Flowers for the parlor and garden

Front matter

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Contents

CHAPTER PAGE

I. The Green-house and Conservatory 15

II. Window Gardening 48

Introduction

is but the uplifting of the eye to the footstool of the Creator.

As we began, so let us end, in the soulful poem, —

"Were I in churchless solitudes remaining,

Far from all voice of teachers and divines, My soul would find, in flowers of God's ordaining, Priests, sermons, shrines."

Glen Ridge, April, 1863.

Chapter I. The Green-house And Conservatory

The Stove. — The Hot-house. — The Green-house. — The Conservatory.

— The Pit. — " Span-roofed " and " Lean-to " Houses. — Exposure. — Construction and Materials. — Pitch of Koof and Cost. — Interior Arrangements Heating. — " Lean-to " House, — Interior Arrangement. —

A Pit. — Proper Heating Apparatus. — The Brick Stove. — The Water Boiler. — Shutters. — A Cheap Green-house. — Its Construction and Cost.

— Ventilation. — The Parlor Conservatory. — Heating. — Interior Ar-

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THE GREEN-HOUSE AND CONSERVATORY.

rangements. — Stocking' the Green-house. — Mistakes of Overstocking.' Neglected Plants. — Symmetrical Growth. — Camellias. — Daphnes. Azaleas.— Acacias.— Fuchsias. — Climbers. — Miscellaneous Plants. ■ One Hundred Choice Plants.

OW shall I build a Green-house ? is the question that arises in the mind of the amateur, when the happy time arrives which permits him to indulge the dream of many years. Straightway he applies to an architect, or consults some book on horticultural buildings : the result is a glass structure, which fulfils all architectural requirements, is in good taste and of elegant appearance, and which lacks but one thing — adaptation to its purpose; that is, the healthy growing of plants.

Now, why is this failure ? Simply because the rules governing the growth of plants under glass were not followed ; we must adapt our houses to the plants, and not expect the plants to conform to the houses. As a general rule, in building a green-house, avoid " cheap buildings," for, be assured, they will become dear enough in the end. Use only the best materials, and these of the most durable kind. Remember that the alternations of temperature, and the constant moisture, speedily affect the best timber, and that poor material is sure to be soon rendered useless by dampness and decay.

But, as many are not able to build expensive structures, we propose to give a number of plans for buildings, of various cost.

Let us first, however, thoroughly understand the subject, and find out what we need.

There are many glass structures, all indiscriminately called " green-houses." In common parlance, any glass house for the growth of plants is a green-house ; but, horticulturally, there are difi'erent names for structures of difi'erent forms, and adapted for difi'erent purposes. ^Vhat, then, is the difference between a hot-house and a stove ? a green-house and a hot-house ? a conservatory and a green-house ?

A Stove is a plant house, constructed with reference to obtaining a great degree of heat, where the temperature should never fall below seventy degrees Fahrenheit, and may rise even to one hundred and twenty degrees. The atmosphere is kept moist by constant evaporation of water, 2^ and external air, when admitted, is tempered by passing over heated surfaces, lest the tender plant receive a chill. In this building are grown plants natives of the equator, and the East Indian orchids. It is often arranged so as to afford bottom heat, without which many of these plants do not succeed.

The term Hot-house, properly speaking, is synonymous with stove : it is, however, used to designate any building in which artificial heat is used; a hot-house, or stove, being a house in which such a high temperature is maintained.

A Green-liouse is a glass structure, where the temperature ranges from forty to seventy degrees, and is calculated for the growth of those plants which will not bear the cold of our winters without injury. The term is, however, improperly and indiscriminately applied to any glass structure, either with or without fire heat.

The term " conservatory" is used properly to designate a show house, where the temperature ranges from forty to sixty degrees, and into which plants are removed, when coming into bloom, from the other houses. It is improperly applied, however, to any glass structure in which plants and flowers are grown.

The glass structures connected with parlors are also

THE GREEN-HOUSE AND CONSERVATORY.

called conservatories, and this signification of the word is generally accepted.

A Pit is a structure below the surface of the ground, generally excavated six to eight feet, and covered with a glass roof. From such a structure the frost is excluded with little expense, and a great heat may be maintained. It is usually a cheap building, used for propagation, growing roses, and forcing vegetables.

The glass structure which will be in general request is the green-house, which is adapted for the growth of most of our flowering plants. The same structui-e may be converted into a stove by merely increasing the power of the

heating apparatus.

A green house may be

"span-roofed" (Fig. 1),

or *' lean-to" (Fig. 2),

that is, with both sides

of the roof of glass, or with a back wall of brick, stone,

or wood, the roof and front being glass.

