358 WINDOW-GARDENING. 



If you pot the plants yourself, bo careful to secure perfect 

 diaiuage. If purchased in pots from a gardener who understands 

 his business, this matter -will have been attended to by him. In 

 potting yourself, use only clean pots ; if your pots are not clean, 

 let them first be thoroughly washed. Use only those that are 

 porous, and avoid glazed and painted pots. If the unglazed pots 

 are unsightly in your eyes, they may be set inside of a glazed or 

 painted pot, leaving space for air between the inner and outer 

 pot, or a pot screen may be set outside the pot. These screens 

 may be had of our florists, of any desired color. In potting, first 

 place a bit of broken pot over the hole in the bottom, then fill 

 in an inch or so of potsherds, an^ cover these with a little moss ; 

 upon this fill in the soil and set the plant. The best soil is 

 made of well-rotted turf, mixed with about one-third of old 

 manure, and enough sharp sand to make it perfectly friable. 

 Through such a soil the water percolates readily. If the pots 

 stand in saucers, pour off the water that runs into them, and not 

 allow it to be soaked up again into the pot. 



It is a very common error in window gardening to attempt 

 too much at once. Too many plants are crowded into the little 

 space at command, so that it is impossible to give to each the aif 

 and Hght it ought to have. Besides this, plants of too diverse a 

 character are sought to be grown in the same window. It is by 

 no means uncommon to see inexperienced lovers of flowers 

 attempting to grow, in the same window with plants from the 

 temperate zone, those plants which require very high temperature, 

 and possibly also Alpine plants, which require a very low tem- 

 perature. It is simply impossible to make plants of such diverse 

 habits thrive under such treatment, and there is no satisfaction 

 in attempting what must end in failure. It is productive of 

 much more pleasure to grow one plant well, to see it covered 

 with healthy foliage and well-developed flowers, than to grow a 

 windowful of sickly things. 



The following list comprises the names of some of the most 

 suitable plants for window culture. From among these a selec- 



