The strangely fascinating calceolaria is one of the many things that may be carried over the summer in the sand-box to bloom next 
winter indoors 
Summering the More Tender House Plants 
by Ida D. Bennett 
Photograph by R. R. Raymoth 
W HAT to do with the house plants during summer is often 
a vexing question. Even where there is a greenhouse or 
conservatory it is of little practical assistance during the hot sum¬ 
mer months, when the glass creates a temperature inimical to the 
interests of anything less addicted to heat than the phoenix or a 
.salamander. 
Certain house plants, to be sure, may be turned out in the bor¬ 
der, or plunged, pot and all, into the ground in some shady place, 
but there are many other plants to which this half-heroic treat¬ 
ment would mean death or at best a serious deterioration. Among 
these may be included the cinnerarias which may be carried over, 
the calceolarias, primroses, and all the tender young things which 
have been started from seed in early spring for the purpose of 
stocking next winter’s window-garden or conservatory. 
For all such plants there is but one satisfactory place, and that 
is a sand-box. To this the treasures of the window-garden may 
be intrusted with the certainty that the fall will find them in the 
pink of condition for winter blooming. 
The best location for the sand-box is on the east side of the 
house, where there is also some shade from the south, so that 
while receiving the morning sun in sufficient quantity to keep the 
plants thrifty, there will not be so much as to overheat the young 
and tender ones. 
Where the east side of the house affords no convenient place— 
as when the house fronts the east, there may be found a con¬ 
venient spot under the shade of a tree whose foliage is not so 
dense as to shut out the sun and air too much. Such a position 
will often give very good results, but no position should be chosen 
which is entirely devoid of sunshine during at least a portion of 
the forenoon. 
Any shallow box may be converted into a sand-box, or one may 
be kept in it; for many plants four inches would be amply deep, 
than six or eight inches deep, according to the plants that are to 
be kept in it; for many plants four inches would me amply deep. 
It should be of a width convenient to reach across when sitting in 
a chair beside it, for much time will be spent here attending to the 
wants of the plants, as its convenience, accessibility, coolness and 
fascination tempts one to linger in so agreeable a nook, and in¬ 
sures to the plants a care they would not receive elsewhere. 
When specially constructed for the purpose it may have a lining 
of zinc to insure its being watertight and also to add to its longev¬ 
ity. Boxes constructed wholly of wood and kept constantly wet 
under a hot sun decay rapidly and are, therefore, short-lived; the 
bottoms warp and curl up and become uneven, much to the incon¬ 
venience of the worker. It should, when made of zinc, be fitted 
with a drain at the bottom for the escape of surplus water in a 
season of too great humidity, and if the box is entirely of wood 
but of good and close construction it will be well to make a hole 
at one corner of the bottom and fit it with a plug for the same pur¬ 
pose. 
The box must be elevated on supports of some nature — either 
permanent legs, a couple of saw-horses or blocks of wood; it 
must be of a ’convenient height to sit at when at work, and the 
space beneath may be utilized for the storing of pots and other 
paraphernalia that will be needed in repotting and otherwise car¬ 
ing for the contents of the box. 
Packing boxes may be utilized for the purpose, and if puttied 
over the seams and given a coat of paint or some preservative on 
the inside, will last for several years and give good service. 
The outside of the boxes may be made attractive with paint or 
in some other way. It is sometimes possible to secure lichen- 
covered wood — as boards from an old fence; some of these are 
really beautiful and have the advantage of growing more beauti¬ 
ful with age, as the moisture about them tends to the health and 
growth of the lichens with which they are covered and makes 
them more attractive than artificial decoration. 
The sand-box should be filled with clean white sand — that from 
the lakes is best; the yellow sand should not be used, as it con¬ 
tains much clay, which hardens when the box happens to become 
dry and is not desirable. Into this the pots are plunged to the 
rim and the sand brought up snugly around them. The sand 
must be kept constantly wet, which maintains a moist, cool tem¬ 
perature around the roots of the plants, and the evaporation of 
the moisture from the sand’s surface creates an atmosphere v.ery 
conducive to the health of the plant, at the same time tempering 
the heat of the sun so that the very best conditions for growth 
exist. I have never seen a plant that would not thrive in this sit- 
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