YOUR PLANTS.

PLAIN AND PRACTICAL DIRECTIONS
FOR THE TREATMENT OF
TENDER AND HARDY PLANTS
IN THE
HOUSE AND IN THE GARDEN.

BY

JAMES SHEEHAN.

NEW YORK:
ORANGE JUDD COMPANY,
1919
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1884, by the
ORANGE JUDD COMPANY,
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.

CONTENTS.

PAGE.
CHAPTER I.
How to Make a Lawn[7]
CHAPTER II.
Soil for Potting—Artificial Fertilizers[10]
CHAPTER III.
Selecting and Sowing Seeds[12]
CHAPTER IV.
Making and Planting Flower Beds[14]
CHAPTER V.
Watering Plants—Is Cold Water Injurious?[16]
CHAPTER VI.
Atmosphere and Temperature.—Insects[19]
CHAPTER VII.
Wintering Plants in Cellars[21]
CHAPTER VIII.
The Law of Color in Flowers[22]
CHAPTER IX.
The Relation of Plants to Health[23]
CHAPTER X.
Layering[25]
CHAPTER XI.
Propagation of Plants from Cuttings[26]
CHAPTER XII.
Grafting[29]
CHAPTER XIII.
Hanging Baskets, Wardian Cases and Jardinieres[31]
CHAPTER XIV.
Aquatics—Water Lilies[35]
CHAPTER XV.
Hardy Climbing Vines.—Ivies[37]
CHAPTER XVI.
Annual Flowering Plants—Pansy Culture[39]
CHAPTER XVII.
Fall or Holland Bulbs[42]
CHAPTER XVIII.
Tropical Bulbs.—Tuberoses[44]
CHAPTER XIX.
Roses, Cultivation, and Propagating[46]
CHAPTER XX.
Japan and other Lilies.—Calla Lilies[50]
CHAPTER XXI.
Geraniums, the Best Twelve Sorts[53]
CHAPTER XXII.
Azaleas; How to Cultivate Them[53]
CHAPTER XXIII.
Camellias.—Orange and Lemon Trees[55]
CHAPTER XXIV.
Fuchsias, Training and Management[57]
CHAPTER XXV.
Cactuses—Night Blooming Cereus.—Rex Begonias[59]
CHAPTER XXVI.
Rockeries—How to Make Them[62]
CHAPTER XXVII.
Budding[64]
CHAPTER XXVIII.
Pruning[68]
CHAPTER XXIX.
Miscellaneous Notes[72]
CHAPTER XXX.
Sentiment and Language of Flowers[76]

INTRODUCTION.

In the winter of the year 1880, while the author was in attendance upon a large horticultural meeting in a neighboring city, which was attended by nearly all the leading florists and nurserymen in Western New York, the idea of writing this work was first suggested to him.

An intelligent lady, present at that meeting, widely known for her skill and success as an amateur florist, in conversation with the writer made the following remarks: "I have in my library at least a dozen different works on floriculture, some of them costly, all of which I have read over and over again, often having to pore over a large volume of almost useless matter, in order to find information on some points I was looking for.

"It has occurred to me that some one ought to write a work on flowers, for the use of amateurs, that would contain in a brief space all the requisite information ordinarily needed by those who cultivate flowers in and about their homes. I predict that such a work could not fail to meet and merit a general demand."

In writing this little volume, I have earnestly endeavored to carry out, as near as I could, the above suggestions. How far I have succeeded in accomplishing this end, my readers must judge.

I trust that "Your Plants" will be useful and instructive in the field it was designed to occupy—that of a help to amateurs in the successful cultivation of plants and flowers in the house and garden.

James Sheehan.

Geneva, N. Y., October, 1884.