Elmore bulletin. [volume] (Rocky Bar, Idaho) 1889-1906, 1893-08-19
FLOWERS In A HOME.
AN INEXPENSIVE WAY OF eEAuTlFY-
ING ALMOST ANY HOUSE.

The Proper Methods For Stocking and TAX
ing Care Of "a small Conservatory or nay
window Decorative Considerations Are
Essential.
MANY ARE no doubt deferred from becom,
ing amateur cultivatots of flowers because
they fear the expense uf building. stocking
and maintaining greenhouses. They hear
Of sl.nG being paid for one specimen Of
Wanda ~,nderiana, and Of the fancy prices
brought by other plants, nf such collections
a. that Of Frederick l.. Ame- of North East
on, Mass. Henry Graves Of Orange, y J
William : kimhall Of Rochester Era~tus
Corning ~ Albany aud Hicks Arnold Of
New York, aud conclude that love Of flow
ers l. u taste hat cannot he cultivated with
out enormous expense This is very mach
~ II people should give up learning 10 play
the piano because they cannot become l.isgt-
or paderewskis, or amateur theatricals
should Ia abandoned because the standard
OF tiarrick or n Booth cannot be attained
II everybody wanted to play first violiu,
there could be no orchestra.
An intelligent amateur grower of flowers
can derive in "A modest way a delight from
a bay window Of well selected plants, and
thus begin what may in time develop into
" Ethlfi tbllttRlNhs ~ Is Vhllr htNlhuh lhAl
a bay would not bc ruiuously expensive to
stock About 81 10 the square foot 10 nour
will cover the outlay. For, unless the own
er wishes To develop some special variety,
which II would hc unwise for the beginner
10 attempt, he need not invest In costly
plants.
II he will proceed with an eye to beauty
only he will soon discover that often very
beautiful varieties of species can he had
mt low prices The most gorgeous of the
orchids, the Cattleya, can bc bought, and in
bloom, too, u an ordinary variety, for T. "A
plant. cannot imagine richer decoration
In room the prevailing color of which is
pink. or some harmunizing tint than n hay
OF these noble flowers with their large PEE
tails aud ~epals Of delicate pink and lips OF
royal purple, Many beautiful varieties of
chrysanth hemums can also be had al slight
expense.
The cost Of maintaining hay window
after Il has once been stocked II virtually
nil The ordinary temperature Of the house
will suffice Almost any plant will thrive
Ia temperature of from 90 to 85 degrees
this being the medium temperature To
which both warm and cool house plants
adapt themselves and the plants will re
quire but little care beyond watering aud
occasional cleaning
Color effects can be produced In simple
bay window upon which the eye will rest
| with drlight--cffects which the art OF the
most skillful decorator cannot equal, let
alone surpasS One can have graceful soli.
age plants, like the Ficus elastica (the rub.
her trpel l.atana bOrbonica tthe fan PALM,
varieties of kentia and the beautiful Arau-
| caria excels, (New Zealand pine, and,
|
such bulbouS plants as hyacinth, tulips and
narcissus or a2lleas, gcnistas and abutiluu.
| These arp among the more common flowers
best adapted to window growth
Vary these with those orchids which are
most apt to thrive In bay. and exquisite
harmonies in color can be produced. Que
could have Cypripediuin inSgne, with its
yellow aud white flowers, lyeaste skinner
lii, ranging from light pink To deep purple
Odontoglossum Rossi majus, with white
pink and brown flowers. besides the glo
rious eattleyas laelas and tlendrubiums
Nor Is there any reason why the amateur
should not devote himself tof course IN .
modest, yet none the less delightful way
10 the perfecting of some special group oi
flowers, branching ont more extensively, i
he desires, ms opportunity presents itself
1; may have been gathered from state
ment made above that plants do not re Iun
no much care ns Is generally bestowed upon
them Indeed in many cases "A plant suffer
rather than benefits from being handled tot
much All rlantA as rule want wate
when dry -thnt is, when the soil about then
becomes moderately dry Then they SHOULD
get watering that will go right through
the pot aud not only II little ON the top soil
"a is generally the practice, while the root
at the bottom are starving.
Flowering plants need plenty Of fresh nj
and NIL the light that can be given them
while the foliage plants will do we'll II
shady places Besides watering the plants
care should be taken 10 keep them FIRE.
from insects which IL accomplished by oc
casional sponging aud keeping few to
bacco stems near them or sprinkling then
with tobacco dust These are certainly no
very imposing labors.
These suggestions apply equally well Il
the conservatory and greenhouse a smal
conservatory Is, next to the bay, the least eS
pensiye means of enjoying flowers indoors
For 1t is possible To heat IL from the room
into which il opens provided the furnae
iiue Is near enough To the door OF the con
seryHtory To allow considerable heat to pas
through H. To have ilue from the furnae
directly to the conservatory would be ui
wise, "a the heat would then be too intens
and dry The only practicable method q
directly heating conservatory or green
house Is by a boiler and pipes, As a rul
the expense Of building conservatory or n
ordinary greenhouse, with pipes, boiler a
other fixtures, will average 80 a runnin
foot or 81 per square foot Of floor.
This of course does not include any ea
cayation or masonry work, simply WOOD
iron, pipes, boiler, glass, painting and th
like-in fact, everything over the grount
The expense Of running such a Rrcenhous
would be about - cents square foot fo
an entire year This would be the onl
outlay should the proprietor tend the plant
, himself. The expense of stocking a cor
servatory can I've safely estimated by squaI
feet Of the floor. ns the cost of fitting u
with foliage and Towering plants, inclu,
ing orchids, would not be more than 81 /
, tl ~ per square foot. Thu il would co.
snly frem so To $500 TO stock "a sma
greenhouse. say 25 feet by 10 or l2, wit
choice plants This estimate for stockin
applies equally TO bay
But the grouping OF plants proceeds upo
different lines, for In bay the tones In III
: decoration Of the room should be consi,
cred while in a conservatory the plant
/ constitute in themselves all the decoration
II j. advisable to have in each nook an
corner Of a conservatory Il strong combin
| ton OF similar yarieties-for instance, ferr
! arranged together are more effective tina
II they were scattered through the hous
Similarly, the fan shaped palms should |
grouped together with the long frond "
5 rieties, forming special group, and var