WINDOW GARDENING. ' ] ()9 



No. 3. — In baskets of the same size — six inches ; but in good garden soil 

 only — set a Nierembergia gracilis, with its slender stems and fine foliage and 

 pretty white or lilac flowers, together with a Mahernia odorata, of similar habits 

 and foliage, with blossoms of pale yellow, very fragrant ; and a Lobelia coeles- 

 tina, or L. Gracilis, with its tiny leaves and delicate white or blue flowers, that 

 will droop over the basket's rim. Start these plants and treat them like Ver- 

 benas, or Petunias of various shades, giving them the same treatment and 

 allowing them to grow as they choose, like Verbenas. Or three or four bulbs 

 of Oxalia, which, if started in August, after three months of complete rest in a 

 dry state, will fill and cover the whole basket with their foliage and flowers 

 from November till April or May. The varieties bearing white, scarlet and 

 yellow, make a pretty group, or pink and white, and purple. 



No. 4. — Baskets a foot in diameter, filled with the same soil, may hold a 

 Zonale geranium — Tom Thumb, Fire King, or Mrs. Pollock ; or Mountain of 

 Snow, with its white-bordered leaves — and an Ivy-leaved geranium to climb up 

 the handles ; with a Maurandia, a Solanum, or two or three Vincas to trail 

 around the brim and about the basket. Raise these all from branches rooted 

 in sand under glass in May. Water frequently, but sparingly, till in bud, then 

 give the fertilizer mentioned in a previous chapter, and plenty of water. 



No. 5. — "A happy family," to fill a very large basket of good garden soil, 

 should have one of the geraniums above mentioned for its centre ; a Euphorbia, 

 with silvery foliage ; Coleus, maroon or bronze ; a Bouvardia, scarlet flowers ; a 

 Sanguinaria, white flowers, and mignonette and alyssum, with monej^wort, ground 

 ivy, Irish ivy, Madeira vine, Solanum and Maurandia for climbers and trailers. 

 Raise the standard plants from slips or branches rooted in wet sand, under glass, 

 in May or June. Transfer them to the basket in September, and at the same 

 time set with them cuttings of the vines. Keep the basket in the shade, and 

 water it scantily for a month ; then give it the full sunshine and water enough 

 to keep the soil from crumbling. When buds appear on any of the plants, give 

 it the fertilizer once a week for two months. Be sure that the air of the room 

 in which it hangs is moist by the evaporation of water upon the stove or fur- 

 nace, and open the window near by twice a week for a quarter of an hour, 

 shielding the plants from the draught by newspapers pinned into cone shape 

 around the basket. With this management the " happy family " will be youi 

 pride and delight. 



