New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-11-26
WINDOW PLANTS.
ANSWERS TO MANY QUERIES.
WHAT PLANTS TO CHOOSE AND HOW TO MAKE
THEM GROW AND BLoOM-srCCEsS UNDE%
UNAVOIDABLE CONDITIONS OF
TURNACE-uEAT AND GAS.


as Mrs Jones onposite How does she keep her
geraniums looking so healthy, and so full Of great
trusses OF crimson bloom? And look at that rubber
tree. The leaves shine like silver in the sunlight!
And her palm hasn't yellow leaf!
Well. let look florists catalogue, and see
the plants that will live In the window OF an Or
binary room And, to begin with. let's look the
worst in the face. Suppose our house is heated
By furnace. lighted by gas: that we often use
lamps for reading and that our street is very
dusty.
We will take first the plants: and among the
leaders comes the abutilon. or Chinese maple or
bell-fower. II grows In the form of tree, and
its flowers are hell-shaped. The best varieties
Snowstorm. white; thompson orange veined GRIM
son. and with beautiful dark-green foliage, spotted
with yellow: Golden Ee:s. yellow, and Arthur Bes-
ham, crimson Also the dwarf abutilon Eclipse, with
brown and yellow bells. and variegated foliage that
droops gracefully Agcratum. both the blue and
white do nicely. Agapanthus. or African lily, blue.
resembles amaryllis above the pot. and flowers
freely toward spring There Is also white variety.
This plant needs plenty of root ROOM however, to do
itself justice, and will not flower well until good
sized plant.
Sweet alyssim does we'll planted in n pot
In which some larger plant IL growing, and II Is
very nice for cutting from. Candy,uft does well
under the same treatment. Convolvulus. or morn
Ing glory. does fairly well as a house-plant; but
do not train 1t to run over the window. unless
your conditions more favorable than those we
started with. Train IT, rather. to a trcls. so that
1t can be- moved.
The Cuphca or cigar plant with it's bright flow
ers makes a pretty plant for winter decoration.
The Paris daisy. marguerite. Is one or the best
II is never OF flower and Is always bright
and cheerful Fuchslas usually are shy OF flowers
between Thanksgiving and Easter unless espe-
cally grown for winter towering. By resting the
plants from August TIL November. The best singles
or. cir Drfp fs,,ot nd MlSfOl0u
(whlte and recD: doubles. Mrs. III, Wordsworth
(white and rel). Phenomenal red and whte). and
the New Trailing Queen Scarlet and purple). ana
the old Procumbens
or the geranium Is among the foremost
OF the array To give a list of best sorts would
all volume. but few. distinct In color. VIII hep
the beginner at the start: For white. La Favorte.
White Swan and Princess Of Anhalt: scarlet B. Is.
Bliss. Double General Grant. Matthias Landorf ana
Pcutre Corret: crimson W. p. Simms. lie Pilote
and lie cd: orange. California and Golden Bedder
pink. Hermann. May llill. Nine Grillet; variegatei
and peculiar shades (some are singe). BeneVlto
de Cellni. la Duvansaye. Hebc. Queen OF Fairies,
Gloire de France New Life mot variesated when
grown outdocrs) Triumphant and Souvenir de
Mraude. Then. too. there are the ivy-lcaved
geranlums. and some OF them have lovely flowers.
Galllce has blossoms like miniature roses /
hesitate little In putting down helioro1e. Dit II II
is only given lots OF water and SUN. It will make "A
Balsam with it's bright flowers. is a companion to
the heliotropc Iinum Trigynum. the yellow fax.
