6o2 THE SELECTION, ARRANGEMENT AND CULTURE OE HOUSE-PLANTS. 



At evening the blossoms expand, and all through the 

 night it is as if the room were 



" Perfumed from an unseen censer, swung by angels." 

 Among the sweet-scented tribe mignonette ranks high as 

 an out-door plant, and as a window bloomer it is exquis- 

 ite. It rarely outlives transplanting, but may be sown 

 in pots about mid-summer, and pinched back for the 

 house. Another method is to obtain the plant from the 

 florist when in bud. The cost is trifling, and if kept 

 cool and in a sunny window, it will continue in bloom 

 for weeks. Mignonette needs much sunlight, but not 

 too high a temperature, and the plant is much weakened 

 by a single day's omission in watering. 



Another — now almost obsolete — fragrant house-plant 

 is the night-blooming jasmine. Its odor is peculiar and 

 intense, and — as its name implies — is only emitted by 

 night. Its foliage is not especially delicate, but nothing 

 can be more dainty than its slender spikes of pale green- 

 ish-white bloom. It is a thrifty plant, making in a sin- 

 gle summer a growth of five or six feet. It is a shrub, 

 but one could fancy that, ages ago, it must have been the 

 "sport" of a climber, so slender and rapid is its habit 

 of growth. After flowering-time, which begins late in 

 July and continues until late in October, it drops most 

 of its foliage, which is soon replaced by young, delicate 

 shoots and fresh leaves. 



The Daphne odora, which combines in its small 

 clusters of bloom the exquisite perfume of many sweet 

 flowers, may not be lightly passed by. It is not an 

 easy plant to manage, and often drops its buds just as 

 they seem ready to open. By placing it in the sunny 

 window of a cool room, and watering evenly, and not 

 too copiously, it may be brought into flower ; and then 

 nothing can be finer than its fragrance. 



The more homely and familiar hyacinth is not only 

 delightful in form, color and odor, but may be recom- 

 mended as a ' 'safe investment," as it seldom fails to flower 

 and needs comparatively little care. It develops more 

 rapidly in glasses than when planted in pots, but the 

 blossoms are scanter and do not last so long. For this 

 purpose, the single varieties are best. The water, to 

 which should be added some lumps of charcoal, should 

 cover the base of bulb to the depth of a quarter inch. 

 Do not disturb the roots by changing the water, as the 

 charcoal will keep it pure. Occasionally examine, and if 

 there are decayed portions of the skin of the bulb, re- 

 move, and change the water. Keep in a dark, cool closet 

 until roots are well formed ; then place in sun in a room 

 where the temperature is low. When the flower is per- 

 fected, place in a warm room out of the sun, where the 

 odor may be enjoyed. 



With the hyacinth, however, the finest result may be 

 obtained from potting the bulb in light, rich loam, with 

 a liberal allowance of fine, white sand, some of which 

 may be placed under it to prevent decay from over- 

 moisture. A four or five inch pot should be used, and 

 the bulb pressed firmly in the soil, leaving about an 

 eighth of an inch, or even less, above the surface. 

 Place in darkest corner of cellar, water about once in 



two weeks, and when the bulb is well sprouted, which 

 will be in about six or eight weeks, you may know that 

 the roots are formed. Accustom it gradually to the 

 light, and when the crown has become quite green it 

 may be given a full sun-bath until the flower is perfected. 

 After this, bring into the warm parlor, where the per- 

 fume may exhale, but do not place in the sun, or water 

 too freely, if you wish to preserve the flower. 



Beginning with the bulbs about the first of September 

 and planting at intervals of two weeks through all the 

 fall months, you may have blossoms from Christmas to 

 Easter. The bulbs which have been thus " forced " may 

 be used later for out-door planting ; but, for house-cul- 

 ture, fresh bulbs must be obtained. 



The mahernia is another desirable fragrant plant. It 

 is very effective in a hanging-basket. It comes in flower 

 about the first of February, and its tiny yellow cups 

 are brimful of delicious odor. A home-bred mahernia 

 makes fine foliage, but seldom blooms abundantly ; it 

 is, therefore, best to procure the plant from the florist 

 when fully budded. It will then flower finely in a sunny 

 window, and for three or four weeks one's room will be 

 sweet as summer. The wax plant, though properly a 

 summer-blooming plant, sometimes flowers in winter. 

 Its blossoms are very odorous, especially by night ; and 

 in structure and color they are simply exquisite. It is a 

 long-lived plant, easily raised and tended ; and being a 

 climber, may be tastefully trained on a trellis, where, 

 with its glossy rubber-like leaves, it is very effective. 

 The petunia, as a window plant, blooms freely, and the 

 white variety is fragrant — especially by night. The 

 plant is rather ungainly in its habit of growth. To con- 

 ceal its scragginess of structure, twine its stems among 

 other foliage on your stand, and place it close to the 

 glass, and you will find it pretty and effective. Ard now 

 that sweet-smelling plants are under consideration, may 

 I not give you the details of an experiment with the 

 common lilac as a house-plant ? It was made some fif- 

 teen years ago, and before I had the slightest knowledge 

 of lilac-forcing, which I now find is quite common 

 among trans atlantic florists, although in our own flower- 

 market we do not find winter lilacs. 



Early in December a stout, low bush of the hardy 

 purple variety was, with the aid of a pickax, dislodged 

 from the frost-bound earth, and with its frozen ball of 

 sod still adhering, thus treated : A large nail-keg, hav- 

 ing an auger hole in its bottom, on which some bits of 

 crock were strewn, was filled to about half its depth 

 with warm stable manure ; on this the dry leafless 

 bush, with its frozen soil, was set, and the keg filled in 

 with mellow loam. After a good watering, the keg was 

 placed in a deep pan, which was then filled with boiling 

 water, and the whole set near a huge hall-stove. The 

 hot water was daily renewed at the bottom, and before 

 many days leaf and flower-buds began to swell on the 

 hard, bare stems of the bush. When these were well- 

 formed and the tiny buds quite distinguishable among 

 the pale green foliage, the lilac was removed from its 

 dim corner beside the stove, and given an entire east 



