For many years these two varieties have held the field to themselves, but recently a new asparagus, of each type has put in an appearance.

_Hatcheri_ resembles _plumosus na.n.u.s_, but is more compact in habit and the leaves are much closer together on the stems. If it remains true to type, and is as hardy as _plumosus_, it will replace it, for it certainly is a more beautiful plant. _A. S. variegata_ is a very pretty "sport" with the leaves edged white.

CHAPTER XIII

PALMS

The number of palms adapted to house culture is very limited but they comprise the most elegant of the decorative plants.

Although popular now, they would be much more widely used if their culture were better understood. Mistakes made in handling palms are serious in results, for they produce for the most part only two or three new leaves in a year, and so any injury shows for a long time; it is not soon replaced by new growth and forgotten, as with many of the more rapid growing house plants.

Nevertheless, if the few cultural requirements of palms are carefully attended to, they are as easily grown as any plants and yield a solid and lasting satisfaction.

The house palms, as I have said, grow very slowly. It is not only useless, but dangerous, to try to force them into unnatural growth.

Palms do best when restricted as to root room. When your plant comes from the florist, do not get impatient after a month or so and think that a larger pot would make it grow faster. Repotting once a year while palms are growing, and not so frequently as that after they are in eight-or ten-inch pots, will be sufficient. The best time for repotting is late spring--May or June. Use a pot only one size larger than that in which the palm has been growing. Remove carefully, _do not disturb the roots_, and put into the new pot carefully, ramming the new earth in firmly about the old ball with a thin piece of wood (see directions for repotting, page 40).

The soil for palms need not contain as much humus (leaf-mould or peat) as that for most other house plants. Good rich garden loam, with sharp sand added, and bone meal worked through it, will be right.

Be sure the drainage is perfect. Crock the pots carefully (facing page 41). If any of the crocking from the old pot comes out with the ball of earth, remove it as carefully as possible and fill in the s.p.a.ce with soil. After potting, keep shaded for several days.

While palms require plenty of water, no plants are more fatally injured by overwatering. Above all must care be taken never to let water acc.u.mulate in saucers or jardinieres in which the pots are standing.

Water will soak up through a pot as well as down through it, and water-saturated soil will quickly become sour. When you do water, water thoroughly and then see that the pots are kept where they can drain out, and do not water again until they show a tendency to get too dry. Much water will cause the leaves to turn brown. In this case change the treatment at once. (The looks of the leaves can be somewhat improved by cutting them to shape with a pair of scissors.) The amount of water required is much greater in summer than in winter, when the plants are practically at rest.

Direct sunlight is not desirable for palms, but they should have plenty of light. Do not stick them away in a dark corner or an inner room and expect them to do well. They will stand such a situation several days without injury, but should be brought back to the light as soon as possible. They do well in north windows, providing the temperature of the room is high enough. Remember, however, that pots kept in a shady place will dry out much less quickly than those in the light or sunlight. If they are to be kept permanently where the sun does not strike, it is a good thing to add charcoal to the soil, as this aids greatly in keeping it from getting sour.

Give plenty of air. The more the better, so long as a proper temperature is kept up, as that counteracts the effect of the more or less poisonous atmosphere of living-rooms kept closed during winter. Beware of drafts blowing across the plants, but provide plenty of fresh air.

In the spring as soon as it warms up outdoors--say after the apple blossoms fall--plunge the palms outside, in a sheltered position, where they can be given plenty of water. At this time, if they are not repotted, bone meal should be worked into the surface of the soil and a liquid manure of bone meal given once a month or so during the growing season.

Both during winter and summer, _shower the leaves frequently_, with as forceful a stream as possible, to prevent scale and mealy-bug getting a start. (For treatment see page 135.) Keep the leaves and stems clean by wiping off every once in a while with a soft cloth and soapy warm water, syringing with clean water afterwards.

THE BEST HOUSE PALMS

Although the number of palms cultivated is very large, very few indeed--only about a dozen--will give satisfactory results in the house.

The fact that a palm will live--or rather, takes a very long time to die--under abuse, has misled people into thinking that they do not need as much care as other house plants. This is a mistake.

Palms may be considered in two cla.s.ses, the fan-leaved and the feather-leaved, or deeply cut, sorts. Of the former there are but three sorts good for house culture.

_Latania Borbonica_, the Chinese Fan-leaved palm, is the best known. It is one of the hardiest, standing a temperature as low as forty-five degrees at night. It is broad in habit, and the large leaves are deeply cut and drooping at the edge, making a very attractive plant.

_Livistona rotundifolia_, the Miniature Fan palm, is a more compact type of the above; not only the leaves but the whole plant being round in habit and growing quite dense. It is a beautiful lively green in color, and making a neater plant, is in many ways more desirable for the house than _Latania Borbonica_. It requires more warmth, however, and should be kept up to 55 degrees at night if possible.

_Chamaerops excelsa_ has the distinguished feature of forming shoots at the base, thus having foliage where most palms are bare, and in old specimens unattractively so. Its leaves are shaped like those of _Borbonica_, but are smaller, and the leaf stalk in proportion is longer. It is a good strong variety.

THE FEATHER-LEAVED PALMS

Many of these are of more recent introduction than the old favorite fan palms, but they have won their way to a growing and deserved popularity.

_Phoenix Roebelenii_ is one of the newest. It is destined, I venture to say, to become the most popular of all palms for the house. It has frequently been described as having "the beauty of _Weddelliana_ and the hardiness of _Kentia_." That perhaps describes it, but does not do it full justice. It has several times the amount of foliage that _Cocos Weddelliana_ has, and is a more robust grower. It has, unlike that palm, leaf stalks growing all the way to the bottom, the lower ones gracefully recurved and the upper ones spreading airily. It is very easily cared for, and on the whole wins on a larger number of counts than any other house palm.

