338 



MANUAL OF GARDENING 



since the box by its exposed position will dry out readily during 

 summer weather, unless the position is a shaded one. In the 

 latter case provision for good drainage is always advisable. 



Since there is more or less cramping of roots, it will be neces- 

 sary to make the soil richer than would be required were the 

 plants to grow in the garden. The most desirable soil is one 

 that does not pack hard like clay, nor contract much when dry, 

 but remains porous and springy. Such a soil is found in the 

 potting earth used by florists, and it may be obtained from them 

 at 50 cents to $1 a barrel. Often the nature of the soil will be 

 such as to make it desirable to have at hand a barrel of sharp 

 sand for mixing with it, to make it more porous and prevent 

 baking. A good fiUing for a deep box is a layer of clinkers or 

 other drainage in the bottom, a layer of pasture sod, a layer of 

 old cow manure, and fill with fertile garden earth. 



Some window-gardeners pot the plants and then set them in 

 the window-box, filling the spaces between the pots with moist 

 moss. Others plant them directly in the earth. The former 

 method, as a general rule, is to be preferred in the winter 

 window-garden; the latter in the summer. " 



The plants most valuable for outside boxes are those of droop- 

 ing habit, such as lobehas, tropeolums, othonna, Kenilworth 

 ivy, verbena (Fig. 269), sweet alyssum, and petunia. Such 

 plants may occupy the front row, while back of them may be 

 the erect-growing plants, as geraniums, heliotropes, begonias 

 (Plate XX). 



For shady situations the main dependence is on plants of 

 graceful form or handsome foliage; while for the sunny window 

 the selection may be of blooming plants. Of the plants men- 

 tioned below for these two positions, those marked with an 

 asterisk (*) are of climbing habit, and may be trained up about 

 the sides of the window. 



Just what plants will be most suitable depends on the expo- 

 sure. For the shady side of the street, the more delicate kinds of 



