1882.] 



57 



AND GREENHOUSE. 



FOLIAGE PLANTS FOR THE HOUSE. 



Notwithstanding the prevalence of window 

 gardening, we see few foliage plants grown in 

 the house; and the general idea seems to be 

 that the more brilliant flowers a plant pro- 

 duces the better it is. On the whole, a judic- 

 ious mixture of the two will be found most 

 satisfactory. 



Most of the cool house Palms do very well in 

 the house. Latania Borbonica and Gorypha 

 Australis are two of the best for this purpose. 

 Their handsome shiny green 

 leaves are fresh all the year 

 round, and form an effective 

 background for bright flow- 

 ering plants. Areca lutescens 

 Seaforthia elegans, and sev- 

 eral species of Ghamcerops 

 and Phoenix (Date Palm) 

 grow well in the house. 



These Palms require little 

 care. They need plenty of 

 water, like all thick-rooted 

 plants, but not more than 

 they can take up; so that 

 the earth does not become 

 sodden. About once a week 

 the leaves should be well 

 sponged. If troubled with 

 scale, strong soapsuds should 

 be used for this purpose. 

 Palms do not, as is generally 

 supposed, require a great deal 

 of sun.' 



The Dracaena is another 

 good plant for the house. 

 Its foliage is always graceful 

 and handsome, and it may 

 be grown with little trouble, 

 requiring about the same 

 treatment as Palms. Dra- 

 caena indivisa is a handsome 

 green-leaved variety ; D. ter- 

 minalis has crimson leaves, 

 shaded into maroon. The two 

 varieties mingled together 

 have a fine effect. 



The American Pitcher 

 Plant, or Huntsman's Cup 

 (Sarracenia purpurea) grows 

 well in the house, and at- 

 tracts every one by its oddity. 

 Though it is found in almost 

 all the New Jersey swamps, 

 it is a comparatively un- 

 known plant to many, even 

 to those living in its native place. It grows in 

 a mixture" of peat and sphagnum moss, and 

 requires a copious supply of water, being a 

 swamp plant. The pot in which it grows 

 should always stand in a pan containing water. 

 Under this treatment, I have flowered these 

 Sarracenias very successfully in the house. 



E. S.*Taplin. 



GROUPING OF HOUSE PLANTS. 



Window gardening, says a correspondent of 

 the Springfield Republican, depends as largely 

 for its success upon the selection of plants as 

 upon the knowledge of their special needs, and 

 no window garden is complete without several 

 sorts of variegated plants, which if mingled 

 with the dark green foliage of Geraniums, 

 Fuchsias, Heliotropes and the like will produce 

 the effect of flowers. In a large bracket in 

 the central casement of my mullion window 

 stands a large plant of Achyranthes with its 

 bright crimson leaves veined and ribbed with 

 maroon color against a background of luxuriant 

 Geranium leaves, and when the sun shines fully 

 upon it the effect is more gorgeous than flowers 



WasJiing Plants. — House plants should 

 have their "washday" as regularly as our 

 linen, as cleanliness is as important to the well 

 being of plants as it is to our own health. An 

 occasional sprinkling will not benefit them 

 much more than a dirty kitchen towel. They 

 have to be soaked and rubbed until all dust 

 and dirt is removed from their leaves. 



DRAC/ENA TERMINALIS. 



could make it. These variegated plants flour- 

 ish finely in a high temperature, as they love 

 warmth, and if their leaves are sponged off 

 occasionally with warm water and a little boil- 

 ing hot water is turned into the saucer of the 

 pot every morning with an occasional watering 

 of warm water upon the top of the soil, they 

 will ask no further attendance at your hands 

 and will be a delight to your eyes. When the 

 spring months come, plenty of cuttings can be 

 taken from them and easily rooted in vials of 

 water or in sand kept well moistened, and a good 

 supply of plants can be prepared for bedding 

 out without doing any injury to the parent 

 plants. 



BEGONIAS 



Are indispensable plants for the window gar- 



dener, as their leaves are often more beautiful 

 than their flowers, and so very numerous are 

 their varieties and so continuous their flower- 

 ing, that one could furnish a window with these 

 plants alone, and be sure of having them in 

 flower the year round while they will endure 

 any amount of heat and a good supply of water 

 if the soil is sandy and it is not kept in a sod- 

 den condition. Yet they will fully repay care- 

 ful treatment by a more luxuriant growth of 

 leaves and flowers. There is no variety of 

 Begonia that does not make a desirable window- 

 plant, bat B. alba nitida and B. rosea nitida 

 are the most constant bloomers that are now 

 cultivated. B. incarnata and B. fuchsioides 

 are also lovely plants with drooping panicles of 

 blush and crimson flowers. 

 Good drainage is essential, 

 and a few bits of charcoal at 

 the botlom of the pot will 

 keep the soil in good condi- 

 tion. A compost of half 

 garden soil and half leaf 

 mold, or peaty soil with a 

 table-spoonful of sand well 

 stirred in will grow very fine 

 plants. 



THE CHINESE PRIMROSE, 



both double and single va- 

 rieties, make excellent plants 

 for amateur gardeners as 

 they will flower for months 

 continuously. They require 

 a sunny window like the Be- 

 gonia to grow in perfection 

 and must not be over-watered 

 or kept too dry, but give them 

 warm water whenever the top 

 soil looks dry. Do not break 

 off tha clusters of flowers, 

 but cut off the flowers that 

 are past, and fresh buds will 

 appear. In June when they 

 have ceased to flower cut 

 down the stalks and put the 

 plants in a shady border, but 

 do not let them blossom and 

 pinch out every bud that ap- 

 pears. In October re-pot in 

 a rich, sandy soil and the 

 plants will soon bud again 

 and bloom for another winter 

 if they are well grown. 



THE MA HERNIA ODORATA. 



is a very attractive little 

 plant, which is not as gen- 

 erally cultivated as its merits 

 demand. It will flower from 

 February to May and its 

 slender stalks are covered 

 with lemon-colored bells that 

 are as fragrant as those of the 



LILY OF THE VALLEY, 



which most exquisite of flowers can be easily 

 forced to bloom in the house with a little care. 

 Dig a clump of the tubers out of the bed in 

 the garden and place them in a cigar box or 

 any large pot with a small quantity of smoking 

 horse manure at the bottom and sand covered 

 over it to keep it from burning the tubers. 

 Place the box in a warm, dark closet until the 

 green hooded leaves shoot forth, then bring it 

 to the fullest sunshine, and water with warm 

 water, and in a few weeks you will have full 

 spikes of the perfect flowers. Take care to dig 

 the tubers from the bed where the largest roots 

 lie, taking those that would bloom in the spring, 

 then you will not have more leaves than flowers. 