The former is better for the symmetrical and healthy

growth of the plants, but requires powerful furnaces to

maintain sufficient heat; the latter is more economical,

both in structure and heating, and is sufficient to grow

most of our ordinary " green-house plants."

Fig. 2.

Fig. 1.

A span-roofed house should run north and south, so as to receive the greatest possible amount of sun in the winter ; or, if this is impossible, it will be necessary to provide close shutters for all the northern exposure.

A " lean-to" house should run east and west, thus facing the south.

Now, having selected our site, which should be sheltered from the north as much as possible, let us mark out a space, say forty feet long and twelve feet wide ; around the outside of this excavate a trench, from two to four feet in depth, according to the nature of the soil (a damp, clayey soil requiring more depth than one of light, sandy consistency, the object being to get below the reach of the frost), and about one foot or more in width. This done, fill the trench to within a foot of the top with stones ; on these build a eight-inch wall of brick or stone, laid in hydraulic cement, to the height of one foot above the surface level ; on this lay a heavy wooden sill, which should be of seasoned pine, which bears exposure better than other woods.

Now for the carpenter work. You will have three feet of wood work, upright, in front, all round, both sides ; you will need two lights, from eaves to cap, on each side, each six feet long and three to four feet wide. That would give you ten lights, of four feet in "width, on each side, for your house of forty feet. But as three feet gives us a more manageable light, it will be better to have one or two more, and make them of that width. The upper lights, on both sides, should slide or swing so as to afford easy ventilation ; the lower should be stationary. The upright windows of the side should swing out, being hinged at the top ; the ends of the house should be permanently glazed, with a door in one, or, if desirable, in each end.

The pitch of the roof should be forty-five degrees. Now, a house of this description could be built for about ten dollars per running foot. The glazing, of good serviceable glass, is included in this estimate, as well as hinges, ropes, and pulleys. The interior arrangement must vary according to the taste and means of the owner.

If it is desired to make it a winter garden, a broad path should be laid, in 'gravel or cement, all round, at a distance of about two feet from the side. The centre should be a bed of rich, prepared soil, in M^hich large plants, such as acacias, and abutilons, should be planted. All around the side, and even with the bottom of the glass, a shelf should be built, about two feet wide, to be filled with flowering plants, in pots. Koses and other climbers should be trained up the rafters.

THE GREEN-HOUSE AND CONSERVATORY.

The heating apparatus should run under the shelf along the sides, and may be hot water, or, what is the simplest, though perhaps the most expensive, from the waste of heat, the old brick flue.

A house of this kind would present somewhat this appearance.

Now, if a span-roofed house is too expensive, or we wish something simpler, let us see how easy it is to build a "lean-to" on the same plan.

We have only to take one half of the span roof. Let us build our back wall of brick, good nine-inch work, with a suitable cap ; and with a coat of paint given now and then, our green-house will last, without repairing, for many years.

A " lean-to" house, built after this plan, would present somewhat the appearance of Figure A.

The cost would not be far from five hundred dollars.

This might be much reduced by making the back wall of wood, instead of brick, and sheathing it inside ; but it would not be so warm, and in the end would be more expensive, as it would, after a few years, require constant repairs.

Fig. a.

Most of the houses of florists who raise flowers for the market are not properly green-houses, but pits ; that is, they are excavated from two to four feet below the surface of the ground, and the roof laid on very low, so that a great saving of heat is efi'ected. The dampness is congenial to the plants, which often thrive wonderfully ; but these structures, being cheaply built, soon faU to pieces. As a general rule, in all horticultural structures, every part which is to come near, or in contact with, the ground, should be of stone or brick ; and, carrying this principle still farther, the less wood work we have, the better.

Could it be afforded at a reasonable price, it would be better to have the rafters of iron, as has been done in some cases.

The interior of the house may be arranged in two ways, if a staging is required; the first, and, to our mind, the preferable arrangement, is, to build side shelves, as above described, and to run a long, flat table through the middle of the house, on which to place the plants, in pots. In a stove, this table is made a box, about a foot deep, which, is filled with moss, into which the plants are plunged, to the rims of the pots ; the hot water pipes are carried under, or through, this box, the moss is kept constantly damp, and thus a moist bottom heat is obtained, most congenial to the growth of the plants.

The second mode is by a stage of ascending shelves, conforming to the roof of the house, a flat platform on top, for larger plants, the shelves again descending on the other side. By this mode, a great number of plants may be accommodated in a small house. The former mode is to be adopted where beautiful plants are desired; the latter, where quantity is the object, rather than quality.

