MAY 13, 1900. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



The Wiodow Box Affords Unlimited Pouibilitiet for Gardening; Even in Crowded Cities. 



made to remove all plants as they become 

 shabby and replace them .with others. 

 This necessitates having a stock of suit- 

 able material to draw from. Some of 

 the flowering plants commonly used are 

 hydrangeas, geraniums, show pelargo- 

 niums, fuchsias, begonias, cannas and 

 flbutilons, while in foliage plants, palms, 

 pandanus, ficus, marantas, alocasias, 

 caladiums and many others are utilized. 



Construction of the Boxes. 



Window boxes are usually made of 

 wood, which should be hard pine, cypress, 

 hemlock or some other hard, durable 

 wood. It does not pay to use soft woods, 

 for their duration will only be a couple 

 of seasons. The length and width will 

 of course depend on the windows to be 

 fitted, but it is a mistake to have them 

 only six inches deep, as we too often see ; 

 nine inches is better, while for piazzas a 

 foot is all right, allowing the use in the 

 latter case of palms and other plants of 

 fair size. The width of piazza boxes can 

 also be greater than is possible with 

 window boxes. 



On piazzas earthenware boxes of a 

 rustic nature are often used, but wooden 

 ones predominate. Tne color they are to 

 be painted will depend on the color of 

 the stone or wood of the house. Ample 

 holes should always be left for drainage. 

 It is best to leave the bottom boards half 

 '\n inch apart, where two pieces are used; 

 if only one board is used, bore a good 

 number of holes three- fourths of an inch 

 10 an inch in diameter. 



The Soil. 



The soil for boxes should be carefully 

 prepared, and it must be rich if your 

 plants are to come through the season 



in a thrifty condition. Fibrous loam, 

 two parts; dried and well decayed cow 

 manure, one part, with some sharp sand 

 to keep it open, makes a good compost. 

 Some bone meal can be added with ad- 

 vantage, but we like to mix this in a 

 month before using it. Leaf-mold is 

 often used, but it is too light and con- 

 tains too little plant food, althojigh it 

 is excellent for young bedding stock in 

 pots and flats. We have found a top 

 dressing of decayed cow manure or pul- 

 verized sheep manure, during the sum- 

 mer, beneficial when the plants show 

 signs of standing still or being starved. 



Plants for Window Boxes. 



Some of the best plants to use in win- 

 dow boxes, where the plants are to go 

 directly into the soil and not be changed, 

 are zonal geraniums,' petunias, abutilons, 

 heliotropes, dwarf nasturtiums, lantanas, 

 verbenas and dwarf cannas. The last 

 named should not be used unless a little 

 height is desirable. Where some shade is 

 to be had, as on piazzas, tuberous and 

 fibrous rooted begonias, like Vesuvius, 

 fuchsias and lobelias will do well. Among 

 foliage plants, acalyphas, variegated abu- 

 tilons, coleus, caladiums, crotons, green 

 and colored leaved draca>nas and aspidis- 

 tras all stand sun well, or will do with a 

 little shade. Palms, as a rule, prefer 

 some shade, as do alocasias, fittonias and 

 other warm house foliaged subjects. 

 Among trailing plants, which are indis- 

 pensable, are variegated and green 

 vincas, Thunbergias alata, alata alba and 

 aurantiaca, Linaria Cymbalaria (Kenil- 

 worth ivy), Asparagus Sprengeri, German 

 ivy, Panicum virgatum, cobseas, and ivy 

 geraniums. Impatiens Sultani and Holstii 

 we have seen do well in boxes. Swain- 



sona galegifolia alba answers better on 

 piazzas than in windows, owing to its 

 height. Ferns should only be used where 

 they can have freedom from the sun's 

 rays. 



Taste in Color Combinations. 

 There has been a pleasing breaking 

 away from the boxes containing miscel- 

 laneous mixtures of coleus, geraniums, 

 vincas, alyssum and similar plants, con- 

 taining a veritable riot of colors, to more 

 pleasing arrangements which harmonize 

 well with the buildings. Window and 

 piazza boxes, as well as vases, should 

 never contain pink and scarlet together, 

 as we often see, although scarlet and 

 white, pink and white, yellow and scarlet, 

 or any of these colors by themselves, look 

 well. Such geraniums as Ricard, Xutt, 

 Jacquerie and Crampel, in reds, are hard 

 to beat, though some drooping plant, like 

 vinca, is of course needed on the front. 

 A pleasing box last year " contained 

 Ricard geraniums and ' white Lobelia 

 gracilis; the latter, completely hid the 

 box from view. Tfiis was at a seaside 

 resort. Inland, the lobelia is less reliable, 

 but white petunias or verbenas would 

 make good substitutes. 



The Cost of Filling. 



The cost of filling such a box for an 

 ordinary window would be moderate. 

 Using 4-inch geraniums set moderately 

 thick, there would be a good profit at $5 

 per box. We know growers who fill them 

 at $3 and say it pays, but no one should 

 begrudge the higher price for a box well 

 planted. 



When using pink geraniums. Jean 

 Viaud or Gertrude Pearson, with such an 

 ivy variety as Souvenir de Charles Tur- 

 (Concluded on page 44.) 



