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190 



The Weekly FIc<rists* RcvJe\xr. 



■..,^-,,,,-,.^B,»wi»'.^i^*'j„»^ • m 

 JUNB 15, 1906. 



tree into the smallest crevice of a stone 

 pavement, a stone wall or any almost 

 inconceivable space, often too small to 

 be n(rticed by the superficial eye, and 

 that said seed will germinate and pro- 

 duce a plant which will live its term, 

 should teach us that there is hardly a 

 space or location which will refuse all 

 conditions necessary to plant life, but 

 that, on the contrary, with the help of 

 painstaking care, adverse conditions can 

 be overcome and plant life can bs in- 

 troduced and maintained everywhere 

 where barrenness otherwise rules su- 

 preme. 



Gardening in Heart of City. 



"We see now here and there well filled 

 window boxes and vases on porches and 

 verandas along residential streets, on 

 houses, the front yards and often the 

 back yards of which are already in 

 themselves beautiful and attractive, and 

 they are certainly becoming to the 

 houses which they adorn, as tasteful and 

 handsome as the architectural appear- 

 ance and the surroundings of those resi- 

 dences may ' already be. Now if those 

 floral ornamentations are well placed here 

 and help to still more enhance the beauty 

 of the already beautiful, how much more 

 valuable must the same methods of beau- 

 tifying and making more homelike the 

 homes of all be in those parts of a city 

 where there are no attractive front yards, 

 lawns, flower beds, shrubbery and trees, 

 where there are the barren, formal brick 

 walls, or where even the elaborate crea- 

 tions of modem architecture are unable 

 to overcome the monotonous and tiresome 

 impression which prevails in all the busi- 

 ness and tenement streets of our cities. 



In other words, there is a way open 

 and it should be taken advantage of to 

 bring the gardening which we admire 

 so much in the outer districts to all parts 

 of the city, through our business streets, 

 to the homes of our less fortunate fel- 

 low citizens, the homes of those of our 

 fellow beings who have to live in the 

 crowded tenement districts. 



We have spoken of the influence that 

 parks have in any city on the public in 

 general. Now let us consider what the 

 influence will be by the introduction of 

 window, porch and roof gardening into 

 the busy, monotonous life of a city. 

 Imagine window and veranda boxes 

 loaded with foliage and flowers on our 

 school houses, municipal and business 

 buildings and residences, vines growing 

 over windows and hanging down over 

 window sills and balustrades. What a 

 beautiful sight, worthy of a beautiful, 

 progressive city. Imagine window boxes 

 in all their glory of spring and summer 

 flowering plants, not only screening the 

 unsightliness of rows of tenement win- 

 dows, but giving them from the in and 

 outside the cheerful, cozy appearance, 

 which plant life alone can produce. 

 Imagine the pleasure and joy of those 

 under whose painstaking care the seeds 

 are germinating to a seedling, the 

 seedling to a full grown plant, the plant 

 producing the flowers; and imagine the 

 pleasure those flowers give to all and 

 the feelings and sentiments they will in 

 their turn germinate and bring into life 

 among those people who in the pursuance 

 of their daily hard labor are not so fortu- 

 nate as to know of the pleasures of those 

 who have their gardens and yards. 



Benefits to Accrue. 



Imagine the good seed that will b? 



sown into the hearts of the children of 



those crowded tenement districts, a seed 



that is bound to take root; for the soil 



in all human hearts is more or less alike 

 and it depends upon the cultivation 

 whether the seed entrusted to said soil 

 will grow to be a useful plant. 



Everything that can be done to create 

 healthy, joyful life for the human race 

 should be advanced through continued 

 and united efforts of all citizens of a 

 community. 



We horticulturists, florists and garden- 

 ers, following a time-honored profession, 

 should look upon our calling not only 

 from a pecuniary commercial point of 

 view, but we should take pride in the well 

 proven fact that our accomplishments 

 and our labors of progress in our noble 

 profession, are bringing more universal 

 and wholesome enjoyment to the human 

 race in general than almost any other 

 profession and we should do everything 

 within our power to further the good 

 work which is within our reach. 



The cultivation of taste, understand- 

 ing and love for plants and flowers 

 mean the advancement of the people 

 to a full appreciation of our achieve- 

 ments, and with said appreciation will 

 come the commercial remuneration, which 

 we are deserving by following such prin- 

 ciples. 



How to Go to Work. 



The methods of bringing those desir- 

 able conditions about are surely not as 

 difficult as they may appear to be. In 

 fact, we believe that the florists are 

 mostly to blame that window box, vase 

 and veranda gardening is not further 

 advanced than it is today. We balieve 

 that if the commercial florists would 

 have completed window boxes for sale 

 from the least expensive up to the most 

 elaborate, there would be a ready sale 

 for them within a very few years. Wc 

 believe that if the professional organiza- 

 tions all over the country would publish 

 through the public press, articles giving 

 plain instructions and descriptions how 

 to proceed in this and other lines of 

 horticultural and floricultural advance- 

 ment, a general awakening to those de- 

 sirable improvements would soon show 

 itself to the benefit of the community in 

 general, and the business interests of the 

 florists in the end. 



