JANUARY. 
9 
not only did it lack similarity of shape, but also the agreement of colour of the 
outer skin, while the smoothness of Danver’s Yellow was wanting in Messrs. 
Cutbush’s variety, the last having a rougher and hardier-looking outer covering. 
T. K. 
THE FLORAL DECORATION OF DWELLINGS. 
February, whatever may be said to the contrary, is a trying month for those 
who have much decoration to provide for, unless they have a great amount of 
glass and plenty of fuel at command. Most of the useful autumn plants are over, 
and there are few to be had from the cold houses. It is a great sacrifice to 
use Camellias, Heaths, or Epacrises, for these are seldom worth much after 
having been in the house for any length of time. Azaleas must have heat to 
bring them out in February ; and Primulas and Cinerarias must also have had 
a little, otherwise they do not expand a sufficiency of blooms at one time to be 
effective in single vases or looking-glass cases. Bulbs must also have a good 
brisk heat to bring them into bloom by the beginning of the month; and many 
persons, too, object to Hyacinths as being too sickly for rooms. 
Where it can be done with proper effect, it is a good practice to make a 
distinction in the different rooms. At present we have for the dining-room 
neat dwarf plants of Otaheite Oranges in miniature tubs, with a good sprinkling 
of fruit, the old Ardisia crenulata, Dianella ccerulea with its beautiful blue 
berries, Rivina humilis, and Solanum pseudo-capsicum. The last is very effec¬ 
tive ; good examples of it might be seen in the conservatory at South Kensing¬ 
ton both last season and this. The Ardisia is also a good plant for decoration, 
from its clean glossy leaves and numerous bunches of red berries. We also 
find, from its having been standing in conjunction with Ferns, that great 
numbers of these spring up all over the surface of the soil in the pot, and they 
diminish the length of the stem, and save the labour of mossing the vase over, 
without doing any apparent injury to the plant. 
For general decoration, we have in large single vases Azaleas, Canarina 
campanula, Thyrsacanthus rutilans, Persian Lilacs ; and for the largest vases, 
by the middle of the month, a plant or two of the Gtielders Rose and Laburnum 
come in for a change. The old-fashioned Canarina is too well known to require 
description; it is of easy growth, and has a light handsome appearance in 
rooms. The Lilac, Guelders Rose, and Laburnum are kept carefully to one 
stem, and make a good change : the Lilac in particular is a great favourite, and 
blooms profusely when so treated. Thyrsacanthus rutilans is much improved 
by tying the shoots out at the top to a circular wire or hoop, which keeps the 
long pendulous flower-stalks well out, and shows the flowers to greater advan¬ 
tage. For smaller vases, or tables, and bronze stands, we generally use a few 
of the best sorts of plants, as Amaryllis and Deutzia gracilis; and one stand is of 
Eucharis amazonica, and others of Fern-leaved Primulas. A very good plant 
for this month on a drawing-room table is the Ipomoea bona-nox : it opens its 
large white blooms about seven in the evening, and they remain open all the 
night, scenting the whole room with their delicious odour. It is a mistake to 
dry Amaryllises ; they are continual bloomers if carefully treated. The Eucharis 
is, perhaps, the most easy stove bulb that we have to grow and bloom at any 
time with certainty; it is, besides, the most beautiful plant for a room table 
that I know, as it opens its blooms freely, and stands long. In large tile-boxes 
inside the windows, where the plants require to be from 18 inches to 2 feet in 
height, we have Browallia, Begonia niticla, Eranthemum pulchellum, Gesneras, 
Salvia splendens, Justicia, Poinsettia, and the beautiful white Prunus. The 
Eranthemum and Justicia are not good house plants, as they soon lose their 
