True gloxinias, charming plants for window gardens, the home greenhouse, or protected shady spots outdoors in the summer, may start from tubers, young plants, leaf cuttings, or seeds. During the spring months, seeds will sprout quickly to develop into large enough plants to transplant and then produce their first flowers, often in five months. The … Read more
A terrarium is a lovely green world under glass—a diminutive wood where the eye can wander freely and the imagination roam free. Here stands a hill, a meadow, a canyon perhaps, all Lilliputian. With only a few seconds’ care every week, this glass-enclosed tropic pleasures you for months. History of Terrariums The first terrarium was … Read more
If you stop taking pictures of your flowers when frost takes over, you will miss half of the year’s fun of photography. House plants can result in excellent portrait studies if the photographer leaves the accustomed rut. There are many fall and winter days when the sun shining through the window is adequate for good … Read more
A garden indoors is both a joy and a challenge. Joy springs front growing plants out of their normal season, perhaps when the outdoor garden lies deep in snow; front using plants decoratively, and from the close contact that intimate day-to-day living with plants affords. The challenge comes from meeting the plants’ needs under conditions … Read more
For years, I’d tried to interest my husband in my indoor gardening activities. Windows full of blooming African violets failed to impress him. Huge, flaring amaryllis drew a passing glance. Then, one day, we stopped at a greenhouse specializing in African violets—”just to look around.” While I was lost in admiration of new varieties, my … Read more
If you are a house plant enthusiast interested in the infinite variety and simple austerity of succulents, you are fortunate, indeed. These sturdy individuals are made-to-order for gardeners with a keen interest in plants but with time, space, and budget limitations. The usual arid, overheated winter atmosphere in our homes is often better for them … Read more
If you want color on your windowsill, try growing gloxinias. No other house plants can provide the interesting variations and color range of the new gloxinia hybrids, and no other plants will reward you so handsomely for the small effort it takes to flower theme. Their colors run the gamut from delicate orchid pink to … Read more
You don’t need high temperatures to grow orchids. There is a common belief among those who have never grown orchids that they require an excessively hot greenhouse, imitating conditions of the tropics. This is a mistaken idea. Temperature Requirements For Orchids Many orchids can be grown in a cool house – a greenhouse where temperatures … Read more
Perhaps no other class of house plant needs so little care or, plainly speaking, endures so much neglect as the big family called succulents. Some of this family’s most dependable and attractive members are the echeverias. There are more than eighty species and many hybrids, and their attractive rosettes vary in size, form, coloring, and … Read more
If variety is not always the spice of life, it certainly is in the case of the window garden. Most of us have our favorites, without which we could not be entirely happy. We all want something new to keep us on our toes. Among recent offers, I have selected a few of special interest … Read more