DESCRIPTION OF HOUSE PLANTS
Some pages back I told you that the question asked of me most frequently is “How often should I water plants?” A close runner-up is the question, “Where can I get out-of-the-ordinary plants?” Believe it or not, that question is easier to answer. Local florists and greenhouse people often have plants tucked away—something exotic and special. Most of the people in the industry cherish these plants and are hesitant to part with them to run-of-the-mine customers. But if the person is a genuine plant-lover, a sale can usually be made, even though it is a reluctant sale. Just demonstrate that you are vitally interested and you will be surprised at what you can buy. Try it.
I have a number of catalogues from mail-order suppliers in all parts of the country who carry unusual plants, and in a variety that increases year by year. Do you know where I came upon their names?—from small advertisements in horticultural magazines. Read those small ads. Often the advertiser is so small, and so specialized, that he can’t afford too much space. But he has the treasures you want.
Mail-order plants are naturally young and small. Large plants are too difficult to pack and ship for any distance. Plants that are small usually cost less, and you have an extra dividend in the pleasure of seeing them grow to maturity. You would be amazed at the progress that has been made in packing and shipping in the past few years. Plants that I have ordered recently have come through the mails in from excellent to perfect condition—even plants from the Pacific Northwest. You simply unpack them—carefully, I’ll admit—water them if necessary, and keep them out of hot, bright sun and draft for a few days until they are acclimated to their new surroundings. Should any plant seem weak or mildly injured, pop it into the propagating box and usually it will be back on its feet again in a few days. If the damage is too serious, report it to the post office, the express company, or the shipper. I have yet to register one of these complaints.
I have been general in the preceding pages of this chapter. Now I will be more specific and offer a list of plants and their growing requirements. All of the following plants can be grown in the greenhouse. But given proper light, humidity, and/or other special care, they can be grown in the house where you live—even the most delicate types. The information on culture is abbreviated, but consistent use of the same terms, I feel is justified. The following are used in the sections on care under each plant.
Full sun
The sun actually falls on the plant for most of the day.
Partial sun
The sun touches the plants for only a few hours in the early morning or late afternoon in summer, but for longer periods in winter (tropical areas excepted).
Little or no sun
Bright daylight is sufficient to keep some plants healthy.
Temperature
Any figures that are quoted are for daytime. Night temperatures can usually drop about five degrees. (Cool is 40 to 60 degrees; moderate, 50 to 70 degrees; warm, 60 to 80 degrees.)
Humidity
This is noted if the plant needs more than average humidity (50 per cent).
Soil
The plant may prefer a potting mixture that is humusy, extra-rich in organic matter; average, like the potting soil I have described on other pages; sandy, with an extra ration of sand, or a similar substitute. Or it may be epiphytic and grow in some suitable medium such as osmunda fiber or sphagnum moss.
Dry
Let the soil dry thoroughly before watering.
Moist
Water when the soil in the top of the pot feels dry to the touch.
Wet
Never allow the soil to dry out.
Methods of propagation are also summarized and, if possible, listed in order of preference. The terms are the same as those used in the sections on propagating house and greenhouse plants.
For most plants, there are short notations on special uses for which they are especially suited, i.e., growing under artificial lights, dish gardens, model landscapes, terrariums and other gardens under glass. Included also are some small tropical trees and shrubs for the small greenhouse. Among the precious miniatures described in Chapter 17, varieties suitable for forcing are so noted. Forcing procedures are also covered.
Abutilon hybridum savitzi Malvaceae Flowering Maple
Delicate tropical shrubs with thin, soft, maple-shaped, dove-gray leaves lavishly splashed with creamy white, and sometimes white all over. (I’ve never seen it produce the typical dangling lantern flowers.) It grows slowly, keeps plump and bushy, and is content with a small pot for several years.
CARE. Full sun, moderate temperature, and average soil kept constantly moist.
SPECIAL USES. Artificial light, dish gardens, model landscapes, terrariums.
Achimenes Gesneriaceae
A large group of utterly charming plants related to, and grown like, African violets—except that their scaly rhizomes (like minuscule pine cones) are completely dormant in winter. Most have velvet-soft leaves and all produce an overwhelming display of tubular flowers flaring wide-open at the end. None grow to great size. A single rhizome would probably be happy in a two-inch pot; several are usually planted together for a bigger show. The following are among the smallest varieties, upright unless otherwise noted.
‘Charm’—Luscious pink flowers, gold in the center.
coccinea coccinea—Trailer with notched, oval leaves and plentiful flowers of deepest scarlet, half the size of a dime.
‘François Cardinaux’—Flowers in two tones of blue.
‘Little Beauty’—Similar to ‘Charm,’ but in another glowing shade of pink.
‘Masterpiece’—Flowers royal, reddish purple.
‘Miniata’—Ruffled flowers in changeable violet tones.
