The Lady's Country Companion; Or, How to Enjoy a Country Life RationallyLoudon, Mrs. (Jane)
General
The Lady's Country Companion; Or, How to Enjoy a Country Life Rationally
Loudon, Mrs. (Jane)
Cooking; Country life; Home economics
_Heaths_ are very difficult plants to manage; but a great improvement
has taken place in their culture within the last few years. They
are grown in what is called heath mould, that is, a mixture of peat
and sand; and when this earth is put into the pot, it is mixed with
good-sized entire pebbles, some of which are suffered to protrude
through the surface of the soil. The roots of heaths are extremely fine
and hair-like, and the shelter afforded by the pebbles is so congenial
to them, that, if one of the stones be taken out, a cluster of fine,
white, vigorous roots will be found below it. The plants are always
potted high, so as to let the base of the stem be above the level of
the rim of the pot, as the plants are very apt to damp off if the
collar of the plant be buried in the ground. Heaths should never be
suffered to become too dry, and never kept too wet. They require very
little heat; and many experienced cultivators never apply fire-heat
to their heatheries at all, but merely keep out the frost by having
wooden shutters to the sashes, and covering them with mats. Heaths,
when growing rapidly, should be repotted whenever the roots have filled
the pot; but they should not be shifted too often; and, when they have
attained their full growth, they may be suffered to remain in the same
pots three or four years without injury.
As plants in the _conservatory_ are grown in the free soil, they
are in a much more natural state than any plants can be in pots, and
consequently they require much less care in their culture. There is
usually a walk all round the conservatory, next the glass, and one
down the middle, on each side of which are the beds containing the
plants, and under which are placed the hot-water pipes that warm
the house. The consequence of this arrangement is, that the beds on
each side the middle walk are so planted as to have their highest
shrubs in the centre, shelving down to those of lower growth on each
side; and hence the centre is generally planted with tall camellias,
acacias, metrosideros, eucalyptus, &c.; while near the walk are
placed oleanders, myrtles, fuchsias of different kinds, together with
chorozemas, and many of the other most ornamental New Holland plants;
and up the pillars that support the roof are trained kennedyas,
bignonias, ipomœas, and passion-flowers in great variety. Cliánthus
puníceus and Polýgala oppositifòlia ought to find a place in every
conservatory; and a plant of Wistària sinénsis may be trained under the
rafters so as to afford shade to the camellias; as, under shelter, the
wistaria will flower twice in the year, and its flowers will yield a
delightful, though very delicate, fragrance.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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