146 
Jellies’ Sflorttl Stx£in,el ^ieioimt BHEame sSomjmniaia. 
A CORRESPONDENT’S EXPERIENCE. 
Dear Floral Cabinet : I will give yon some 
ot my “ Jear-bouglit” experience in keeping flowers. 
When I first began I had only a common sitting- 
room, with an open-front coal-stove, and a family of 
twelve. So broken leaves and overturned pots were 
my daily trials ; and then the dust—I must take each 
one and wash them every week, as no sprinkling would 
keep them in order, and then they would not bear 
all the hard usage and look fresh, which was a great 
disappointment, and I lost some fine plants. But I 
persevered; trying maw ways and searching every 
book and paper for information in regard to their 
native habits and the experience of others. 
Now my husband has built me a greenery—I call 
it—or a large bay-window, shut off from our common 
sitting-room by glass doors. So, of course, I have, 
and ought to have, a perfect bower of beauty. 1 
have over one hundred varieties, besides what I have 
in a light, dry cellar for the winter. You may won¬ 
der how I find room for so many, and I will tell you 
of ray green trees that came into use in my sitting- 
room at the first, by my trying every way I could 
think of to keep my pets from being in the way. I 
now have two of them, one in each angle of my win¬ 
dow, to hold a part, while I have a bench around 
below the windows for large plants, then some very 
tall ones sit on the floor, and some that need to be 
very cool. In this way you can keep your plants in 
a common room before a common window safely, and 
vary the temperature to suit each set of plants. 
Get a stick of timber about three inches through— 
if from the woods, leave the bark on, this is not bad;, 
but if from the lumber-yard, make it octagonal in 
shape, the height of your room ; make a round tenon 
on each end by sawing and splitting off so as to j 
leave a shoulder to fit smoothly into an inch piece 
in the form of a circle of three inches in diameter, 
so it will turn easily. Set upright and tack the cir¬ 
cle pieces to the ceiling and floor, two nails in each, 
so they can be drawn out if you should wish to take 
down and lay away when your plants are out for the 
summer. Get some stiff wire (or nail rods for large 
pots), cut into lengths of about fourteen inches for the 
top row; bend in a circle the size ol your pot, bend 
them the shape of the support for a lamp-bracket; 
bore a hole the size of your wire, slanting inward a 
little, about eighteen inches from the top of your stan¬ 
dard, and insert your wire, bending it so the weight 
of the pot will hold it firm. In every space put a 
wire, making eight in the circle of pots ; eighteen 
inches below put another row, making them enough 
longer to reach outside of the first, so your plants 
will not be in each other’s way or drip on the leaves, 
and so on, as low down as you wish; from three to 
four rows is enough. Now remove your curtains, 
giving them all the light and sun, turning them any 
time you wish without taking down the pots. Set a 
large pan or tub on the floor under them, and you 
can sprinkle them as you turn so as not to wet 
your carpet. You should put Cacti in the top row, 
as they like hot air and dry soil; Begonia, hot, but 
moist; Wax Plant, Dew and Ice Plant; then Coleus 
and the Silver and Tricolor Geraniums, Centaureas, 
Cineraria, Boses, and Abutilons last, as they should 
be cool. Put a slip of Madeira, Lobelia, Tradescan- 
tia, or Moneyworth vines in some of your pots with 
other plants, and set a pot of Parlor Ivy on the floor 
each side of your window if you wish. Those in your 
pots will run up the wires and standard, which should 
be painted green, all turning together. It will be 
very little care to tend these, and if you will step 
outside after your lamps are lit for the evening, 
when your plants are growing well, you will see a 
picture of beauty that will greet every one passing. 
To protect from dust get a piece of blue fly-screen, 
make it in two widths, reaching from ceiling to the 
floor and wide enough to fall easily and completely 
around outside your plants; fasten to a wire bent in 
a circle large enough not to have the curtain rest on 
the plants, and secure the wire to the ceiling with a 
staple (such as they use on a wire fence) in the cen¬ 
tre of the window, and then again opposite beyond 
the plants. You can draw this from each way around 
them when sweeping, or in the evening, when by 
sprinkling or wetting the net you can have a moist 
atmosphere inside. If you wish to protect from cold 
at night paste papers together and wrap round the 
whole, pinning to your curtain. Be sure they come 
close to the floor, where you should also lay a paper, 
as paper is the best material to keep out frost. 
