A window box plant before and after winter storage, 

 for which the pruning is severe 



Water the window box thoroughly when it is first 

 brought up from the cellar 



A begonia as brought from the cellar, and after 

 four months in the sunshine 



Bringing the Window Box Indoors— Bv Luke j. Doogue, 



Massa- 

 chusetts 



*' I ""HE general rule is to empty a window 

 ■^ box at the dose of summer, throw 

 the plants away, and store the receptacle 

 until another year. This means the loss 

 of some months of pleasure. 



My idea is that a window box should 

 do duty for many months, instead of being 

 in use through the summer only. The 

 same plants can be made to serve season 

 after season for years, and the under- 

 taking is not so difficult as it seems, nor 

 is a greenhouse required. That the plan 

 is perfectly practical is demonstrated by 

 the fact that I have tried it for many years 

 with marked success, going to even greater 

 lengths in making the window box more 

 of a continuous proposition than I am 

 about to outline. 



There are two ways of avoiding the 

 usual emptying of a window box in the 

 fall, at the moment when, very likely, 

 both the bloom and the foliage of the 

 geranium, ivy, vinca, ageratum, fuchsia, 

 and so on are at their best. The plants 

 can be taken out, potted, and placed in 

 a sunny window for the winter, or they 

 may be packed in a box and stored in. the 

 cellar. In the former instance it will be 

 necessary to trim the plants, so that they 

 will not be too ragged, for the window. 

 This trimming not only shapes them, but 

 induces a thickening of growth. 



For cellar storage the cutting back must 

 be much more severe, the plants being 



reduced to mere stumps before they are 

 packed in boxes, with a little loam around 

 them. Store where there is no frost and 

 no furnace gas, and only enough light 

 to tease the plants into sufficient growth 

 to keep them just alive. This may seem 

 rough treatment, but it is astonishing how 

 well plants do after months of that sort 

 of cold storage. 



When the plants have been taken from 

 the window box, the remainder of the 

 old soil is removed, and fresh loam with a 

 liberal mixture of coarse sand used to 

 refill it. Then plant tulips, hyacinths, 

 narcissus, or any other bulbs that you 

 may prefer. Plant them about two inches 

 deep, fairly close together, and put the 

 window box in a cool, dark place, to re- 

 main there for from eight to ten weeks 

 to make roots. At the same time plant 

 some bulbs in pots and store them. 



Toward the latter part of January the 



Plant the. bulbs fairly close together 



window box can be brought into the light, 

 and it will not be long before the bulbs 

 will rush into flower. If kept longer in 

 the dark, the potted bulbs will lengthen 

 the show for weeks, these being substi- 

 tuted as fast as the ones originally planted- 

 in the window box fade. When one of 

 the latter has gone by, bring out a potted 

 bulb, remove it from the pot, and plant 

 it in place of the other. 



By this plan the bulb display can be 

 kept up until well into spring, and when 

 the potted stock gives out there are other 

 things that can be used to advantage. 

 Tansies may be planted very effectively, 

 and, as they like the cold, the window-box 

 can be moved out-of-doors with safety 

 even in March. Of course, it is necessary 

 to watch out for cold snaps; if they come, 

 use a covering of paper. In April either 

 Arabis albida or Phlox subulata may be 

 substituted for the pansies. 



Meanwhile the plants stored in the 

 cellar will have required some attention. 

 Pot them in February and bring them 

 up to the light. They will look unsightly 

 at first, but will soon whip themselves 

 into shai^e, and by the latter part of May 

 will look as well as anything you can buy. 

 When you have decided that the box show 

 outside has lasted long enough, it can be 

 brought indoors and refilled with the 

 plants. Keep the box in a sunny window 

 and turn occa?ionally so that the plants 

 will not get one-sided. 



The bulbs well started in growth 



Filled with forget-me-nots and pansies 

 175 



The same box with tulips in bloom 



