The Care of House Plants
Who loves a garden loves a greenhouse too.
—Cowper.
"If you are one of those people who love flowers and can make them grow," said a Fifth Avenue florist to me recently, "you can do almost anything you please with them, and they will thrive." "So, then," I laughed, "you think love has a great deal to do with the matter?" And he replied, "I most certainly do!" Therefore, if you love to see "the green things growing," enough to give them the least bit of intelligent care, you can reasonably hope to raise all you have room for.
The main points to bear in mind are light, heat and moisture. Flowering plants need sunlight at least part of the day, and generally do best in a south window. Most of the decorative or foliage plants, on the other hand, will keep looking well with only a reasonable amount of light, as when near a north or east window, if they have the proper amount of heat and moisture. But don't, please, set any plant back in the room, away from the light, and expect it to succeed very long,—for it never will! Select, then, growing things suited to your living quarters, and learn their needs.
The heat of many living-rooms is too great,—and too dry,—for some plants to do their best in, and they should be kept near the windows, although out of draughts. They usually will stand as much cold at night as they are likely to get in an ordinary house, so it is best not to overheat them during the day, but instead, keep them in a cool part of the room. Moreover, they thrive better if, when suitably placed, they are allowed to remain undisturbed.
The atmosphere should be kept moist by means of water kept on stove, register or radiator, but water to the roots should be applied to most plants only when the soil is dry. This during the winter generally means two or three times a week. With few exceptions, plants should not be watered while still showing dampness.
"I often wonder," said another florist, "that women with gardens do not try to save some of their flowering plants that might easily be moved into the house. Perhaps they think it isn't worth while." If they can afford to buy all they want to, that may be the reason, but the real flower lover will delight in coaxing some favorite to go on blooming indoors. Heliotropes cut back, petunias and salvias, by being carefully lifted with a ball of earth so as not to disturb the roots, and then kept in the shade for a couple of days, ought to continue to bloom for some time. Begonias I have moved this way without affecting them for a single day. A small canna, thus potted, will last a long time and help out among the more expensive foliage plants. Geraniums, however, are the old stand-by of window gardeners. If "slipped" during the summer, by cutting off a tender shoot just below a joint, and putting it in a pot of light, rather sandy soil, and kept moist, it should bloom during the winter. It does best in sunshine.
The kind of soil best adapted to houseplants generally, is given by one authority as two parts loam, one part leaf mould, one part sharp sand. The variation of different growers simply proves what I have seen contended, that it is the proper temperature and moisture that really count.
The city girl, with little space to spare, will find the begonias, in their many varieties, most satisfactory. They respond quickly to house treatment, and a small plant from the florist's will grow so rapidly as to soon need repotting. These favorites are of a large family, and some will stand considerable shade. A large, lovely specimen now about three years old, in my own home has developed from a little thing costing fifteen cents. Get cultural directions for the kind you buy, as they differ. A couple of stalks broken from an old plant early in the season, and stuck in a small pot, if kept thoroughly damp, will soon root, and blossom in a very little while.
Fuchsias are another old favorite easily grown from cuttings, and thriving well in a window. Primroses are easily grown from seed, and when started in February or March, should begin blooming in November and under careful treatment, last through the winter. The crab cactus or "Christmas cactus," as I have heard it called, is one of the most easily grown houseplants, and sends out bright red flowers at the ends of the joints, making an attractive plant for the holidays.