_Phoenix Rupicola_ has gracefully arching, drooping foliage and is very handsome, the dark green leaves being even more feather-like than those of _Cocus Weddelliana_. It is also one of the hardiest.

_Areca Verschaffeltii_ is unique in having a creamy colored mid-rib. It must be given the best of care, but will well repay any extra pains taken with it.

The _Kentias_, _K. Belmoreana_, the Thatch-leaf palm, and _K.

Forsteriana_, the Curly palm, are the hardiest of all the house palms and sure to give satisfaction. The former is of dwarf, st.u.r.dy habit, with broadly divided, dark green leaves borne up well on stiff stems.

_K. Forsteriana_ is of stronger growth, spreads more, and the divisions of the leaf are broader.

_Cocos Weddelliana_ is the most artistically graceful of the house palms. The finely cut, feathery leaves spring well up from the pot and from the slender erect stem. It is a small palm, and grows slowly. I think I should give it a place among the three choicest palms for the house, although, unfortunately, it is not as hardy as some of the others. It is the best palm to use as a center for fern dishes.

_Seaforthia elegans_, the Australian Feather palm, is a tall growing and stately variety, which does well in the house.

_Caryota urens_ is commonly known as the Fishtail palm, and on account of that distinguishing characteristic deserves a place in any good collection. It is a large growing sort and will utilize more root room than most of the others. It is not so strong as most of the others described, but will succeed well if precautions are taken not to let it get chilled in cold weather.

CHAPTER XIV

CACTI

Personally I am not an enthusiast over cacti. While a cactus in bloom is a marvelous sight, so gorgeous in fact that it is almost unbelievable and unreal, I prefer flowers a little less fervid and more constant.

There are, however, two distinct advantages which most of the cacti possess, making them available for use where no other plants could be kept. They are practically proof against any hardships that may be imposed upon them, and they take up very little room. In addition to that they are always an interesting curiosity, and for that reason alone well worth the little attention they require. The low-growing sorts, among which some of the most curious are to be found, may be given a narrow shelf or the edge of the plant shelf in the winter window garden.

As far as care and soil are concerned, their requirements are simple.

The most important thing to see to is that they are given perfect drainage. The soil should be sandy, and coal ashes, or better still, old plastering or lime rubbish, should be added. Only a moderate amount of water will be required in winter, but when the plants are set outside in a well drained position in summer they should be showered frequently.

As to temperature, although they come from hot climates, most of the sorts will stand as low as thirty-five degrees without injury. Just before and during the blooming period about sixty degrees is desirable, but forty-five to fifty degrees will be better at other times. Where room is lacking, they may, for the most part, be wintered over in the cellar, as described previously for other plants (page 71). Propagation is performed either by seeds or cuttings, the latter being the more generally used, as they root very readily--just break a piece off and stick it in the sand.

Considered from the layman's point of view, cacti are made up of two cla.s.ses: those which are valued for their wonderful flowers and those which excite curiosity by their weird habits of growth. Some of the latter--such as the Crown of Thorns and the _Mammillaria_--have small or infrequent flowers.

Specimens of this cla.s.s, well cared for, are worthy of a place in any collection of flowering plants. They will stand, especially during the flowering period, weak applications of manure water.

The _Epiphyllums_ or Crab cacti (_Ephiphyllum truncatum_ and its varieties) are by far the most valuable, because of their profuse and long flowering season, especially as it comes in the winter when bright flowers are scarce. _E. t. coccineum_, with deep scarlet flowers, is one of the best. _Ruckerianum_, light purple with violet center; _Magnific.u.m_, white, slightly pinkish at the edge; and _violaceum superb.u.m_, white with rich purple edge, are some of the other good varieties of these beautiful plants. _Phyllocactus_ is perhaps the next best flowering sort. The flowers are larger, more gorgeous, but borne only for a very short time. _P. Ackermanni_ is one of the best of these.

It has very large flowers, lily-shaped, bright red shading to light red with the inner petals, and the long gracefully curved stamens add to its beauty. It blossoms in May or early June, but the season is usually limited to two or three weeks. The night blooming _Phyllocactus_, with white flowers, is commonly confused with the Night-Blooming cereus.

Cereus may be distinguished by its angular stems as compared to the broad flat stems of _Phyllocactus_. _C. grandiflorus_ and _C.

Macdonaldiae_, the famous Night-blooming cereuses, have white flowers which remain open only one night. They are, however, though so transient, a marvelous sight. p.r.o.ne to strange tasks indeed is the hand of Nature which has fashioned these grotesque, clumsy, lifeless looking plants to acc.u.mulate nourishment and moisture for months from the n.i.g.g.ardly desert sands, and to mature for a few hours' existence only these marvelously fashioned flowers which collapse with the first rays of the heat-giving sunshine. _C. flagelliformis_, and _C.

speciosissimus_, two very gorgeous flowered day blooming sorts, remain longer, but they are not so hardy as most of the other cacti. _Opuntia_, the Indian fig, is another flowering sort, though not so valuable. They are grotesque in shape and the flowers, which are various shades of red or yellow and two inches or so across, according to variety, look as though they had been stuck onto the plant.

Of the other cacti commonly grown most are of dwarf form and a single window will accommodate quite a number of them.

_Echinocactus_, the Hedge-hog cactus, is one of the best known of these.