WHEN WE MOVED INTO THE GREENHOUSE 
LILLA R. ANDERSON 
Being an Account of the Furnishing, Decorating, House-warming, 
and Settled Daily Living Routine of an Indoor Garden Enthusiast 
B UTTING the text books aside with tremulous antici¬ 
pation and not without misgivings we came at last into 
the finished building that waited, spick and span, for 
earth and plants and seeds—and us to tend them. Of 
course, the first thing to do was fill the benches. About half 
the soil that was to go into them was brought from the woods; 
to this was added about half as much top soil from neighboring 
meadows and an equal proportion of humus. And the mass was 
turned and mixed and worked over until the blend was as perfect 
as it could be made. 
Over the bottom of the benches was spread a layer of pebbles 
and bits of shale for drainage; and then upon this foundation the 
prepared soil was dumped and levelled and smoothed nicely. 
I hen it got a thorough wetting, and was left alone for three 
days. At the end of this time I turned it up a bit and loosened 
it; left it lying three days more; and then the planting began. 
The first plants set out were the common Boston Fern and 
bits of Asparagus Sprengeri, purchased from a florist. At the 
same time I set out some cuttings of the Begonia Impatiens 
Sultana taken from a very old plant. They were made from 
“green” wood and about two inches long. These 1 planted in a 
section filled with pure sand for just this purpose, and kept them 
very moist until rooted. As soon as the roots came the young 
plants were set into the benches, and in two weeks’ time they 
were in flower. By taking off the buds for four or five weeks, 
however, I found that the growth of the plants was pro¬ 
moted; and it is my observation since that many plants 
can be very easily forced into bloom by allowing them to 
become pot-bound. 
Close to the glass along the edge of the benches. Morning- 
glories and Nasturtiums were planted and trained up to a brace 
running horizontally the length of the building; and the color 
effect when they came into bloom was delightful. Paper- 
white Narcissus bulbs—four to six bulbs to a pot—were planted 
every two weeks, beginning about the first of October, the 
bottom of the pot or bowl having common oyster shell such 
as is used to feed chickens, spread over it. These were put under 
the benches where it was fairly dark until they were well rooted 
and the leaves about four inches high; then they were brought 
up into the light and were in bloom in about four weeks. 
Hyacinths and Tulips and a few Daffodils were similarly 
planted in pots in October and November, but these I kept 
outdoors in a cold frame, watering them once a week, until 
early February when everything was brought inside. The 
Tulips were put into the light immediately and were in bloom 
by St. Valentine’s Day, but a trial pot of Hyacinths treated in 
the same way bloomed before the flower stems had grown long 
enough. So I took the rest back into the semi-darkness of the 
space below the benches until the flower stems were matured, 
when they were again advanced to the light with perfectly 
satisfactory results. 1 soon found that the longer I kept the 
plants in the darkness the longer 1 delayed their blooming; 
WHERE WINTER HAS NO STING 
The little glass house was attached to one end of our house and 
was soon full of green things (see upper left) which satisfy our 
gardening instincts and keep us happy through the winter 
and by bringing up two or three pots of each kind every week 1 
had flowers continuously from St. Valentine’s Day to Easter. 
The blossoms lasted almost two weeks when the pots were left in 
the greenhouse, but faded in a week when brought into 
the warmer atmosphere of the living room. The green¬ 
house temperature was kept at from 65 to 70 degrees F. 
night and day. 
The plants that give the very least trouble and offer the great¬ 
est results I find to be Ferns, Begonias, the Sword Palm, Um¬ 
brella Plant and Asparagus Sprengeri; and these I shall have 
in abundance in the additional solarium which our delight in 
greenhouse gardening has led us to build. Its temperature is to 
be the same, and it is to have the added feature of a pool where 
aquatics will be grown. Then we shall also have Crotons, 
Sanseveria, Dracaenas and such other foliage plants as we come 
across from time to time. And there will be more Nasturtiums, 
and Calendulas, and Stocks to furnish flowers for the table. 
Things 1 shafl not raise are Roses and Carnations, for I find these 
require a great deal of care and special treatment and they do 
not give results quickly enough to keep my amateur enthusiasm 
at high-water mark. 
My first steps were helped along by Prof. White’s “ Princi¬ 
ples of Floriculture” and “The Book of Gardening” by special¬ 
ists, an English book that has really been of service. There were 
not then available the recent American books, “Gardening 
Under Glass” by Rockwell, especially designed for the small 
gardener; and the really professional work of Fritz Bahr, 
“Commercial Floriculture.” Thus the way of the newer 
gardener is being helped along and made easy. 
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