31(5 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[August 22. 
when in full bloom, sets them in his room, waters, but 
does not over water them, finds that the bloom soon 
lades, that no new bloom appears, that the plants 
become sickly and covered with insects, generally lose 
even their leaves, and when in the end he turns them 
into the soil of the garden in June, they seldom do auy 
good, as geraniums thus treated are looking miserable 
still. He wants to know how he is to keep his plants 
healthy? How secure a succession of bloom? and, if 
that cannot be done, bow to secure from these bought- 
in plants ornaments for the flower garden when they 
become untidy for the house ? He attributes his want 
of success chiefly to the fact, that his plants are brought 
from greenhouses of an equal temperature, and taken to 
a room where the temperature varies; thinks, however, 
that knowledge and science may relieve him from his 
difficulties; and tells us in a postscript that his plants 
are kept not in or near the windows, but on side-boards, 
&c., because it is common for people “ to want to stick 
flowers about in pots as ornaments.” 
As we often find in a lady's letter, so here in the post¬ 
script we have the most important information. The 
position of the plants in the room, rather than their 
removal from a greenhouse to it, is the chief cause of 
disappointment. They who adopt the custom of stick¬ 
ing plants anywhere and everywhere in a room, may be 
good friends to the plant growers, but as to cultivating 
them themselves, that is quite out of the question. 
Plants are so accommodating, that they freely consent 
to act as ornaments, for a short time, upon tables and 
side-boards, even though, as in our correspondent’s case, 
the windows be “close curtained;” but their luxuriating 
or flourishing when continued in such circumstances, 
would be as great a wonder as the finding that a pony, 
suspended to a balloon, got fat and plump by feeding 
upon rarified air. No doubt some plants that flourish 
in comparative shade,—others, whose chief ornament is 
in their foliage, such as ferns, —others, again, such as 
evergreens, with thick leathery foliage, will submit 
better to such treatment for a continued period than 
geraniums and heliotropes, &c.; but even in their case 
the green would gradually exchange for the sickly yel¬ 
low ; the flowers, if produced, would lose their colour, 
and as to forming buds for the unfolding of more that 
would be impossible. 
Many ladies and gentlemen who have rather clear 
notions as to the mode of raising bullocks for Smithfield, 
have very imperfect ideas as to how plants feed and 
grow. The best gardener is often in as great a fix as 
our worthy correspondent, not because he does not know 
better, but because he is overruled. “ We are to have 
a party on such a night,” says his worthy employer, 
“ and 1 hope you will deck us out with a number of fine 
plants.” “O yes! "says blue apron, “but I hope you 
will let me have them in a day or so, for though they 
look nicely for a short time in niches, on tables, &c., 
without scarcely perceiving light, continuing them 
there renders them fit for little but the rubbish heap.” 
“ 0 you shall have them back in a day or so; and to 
ensure their health I will attend to all their wants my¬ 
self." The plants look so pretty as ornaments, and 
attract so much attention, and so many friends continue 
calling, that the gardener is told he may remove his 
favourites only when they are in such a state that he has 
to examine them and deliberate, whether destroying 
them or attempting to recover them to health would be 
the better wisdom; conscious all the while, that unless 
he has great means and a great supply, this treatment 
of his plants will tell adversely against him, not only for 
the present but the future. Much as I like to see a 
pretty plant in any position, I never look at them placed 
upon mantel-pieces and shaded side-boards, and con¬ 
tinued there for any length of time, without either wish¬ 
ing that their possessors should be contented with arti¬ 
ficial instead of real ones, or hoping that a society 
might be formed for preventing cruelty to plants as I 
well as to animals. Gardeners who arc required to do ; 
much in the way of room decoration, chiefly employ 
ephemeral things, that look beautiful but are of no value 
when the bloom is faded, or take care to have the oppor¬ 
tunity of very frequently changing them if valuable. 
The means for preserving plants in rooms have several 
times been referred to. Light, air, temperature, mois¬ 
ture, must be communicated according to their nature 
and necessities. Ereedom from dust, as well as insects, 
must also be insured. Great things cannot in general 
be expected from plants bought in full bloom in April 
or May. You purchase it merely for its bloom; and the 
nurseryman reckons its value when he sells it, as in 
large towns he can make nearly as much of the bloom 
alone as of the plant, with the bloom on it. If, there¬ 
fore, when you set such a plant upon a side-board, and 
derive a little more gratification than you would have 
done by the bloom being cut and placed in a vessel 
with water in a similar position, you have little to com¬ 
plain about. If you wish the plant to continue in health, 
to expand the bloom buds not yet opened, to form more 
which will unfold afterwards, or to make it fit for repay¬ 
ing you for the trouble of transplanting it out of doors, 
you must not continue it upon a side-board, but give it 
similar advantages, as far as possible, to that it would 
have enjoyed in the greenhouse of the nurseryman or 
gardener. Even then two things are against you, if you 
know but little about plants. The first is, that many of 
the plants sold at that early season will not bloom 
abundantly until the same period again returns; a few 
will, but the majority of florists’ pelargoniums will not 
continue to bloom in the same pots, though many 
flowers and a luxuriant foliage will be obtained by 
turning them, in a proper manner, into the open ground. 
Others, however, such as the scarlet geraniums, if top- 
dressed and enriched with manure water, will continue 
to produce fresh buds and bloom. The second thing 
against you is, that though most of the plants sold at 
that season are what are termed greenhouse plants, and, 
therefore, ought to thrive with the light and shade, &c., 
you are able to give them in the window, more espe¬ 
cially after the colds of winter are gone, still, as it is 
merely the bloom that gives a value to the plant, and as 
the earlier that bloom is produced the higher will be its 
price, the plant grower, in such circumstances, has 
given a higher temperature to force the bud into bloom 
than otherwise would be required; and, therefore, when 
you purchase a flowering plant in April to set in your 
room—a geranium for instance,—more care will be re¬ 
quired as respects temperature and light, than if you 
purchased the plant in May and June, when the house 
from which it came was comparatively cool and open. 
Thousands of plants are lost by not paying attention to 
the circumstances in which they were placed before 
coming into the purchaser's possession, and this not 
among amateurs only, but also among gardeners. The 
nurseryman, acting merely upon the principles of com¬ 
petition and commercial wisdom, endeavours to get a 
saleable article as forward as possible ; and hence thou¬ 
sands of greenhouse plants are propagated and grown 
when young in an atmosphere and a temperature that 
would suit Mr. Appleby’s orchids. The plants are sent 
out nicely packed, the receiver rejoices over their luxuri 
ance, he places them in the greenhouse, and cannot 
conceive why, in no great time, they assume a rusted 
stunted appearance. Keeping them in a higher tem¬ 
perature, and a closer, moister atmosphere at first, ex¬ 
posing them to more air and light by degrees, would 
have prevented the disappointment. 
Precisely a similar course must be adopted with 
geraniums, heliotropes, roses, &c., bought in bloom in 
April or earlier. They must be kept warmer for a time 
