CHAPTER XIII 



Window Boxes and Porch Plants 



Self -Watering Boxes — Porch Boxes — Hanging Baskets — Concrete 

 Boxes — Wicker Window Boxes — Plants for Window Boxes 



THERE are many enthusiastic gardeners for whom the force of 

 circmnstances rules that the window or porch garden is their 

 only form of flower growing possibility. To others the porch 

 decoration has much to do with the whole appearance of the house. 

 One word before we mention the kinds of plants and boxes to use. 

 Many persons of exceptionally good taste in their home and garden 

 seem to think that a discarded water tank ^ for a receptacle, and a 



A gay scene at Portland, Oregon. The boxes are filled chiefly with Petunias 



straggly display of hideous colors are the requirements for a porch 

 garden such as we are to consider. This is not true. The container 

 for the flowers should be of the same color as the house, or else of a 

 harmonious shade. The plants should be thickly set in the box and, 

 contrary to the most common usage, the colors should be an excellent 

 contrast or a perfect harmony. 



The porch box should rarely be deeper than nine inches, from 

 nine to twelve inches wide, and of any length. It will be much easier 

 to handle a box not longer than three feet. It is suggested, therefore, 



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