Gardening in Californi 



CHAPTER XVII. 



THE WINDOW BOX. 



A GREAT many people, especially of those residing in large 

 cities, have neither the room to grow well, nor perhaps the 

 money to spare for the purchase of expensive palms or vases 

 for the decoration of their sitting-rooms. But all have a window 

 and a window-sill where a surprising number of different kinds of 

 handsome foliage and flowering plants may be grown well. Even 

 if the window-sill be no wider than six inches, a very good win- 

 dow effect may be had, and nothing adds more to the appearance 

 of a building than a few window boxes. 



The window box should not be narrower than six inches, with 

 a depth of about eight inches, and should be as long as the width 

 of the window. After the box is made, bore holes about one 

 inch in diameter and about five or six inches apart in the bottom 

 of the box; over each hole place a flat piece of broken pot or 

 a flat stone; without disturbing these flat stones, put, into the 

 box an inch of gravel or broken pot-sherds, and, over this, a layer 

 of moss to keep the soil from mixing with the drainage material ; 

 then fill the box to within one inch of the top with soil composed 

 of one-half good surface loam, one-quarter leaf-mold and one- 

 quarter sharp, clean sand together with a sprinkling of old manure 

 well-rotted, the whole having been turned over and mixed 

 together several times before being used. In this soil set out 

 the plants selected for the window box. 



Among window plants which generally succeed well, Ivy 

 Geraniums of various colors may safely be depended upon, as 

 they stand rough treatment and grow well in any exposure. 

 Where the window faces East or North, the common Fuchsia 

 does splendidly; the Nasturtium and the Mesembryanthemum 



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