TENDER PLANTS WITHOUT ARTIFICIAL HEAT. 



Ill 



imagine a more beautiful sight than one of these plants 

 well covered with buds and blossoms. 



Fuc/isia fulgens is an old variety, but it is always a 

 favorite, once its aquaintance is made. It is difficult 

 to raise this variety from cuttings, but if planted out in 

 summer and the buds pinched off so that it is not al- 

 lowed to bloom the plant may then be carefully lifted 

 in the fall and taken into the window garden, where it 

 will bloom in February. This fuchsia has tuberous 

 roots, something like the dahlia. The flowers are about 

 four inches long and grow in clusters. The tubes and 

 sepals are rose in color, the corolla crimson, and the 

 leaves are large and light green. 



There is no plant more easily cared for in the window 

 garden than the fuchsia. Only be careful to put the 

 pot in the sink and shower it plentifully with warm water 

 at least once a week. This is very necessary, as the red 

 spider has a particular fondness for this plant. This 

 little pest may be kept down by showering frequently, 

 and also spraying the inner surface of the leaves with a 

 rubber plant-sprinkler. Fuchsias delight in a rich, light 

 soil, and plenty of water. It is not necessary to have 

 the sun directly upon them, and I have always found 

 that they bloom much better than when not very near 

 the glass, as they do not require a very high tempera- 

 ture ; but with plenty of light and air they are well 

 suited to the living room. Those who can procure black 

 earth from the woods will find that it is just the soil 

 best calculated to make a luxuriant fuchsia, if a little 

 sand is mixed with it. 



Old plants of Fuclisia speciosa and Mrs. Marshall will 

 bloom abundantly in January, and young plants ought 



to begin blooming about the same time. The young 

 plants should not be allowed to become pot-bound. This 

 you can easily tell by knocking the pot a little and turn- 

 ing out the whole ball of earth without disturbing the 

 plant. If the roots are curled round on the outside of 

 the ball of earth, you may be sure that your fuchsia 

 needs more room, and a pot two inches more in diameter 

 will be about the right size. They are very easily raised 

 from cuttings, which strike root readily in damp sand ; 

 but in California, where they almost grow to be trees, 

 and easily cover a fence two feet high or more, when 

 trained to do so, it it only necessary to break off a piece 

 at a joint and stick it in the ground, and before long, be- 

 hold ! you have a fuchsia ready to bloom. In the win- 

 dow garden the young plant after having taken root in 

 the damp sand should be transplanted into a small pot of 

 rich, light soil, and always watered with -vartn water. 



The double fuchsias are of course the handsomest, 

 and, although belonging to the class that bloom most in 

 summer, thev may be made to bloom during the winter 

 months by allowing them to rest during the summer. 

 This is done by keeping them in the shade with very lit- 

 tle water until October, and by pinching off the buds. 



Fuchsia speciosa is said to bloom nine months out of 

 the year. 



Below is a list of the most satisfactory fuchsias for 

 the window garden : Fuchsia speciosa, Earl of Beacons- 

 field, Mrs. Marshall, Carl Halt and Rose of Castile. 



These all bear single flowers ; of the double varieties 

 I advise the following : Elm City, Monstrosa and the new 

 Storm King. 



Omaha, Xeh. Juan. 



TENDER PLANTS WITHOUT ARTIFICIAL HEAT. 



,AVING had considerable success 

 in growing a large number of 

 tender plants, without arti- 

 ficial heat except two win- 

 dows in the house, I will try 

 to tell your readers how it is 

 done. 



Starting about June ist, I set 

 out several plants of three or four varieties of alter- 

 nantheras and also several varieties of coleus. (I 

 think it better to grow the coleus in pots all summer if 

 you can take proper care of them.) In the fall, before 

 frost, I put them in pots and keep them in cold frames 

 as long as possible, say until October ist Then I 

 place them in a sunny window. 



March ist I begin taking cuttings. I had some tin 

 pans made about i % inches deep, six inches wide, and 

 long enough for three of them to fill a window sill. I 

 fill these with sand and place the cuttings as near to- 

 gether as possible, keeping the sand quite wet. Dur- 

 ing the day I leave them on the sill in the hot sun, and 

 at night place them on a marble shelf over the stove. 



where the sand becomes thoroughly warmed. In a 

 week every good cutting will be rooted and ready to be 

 planted into boxes, or if they are coleus, into small pots. 

 By the time the first crop of cuttings is rooted another 

 will be ready to be taken from the old plants, and this 

 operation I continue until I have all the plants needed. 



The great difficulty after the plants are rooted is in 

 knowing where to keep them before putting them in 

 frames, which I do about May ist. After the middle 

 of March I can keep them in any sunny room without 

 a fire, and by planting them near together in the boxes, 

 I manage to grow a large number. 



Last spring, from six clumps of alternantheras in 

 five-inch pots, I grew over 1,200 plants, with a few 

 plants of santolina and variegated alyssum, rooted the 

 same as alternanthera. I grew Fvrelh?-iii?t aureiim and 

 Oxalis purpurea from seed, and all these gave me 

 sufficient plants for a large carpet bed. I wintered in 

 cold frames 1,000 Sciiipervivuin Catifoniicuui, which I 

 used with the above. 



The same season from six coleus I grew 250 plants, 

 and, these with geranium Madame Salleroi, which I win- 



