Plants For Brilliant Profits From Your Greenhouse

Here are some great plants for brilliant profits fromnot a complete one. It may be of slender stone slabs
your greenhouse:wedged into the soil with spaces left between the
Pinks (Dianthus)slabs. For the gardener who wantschoice, long-lasting
Pinks, so easily grown, and in such a wide variety ofmaterial to add interest to any of these terrace
colors, are good plants for terraces, bedding, orfeatures, suggest that he plant stone crops.
borders. There are single and double kinds, manyThey have thick foliage in shades of gray, green, and
having a pungent, clove like scent.rose-tinted green; attractive growth patterns (rosettes,
Start seed in February in the cool greenhouse. Makefernlike spires, and slender trailing stems); a bonus of
one transplanting to 2- or 3-inch pots, or sell directlyinteresting flowers, and the ability to grow in poor soil.
from the flats.to purchase a mixture. From a mixtureYou can grow these from seed, giving them the same
you will get shades of light lilac, rose, pink, and red.culture recommended for cactus (page 191). However,
Low-growing Dianthus deltoides has pretty small pink,the plants of most varieties are reasonably priced and
scarlet, or white flowers with little fragrance. These,the owner of a small greenhouse may find it more
too, flower the second year.profitable to purchase them in lots of 50 or 100 and
China pinks (Dianthus chinensis), the rainbow or annualretail them. Among my favorite sedums are S. acre, S.
pinks, grow rapidly from seeds sown in March andalbum, S. reflexum chameleon, and S. spurium.
grown in the cold greenhouse. Pot and sell from 2- orHen-and-chickens is one of the most popular
3-inch pots or directly from flats. They are not fragrantsempervivums. This one, a low-growing gray-green
but their single and double flowers in a wide variety ofrosette, sends out tiny plants in such abundance it
colors make up for lack of fragrance, and they bloomwould seem, indeed, to be an old mother hen and her
from seed the first year.chicks. Cobweb is another attractive sem-pervivum.
Fragrant-flowered Dianthus grenadina resembles theGray-green, hairy leaves joined together by a lacy
florist carnation and will produce flowers from seedweb, plus red flowers, make this an excellent choice
the first year but is not hardy in northern gardens.for the terrace.
RanunculusTuberous Begonias
These daintily flowered creepers make splendidYou can't beat tuberous-rooted begonias for growing
terrace plants. The small double flowers are in shadesin shady areas of the terrace. It's easy to see why
of yellow. Ranunculus asiaticus, tuberous rooted, is onethey are called mocking-bird flower, for the blossoms
of the best. Although it can be propagated by seed,come in shapes resembling roses, gardenias, camellias,
the tubers are plentiful and low priced. Pot the tubers inand carnations. The colors are gorgeous, including pure
early January, several to a 7-inch bulb pan or flat ofwhite, all shades of yellow and orange, pink, rose, and
soil. Tubers should be planted about 1 inch below thered.
soil surface. Grow them in the cool greenhouse, or coldIf this is your first year with tuberous begonias, you
frame. When strong new growth shows, pot them inmay want to start by offering mature tubers, started in
2- or 3-inch pots of soil.pots. The tubers are reasonably priced-the domestics
Stonecrops-Sedutn and Sempervivumfrom California cost more than the imports, but they're
Most terracing includes steps, ledges, or a retaining wallusually larger and firmer.
of stone, brick, or cement. Often the retaining wall is