Wishing to practice what we want to 

 teach, the following plain instructions 

 and information for the people who may 

 wish to make a trial in window, porch 

 and roof gardening, may be of use: 



Size and Cost of Box. 



Window boxes are easily constructed 

 and can be made at a small expense. 

 Taking ordinary spruce or pine boards 

 for the construction, the box should be 

 made the length of the window 's width, 

 six to eight inches wide and as deep. 

 A box three and a half feet long would 

 therefore take about twelve feet of lum- 

 ber, which would cost about 35 cents. The 

 cost of labor, nails, and two coats of 

 paint should not be more than that much 

 again, and the result would be a very 

 plain but well constructed, durable box 

 at a cost of 70 cents. The box should 

 have six %-inch holes in the bottom, 

 which should be covered with broken 

 pots, stones or something that will pre- 

 vent the falling out of the soil, but 

 still provide drainage. It will take 

 about one bushel of good composted soil 

 to fill the box, which could be delivered 

 by any florist for 50 cents. The soil 

 should be rich, composed in the main of 

 rotted turf mixed with well decomposed 

 cow manure, leaf-mold and a little sand. 

 Now the box is ready for planting. 



Filling With Bulbs. 



Suppose the box was already on hand 

 in the fall, it could be planted, say, iu 

 December with tulips, hyacinths and cro- 

 cuses, planting the bulbs about three 

 inches deep and keeping the box in a 

 cool room or cellar with a fairly good 

 light. Where the proper locality is not 

 available, however, it will be rather diffi- 

 cult to obtain good results, as the bulbs 

 are apt to grow too quick, stretching 

 toward the light and coming into bloom 

 before they could be safely put out- 

 doors. The box could, however, be placed 

 at the inside of the window and you 

 would have your bulb display indoors. 

 As the bulbs will not require too much 

 watering, it could be given without dam- 

 age to floors or furniture; besides a tin 

 or zinc box outside of the wooden box 

 would take care of that. 



A box of the size described above 

 would take fifteen tulips for the back 

 row, ten hyacinths for the. middle row 

 and about fifty crocuses for the front 

 and side rows, and the total cost of 

 good bulbs woidd be from $1 to $1.50. 

 Daffodils, jonquils, snowdrops, etc., could^ 

 of course, be grown in such boxes. 



A Second Fillins;. 



After the bulb display is over the 

 bulbs can be taken up and pansies, for- 

 get-me-nots and daisies can be planted. 

 A good effect would be to have the for- 

 get-me-nots in the back toward the 

 window, the pansies in front of them 

 and a border of daisies in same posi- 

 tion in which we had the crocuses; ten 

 forget-me-nots, fourteen pansies and 

 twenty daisies will fill the box nicely 

 and they should not 'cost more than $1 

 for the lot. 



Filling for Summer. 



By about June 1 it is time to establish 

 the summer planting and for that pur- 

 pose we have an almost inexhaustible 

 variety of plants, and effects are obtain- 

 able by a proper selection to suit all 

 tastes. 



The following plantingdists for window 

 boxes may be of use: 



1. Cost of plants for one box, $2.25; 

 two Pennisetumi Ruppelianum, three heli- 

 otropes, two calendulas, four sweet alys- 

 sums, four geraniums, two Cobsea scan- 

 dens, two mauraodias, two Centaurea 

 gymnoearpa and two fuchsias. 



2. Cost of plants for one box, $3: One 

 Dracaena indivisa, six geraniums, four 

 petunias, four Vinca major variegata, 

 four German ivy, two fuchsias, two 

 coleus, two verbenas, six Begonia Ver- 

 non, two marguerites, two nasturtium* 

 and two lobelias. 



3. Cost of plants for one box, $5: Two 

 Phoenix Canariensis, four crotons, two 

 geraniums, two fuchsias, four AButilon 

 Savitzii, six fancy begonias, four Vinca 

 major variegata, four German ivy and 

 two Abutilon ecleps. 



Other plants besides those mentioned 

 in these three planting lists are : Salvias, 

 ageratums, hydrangeas, achyranthes, 

 mignonette, dwarf cannas, gladioli^ 

 tuberoses, zinnias, marigolds, stocks, etc. 

 The same plants are, of course, also suit- 

 able for vases, baskets and tubs. This 

 means well filled boxes giving immediate 

 effect. Planting thinner means of course 

 a saving and a good complete effect later 

 in the season. 



Less Costly Boxes. 



The boxes herein described are such 

 as would naturally require the planting 

 material to be furnished by the gardener 

 or florist, and as plain as they are con- 