In a lean-to house, unless it is very wide, the latter is the only method to be adopted ; and if care is used not to crowd the plants, and the shelves are made wide enough, and the plants are frequently turned, to prevent them from growing one-sided, very creditable specimen plants may be produced. The accompanying sketch may serve to illustrate this mode of interior arrangement.

A small stove, or forcing house, is usually an adjunct to a conservatory ; in this the plants are brought forward, and forced into bloom, and then brought into the conservatory, where, in the cooler air, they will remain in perfection a long time. It is also very useful for forcing strawberries, and cucumbers, or early vegetables. All parts should be of masonry, and the large bed raised in the middle should have a hollow air chamber underneath, through which the hot-air pipes should pass, and should be built up of brick. The following sketch will give an idea of a pit of this kind.

The cost would vary very much with the size, and the materials used, but the best could be built for about ten dollars per running foot. 3

THE GREEN-HOUSE AND CONSERVATORY.

The heating apparatus may vary at the caprice of the owner ; as these pits waste but little heat, a common brick stove will answer every purpose, and consumes but little fuel.

This mode of heating is used by Mr. Rivers in all "his pits and green-houses, and is thus described : —

The stove is a small mass of brick work, about two feet square and three feet high ; or it may be larger, if great heat is required, the front looking thus : —

On opening the cast iron door, you see a small chamber about twelve inches square, with a grate at the bottom, on which the fire is made ; the other door, h, opens to an ash pit, of the same size, or perhaps deeper, below the fire.

~T I . ■ rr

In this ash-pit door there is a small hole, to admit air needful for combustion. This stove is on the principle of the air-tight stove, and consumes but little fuel, a small hod fuU. keeping the fire for twenty-four hours.

The fire is surrounded by two thicknesses of brick, the inner one fire brick ; thus the heat given out is gradual, and the plants are not injured, as is often the case with our iron stoves. There is, of course, a small flue, running back into a chimney, to carry ofi" the smoke. The common covering of this stove is a thick cast iron plate, c.

If, however, a higher and more uniform temperature is required, an iron boiler may be added to the stove. This is cast in one piece ; the pipes are of wrought iron, and screw on. It should be set directly over the fire chamber, so that its bottom wiU be on a line with the top of the door, a, and its top is covered by the iron plate, c. As the water in this boiler becomes heated, it rises and flows through the pipe, e, which is run to one end, or quite round the house, and returning, enters the boiler again near its bottom, /, as shown in the figure.

e

As the boiler is tight, the water of course makes the circuit of the

whole pipe, and keeps up a constant circulation.

In fact, the whole pipe, which rises but a few inches ^ in its course, may be considered a boiler, the only opening to which is at the highest point of the pipe, e, that is, if the pipes run around the house at the end farthest from the boiler, where there is an opening with a small reservoir for supplying it with water. This is the simplest form of hot-water heating ; it may be varied in size to any extent, and will heat any pit sufficiently.

In heating green-houses, a great saving of fuel is effected by the use of wooden shutters fitted to all exposed portions of the range of glass. They may be made of rough boards, and should, while heavy enough to keep their place by their own weight, be of manageable size. They should be put on as soon as the sun leaves the house, and also on windy days and nights ; some days in winter they should not be removed at all. The most difficult nights to keep a green-house warm are those when the mercury shows from twenty to thirty degrees of frost, with a violent wind sweeping over the house. The wind carries off the heat very rapidly, and it is easier to maintain a high temperature with the mercury twenty degrees below zero, and no wind, than in a windy night, when the thermometer^ only shows twenty degrees of frost.

But, says my impatient reader, I cannot build span-roofed houses or pits at a cost of three to four hundred dollars ; yet flowers are to me a necessity — I must have them. My carpenter has frightened me with estimates ; tell me how to build a cheap house.

Attention, then : Your house must be about twenty-five feet long by twelve feet wide ; smaller if you choose, but you will find this will give you little enough room. Procure ten stout cedar posts, the larger the better, each about eleven feet long. Set them in a line, two and one half feet apart, on the northerly line of the space marked out for your house, having previously charred them half an inch deep for at least three feet at the lower end. Set them three feet deep, and ram them well ; they are the back wall of your house. Opposite each of these, and twelve feet from it, set ten cedar posts, six feet long, equally stout, charred, and set three feet deep. You have now the outline of the house, and the inclination which will give the proper pitch to your roof.

