The Toledo chronicle. [volume] (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1873-1924, 1876-05-25
Home Flowers.

BUT few people, we fancy, exist who do
not feel gratitied by the presence of bright
growing plants in their houses; and yet
the difficulty of preserving them, and the
expense of renewing them, are often seri
Gus drawbacks to this pleasure. One of
the most fertile causes of disappointment
is due to a bad selection of plants; for it
is not every plant that will grow either in
a window case or in a room. Another
serious interference is the use of gas in
rooms where the plants are placed. The
slightest escape is sufficient to cause the
leaves to wither and fall off, and generally
to in lure the plant The better the room
is ventilated the more successful will be
the plants in it, and this observation ought
surely to teach us lesson with regard to
ourselves and our own health. Though
not so sensitive to impure air as our veg
etabe companions, we are undoubtedly
not sufficiently alive to the depressing and
injurious influence of an ill-ventilated and
polluted atmosphere. Swinging the leaves
of plants exposed to the dust of a sitting
room, and washing them carefully with
tepid water, assist them to live. The re-
suit of some experience, many disappoint-
ments, and much veXation as to the plants
which live longest and best in the atmos-
phere of town-hOuse, where there is no
conservatory to recruit them, is, that pelar-
gOniums, fuchsias, and the whole race of
gardeners greenhouse favorites are a de-
fusion and a snare, and should only be
INDUCED in with the knowledge that their
beauty is but transient, and that they will
soon perish. Ferns, grasses. agaves, the
Ficus elasttca or India-rubber plant; the
umbrella sedge (Cyperus atiernJofus)
from Madagascar, and some CT the ORA
canos, are more lasting and more salts
factory as indoor plants than any others
we have tried. 1t is difficult to say why
this is SO; possibly owing to the larger
possessed by these plants, it being of
course essential to keep this respiratory
system free from dirt and dust, and able
to act freely. Those who possess con-
need not be so particular as to their en-
darance, for on the least sign of sickli-
ness they can be removed and exchanged
it is chiefly in those who, like ourselves,
have neither green house nor conserva-
tory, and no money to throw away, that
we feel interested, and would help to en-
Joy the luxury of observation-disclosures
rooms and the companionship of beautiful
plants without the drawback of extrava-
gance. For several years we have man
aged to keep little sitting room the OBJ
ject of admiration and envy of our friends
by little continuance in its ar
rangement. During the summer, when
there is no fire required, the open
fire place is filled by frame of
wicker work, which exactly fits it,
and is fastened to a trough or jardiniere
of galvanized tin about ten inches deep,
in front. This is painted green, and the
fender is removed and put aside. Two
pots of growing ivy are set in this trough,
one at each side, and the branches are
carefully trained over the wicker-work,
so as to form a green and living screen
The register (damper) of the chimney is
left open behind this screen, so as to
secure ventilation to the room and the
plants. The trough is then filled in with
hardy ferns, or such plants as are found
to survive longest, and the pots covered
over with moss. They can can thus be
easily and safely watered, and will live in
a London room without any appearance
of fading for three months of the summer.
Dead leaves must of course be picked off,
and attention paid to the plants gener-
ally; but they will repay it all by growing
and thriving, and if the fireplace be not in
a dark part of the room the ivy fourishes
luxuriantly. This arrangement cost but
few shillings, and will last for many
years. 1t has also decided superiority
over cut paper screens. With the wicker
screen and ivy in front, the fire materials
may remain laid in the CRATE, ready for a
chance cold or wet evening. When the
fire is to be lighted, the floral screen can
be lifted and placed in any part of the
room against a wall, with the ferns and
flowers in front as they were.-Chambers'
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