THE SECRETARY'S PORTFOLIO. 447 



dums, etc., along the edge, und soon the whole surface will become u mass of 

 various shades of green, intermixed with the bronzy purple of tradescantia 

 zebrina, and the golden llowers of tlie musk plant, or exquisite lavender of the 

 delicate-leaved ivy; while if a German or English ivy has been placed in eacli 

 corner, the long festoons will soon hang to the Uoor and tlie tendrils go clam- 

 bering up tlie window frame, and reach out arms that appear to be pleading for 

 some support. 



From tlie upper part of tlie window frame may depend various baskets and 

 "hanging vases" or •'amples,"' (illed to overflowing with the bright-leaved 

 ''foliage plants," for centerpieces ; and trailing over the sides, Madeira vines, 

 ipomea, ivy-leaved geraniums, yellow gazanias, mesembryanthemum, the par- 

 tridge vine, dew plant, and tetrinoides. A bay window may be beautifully 

 arranged as a grotto, with a deep, rough box filled with earth and rocks, piled 

 uji and grouped in picturesque confusion, with ferns, vines, mosses, etc., plant- 

 ed in the recesses, and hanging in long, graceful festoons from the rocky 

 projections. Trellises of cedar, with the bark remaining, are suitable for such 

 a window ; and tubs planted with ivy, Ampelopsis vcitchii, Coba3a scandeus, 

 climbing roses, or other climbers, placed on each side of the window and trained 

 in an arch over the window, form a beautiful frame for such a sylvan picture, 

 and are easily cared for. 



Eustic baskets of wire, filled with moss and suspended by grape-vine branches 

 with delicate vines twined around them or covered with moss, are beautiful, 

 hung from the ceiling of the window, or from hooks or moss-covered brackets. 

 The entire ceiling may soon be made a bower of greenness by fastening long 

 vine branches or wire in arches from side to side, and planting Madeira vine or 

 German ivy in boxes covered with bark moss, lichens, oak leaves, and acorns 

 placed on the sides of the windows. Suitable hanging baskets for such a 

 ''woodland window" might be made of cocoa-nut shells, wooden bowls covered 

 with pine cones or gnarled twigs and roots, or log-cabin boxes, made by placing 

 mossy sticks, one crossing the other, until of desired height, then fastening 

 with nails to a square board with holes in each corner for cords, and filled in 

 with moss (between the "logs"). 



MISTAKES IN SELECTIOX. 



Do not insist upon your coleus and geraniums thriving in the shade, nor your 

 ferns in the full sun. In window gardening many mistakes are made by 

 injudicious selection. Admiration of the grace of some species of fern, or the 

 beauty of some lovely tropical stove-plant, is no good reason for attempting to 

 gi'ow them in the dry heat of our living rooms. We must select such as are 

 iiot over-nice about their surroundings, and that will bear the most neglect, 

 although the latter by rights, should not be admitted into the list of requisites. 

 There are some plants, as for example the camellia, azalia, Chinese primrose, 

 and pansies, which really prefer a cool temperature, combined of course with 

 moisture. Others again will not thrive without heat, such as the heliotrope, 

 geranium, and bouvardia. A third class, and one that has been too much 

 neglected, is the succulents, which like to be let alone ; desiring neither water, 

 extreme heat, or a very low temperature. Many of them, such as the various 

 cactuses, bloom beautifully ; all are more or less grotesque and interesting, and 



