368 THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE, 



bloom during the spring season, they should be planted as early in 

 September as the beds can be prepared, to afford them a chance 

 of becoming well established before the cold weather overtakes 

 them. They may also, on deep loamy soils, especially in the 

 Northern counties, be employed as summer bedders ; but it is proper 

 to add that there is always a risk of their going off towards the 

 end of July. The blue varieties are very effective intermixed with 

 variegated geraniums, and if they die during the summer it is not 

 of so much consequence, as the geraniums will soon fill up the space. 

 As all the varieties enumerated are first-rate, readers will have no 

 difficulty in selecting half-a-dozen varieties or so, as the brief de- 

 scriptions accompanying the names will furnish them with the 

 necessary information respecting the colours of the several varieties. 



BEAUTIFUL WINDOWS AND BALCONIES IN WINTER. 



BX A TOWN AMA.TEDE. 



|0U will, perhaps, permit me to say, first of all, that, as a 

 resident in the suburbs of the metropolis, I am not 

 overburdened with room for gardening operations, and 

 have consequently to take advantage of all the space 

 available for plant-growing. As the house in which I 

 reside is in full view of the road, I have made the embellishment of 

 the balcony and the windows quite a hobby, and my efforts have so 

 far been attended with a fair measure of success. The windows and 

 balconies are, more or less, attractive throughout the year, and the 

 plants employed in decorating them are by no means costly or diffi- 

 cult of cultivation. From early in April until November they are 

 gay with flowering plants, and during the remaining part of the year 

 they are furnished with evergreens of various kinds which have a 

 very rich appearance. In April and May, the flowers consist 

 chiefly of bulbs ; and from the last-mentioned month until the early 

 part of October geraniums are exclusively employed. The pom- 

 pone-chrysanthemums are then brought into requisition, and, as soon 

 as they are past their best, they are removed to make way for the 

 evergreens, and it is to these I would now direct attention. 



I am all the more anxious to refer to this matter because the 

 shrubs so generally employed in window and balcony decoration 

 have but little to recommend besides their cheapness ; for it is not 

 often that anything beyond the common euonymus, the old aucuba, 

 and the tree-box is seen on the window-sill of a villa residence, 

 whereas there are at least a score of really good things adapted for 

 the purpose. In the selections of evergreens for the window, it is 

 needful to keep in mind the importance of their being perfectly 

 hardy, and not liable to injury by the somewhat rough usage to 

 which they are necessarily subjected. I have fairly tried nearly all 

 the hardy evergreens, and hare found some of those which are 

 really considered to be quite unfit for the purpose to be of the ut- 



