THE FLOEAL WOELD AND GAEDEN GUIDE. 297 



WINDOW GARDENING. 



BX JOHN E. ilOLLISOX. 



(Continued from page 278.) 



PLAXT-GEOWIXG IX WAEDIAN CASES. 



[HE Wardian case is one of the great inventions of 

 modern times, called forth by our increasing love 

 for flowering plants and ferns," and a very good° illus- 

 tration in itself of the height of perfection to which we 

 have arrived in the art of plant-growing, With their 

 aid we can now have a selection of our favourite plants as our daily 

 companions in our rooms, always beside us to be admired and made 

 much of, and the objects of our daily care and attention. Situated 

 thus they become, by-and-by, part' and parcel of our very exis- 

 tence, associated with the love of our friends and companions, and 

 ranking among the necessary requirements of our homes. We hail 

 with pleasure the appearance of a fresh bud, and the unfurling of 

 each tiny, tender leaf. Day by day, and week by week, we mark 

 with patient hope the rate of progress every shoot is making, till at 

 last, ob, joy of joys, the flower-bud appears, and ere long displays 

 to our delighted eves the long hidden charms of rich and 3 gorgeous 

 hues and fairy forms of which we often dreamed. Thus, "thev 

 weave around the heart a host of tender associations, ever dear to 

 the memory because of the loved ones who may have passed away 

 or parted from us for awhile, leaving us the remembrance of the 

 busy hands and loving voices that made life so pleasant for us in 

 the past, in helping to tend the pretty flowers now left as a sole 

 remembrance of their once happy presence. Every plant in our 

 home will have its own history, its own pleasant associations. 

 Every bud, leaf, and frond will be dear to us, having watched them 

 forming one by one, and expanding in the light. 



The most successful and interesting' way~for amateur cultivators 

 to grow ferns is by means of the Wardian case. In it they can 

 either be grown in pots or planted out on rockwork. The moist 

 atmosphere and protection they enjoy when grown under glass is the 

 nearest assimilation to their natural requirements to which we can 

 attain. Under a case, if proper care and attention be bestowed on 

 them, they develop their natural graces to a greater extent than 

 when growing in their wild state. Many other plants can be grown 

 in conjunction with them, giving an interesting variety to the 

 general arrangement. 



I remember once; being sent to rearrange a Wardian case for a 

 lady. Some fresh ferns were to be added, and others shifted into 

 larger pots ; but what took my attention more than anything was a 

 luxuriant plant of Stephanotis florihunda, the very pictnre of health, 

 covering the entire roof of the case in many twining folds. The' 

 ferns and mosses underneath it seemed to enjoy the shade provided 

 for them by their robust neighbour. I was told the Stephanotis had 



October. 