IL fine winter boomer and stands some rough
usage. with lit;le the lobclias Will amply
repay you for tho room they occupy Get the
dwarf sorts. like Ernus GracIlis ErInus Alba ana
Crystal Palace. Mltricnra. or feverfew. with It's
double white flowers will keep you In boutonneres
all winter Put few small bits OF MImu!us Mus
chcntos on the surface Of your large pots OF Paris
daisy and watering will be n pleasure instead OF
bother Tom Thumb nasturiums are just the thin6
for a sunny window. Put three seeds in n six-inch
pot Of poor soil. and you Will see more flowers
than leaves n you more leaves, feed the
plants "A ll.tc weak manure water. Oxais. In
varieties. Is at home In hanging basket or used
like musk TO cover large pots
Petunlas do much better than one would suppose.
but require less water than most plants, unless
growing very fast. They need small pots. Rivinia
Humills or rouge plant. has small red berries,
which last a long time. and are very pretty foi
bouquets. Ardesia crenuata is somewhat Ike II.
but both leaves and fruit are darker In color and
the whole plant IS heavier in makeup. and harder
Verbenas stand the house treatment pretty well
for n time and II kept cool may carry through
There Is a list Of the most common plants for
window decoration In winter, and the ones thar
will give the best returns To the novice. And now
for general rules FOR their treatment.
i,y this time YOU have done all your pottinS.
proba bly, the aucr-treatment Il VIVA, concerns
w most The general rule for most plants tand
this includes palms. ferns dracaenas. etc) Is to
give them a good soaking. through and through. and
again through; stand them In the bathinb me
sink the basin then let them drain on and don't
water again I'll tn" ground gets almost Dry IN the
pots. Al plants with smooth leaves iikr 10 De
sprayed washed with sponge at least once "A
week and oftener II convenient. Even geraniums
like bath sometimes. bat always avoid wettlng
blossoms as much POSSIBLE. II causes them 10
discolor. Cannds and heliOtrope In large pots and
Gala lilies in small pots want plenty OF water, a
utmoSph"f". ana all the sun you can give
them dracaenas not 80 much sun Cyclamen. oache-
lor's buttons. greyilea ,silk oak ana carnations
roses and many plants have LETT out oil TINS list
need cool room to do well. Ill.,.
An excellent way TO Keep your more sensitive
plants In goo! condition Is 10 have square frame
made OF light sticks. large enough To inclose your
largest plant AZ night place u oyer the pant OF
plants. and over all put an old blanket or large
piece OF cloth. Let this cloth be- thorouGhly damp
enei with warm water. and leave Your plant To en-
JOY its damp surroundings all night. II VIII emerge
kept in good condition long time by this method
and nearly all plants are benefited \ point that
foliage plants like pa ma, ferns. dracnenas nous
lIndiarubber plant etc me growth Is made rMr,
the winter Enthusiasts often, Try, to force
growth by liberal waterinrs and rich feedings
delicate growth Is met by dry dusty, vitated at
mosphere that withers II In a day. ana me beauty
but endeavor keep this growth as slow az pos
slble that the new leaves may have time to harden
As to insect pests. you viii find that the frequent
washinss viii materially keep them IN check.
Snoulu inns not b' 'nphH idht VI wv '','"P-
est tobacco tchcwng tobacco Will dob and make a
tea OF 1t. just like ordinary strong tea. and dip
the plants In this when IL IL about seventy 10 eighty
degrees Fahrenheit. or take soft sponge
and give them thorough washing with 1t.
both sides Of the leaves. stem and all. Then.
after a little. wash off with clear warm water.
There are insecticides offered 10y florists. but do
not find them any Improvement on the above, es-
pecially for house plants
Flowering plants of course. need to be treated
more generously: but even here the usual fault
runs to too much watering However. they should
never reach the whiting point and TO have them
~, uen ha fs1
Of roots. The easiest way is to get two small pack
ages. nitrate of soda. the other some of the
plant food sold by dealers and florists: with the
soda. put n pinch. of SNUFF. on the surface or
each pot. after watering and with the plant food.
follow directions on the package except to use the
soda instead of plant food every third time. say:
Keep the dead leaves and fading flowers picked
of. and II the soil in the pot gets hard ana
lumpy stir the surface with a fork. halrpin or
knitting needle so that 1t let's air to the roots and
stops the formation OF green moss on the surface