230 
The weather was very unfavorable being 
cold and rather wet but the growth of the 
vines was remarkable. The only cultivation 
was with a wheel hoe, the ground being kept 
flat. We dug the crop the last week in June 
and got fifteen bushels. These are the 
earliest potatoes ever raised in this part of 
the state (on Lake George) where the season 
is usuaily two to three weeks later than in 
the vicinity of New York City. 
A Really Attractive Christmas 
Window Garden 
N. R. Graves, Rochester, N. Y. 
gree photograph on page 231 was taken 
last Christmas. It was at once a 
thing of beauty and a joy and pride of the 
owner. Not only was there a variety of 
palms and ferns, and the ubiquitous rubber 
plant for greenery, but there were all these 
in flower: geraniums, pelargoniums, or Lady 
‘Washington geraniums, cyclamens, — lan- 
tanas, begonias, fuchsias and several cacti, 
and plants of coleus, asparagus, smilax, and 
two varieties of begonia grown for their 
beauty of foliage. 
This garden is really an extension or bay 
window, built on the house, and opening into 
the dining room. <A door was cut through 
between the two windows originally there, 
so that from inside the garden has the ap- 
pearance of being really part of the room. 
It is 4.x 14 ft, of the same height as the room, 
THE GARDEN. MAGAZINE 
and built on an 8-inch brick foundation. A 
cellar window opens into this space beneath 
the floor, and during the winter this is kept 
open for warmth. The three front sash are 
4x 6 ft. while those at the ends are three feet 
wide and six high. Above these sash are 
transoms 18 in. x 4 ft. hung to swing out, 
for ventilation. 
Two shelves, each one foot wide, extend 
around the room, one above and one below 
the large sash. ‘These two shelves, and the 
iron brackets which are screwed to the win- 
dow casings, hold most of the plants. 
Heated from the furnace by a register in the 
floor, and the heat which comes from the 
house, through the open windows and door, 
it has never been necessary to give any ad- 
ditional protection, except during extremely 
cold nights, when pieces of cardboard are 
placed in the outer windows next to the glass. 
The windows from the dining room are 
hung with curtains of a thin ruffled net, 
draped sufficiently high so as not to interfere 
with the Boston ferns which stand on the 
sills. At each side of these windows stands 
a large Kentia. 
The upper shelf is almost filled, by 
the geraniums, which do best there. A 
few pots of smilax occupy the corners. A 
touch of seasonable color is lent by three 
hanging pots of crab cactus (Hpiphyllum 
truncatum) which blossoms very freely. 
On the brackets are the cyclamen, Gloire 
de Lorraine begonia, lantana, Primula 
obconica, and a couple of small plants of 
DECEMBER, 1906 
maidenhair fern. In the centre of the lower 
shelf is an asparagus vine (A. plumosus) and 
grouped at each side are Martha Washington 
geraniums, fuchsias, Begonia Rex, B. me- 
tallica and the coleus, while on the ends of 
the shelf next the house are two pots of ivy, 
which are being trained up over the windows. 
MANAGEMENT FOR WINTER BLOOM 
Cutting of geraniums are taken from good 
healthy plants in the latter part of August and 
potted in a rich garden loam. Set in a place 
where they will have plenty of light, but no 
direct sun they root in a month or so. Let 
them remain unmoved at least two weeks 
after they are rooted; then shift outdoors into 
the sunlight, where they remain until ready 
to move indoors to a well lighted corner. To 
insure good stocky plants, pinch out the 
centre, after the young plants get well started. 
Remove all flower buds, as long as growth 
alone is desired. 
In watering window plants one must use 
common sense. Give moisture whenever 
necessary, and do it thoroughly. A little 
sprinkling, which doesn’t penetrate the soil 
more than half an inch or so, does but little 
good, even if applied every day. So when 
you water plants, give them a good soaking 
then leave them alone until they really need 
a similar treatment. Geraniums will blos- 
som better if kept slightly dry. 
Divide primroses in the spring, pot and 
keep in partial shade during the heat of sum- 
mer, remove all flower buds, and notice 
The reward of not crowding. 
A phenomenal deutzia growing in a New Jersey garden. 
height. not including the coronet-like plumes. 
The bush measured nine feet in diameter, and very nearly six feet in 
You can have an equally good specimen by affording plenty of room and giving ordinary care 
