There are several succulent plants quite closely resembling cacti, which need about the same treatment.
The century plant (Agave Americana) is universally known. There are two sorts frequently seen, that with the green leaves and a variety with broad yellow bands which is much handsomer. They make excellent formal tub plants, standing almost any hardships and lasting for years. They are easily propagated from suckers and grow quite rapidly. They are, however, in the larger sizes very difficult to handle, armed with spines at leaf tips and edges. Tub specimens are usually wintered over in the cellar, or at the florist's. There is an unfounded superstition that they bloom once every hundred years. They rarely flower when domesticated. Repot as often as needed, in fairly rich soil, while growing. Small plants are quite attractive in the house in winter and may be plunged outside in summer. The Crown of Thorns (Euphorbia splendens) is also quite well known. It makes a long tangled vine, full of wicked short thorns and small, pretty leaves. The flowers are not large but the bright red bracts add a touch of color and the plant is covered with them most of the year. It must be carefully staked up and trained, a short wide pot trellis being the best thing to use.
"Little Pickles" (Othonna crassifolia) is quite a favorite basket and hanging plant. The odd, thick foliage looks like small cucumbers. It must be given plenty of light, sunshine if possible, to produce its flowers, which are small and yellow, in shape like those of the sun pink, but smaller.
There are a number of other succulents sometimes used for house plants, among them the aloes, mesembryanthemums (fig marigolds), echeverias (E. metallica being the best sort), sedums and house leeks (Sempervivums), among which S. globiferum, "hen-and-chickens," is the most widely known. These do not occupy very important positions, however, and space does not permit further description here.
CHAPTER XV
BULBS
Bulbs furnish one of the most satisfactory classes of winter-blooming house plants, especially for city houses and apartments where conditions are not apt to favor the longevity of plants.
They may be considered in two classes:—the forcing bulbs, such as narcissus and freesia, and those given natural conditions of growth in pots, such as amaryllis or callas.
Most of the forcing bulbs are included in what florists term the "Dutch" and "Cape" bulbs. They may be had in a succession of bloom from Thanksgiving to Easter, and yet all the work is done at one time. The task of bringing them to bloom is an easy one.
[Illustration: A pan of forced crocuses. The big secret of success lies in securing a good root growth before a top growth starts]