Board up your back wall with good pine boards, charred

where they come in contact with the ground ; also the

three feet of front between the ground and the eaves (or,

if stone is plenty, it is far better to lay up a wall in

3*

THE GREEN-HOUSE AND CONSERVATORY.

cement) ; shingle the back outside, and lathe and plaster, or rather back-plaster, as it is called, within. If your front is board, clapboards look better than shingles, and cost but little more. Board up and shingle the ends, leaving one or more doors, as may be desired. Sink a walk, two feet wide, through the middle of the length of the whole house, deep enough to give plenty of head room ; board, stone, or brick up the sides. Your structure, thus far, is very inexpensive. Now for the rafters and glass roof. It is not, for our purpose, necessary to have sliding sashes, nicely fitted and framed, or grooved rafters ; these are expensive. The roof must be one entire piece. But do you dispense with ventilation r By no means. This would be a fatal neglect, in our climate, with such a powerful summer sun.

It is easily provided for by having boards, x and y, both

front and rear, either at intervals or along the whole line, as may be needful. These are hung on hinges, so as to open outwards, a«nd permit a current of air to pass through the whole breadth of the house.

To construct the roof, form a " plate " along the posts, front and back ; to this nail the rafters, running from post to post. Into these rafters fit lighter pieces of wood, running at right angles with the rafters the whole length of the house, letting the top be flush with the top of the rafter, thus, R. E, being the rafters, C C being the cross-pieces.

Then, parallel with the rafters, along the whole length of the house, nail other lighter strips to the cross-pieces, C C, securing them at eaves and top to the plate.

These strips should be grooved like a common sash bar, and laid upon the roof just far enough apart to receive the glass. Glaze with common clear glass. Paint all with fire-proof paint, and you have a green-house sufficient for all purposes, at a cost of about six dollars per foot. This cost may be indefinitely increased by using finer materials ; our estimate is for rough boards and common glass. Heat by a common stove, as above described, or by a brick flue. For this latter, however, a small cellar near one end, covered with a bulk-head door, will be necessary for the furnace ; and also a shed for storing coal, and for a potting room. This may be built on behind at a trifling cost.

It is also advisable to have a gutter along the eaves, to catch the water from the roof. This should communicate with a large hogshead sunk in the ground inside, and thus a supply of water, of the proper temperature, is always at hand.

A structure of this sort will answer equally well for a cold grapery, or for a peach house, in which cases the plastering may be dispensed Avith, and the house may be battened instead of shingled, by which the cost would be some"vvhat reduced.

A conservatory, communicating with the parlor, is a beautiful addition to a house, and is easily constructed. We live in the age of bow windows, and by lengthening one of these our conservatory is built. Let the sides and end be of glass ; the sides may be stationary or sliding windows ; the end, a door opening upon the lawn or garden walk. The roof should have some sliding sashes for ventilation. The width must be that of the bay window; the length may be according to the taste of the owner, but, to look well, should be proportioned to the width. It should communicate with the parlor by glass doors, in order to prevent the dampness from entering the house. Heating should be done by a small stove, with hot-water boiler fitted as above described, the pipes to be carried round the house, and hidden by shelves for plants.

The interior arrangements must vary with the taste of the owner. Climbers, such as roses, bignonias, and passion flowers, should be planted in large tubs, or in sunken brick pits, filled with prepared soil.

The stove may be hidden by a staging, or by large plants standing around it ; or, if desired and convenient, the heating apparatus might be in the house cellar, and only the pipes, which could be hidden, enter the conservatory.

This conservatory may run south, east, or west ; but in any case, wooden shutters, to be put up on cold and windy nights, should be provided for the sides. Double windows may be used, but the plants do not thrive so well as with single glass.

And now, having built our green-house, we must stock it.

Do not, however, be in haste ; the green-house will fill up fast enough. Let us not run into the error of almost aU amateurs, and overstock; let our aim be quality, not quantity ; and, to enable us to select, let us look at other green-houses, and gain from the experience of others. Let us visit any green-house in our neighborhood, and carefully examine the collection : in how many shall we find a dozen really beautiful specimen plants ? Here and there, now and then, a fine, weU-bushed, or trained, well-proportioned plant may be seen ; but the mass are tall, long-drawn, ungainly, ugly plants, which, aside from their companions, possess no beauty or symmetry. How, then, do they appear so well? By grouping; each hides the defects of each, and a stage-full of these ugly, ill-grown plants may often present a fine appearance. But this is not the true end to be gained in floriculture ; in this way we can never approximate to perfection; the evil grows year by year.