When not in use draw your curtain towards the 
window and loop up high ; you can have a hanging 
basket each side of your window to fill up, if you 
choose. I fear I have made this too long already, 
and if I have not made it plain I will explain more 
fully if you will send to “ Recluse,” Box 251, Morris, 
Ill. 
not to entangle the different branches. In the early 
summer, after all danger of frost is over, the vine 
may be taken down from the frame and trained over 
the front of a piazza with fine effect, remaining until 
it has done blooming. We had one spread out in 
this way which reached the top of the piazza and ex¬ 
tended over a space more than twelve feet long, being 
covered with blossoms. It was an old and remark¬ 
ably thrifty vine. 
Mrs. Q.—How shall I treat my Camellia 1 ? It 
droops its leaves and does not thrive. 
Ans. —The Camellia is a difficult plant to culti¬ 
vate outside the greenhouse. They need light (but 
not direct sunshine), moisture and warmth, and a 
steady temperature. They are sensitive, and if left 
too dry or made too wet they drop their buds, as if 
in resentment at such mismanagement. In this 
month the flower-buds should begin to form. Bring 
the plant into the house, keep in a cool room about 
40°, and give an hour or two of fresh air daily. 
When growing rapidly water freely, but do not 
shower, and drain well. 
ELORAL CORRESPONDENCE. 
Willow Springs, Oregon. 
Enclosed please find yellow spotted leaf for name; 
also large leaf. 
Answer. —Japanese Honeysuckle. The large 
leaf belongs to the Maples, but from specimen can¬ 
not determine what species. 
Wheaton, III. 
Please tell me the name of enclosed plant. How 
many kinds of Ivy are there ? Dora Sprout. 
Ans. —1. Commonly called Flowering Gooseberry, 
ribes grossularia. 2. There are fifty different species 
of Ivy; the most easily grown is the Giant or Irish 
Ivy; but all are thrifty growers. 
Mrs. E. A. Warner. —Please give treatment for 
Hydrangea. 
Ans. —There are several varieties of this plant— 
some are hardy and others tender. They require 
partial shade, abundant watering through the grow¬ 
ing season, and liquid manure now and then. Hy¬ 
drangea Paniculata grandiflora is a hardy kind, and 
the most abundant bloomer of all this beautiful 
family. It will repay thorough cultivation and rich 
feeding. Plants sometimes bloom when six inches 
high. W. C. Hart, of Walden, N. Y., gives in 
Vick's Magazine an account of a plant three years 
old which bore ninety-two heads of beautiful flowers. 
When done blooming, or just before frost, remove to 
the cellar for the winter. It will then require very 
little water—-just enough to sustain life and prevent 
contraction of the wood. 
Oneonta, N. Y. 
Please inform me what is the best scarlet peren¬ 
nial Phlox; whether white Feverfew will bloom in 
winter. What is a suitable frame for Wax Plant? 
Mrs. R. Wicksoire. 
Ans. —1. P. grandiflora, scarlet, is the handsomest, 
but not so free a bloomer as the commoner varieties. 
2. It is a summer-blooming plant, but if cut back 
after blooming early in the summer will bloom in 
winter. 3. A square or circular frame, light but 
strong, is best for Wax Plant in winter, as they do 
not grow at all until near spring, and need only to 
be wrapped carefully round the frame, taking care 
Wakefield, R. I. 
I saw a notice in The Cabinet by W. C. L. 
Drew on the Amaryllis Johnsonii Lily, and now I 
wish to know what time of year to procure a dry 
bulb, and about what price, and where to get it. 
Miss C. D. 
Ans. —The time of year is not material, as these 
lovely plants may be made to bloom almost every 
month in the year. They are invaluable for window 
culture. They may be planted now for winter bloom. 
A successful treatment allows two months for growth, 
two for flowering, two for rest. Prices vary; they 
may be had at any good florist’s. For full instruc¬ 
tions for treatment see “ Window Gardening,” Wil¬ 
liams’s Household Series. 
Akron, Ohio. 
Dear Cabinet : Will you not, when you have 
time, give a lecture in your paper upon the treatment 
(heat, moisture, soil, etc.) required by the Cactus ? 
You will confer a favor on, yours, John W. 
Ans. —Our correspondent has marked out a wide 
field for a “ lecture,” but we adopt his text, and try 
and give our readers such information as may be use¬ 
ful with regard to this strange and interesting family 
of plants. 
