Five House Plants That Are Worth Growing 
ATTRACTIVE VARIETIES WHICH ARE WELL ADAPTED TO WINTER USE 
INDOORS-THE CHARACTERISTICS AND REQUIREMENTS OF EACH 
Photographs by Nathan R. Graves and Chas. Jones 
HERE is scarcely a 
home where some 
window will not afford a 
suitable place for some 
sort of flowering plant. 
The real cause of many a 
housewife's failure with 
blooming plants in her 
rooms is a lack of modera¬ 
tion. Too much is at¬ 
tempted ; too many plants 
are bought. Little ac¬ 
count is taken of the fact 
that different plants need 
somewhat different treat¬ 
ment, and so it frequently 
happens that the treatment 
accorded a plant, while painstaking enough, is the very opposite 
from what that plant actually requires. Struggling against ad¬ 
verse treatment saps a plant's vitality, and under such conditions 
it does well if it merely lives. Love for a plant must be guided 
by intelligence to make it effective. In this respect it were best 
to follow the excellent example set by the plant-loving Japanse, 
to confine oneself to one plant, to make a pet of that, to become 
acquainted with its 
real character and to 
study its needs. Do 
this and your plant 
will be a specimen of 
which you may well 
be proud. The Jap¬ 
anese often devote 
all their time to the 
growing of a single 
plant. It may not 
prove amiss, there¬ 
fore, to describe a 
few of the hardier 
indoor bloomers and 
add such directions 
concerning their cul¬ 
ture as will be of ac¬ 
housewife’s pride. It certainly is one of the hardiest indoor bloom¬ 
ers that could well be found. In a rather warm window where it 
is assured a few hours sunshine each day it feels congenial and 
seeks few other favors. Any good potting soil will serve it, the 
plant preferring to fit snugly into its pot, while a thorough water¬ 
ing twice a week will be found sufficient. Setting it into the 
bathtub or other convenient place so that the leaves may be 
sprinkled removes the dust and freshens the plant greatly. Start¬ 
ing with a small plant and 
exercising care it will not 
be a difficult task gradually 
to train a plant into a very 
symmetrical little tree, for 
the branches start out op¬ 
posite each other and tend 
to develop equally. To en¬ 
courage this equal develop¬ 
ment be sure to turn the 
plant half way round about 
twice a week, for remember 
that all plants tend to grow 
toward the sunlight. Fuch¬ 
sias being gross feeders, 
some extra food in the 
shape of liquid cow ma¬ 
nure about once a month will stimulate their growth very appre¬ 
ciably. 
Small wonder that the fuchsia is a favorite with the order- 
loving housewife, for its flowers suggest trim apparel. They 
are borne pendent on rather long, slender stems with the four 
parted calyx pointing outward and the corolla hanging under¬ 
neath. The calyx is at times white, though most generally red, 
while the corolla 
grades through red, 
white and even pur¬ 
ple. The fuchsia’s 
period of bloom is a 
very long one; the 
flowers hang for 
days, and a thrifty 
plant is very profuse 
in blooming. This 
plant makes a pretty 
center piece for a 
table, but when the 
table is cleared it 
should be immediate¬ 
ly returned to its sun¬ 
ny window. Another 
good feature of the 
plant is that it roots 
easily from cuttings. 
Another good 
house plant, that is 
especially attractive in 
a girl’s room, is the 
primrose. They can 
live and laugh in the flickering sunlight that filters through a 
window curtain, and as they are rather averse to too much heat 
they can be grown in rooms where the temperature at night falls 
to as low as forty-five degrees Fahrenheit. The plants wilt 
quickly for lack of water, but the foliage is not benefited much 
by sprinkling; in fact, during their time of bloom the leaves 
should be kept free from water. There is quite a number of 
varieties which for the most part bloom almost the entire year. 
I he trim, pendent blossoms of the fuchsia may embody red, white and purple 
tual help, so that you 
m a y m a k e your 
choice, and having 
made it you may per¬ 
sist. 
The fuchsia is very 
apt to be the German 
There is scarcely a house where some sunny window cannot be utilized to provide ligh 
and strength for winter blooming plants 
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