186 THE SCHOOL GARDEN BOOK 



vivid scarlet color. Almost any florist can furnish these as 

 well as the plants of some good white geranium. A good 

 pink variety is the one called Granville. For combining 

 with boxes in which these upright geraniums are growing, 

 one may utilize the maurandia, a graceful climbing or trail- 

 ing plant, which will thrive in a sunny exposure, or the 

 familiar little trailing plant commonly called gill-over-the- 

 ground or Ground Ivy, often referred to in the books as 

 Nepeta Glechoma. This is much more attractive trailing down 

 from a window-box than it is as it grows on the ground. 



Porch-Boxes 



During recent years plant boxes upon the railing or sides 

 of the porch have become almost as popular as have window- 

 boxes, and in general what has been said regarding the former 

 also holds true of the latter. The porch-boxes, however, 

 commonly have the advantage of not being directly against 

 the reflecting surface of house or window, so that the plants 

 do not have to endure so fierce a heat. They generally get, 

 also, considerably more shading on account of projecting 

 roofs. 



In addition to their use for beauty, the porch-boxes are 

 often very effective as screens, giving to the occupants of the 

 verandas a privacy to secure which screens or awnings might 

 otherwise be necessary. 



In stocking these porch-boxes the same general principles 

 hold as in the case of the window-boxes. The exposure will 

 not be quite so important, for the reasons already indicated, 

 and if the boxes are larger more plants may readily be in- 

 serted. Wild cucumber is likely to prove very serviceable in 

 good-sized boxes which are not too directly exposed to the 



