November 
19 2 0 
49 
THE PLACING AND CARE OF HOUSE PLANTS 
In Almost Every House There Is a Place for a Winter Garden if a Wise Selection 
of Plants Is Made and They Are Well Cared For 
G. T. HUNTINGTON 
P rimarily, the great 
value of house plants is 
that they bring the interest 
of the growing garden in¬ 
doors. Secondarily, they 
constitute decorative ele¬ 
ments which in themselves 
are worthy of our best at¬ 
tention. If we bear these 
two qualities well in mind 
we have a good foundation 
on which to build a garden 
in the house. 
Where to Put Them 
There can be almost as 
many places for house 
plants as there are houses. 
A single cyclamen bloom¬ 
ing in a tiny stairway win¬ 
dow is scarcely less effec¬ 
tive than a whole conserva¬ 
tory massed like a green¬ 
house; ivy trained on a lat¬ 
tice adds as much to the 
sun-room walls as do the 
geraniums, Paris daisies or 
fuchsias to its windows. 
Many a rough-cast hallway 
is enhanced by a handsome 
fern in a simple wrought 
iron brazier, just as a hang¬ 
ing basket of oxalis cheers 
the sunny bedroom. There 
are few places in the house 
where some sort of plant 
cannot be used, if consid¬ 
eration is given to the con¬ 
ditions presented and a 
choice made in accordance 
with them. 
Mark this one point, 
however: the size and kind 
of a plant must be suited to 
its location. A huge palm 
in a small city apartment 
is grotesque; a tiny pot of 
pansies in a palatial living 
room may be pardonable, 
but is more likely to be 
ridiculous. Self-evident as 
Harting 
Here old poly¬ 
chrome iron gates 
lead into a sunny 
enclosure fill e d 
■with growing 
plants. The walls 
are tinted yellow 
and green damask 
hangings are used 
at the windows 
this principle may seem, the 
frequency with which it is violated is appalling 
Necessary Conditions 
The majority of plants one is likely to con¬ 
sider for anything except a water garden need 
five conditions for their physical success: good 
soil in the pot, plenty of fresh air, abundant 
light, suitable temperature, and sufficient mois¬ 
ture for the leaves and stems as well as the 
roots. Let us take these up in order and study 
their application. 
A plant growing in the open garden has 
abundant soil space in which its roots can 
reach out for sustenance. Put that same plant 
in a pot, and its feeding range is limited to a 
space perhaps 5” by 6”. All the food it con¬ 
sumes in the development and maintenance of 
its wonderfully complex organism of stem, leaf 
and blossom must come from that small area. 
Little wonder the soil in 
the pot must be rich in 
nourishment. 
Good garden loam is the 
best potting soil to use, and 
with it bone meal in the 
proportion of about one 
part to fifty should be 
mixed. This may be rich 
enough to carry the plant 
all winter, or it may not. 
Should the general health 
of the plant begin to fail, 
it may be a sign that more 
nourishment is needed. This 
can be supplied by liquid 
manure, or one of the con¬ 
centrated stimulants sup¬ 
plied for this purpose by 
the dealers in flower things. 
The second requisite on 
our list—fresh air—is al¬ 
most as important as the 
first. Remember that a 
plant breathes through its 
leaves, and has no greater 
liking for stale, vitiated air 
than we have. The effect 
of this condition on the ma¬ 
jority of plants is evidenced 
by a general failing in 
vigor, and it should be fore¬ 
stalled by regular daily ex¬ 
posure to as much free, 
fresh air as is possible with¬ 
out chilling the plants un¬ 
duly. 
Light and Moisture 
Most of us have at some 
time seen a plant that has 
grown more or less in the 
dark, and noted how thin, 
spindly and anaemic-look¬ 
ing it was. This is due di¬ 
rectly to the absence of sun¬ 
light. Think, again, of the 
conditions under which 
flowers grow outdoors, and 
how important a part the 
sun plays in them. Ob¬ 
viously our house plants 
must have direct sunlight—as much of it as 
possible. Only the ferns, ivy and some of the 
other foliage plants like pandanus do well 
with little or none of it. 
Suitable temperature, the fourth requirement 
for a successful garden in the house, means a 
thermometer range of from 60° to 70° during 
the day, with a night reading of about 50°. 
These are ideal, though occasional slight vari¬ 
ations one way or the other will do no harm. 
The moisture supply is usually quite easy 
to regulate. A sprinkling of the leaves with 
cool water once a week or oftener is beneficial, 
while water standing in a tray on a radiator 
or near the plants will help remedy the dry- 
air evil which causes so much trouble when 
the house is artificially heated in winter. 
Watering the soil in the pots is, of course.^ 
(Continued on page 78) 
The arrangement 
at the left illus¬ 
trates a simple 
but highly effec¬ 
tive use of house 
plants. The win¬ 
dow is part way 
up a staircase and 
receives abundant 
light 
