Manual of Gardening Part 48

One of the finest of the spruces; a more compact grower than the last, and not so coa.r.s.e; grows slowly.

Oriental spruce, _P. orientalis._

Especially valuable from its habit of holding its lowest limbs; grows slowly; needs some shelter.

Colorado blue spruce, _P. pungens._(A)(DD)

In color the finest of the conifers; grows slowly; seedlings vary much in blueness.

Alc.o.c.k's spruce, _P. Alc.o.c.kiana._(DD)

Excellent; foliage has silvery under surfaces.

Hemlock spruce, _Tsuga Canadensis._(A)

The common lumber hemlock, but excellent for hedges and as a lawn tree; young trees may need partial protection from sun.

White fir, _Abies concolor._(A)(DD)

Probably the best of the native firs for the northeastern region; leaves broad, glaucous.

Nordmann's fir, _A. Nordmanniana._

Excellent in every way; leaves s.h.i.+ning above and lighter beneath.

Balsam fir, _A. balsamea._(A)

Loses most of its beauty in fifteen or twenty years.

Douglas fir, _Pseudotsuga Douglasii._(A)(DD)

Majestic tree of the northern Pacific slope, hardy in the east when grown from seeds from far north or high mountains.

Red cedar, _Juniperus Virginiana_(A)

A common tree, North and South; several horticultural varieties.

Arborvitae (white cedar, erroneously), _Thuja occidentalis._(A)

Becomes unattractive after ten or fifteen years on poor soils; the horticultural varieties are excellent; see p. 333, and Hedges, p. 220.

j.a.panese yew, _Taxus cuspidata._

Hardy small tree.

_Conifers for the South._

Evergreen conifers, trees and bushes, for regions south of Was.h.i.+ngton: _Abies Fraseri_ and _A. Picea_ (_A. pectinata_); Norway spruce; true cedars, _Cedrus Atlantica_ and _Deodara;_ cypress, _Cupressus Goveniana, majestica, sempervirens; Chamoecyparis Lawsoniana;_ practically all junipers, including the native cedar (_Juniperus Virginiana_); practically all arborvitae, including the oriental or biota group; retinosporas (forms of chamaecyparis and thuja of several kinds); Carolina hemlock, _Tsuga Caroliniana;_ English yew, _Taxus baccata; Libocedrus decurrens;_ cephalotaxus and podocarpus; cryptomeria; Bhotan pine, _Pinus excelsa;_ and the native pines of the regions.

9. WINDOW-GARDENS

Although the making of window-gardens may not be properly a part of the planting and ornamenting of the home grounds, yet the appearance of the residence has a marked effect on the attractiveness or unattractiveness of the premises; and there is no better place than this in which to discuss the subject. Furthermore, window-gardening is closely a.s.sociated with various forms of temporary plant protection about the residence (Fig. 268).

Window-gardens are of two types: the window-box and porch-box type, in which the plants are grown outside the window and which is a summer or warm-weather effort; the interior or true window-garden, made for the enjoyment of the family in its internal relations, and which is chiefly a winter or cold-weather effort.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 268. A protection for chrysanthemums. Very good plants can be grown under a temporary shed cover. The roof may be of gla.s.s, oiled paper, or even of wood. Such a shed cover will afford a very effective and handy protection for many plants.]

_The window-box for outside effect._

Handsomely finished boxes, ornamental tiling, and bracket work of wood and iron suitable for fitting out windows for the growing of plants, are on the market; but such, while desirable, are by no means necessary. A stout pine box of a length corresponding to the width of the window, about 10 inches wide and 6 deep, answers quite as well as a finer box, since it will likely be some distance above the street, and its sides, moreover, are soon covered by the vines. A zinc tray of a size to fit into the wooden box may be ordered of the tinsmith. It will tend to keep the soil from drying out so rapidly, but it is not a necessity. A few small holes in the bottom will provide for drainage; but with carefulness in watering these are not necessary, since the box by its exposed position will dry out readily during summer weather, unless the position is a shaded one. In the latter case provision for good drainage is always advisable.

Since there is more or less cramping of roots, it will be necessary to make the soil richer than would be required were the plants to grow in the garden. The most desirable soil is one that does not pack hard like clay, nor contract much when dry, but remains porous and springy. Such a soil is found in the potting earth used by florists, and it may be obtained from them at 50 cents to $1 a barrel. Often the nature of the soil will be such as to make it desirable to have at hand a barrel of sharp sand for mixing with it, to make it more porous and prevent baking. A good filling for a deep box is a layer of clinkers or other drainage in the bottom, a layer of pasture sod, a layer of old cow manure, and fill with fertile garden earth.

Some window-gardeners pot the plants and then set them in the window-box, filling the s.p.a.ces between the pots with moist moss. Others plant them directly in the earth. The former method, as a general rule, is to be preferred in the winter window-garden; the latter in the summer.

The plants most valuable for outside boxes are those of drooping habit, such as lobelias, tropeolums, othonna, Kenilworth ivy, verbena (Fig.

