Port Tobacco times, and Charles County advertiser. (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1845-1898, 1873-01-10
Management of Flowers in Winter.

Management Of Flowers in Winter.
House plants require vast amount
of care every day and from week to
week. They need especially to be
guarded against exposure to sudden
changes Of temperature. Where a
number of pots with flowers are placed
near window, during cold or cloudy
day, unless the temperature of the a.
partments is properly maintained the
flowers will be seriously injured by the
cold. In a cold day unless the sun
shines brightly on the flowers, or at
night, unless the batten shutters of the
window are closed, no colder place can
be found in the apartment, than close
to large window. Many florists seem
to forget their flowers during cold
nights, leaving them near the window
where they are liable to become severe
| ly chilled. The best place for flowers
during cold day or night, is on a
high table near the middle of large
room. The higher the table the bet
ter for the flowers. For this purpose
a large table on castors should be pro-
vided so that portion or all the pots
can readily be rolled to the middle of
the apartment. All plants are invig-
GRATED and rendered more luxuriant by
exposure to the full influences of the
MONDAY sun. Yet, on cloudy and win
dy days, it will be quite as well to keep
them near the centre Of a room, away
from cold window. Ifanyone doubts
that foot or two from a window is
the coldest place in the room, let him
place thermometer a few inches from
the glass for half an hour, and then
transfer it to the middle of the room,
and he will perceive that the instru-
ment will indicate a marked variation
Of temperature. Plants in pots are
frequently placed outside of a window
during a cold yet sunshiny day. But
such exposure Injuries the stems and
leaves far more than we are wont to
suppose. ......
Growing plants require heat. Cold
air is exceedingly detrimental even to
hardy plants. If one would have his
plants thrive satisfactorily at all times,
he must avoid all transition from a
high to a low temperature. The inju-
ry done to tender plants during one
cold night, when placed near window,
connot be repaired during ten days of
excellent aftercare. If one will culti-
vate luxuriant flowers, he must first
learn to love them, as they cannot be
expected to flourish byneglect. Flow
ers require much more water than
most persons suppose. When they are
exposed to dry and dusty apartment,
the dust that will settle on the leaves
daily should be washed off at least
twice every week. When the stems
and leaves of plants cannot be sprink-
led in the apartment where they are
kept, each fower-pot can be placed in
large sink, or on a broad extended
oil cloth on the kitchen floor which
will collect all the drippings. The
leaves should have generous drench-
ing with tepid water.
Never allow flowers to be watered or
sprinkled with cold water, especially
in cold weather. Tepid water is always
better even in summer. In many in
stances flower-pots, are only two-t thirds
filled, whereas they should always be
filled to the brim with the best and
richest soil that can be Obtained
This is more important when pots are
small than with large ones. Even the
roots of small plants require all the
cpaca that not ho1dinr cavora1 ouartc
will afford. Growing flowers like to
send out their roots far and wide. It
is an excellent practice to save the
|soap-suds of washing days, and warm
a supply every day for watering the
flowers. But, after soap-suds have
been applied, every leaf and stemshould
be washed with clean rain-water to re-
move the alkali of the suds. A spoon
full of auqua ammonia, mingled with a
quart of water, will greatly improve
the water for house plants.