CHAPTER V.
GREENHOUSE HERBACEOUS PLANTS.
All the plants in this section increase quickly and flower profusely if grown in a moist atmosphere in houses of low pitch, in which the temperature is never allowed to go below 40°; but in lofty and airy structures, particularly if the air be dry, they will never prosper; but they may be taken into large houses, when in flower, for decorative purposes, and if they suffer a little then, their deterioration will not be manifested until they have served their purpose and may be destroyed or restored as may be desirable.
The reader must not be dismayed by the word “destroyed,” for the essence of success in this department consists in raising a fresh stock of plants every year, and, as a rule, it is not only unwise, but positively injurious, to the garden to keep any greenhouse herbaceous plants beyond one season. However, we shall meet with several exceptions to the rule as we proceed; but it is well the destructive policy should be brought forward in good time, because it is a settled article of faith with beginners in plant culture that a pretty plant should be preserved at any cost, even if the labour alone, more wisely bestowed, would ensure fifty plants as good or better than the one petted by mistake. Herbaceous plants thrive in brick pits that have sufficient piping to keep out frost, and there are two circumstances in their favour when so grown; they are always close to the glass, and the pots stand on a moist bed. The section includes annuals and perennials: a few of them are hardy garden plants, and all of them are characterised by absence of permanent stem and capability of increase by the division of the “stool,” the natural production of off-sets, or the simple process of sowing seeds.
Amaryllis.—The florist’s “amaryllis” is the Hippeastrum of