269), sweet alyssum, and petunia. Such plants may occupy the front row, while back of them may be the erect-growing plants, as geraniums, heliotropes, begonias (Plate XX).

For shady situations the main dependence is on plants of graceful form or handsome foliage; while for the sunny window the selection may be of blooming plants. Of the plants mentioned below for these two positions, those marked with an asterisk (A) are of climbing habit, and may be trained up about the sides of the window.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 269. Bouquet of verbenas.]

Just what plants will be most suitable depends on the exposure. For the shady side of the street, the more delicate kinds of plants may be used. For full exposure to the sun, it will be necessary to choose the more vigorous-growing kinds. In the latter position, suitable plants for drooping would be: tropeolums,(A) pa.s.sifloras,(A) the single petunias, sweet alyssum, lobelias, verbenas, mesembryanthemums. For erect-growing plants: geraniums, heliotropes, phlox. If the position is a shaded one, the drooping plants might be of the following: tradescantia, Kenilworth ivy, senecio(A) or parlor ivy, sedums, moneywort,(A) vinca, smilax,(A) lyG.o.dium(A) or climbing fern. Erect-growing plants would be dracenas, palms, ferns, coleus, centaurea, spotted calla, and others.

After the plants have filled the earth with roots, it will be desirable to give the surface among them a very light sprinkling of bone-dust or a thicker coating of rotted manure from time to time during the summer; or instead of this, a watering with weak liquid manure about once a week.

This is not necessary, however, until the growth shows that the roots have about exhausted the soil.

In the fall the box may be placed on the inside of the window. In this case it will be desirable to thin out the foliage somewhat, shorten in some of the vines, and perhaps remove some of the plants. It will also be desirable to give a fresh coating of rich soil. Increased care will be necessary, also, in watering, since the plants will have less light than previously, and, moreover, there may be no provision for drainage.

Porch-boxes may be made in the same general plan. Since the plants are likely to be injured in porch-boxes, and since these boxes should have some architectural effect, it is well to use abundantly of rather heavy greenery, such as swordfern (the common form of _Nephrolepis exaltata_) or the Boston fern, _Asparagus Sprengeri,_ wandering jew, the large drooping vinca (perhaps the variegated form), aspidistra. With these or similar things const.i.tuting the body of the box planting, the flowering plants may be added to heighten the effect.

_The inside window-garden, or "house plants._"

The winter window-garden may consist simply of a jardiniere, or a few choice pot-plants on a stand at the window, or of a considerable collection with more or less elaborate arrangements for their accommodation in the way of box, brackets, shelves, and stands.

Expensive arrangements are by no means necessary, nor is a large collection. The plants and flowers themselves are the main consideration, and a small collection well cared for is better than a large one unless it can be easily accommodated and kept in good condition.

The box will be seen near at hand, and so it may be more or less ornamental in character. The sides may be covered with ornamental tile held in place by molding; or a light latticework of wood surrounding the box is pretty. But a neatly made and strong box of about the dimensions mentioned on page 337, with a strip of molding at the top and bottom, answers just as well; and if painted green, or some neutral shade, only the plants will be seen or thought of. Brackets, jardinieres, and stands may be purchased of any of the larger florists.

The box may consist of merely the wooden receptacle; but a preferable arrangement is to make it about eight inches deep instead of six, then have the tinsmith make a zinc tray to fit the box. This is provided with a false wooden bottom, with cracks for drainage, two inches above the real bottom of the tray. The plants will then have a vacant s.p.a.ce below them into which drainage water may pa.s.s. Such a box may be thoroughly watered as the plants require without danger of the water running on the carpet. Of course, a faucet should be provided at some suitable point on a level with the bottom of the tray, to permit of its being drained every day or so if the water tends to acc.u.mulate. It would not do to allow the water to remain long; especially should it never rise to the false bottom, as then the soil would be kept too wet.

The window for plants should have a southern, southeastern, or eastern exposure. Plants need all the light they can get in the winter, especially those that are expected to bloom. The window should be tight-fitting. Shutters and a curtain will be an advantage in cold weather.

Plants like a certain uniformity in conditions. It is very trying on them, and often fatal to success, to have them snug and warm one night and pinched in a temperature only a few degrees above freezing the next.

Some plants will live in spite of it, but they cannot be expected to prosper. Those whose rooms are heated with steam, hot water, or hot air will have to guard against keeping rooms too warm fully as much as keeping them too cool. Rooms in brick dwellings that have been warm all day, if shut up and made snug in the evening, will often keep warm over night without heat except in the coldest weather. Rooms in frame dwellings exposed on all sides soon cool down.

It is difficult to grow plants in rooms lighted by gas. Most living-rooms have air too dry for plants. In such cases the bow-window may be set off from the room by gla.s.s doors; one then has a miniature conservatory. A pan of water on the stove or on the register and damp moss among the pots, will help to afford plants the necessary humidity.