Of what plants are the collections composed? Plants from every region of the globe, all huddled together in a space not large enough generally to grow those of one country to perfection. A small house, some sixty feet long, will be found to contain a collection of camellias, which flower and grow best in a temperature not above sixty degrees ; ericas, which require about fifty degrees of heat ; azaleas, which will bear any low, dry temperature; Cape plants, which need a different treatment from any of the above ; acacias, oranges, geraniums, pelargoniums, tropaeolums, fuchsias, begonias, cyclamen, ixias, sparaxis, oxalis, amaryllis, roses, and hundreds of other plants, dissimilar in habits and nature, all requiring a different treatment, each needing its peculiar atmosphere and temperature ; and often a few sickly orchids, or other stove plants, with yellow leaves and weak aspect, from want of proper heat, thrust in to fill up the spaces between the larger pots : all these are crowded into one small house. Is it strange that none ever reach perfection ? that all are more or less diseased ? that the flowers are poor, and the plants sickly ? Can we expect it to be otherwise ?

None will deny the beauty of a specimen plant, let the kind be what it may ; and its superiority over an ill-gro\vn plant, let the latter be ever so rare in variety. The public eye is attracted by symmetrical beauty, and not by novelty in variety. To the common observer a well-groAvn specimen of the almost forgotten fuchsia globosa is far more beautiful than some new and rare plant, which presents no symmetry of proportion.

We would by no means discourage the taste for new plants ; it is a healthy tendency, but may be carried too far.

If we neglect all our old favorites, or give up well-grown, valuable plants for others of unproved merit, simply because the latter are new, the passion for novelties becomes a disease, and produces bad effects in practice. There is in this, as in all other things, a happy medium, which alone is the safe course : either extreme will lead us into error.

The passion for novelties, or any injurious effects arising therefrom, one would naturally suppose would be confined to amateurs, simply because — if for no other reason — it can only be indulged in by those whose pecuniary means are ample.

But this is not the case : we find our gardeners exerting themselves to meet any demand for neM^ rare, and expensive plants, to the neglect of our old and well-tried favorites.

All of us can call to mind s6me flowers, which, once popular, are now hardly to be found in any collection ; and yet we are at a loss to give a reason. Let us look at a few cases.

We all remember a pretty little double-flowering brier, which goes by the name of " bridal rose ; " it is an exquisite plant, — foliage very delicate, and of a peculiar living green, covering every branch ; flowers snowy white.

rose-shaped, with a green centre, and studding the plant ; habit most favorable for symmetrical culture ; and yet we may search in vain in our green-houses for this plant, combining so many desirable qualities : it is only to be found grown in old pitchers, and in the windows of the poorer classes, or in some private conservatory, where its beauties are appreciated. Another instance: Can a plant more ornamental at every season than the achsenia malvaviscus be found ? All the year it is studded with its scarlet blossoms and ornamental white berries ; these, contrasted with the green leaves, produce a charming effect ; and yet a few years since it was impossible to procure a plant. Latterly it has appeared in some gardeners' catalogues ; but whether from any demand or an appreciation of its merits it is difficult to say. The writer never saw but one fine specimen of this plant, and that was a picture of beauty, over four feet in height, well bushed, covered with healthy foliage, and the end of each branch cro\\Tied with coral flowers, while the berries gemmed the whole plant, white, blush, and red. Such a plant is worth a green-house full of the trash generally cultivated; and all this had been done by careful attention in a parlor, the plant never having been carried to a green-house : if this can be done in house-culture, what 4 ought we to expect from those who have every facility for growing plants to advantage?

Instances of this kind might be multiplied, but these must suffice. What has caused this neglect, we are at a loss to say. And another question arises : Can a remedy be found ? We think it can. Let our cultivators, our gardeners, our amateurs, estimate a plant by its real beauty, value it for its intrinsic merit, and not by the factitious standards of novelty, or dollars and cents. Suppose you have a green-house full of rare plants, but all poor, ill-grown specimens, costly, but not beautiful ; your neighbor has a dozen fine specimen plants, in which Nature, assisted by all the appliances of art and care, has developed a perfection of form, a vigor of growth and foliage, a profusion of flower ; let these all be common, well-known plants — fuchsias, azaleas, even verbenas, or other soft-wooded plants : which has approached nearer the true end of floriculture^ regarding it either as a pleasure or as a science ? Surely he who develops to the best advantage the powers of Nature. But we have taken an extreme case ; there may be as great beauty, and often is, in the new plants as in the old. Some of the introductions of the last few years possess beauties of which a short time since we never dreamed. Another question : Are we any nearer improvement ? These plants are the fashion of to-day, and we fully appreciate their beauty; but to-morrow some new taste will develop, and before our new plants, in the ordinary course of nature, have time to grow into good-sized specimens, they are out of date, and are discarded or neglected as old-fashioned. This may seem a severe view, a harsh statement of facts, but it is literally true.