is 

 unexcelled, and will stand the roughest treatment with 

 impunity, so much so that it is used in restaurants, in 

 draughty halls, and it will brave even the changeable 

 atmosphere in these places without injury. The green- 

 leaved species, A. lurida, is not so popular as the varie- 

 gated variety, which is readily distinguished from the 

 other by broad longitudinal stripes of creamy while, more 

 conspicuous in some forms than in others. The plants 

 will increase in beauty with age, forming in time quite 

 leafy masses, and even when divided up and placed into 

 ■.separate pots, without any kindly treatment in the 

 greenhouse, they succeed remarkably well both in gas- 

 lighted rooms and in large towns. But remember that 

 careful sponging of the foliage to remove dust is impera- 

 tive. The Aspidistra is, however, of slow growth, and 

 for that reason is somewhat expensive; but the first 

 outlay is the only one. Main- things cost less, but 

 require replenishing often, especially in towns. In 

 dividing an Aspidistra when it has become too large for 

 the pot, the proper way is in the early spring, before new 

 growth begins, to turn the plant out ol the pot, shake the 

 soil from the roots, and divide the mass into as many 

 pieces as are required ; but too small pieces are a mistake. 

 A considerable time must elapse before they are of 

 respectable size, and, therefore, as the gardener says, 

 "decorative.'' Loam, some well-decayed manure, and 

 a little silver sand form the correct ingredients for the 

 compost. The flowers are very strange brownish objects 

 produced on the surface of the soil. 



FemS. — Happily, several Ferns are quite comfortable in 

 a room, but to try to grow a collection is a mistake. 

 The most successful generally in rooms are the following, 

 all of great beauty, andthey will continue, with careful treat- 

 ment, many years in a healthy condition : Pteris tremula, 

 grown so largely by market gardeners for room decora- 

 tion, is as handsome as any, its tall graceful fronds of a 

 rich green colour, and even in winter, unless the room be 

 lighted with gas, they retain their freshness. Gas is a 

 great enemy of Ferns. During the winter all Ferns 

 are more or less shabby, because at that season 

 they are at rest, starling into free growth again with 

 spring, at which season repotting if necessary must take 

 place. More peat will be required in the soil than in the 

 case of the other plants already mentioned. An excellent 

 Fern lor rooms is Pteris cretica and its variegated variety 

 albo-lineata, whilst mention may also be made of 

 Onvchium japonicum, Cvrlomium falcatum, and 

 Asplenium bulbiferum. The Aspleni ml will remain in a 



Plants. 



room for years without requiring much attention. It is 

 a somewhat heavy-looking plant, owing to its large 

 drooping fronds, but it is interesting, and propagated by 

 the little plants produced on the fronds. In this way it 

 is increased, each of the tufts being taken off and potted 

 up separately when more stock is desired. 

 FicilS elastiea (the India-rubber Plant). — This is even 

 better known than the Aspidistra, but is not so satis- 

 factory in many ways. The India-rubber Plant is more 



SINGLE WHITE PETUNIA. 



difficult to maintain in health, some room gardeners 

 failing utterly to prevent the leaves turning yellow and 

 dropping off. The fault is not always, however, due to 

 culture, but more often through purchasing plants highly 

 fed and produced in a high temperature. It is far better to 

 secure a rather scrubby-looking hardened plant than 

 any fresh, green, exotic species which seldom retains the 

 hue of health lor many weeks. Ficus elastiea, as the 

 name suggests, is an Indian plant, aid is much bene- 

 fited, especially when in a room, by a little soot water 

 occasionally or some good fertiliser. Soi t promotes 

 green colouring in the leaf, and no plant is more readily 

 upset when its foliage is permitted to remain covered 

 with dust. The Aspidistra and Alalia will stand a 

 considerable layer for some time, but not the Ficus. A 

 large pot Ls not necessary. Many of the healthiest 

 specimens the w riter has seen have been in quite small 

 pots, but in such cases food must be given, especially 

 during the spring months, in the form of stimulants. 

 When repotted it is generally essential to place the plant 

 in the greenhouse to recover from the check to the routs, 

 as, unlike the Aspidistra, it does not recover quickly 

 from such a disturbance 



Ot other good foliage plants, note should lie nade of 

 the prettily variegated ami thoroughly sturdy Ophiopogon 

 Jaburan variegatum, a big name for a useful plant, with 

 narrow, brightly-coloured leaves and. in its flowering 

 time, bluish spikes. The room gardener who is really 

 interested in the culture of plants w ill succeed with things 

 not usually grown under such conditions, but only kinds 

 that the novice may use have been mentioned. Of Palms, 

 Phoenix dactylifera, Corypha australis, and the Kentias 

 are the most serviceable ; but Palms require move careful 

 treatment than any of the foliage plants previously men- 

 tioned. The leaves require constant sponging, and this 

 occupies considerable time, as the dust accumulates in the 

 ribs, so to say. 



