24 TOWN AND WINDOW GARDENING 



moon, or in starlight, how sweet the summer dusk, even 

 in London, and flowers are just as fragrant here as in the 

 country. Where so welcome as in cities are " pointed 

 blossoms rising delicate, with the perfume strong we 

 love " ? 



I was once a frequent visitor at a London house which 

 was always kept full of growing plants, and could never 

 enjoy one of them. Why ? Because I knew each one 

 was dying every moment. They were treated exactly 

 like furniture. A dark corner would be " lighted up " 

 by the splendour of a Scarlet Geranium in full bloom ; 

 (it did not remain scarlet long) ; a Daphne showed its 

 fragrant stars on a davenport close to the fireplace, and a 

 long way off the window. No one ever picked off a 

 dead leaf or gave the plants so much as a cupful of cold 

 water. Every few days the florist's man came round, 

 took away the invalids — for such they had become — and 

 arranged a fresh lot. Poor plants, they had my sym- 

 pathy ! I do not think this treatment of flowers shows 

 the least real love for them ; better were it to grow the 

 humblest blooms out in the open air, upon the balcony. 



In a lady's paper the other day I chanced to see some 

 practical hints on how to convert a London balcony 

 into a miniature garden, and thought them worth 

 transcribing. 



" One of the first things to be considered is what 

 flowers will flourish in the smoky atmosphere. I have 

 noticed that the ivy-leaf Geranium does well, and this 

 makes a brave show, and grows rapidly. Close to the 

 front of the balcony have some narrow boxes made or 

 wood, painted green, and fill these with plenty of plants, 

 which can be trained to the rails of the ironwork, and 

 thus make quite a screen. A striped awning should be 

 fixed to the wall of the house just above the drawing- 

 room windows, and this can be made removable by 

 driving iron staples into the wall and sewing rings on 



