A YEAR'S GARDENING 



should be sjringed, or even sponged, as well as the roots watered, 

 as they often suffer very much from dust. This attention and a few 

 minutes spent daily in removing dead leaves and blossoms will be 

 well repaid. 



As the winter is the time when most window-boxes fail altogether 



to be things of beauty, the really ambitious grower 



Boxes in ^^jji plant his boxes ready in the autumn with dwarf 



"* ' Shrubs, such as the Green or Golden Privet, Emiony- 



mous {radicanus variegatus), and one or two plants having berries, 

 such as Shimmia Japonica, or Solawum (Winter Cherry). Between 

 the shrubs bulbs may be planted for the spring, unless indeed the 

 excusable extravagance of two separate zinc linings to the boxes is 

 permitted. In that case the bulbs may be set in the lining not in 

 use for the window, and a still larger show of flowers ensured for the 

 spring. 



llie choice of bulbs is a large one, and a good catalogue should b 

 studied before planting. Winter Aconite and Snow- 

 S°rin?"* drops planted in the early autumn wiU be the first to 



P ^ flower — as early as January in a sheltered, sunny 



window. Crocuses come next, with Narcissus, Daffodils, Hyacinths 

 and Tulips to foUow — ^Tuhps, indeed, coming late enough to blend 

 happily with Forget-me-nots. Nothing could be more charming, 

 for instance, than dark purple Tulips growing amongst the Forget- 

 me-not blue. Red-brown WaUflowers and Forget-me-nots will 

 also serve to take the window-boxes well into May, when the summer 

 flowers may be planted. 



The end of May is the recognized time for planting boxes for the 

 summer, and here, again, individual taste must be 

 Boxes ia exercised, as the choice is really a very wide one, 



ummer though much narrowed by convention. A row of 



Marguerites at the back, with a second row of Scarlet Geraniums 

 and blue and white Lobelia at the edge (there is a " Spreading 

 Lobeha " specially suitable for hanging-baskets and window-boxes) 

 is a combination so popular as to be almost universal, and certainly 

 it must be owned it is effective, if unoriginal. Purple Petunias 

 and pink Ivy Geraniiuns go well together and form a less hack- 

 neyed arrangement, but personal taste may better supply boxes 

 to its own fancy from among such plants as Fuchsias, Begonias, 

 HeUotropes, Mignonette, Stocks, Pinks, Carnations, Balsams, Cal- 

 ceolarias, Salvias, Nemesia, etc., etc.; while for cheapness and 

 gaiety combined Nasturtiums and Tropaeolums cannot easily be 

 beaten. 



ii8 



