CHAPTER XI 



WINDOW-BOX EVERGREENS 



QUITE a large number of the shrubs dealt with in the foregoing 

 pages are suitable subjects for planting in window-boxes, and also 

 in flower-beds, for winter decoration. A judicious mixture of ever- 

 green and variegated shrubs with small conifers and trailing ivies is 

 pretty and effective, giving an effect of freshness and variety almost 

 as pleasing as flowers themselves. The trade done in such plants 

 is already extensive, but it is a department which seems to ask for 

 extension, only needing a little more encouragement to double itself. 

 Many window-boxes are practically bare throughout the winter, 

 being filled with bulbs, which after all give only two or three week's 

 display in the spring ; but we feel sure that if their owners had it 

 brought home to them that they could have a standing effect from 

 shrubs, and still obtain the spring effect by planting their bulbs 

 between the shrubs, they would gladly avail themselves of the in- 

 formation. We have often noted the intermixture of wallflowers 

 with bulbs, and though this is perfectly legitimate and by no means 

 unlovely we consider bulbs and evergreens to be the better. The 

 cultivation of this smaller stock appeals more strongly to the market 

 man than the production of half-specimens, if for no other reason 

 than because it is quicker, and it has always seemed to us that 

 " market " and " quick trade " go well together. 



We give here a list of shrubs and conifers in general use for this 

 purpose, though it might be greatly extended by the addition of 

 almost any evergreen of suitable size. 



EVERGREENS 



Aucuba japonica. Berberis (Mahonta) aquifolia. 



Bay (Laurus nobilis). Box (Buxus). 



Euonymus, green and golden. Euonymus radicans. Laurestinus. 



Rhododendrons. Veronica traversii. 



Ivy, green and variegated. Veronica, green and variegated. 



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