Children And Flowers

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXII, 26 November 1938, Page 14

Children And Flowers

small faces half-hidden by plants peered through the window' (says an American writer). Though passersby might not recognise it, it was an extraordinary window, for through it they had glimpsed the far-away days of the Pleistocene jungle, the date plantations of the East, the orange groves of Florida, and in a child’s own way the joys of Arcadia. The story of how it came to be such a transparency through which filtered history and geology, geography and science might be of interest to other parents. Plant windows are not new, but by much experimenting with what we call story-telling plants and with the co-operation of some of our botanyloving friends, we found a collection of children’s plants that gave our children a new regard for horticu’ture, and j a definite hobby interest. Plants That Do Tilings. Plants which “did something” were actually the most popular. Those that had a history back of them, however, had their place. As space in our plant i window was limited, we chose for the ! [doing plants, the brodophyllum, the

sauce is also often served. Drawn Butter is made by melting four tablespoonsfu! of butter in a double saucepan and adding two teaspoonsful of hot water, 4 teaspoonful salt, a few drops of Worcestershire sauce, and A teaspooiiful of lemon juice. Serve with hot aspa ragns. Raisin Pie. Two cups seeded raisins. 1A cup» water. 2 tablespoons cornflour, salt, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, grated ririd and juice of 1 lemon, small 4 cup sugar. Boil raisins, water and sugar 5 mi.mles. Dissolve cornflour in a little water, and add to other ingredients. Leave jll

Their Own Plant Window

i sensitive plant, a two-year-old orange tree, and the resurrection plant. Our story-telling plants were confined to tlie Dracaena, two palms grown from a date seed and a coconut, and a sea-onion > from Italy. The brodophyllum for a time was the most popular plant in the window. To adult eyes it is scarcely attractive with its straight upright axis and ill-propor-tioned notched leaves. In those leaves, however, lay its appeal. A single leaf pinned to the soil sprouts a new plant at each notch. Each one of the children > took a leaf to school where it produced from three to eight new plants. They ’ threatened to over-run both the school and our window, but they taught a 1 lesson in botany, and quite delighted many children. j The sensitive plant may be grown j from seeds planted in the spring. It is wise to have a such a large supply, for whether it was not really suited to I our living room, or whether it was : : touched sr often “that its leaves might , ! neatly fold together,” the plants did . not last more than two or three months. Many people are familiar with various ■ * types of resurrection plants. One of

\ cool. Line a deep plate with pastry, put in the mixture and cover, putting edges well together. Brush over with milk and sprinkle with sugar. Cook in hot oven '450 degrees to 475 degrees) for first five or ten minutes. Lower heat slightly, and c00k,20 'rinutes longer Over-night Pudding. This pudding is a good time-saver when there is a busy day ahead tomorrow. All you have to do on the day required is to put the mixture into a greased basin or a cloth dipped in boiling water and then floured, pop it into the steadier or saucepan of boiling water and cook for a full four hours.

the interesting one is the Uo.se of Jericho. It lias a history tliat stretches back through the centui les. Isaiah was probably referring to it when he spoke of it “as the rolling thing before the whirlwind.” The crusaders finding it in the East in the middle ages brought it back to Europe as a strange souvenir. Before it is “resurrected” it looks like a round, interlaced ball in the center of which are seeds. Placed in water it unfolds and the seeds in the center begin to grow. Insurrection Plant. The more familiar moss-like lesurrection plant is interesting for it also gn.ws in v/ater and can be dried two or three timer and will still unfold again. Oranges and lemons will grow in practically any living room, if one buys two-year-old grafted trees and puts them out-of-d' m-s in the spring when they blossom so that the bees may pollinate them. Until one has tried a single homegrown orange, one cannot believe that it has a particular and individual taste, at least so the children reported. A date seed will root very quickly though the palm it produces is not very ornamental. A coconut must be planted, husk and all about one quarter under ground. The difficulty is finding a big enough pot. Almost a year before there was a sign of a root, nur coco, ut grew a large broad leaf. The two formed the basis of a long story of palms and the remendous place they fill in the economic life of mankind. From Days of Dinosaurs. The dragon plant, or Dracaena, is a lovely house plant, but 's interest to the children was its past. It has a past which stretches through the ages. It flourisho. with the dinosaurs, but because it could adapt itself to changing conditions, it alone of all the trees is sa : to have survived he cataclysmic changes between that time and ours. Although it grow- as a plant, it is really a tree. It was treasured by the ancients: Pliny wrote of it; and Ihe Chinese uspd its resin to nrface them writing paper. Our sea-onion was the gift of an Italiar friend. In Italy one finds it blooming everywhere, even on the tn sh-d’-s of cupboards without water. It «o blossomed in our window ga-den. producing a long spike of flowers But though it vas mute a trick for the children, it ruined the bulb