hemenway] WIXDOW GARDEXS 115 



WINDOW GARDENS FOR THE SCHOOLROOM 



BY H. D. HEMENWAY 

 Director of Hartford School of Horticulture 



Ever}- schoolroom should have a window garden, and can have 

 one at very small expense. The more elaborate gardens are built 

 outside the window and have glass sides and top, with sash that 

 opens. These are heated during the night by leaving open the 

 window which separates the window garden from the school- 

 room proper. These window gardens can be obtained from most 

 of the larger greenhouse construction companies at a reasonable 

 expense, but if a school cannot have as elaborate a garden it can 

 certainly have a very creditable one by getting an ordinary box 

 that scythes or saws are packed in. These can be obtained from 

 the hardware store for ten cents each. The outside appearance 

 can be improved by covering them with a table oil-cloth, and this 

 will also prevent the water from running out. About an inch or 

 two at the bottom should be filled in with broken pots, brickbats, 

 cinders or charcoal, to furnish drainage, which will lessen the 

 danger of over-watering. The remainder of the box should be 

 filled with a good, rich compost or garden soil. It is well to 

 work about half a pint of bone-meal into it. The box can be 

 filled with plants that will bloom at least part of the school year. 

 Geraniums are among the favorite flowering plants for this pur- 

 pose, because they will stand neglect perhaps better than any other 

 plant. The dracaena (Codyline indivisa) is another plant that 

 will stand well, and several of the flowering begonias. The pres- 

 ence of a single well-filled box of plants in a schoolroom will 

 greatly improve its appearance and will help to create a love for 

 nature in the children. 



Perhaps a larger use for the window garden in the schoolroom 

 is to start young plants for the school-garden and grounds. The 

 process of planting seed, the miracle of germination, and the 

 growth of the young plant are subjects altogether too infre- 

 quently taught in the schoolroom; subjects which no child can 

 know too much about, and the knowledge and study of them will 

 often be the means of an awakening which will not be brought 

 about by text-book study. The window garden furnishes the 

 beginning of the study which is to reach its height when the plants 



