﻿16 



The Florists^ Review 



April 15, 1920 



For Civic Decoration Nothing Beats these Boxes on the Big Bridge at Dayton. 



boring several half-inch holes in the 

 bottom of the box and covering them 

 with coal cinders, gravel-stones or pieces 

 of broken pots, placed with the convex 

 side up. This arrangement will allow 

 water to escape, but retain the soil. If 

 the box is to be located where water 

 dripping from it will be objectionable, 

 it may be set in a galvanized drip pan, 

 which should be about two inches wider 

 than the box. The box should be raised 

 from the bottom of the pan by means of 

 cleats, so as to permit free drainage. 



Because of the restricted space in 

 these boxes, the soil should be one which 

 is quite rich in plant food, yet one which 

 neither packs hard when watered nor 

 contracts much when dry, but remains 

 porous and springy. Such soil may be 

 made by mixing two parts of garden 

 loam, one part of leaf-mold or wood- 

 earth and one part of sand, with the ad- 

 dition of well decayed manure, prefer- 

 ably cow manure, at the rate of one peck 

 to two bushels of soil. About one inch 

 of space should be left between the sur- 

 face of the soil and the top of the box, 

 to afford room for watering, which 

 should be done as late in the day as pos- 

 sible. After the plants have filled the 

 box with roots, more plant food must be 

 worked into the soil; a weekly watering 

 with dilute liquid manure is best, but a 

 light coating of bone meal, a thicker 

 layer of well rotted manure, or an appli- 

 cation of a complete commercial fertil- 

 izer will prove adequate. 



Potting for Seasonal Changes. 



When plants grow together so com- 

 pactly as is the case in window boxes, 

 if one plant dies the desired effect is 

 lost and it is practically impossible to 

 dig it out without injuring the other 

 plants or to cut it out without leaving 

 a space. This difficulty may be over- 

 come by using pot-grown plants, setting 

 the pots containing the plants in the 

 boxes and filling in around the pots 

 with earth or moss; with that method, 

 any one plant can be removed and an- 

 other substituted without danger of in- 

 jury to the others. This also makes it 

 possible to change quickly from winter 

 material to spring-flowering bulbs, from 

 bulbs to pansies, then to summer-bloom- 

 ing annuals and, once more, to autumn- 

 blooming plants, or to make whatever 

 other changes may be desired. With 

 few exceptions, a 4-inch or 5-inch pot is 

 sufficiently large for this purpose. In 

 using potted plants in this way, it is 

 best to have two or three inches of rich 

 earth in the bottom of the box, on which 

 to place the pots; the roots of the plants 

 will escape through the hole in the bot- 

 tom of the pot and find sufficient food 

 for their development. 



In selecting the plants, attention must 



be paid to the exposure of the windows, 

 the color of the walls and the general 

 style of the exterior decoration. The 

 plants should harmonize, not only with 

 one another, but with the color of the 

 building; if that is a neutral tint, like 

 the gray of concrete or of most stucco, 

 less care will be required than if it has 

 a distinct character, like the red of 

 brick. 



^ Selection of Plants. 



If the exposure is northern, the choice 

 is practically confined to foliage plants; 

 these will be of the more delicate types 

 than would be desirable if the boxes 

 were to be in full sunlight. For sun- 

 loving plants, geraniums, coleus, achyr- 

 anthes, Paris daisies and double petu- 

 nias may be used, or, if more display is 

 desired, crotons, colored-leaved dracae- 

 nas, acalyphas, aspidistras or small 

 palms. Possible low-growing plants for 

 the front of the box are the dwarf white- 

 leaved geranium, Madame Salleroi; the 

 golden feverfew, lobelia, sweet alyssum 

 and the white-leaved cineraria. Excel- 

 lent drooping vines are the variegated- 

 leaved vinca, nasturtiums, tradescan- 

 tias and German ivy. For window boxes 

 in shady locations, vigorous-growing 

 ferns, like the nephrolepis, a few of the 

 pteris and the hardiest of the adian- 



Flowers for Factory Workers. 



turns; narrow-leaved dracsenas; grevil- 

 leas, and Rex begonias are good plants 

 to use. 



No set of rules can be given for the 

 combining of these or other suitable 

 plants into appropriate box groups, 

 but, as a suggestion, the following ar- 

 rangements of common plants are enu- 

 merated: 



FOR SUNNY LOCATION. 



1. Vlnca major — front. 

 Petunia— filler. 

 Ageratum — filler. 

 VInca rosea — points. 



2. English Ivy— front. 

 Asparagus Sprengerl — froiit. 

 Geranium — filler. ^- 

 Lantana — filler. 



Hibiscus — points. 



3. Wandering Jew — front. 

 Asparagus Sprengerl — front. 

 Verbena — filler. 

 Pptunirt— filler. 



Marigold — filler. 

 Croton— filler. 



FOR SHADY LOCATION. 



1. Asparagus Sprengerl — front. 

 Dracaena termlnalls — points. 

 Boston fern — filler. 



2. English Ivy— front. 

 Coleus— filler. 

 Boston fern — filler. 

 Pandanus Veltchli — points. 



3. German Ivy — front. 

 Asparagus Sprengerl — front. 

 Hibiscus — points. 

 Whltmanll fern — filler. 

 Croton— filler. 



After Summer Comes Winter. 



The matter of seasonal changes in the 

 plants has already been touched upon. 

 In the fall evergreens may be substi- 

 tuted for the summer selection and with 

 these early spring-flowering bulbs ma'' 

 be planted, such as tulips, daffodils, 

 crocuses and snowdrops. The winter 

 group may include a choice of small 

 conifers, broad-leaved evergreens, small 

 Irish junipers, low-growing junipers, ar- 

 bor-vitae and young trees of sprue- , 

 hemlock or pine. Of broad-leaved eve; 

 greens, dwarf box, mahonia, Evonymr ; 

 radicans and pachysandra or Vine i 

 minor are good. To relieve the sombv 

 effect of the dense green, small shrul^ 

 bearing bright-colored fruits may be ii 

 troduced, such as dwarfed plants of Be: 

 beris Thunbcrgii, with its bright scarle 

 berries borne along the gracefully bent 

 ing branches. Privets, either Ligustrui - 

 vulgare or L. Regelianum, are good f< 

 berries, both bearing clusters of blui 

 black fruits, which contrast well wit'- 

 the green of the conifers or the reds o 

 the barberry; these fruits are hel ! 

 through the winter without change o> 

 color. Hardy strains of English ivy o 

 drooping plants of Evonymus radican" 

 may be used to hide the boxes in winter 

 Evergreens used for winter may be ar- 

 ranged to produce a hedge-like appear 

 ance or some points may be introduce'' 

 either at the ends or in the center or at 

 both ends and center. Customers t(' 



