Is it not, friends, very pleasant to have a bit of the summer woods in our parlors in midwinter? Such a pleasure is within the reach of us all, with but little trouble and expense. Those who live in cities, and cannot go into the country, surely must have some friend who can supply them, or the materials can be obtained at any public green-house. First you require a glass dome, or what is still better, take five panes of glass, any size you please, four to form the sides, one for the top; fasten the glass together with a light wooden frame, then take any tin dish, like a baking pan, or if round, a tin plate or jelly cake pan, or a tin dish can be made to fit it for a trifling sum of money; paint the tin green on the outside. Then collect some pieces of broken flower pots, or still better, bits of marble, granite, or any stone, and scatter them around the tin dish, placing in the centre some moss-grown stump or stick, and pile the stones around it; then collect from the woods ferns, mosses, partridge vines, with its bright red berries (indeed any plant will grow in these ferneries which can be found in moist places in the woods); take up a little of the leaf mould in which they grow (they need but little soil), arrange your plants, spreading the roots carefully over the stones, scattering a little leaf mould on them, and place your mosses around the whole. The tallest plants should form the centre, but in arranging even ferneries, it is more agreeable to exercise your own taste. Before placing your globe or glass frame over your fernery, sprinkle the plants thoroughly, then cover with the glass, and let it remain a few days in the shade. You can keep them where you please, but they grow better near a window; be very careful not to water them too often; once a month is generally sufficient; if too wet, they will mould and die; when there is but little moisture on the glass, it is well to raise the glass to ascertain if it is dry. Our fernery has been made four years; it has required but little care; now and then we add a new fern, some moss, or any suitable plant gathered from the woods, and remove any dried ferns or leaves. It often renews itself. Trailing Arbutus and partridge vines will blossom in ferneries. It is always pleasant to the eye, and no care after the first expense and trouble. Ivy and Lycopodium grow well in ferneries, but the rare ferns, &c., from green-houses do not flourish as well as those plants taken from our native woods.
17.—IVIES.
English Ivies are a great ornament to our rooms, and are hardy, and require very little care. After the first two years they grow quite rapidly, therefore it is well to procure two-year old plants; train them on your curtains, over your windows and pictures. Many make a mistake by changing the pots very often, thinking they require a very large pot, which is not so, for they do not require as much earth as many plants, only keep them moist, and have rich loam for the soil; it is well to water them every month with guano water, prepared according to the same rule given for flowers. The Poet’s Ivy is very pretty, the leaf being quite small. The most beautiful ivy we ever saw was one that never was removed from its place, summer or winter; it filled a large bay window, encircled the whole room, and wound around many pictures; now and then a gardener came and changed the soil, and the leaves were occasionally washed.
18.—PRESSED FLOWERS.
To press flowers, to be arranged on paper like a painting, you must take some plain white wrapping paper (in Paris you can obtain paper prepared by a chemical process to preserve the colors), and place your flowers or leaves carefully between two sheets of the paper. Then press them by placing a heavy weight over them (letter presses are excellent), and leave them a day or two, then change the paper; thus the juices of the flowers are absorbed. It takes a week or two to press perfectly, and in summer often longer. When dry, place them in a book or some air-tight box, ready for use. A year is required to make a varied and handsome collection, as each flower has its own season for blossoming. Wild flowers retain their colors better than cultivated; but experience alone will teach you what flowers will retain their color best. Many pretend to be able to preserve all kinds of flowers, but it is impossible. I will give a list of flowers which are known to retain their color by this mode of pressing.
All Geraniums (except the horse-shoe and sweet-scented) preserve their color. They are very essential, as their colors are brilliant and keep for years. All yellow flowers, both wild and cultivated, retain their color. The Violet and Pansy, Dwarf Blue Convolvulus, Blue Larkspur, Blue Myrtle, Blue Lobelia, Heaths, the small original Red Fuchsia, Wild Housatonia, and many tiny blue, and even white flowers press perfectly.
For green, Ivy, Maiden Hair, Ferns or Brake, Mosses, &c., retain their color best. Rarely a cultivated green leaf presses well. Autumn leaves, if small, and the youngest oak leaves, mix in well. Certain kinds of stems, such as Pansy, and others of similar character, are best adapted for pressing.
After your collection is made, take some card-board, without a polish if possible, and arrange your flowers as you design to have them. Gum them to the paper with tragacanth, using a camel’s hair brush, then press on the paper and flower with a cloth, carefully absorbing all moisture, as well as firmly pressing the flower on the paper. Geraniums and some large flowers look better if each leaf is glued on separately.
In forming your bouquet, it is better to arrange the stems first and work upwards. Baskets and vases of moss with flowers are pretty. To form these you must trace out with a pencil your vase or basket, and glue on the moss. Then arrange your flowers.