‘Misera’—Many small white flowers spotted with drops of wine, yellow in the throat.
‘Patens Major’—Orange throat blending into rich plum petals.
‘Peach Blossom’—New dwarf with peach-pink flowers.
‘Violacea Semi-Plena’—The only semidouble-flowering variety in deep, glowing purple.
CARE. Partial sun, warmth, humusy soil kept moist. In late winter, or early spring, pre-root the tiny rhizomes in a light, porous mixture such as vermiculite and peat, barely moist and over bottom heat, or in warmth (65 to 70 degrees). When new growth is about two inches high, pot in light soil enriched with leaf mold or some similiar organic material. Pinch out any growing tips or trailers once or twice to encourage branching. In early fall, after flowering has ended, let the pot and soil dry out gradually. Clean the rhizomes, and store them in a polyethylene bag filled with dry peat at a temperature of 50 to 60 degrees. Check the little fellows occasionally. You may be amazed, but sometimes they’ll send out new sprouts in this dark, dry storage, and want to be rooted and begin growth again.
PROPAGATION. Rhizomes will multiply spontaneously. Also use stem cuttings, leaf cuttings, seeds.
SPECIAL USES. Artificial light.
Acorus gramineus variegatus Araceae
Neat, sweet little water-lover, like a miniature grass, with flat fans of slender, four-inch leaves striped lengthwise with sparkling white. It spreads eagerly.
CARE. Partial sun, cool, average soil kept wet.
PROPAGATION. Division of creeping roots.
SPECIAL USES. Artificial light, dish gardens, terrariums. Pretty bog plant for the miniature garden pool.
Adiantum bellum Polypodiaceae Bermuda Maidenhair Fern
Elfin version of the maidenhair fern with ruffly leaflets like upside-down wedges, the points attached to the dark, wiry six-inch stems. The foliage is surprisingly dense for such a delicate, airy effect.
CARE. Little or no sun. Warmth, humidity, humusy soil (lime if acid), kept moist, and wet in winter. The plant seems to rest in summer.
SPECIAL USES. Artificial light, terrariums.
Allophyton mexicanum Scrophulariaceae Mexican Foxglove
Perky combination of oval, dark-green five-inch leaves beneath upstanding stems bearing several long-tubed, flaring half-inch flowers of pastel lavender blending into white, violet in the throat. Blooms in spurts throughout the year.
CARE. Partial sun, moderate warmth, humidity, average soil kept moist.
PROPAGATION. Seeds.
SPECIAL USES. Artificial light, dish gardens.
Alternanthera Amaranthaceae Joseph’s Coat
Enthusiastically branching, bushy plants with leaves of many colors, and convolutions, like small, contorted coleus. They’re often kept dwarfed by regular shearing, so the white flowers seldom form.
amoena—Bushlet with crisp, oval leaves haphazardly daubed with bright shades of red and orange. It seldom tops four inches.
bettzickiana—Tongue-shaped leaves blotched with cream, yellow, salmon, and red. This is the one that’s used for formal carpet bedding. Its green-and-gold variety, aurea nana, makes a round three-inch mound.
versicolor—A gnome with gnarled, wrinkled leaves. It is basically green but brightened with shocking pink and white. It can grow six inches high, but stays lower if pinched regularly.
CARE. Full sun (for best color), warmth, average soil kept moist.
PROPAGATION. Stem cuttings, division of roots.
SPECIAL USES. Artificial light, dish gardens, model landscapes, terrariums.
Anthurium scherzerianum Araceae Flamingo Flower
This is a baby in a family predominantly of giants, but it won’t outgrow a three-inch pot for years. This exotic tropical plant has leaves like varnished green shields and flowers like a golden Jack preaching from a flamingo-pink pulpit.
CARE. Little or no sun, warmth, humidity, humusy soil kept moist, or even wet.
PROPAGATION. Division of suckers and seeds.
SPECIAL USES. Artificial lights.
Babiana stricta Iridaceae
Winter-flowering, South African bulb for forcing in the greenhouse. Grown outdoors only in frost-free climates. Clusters of red or lavender fuchsia-like eight-inch stems above fuzzy, slender leaves indented at the veins. A dwarf variety, ‘Blue Gem,’ has deep-blue blooms.
CARE. Full sun, moderate warmth, average soil kept moist. Plant in fall for winter flowering.
Begonia Begoniaceae
There are enough miniatures in this big happy family of plants to make a sizable collection, and enough variations to keep the collector fascinated. Botanically, begonias are divided into three classes—fibrous-rooted, rhizomatous, and tuberous-rooted. Among the tuberous types, the best-known are the summer-flowering garden beauties—not available, as far as I know, in miniature. Each of the other classes contains miniatures that divide naturally into two general types of begonias with separate personalities, habits, and cultures. You could almost consider each type a completely distinctive group of plants, only technically related to the others.