Omaha daily bee., 1902-03-23
SCENE At ClTY'S HOTHOUSE
How Towering Plants and Shrubs Of Parks
Are Cared For.
THOUSANDS WlNTERED WITH SUCCESS
Hsre and Delicate Specimens AZ
We'll as Commoner sorts Kept
Through Cold Months for
summer Pleasure.
THOUSANDS wSTEREO WITH SUCCESS


"Prettier than all outdoors was the
expression recently used by a lover Of ma
ture In speaking OF the greenhouses OF
Hanscom park. And during the last winter
they have been "prettier than all out
DOORS" especially TO the lovers Of green
grass, flowers sweet perfume. for every
thing that pleased the visitors to the parks
during the summer even including the
guinea pigs and Walker, the talkative par
rot. whose headquarters were at Riverview
park last summer, are all there.
In one greenhouse 5000 geraniums of
many varieties. a majority OF which are
In bloom. make a most pleasing sight. That
Is the number which Florist Ellsworth es-
Inmates he has on hand and will soon put
out In the park. These plants are raised
from slips taken from the old plants in
the early fall. They are placed in the
sand beds until roots are struck. when they
are transplanted to the pots. Many Of the
geraniums do not bloom, being raised en-
tirely for their beautifully colored leaves.
Hanscom park greenhouses contain twenty
varieties Of the geranlum.
Beautiful Foliage Plants.
The Gamma, with which the greenhouses
abound, are grown from the bulb. The
bulbs are allowed to remain in the ground
until after frost, the Gamma sometimes
blooming after that time. The bulbs are
dug up and dumped in the corner of the
greenhouse until they begin to sprout up
and are then put in the pots.
OF the alternanthera. or colored leaves,
five varieties are represented. These are
struck in the fall and held over and used
In making border plants and designs. The
greenhouses are also profuse in begonias,
which are among the few flowers In the
houses raised from the seed. Among the
plants that attract especial attention OF the
visitors Is the acacia. which. to the un>
initiated, looks like an ordinary thorn tree,
but which the florist says is not.
To secure Uniformity.
A great amount Of work which the florist
does that an ordinary man would not do
because he could not see the thusness is
planting lobelias, alyssums and the like as
thick as they can be sown. Most anyone
would save all the trouble by sowing Ithe
seeds. The florist says his reason for going
to all the trouble of cutting and planting the
slip is because he cannot get all the plants
alike from the seed and uniformity is what
he Is after.
The hardy shrubs in the park are taken
up late in the fall and allowed to remain
In a dormant state until late in the winter,
when they are forced and young shoots are
propagated.
The pennesctum, which looks something
like foxtail grass, but which isn't, 80 much
admired last summer will be grown in a
much larger quantity this year. The florist
has several large boxes full of II, which he
Is carefully tending. Among the park en-
pIoyaa tho Qraac 10 Lnouyn aa ~ Iaan5IottIo . .
Visitors "swipe" Pots.
In the house wherein are kept small
potted flowers and plants visitors have
caused the florists much annoyance by car
rying of the pots. So many have been taken
that now the florist, as he takes a visitor
through, with one eye watches the flowers
and with the other keeps the visitor COW
cred. Even when all precaution is taken,
however, many succeed in getting flowers.
During the last winter the curiosity given
to the park by G. W. Lininger has been al
most ruined. The structure is about four
feet high and three feet through. 1t is
made Of coral and on the inside and around
It are made houses, steps and strange
figures and inscriptions. In 1t was a foun-
tain, which before most Of the outside had
been carried away furnished water for
a Nlhy maj W Podl a pOl lhNO a cup
Winding stairs go through the structure
and hundreds Of other fixtures are attached
to 1t that seem impossible OF making.
Bananas and
Just as crowded and Just as pretty, II not
more so. is the palm garden. One house is
full Of palms. including the various va
%rieties, and one can easily be transposed
from the frigid to the tropical zone by
stepping through the door that leads to this
beautiful room. Besides the various palms
there are the orange blossoms in full bloom,
though almost all gone now, and In their
place little green oranges with long stems
sticking out at the top that look like any
thing but oranges. Beside 1t is a banana
plant with a BUNCH Of green bananas that
will do to. eat during the latter part Of June.
This is the most majestic plant In the
house, rising several feet above all around
It and not going higher because the florist
will not allow 1t.
Close to the banana plant is a variety Of
the matrimony vine, which Mr.. Ellsworth
takes great pride in saying grows from two
inches long in the spring to twenty feet
long In the summer and longer IL 1t had
loom. All who gaze upon this wonderful