WINDOW GARDEN NOTES. 



SHALL not attempt to give 

 any hints or instructions to 

 those who have bay windows 

 and plenty of money to ex- 

 pend on plants for their em- 

 bellishment, but solely to those 

 who are amateurs, with ordinary 

 windows which they wish to fill 

 with such plants as will prove 

 most ornamental during winter. 



If one can have a handsome gal- 

 vanized-iron stand, bronzed or paint- 

 ed, and ttie top fitted or made in the 

 form of a tray, it is a very attractive receptacle for or- 

 namental foliage plants and free bloomers If this stand 

 cannot be afforded, a nice pine box lined with zinc, of a 

 size adapted to the stand or table on which it is to be 

 placed, will answer very nicely. The box can be stained 

 or painted any color you fancy. I had one made ten 

 years ago with zinc, and to give it strength it was framed 

 with wood at the top. It is much lighter thus made 

 than when of wood and lined. Mine was three feet long, 

 fourteen inches broad and seven inches in depth. It is 

 good for service yet. 



I first put in something coarse for drainage, and then 

 fill in with ricti, mellow soil which is about one-third 

 fine sharp sand. Being a great admirer of begonias, I 

 planted several varieties, choosing rather such as are 

 handsome in foliage ; yet one can rely on their blooming 

 pretty well in the winter. I never use the Rex for this 

 purpose. Gloire de Sceaux is both ornamental and a 

 free bloomer. The foliage is a dark bronzy plum color ; 

 flowers borne freely in clusters, color a lovely pink ; of 

 compact habit. 



Rubella has velvety, deeply-pointed leaves, the ribs 

 of which are banded with purplish brown, while the 

 ground is a pallid green, blotched with red. Manicata, 

 var aurea is the most beautiful in foliage of any begonia 

 I have seen. The leaves, which are thick, are finely 

 blotched with cream color, deepening into canary, with 

 ..now and then a bit of pink. It bears clusters of pink 

 flowers. Subpeltata, var. nigricans, has foliage of a 

 dark red, with a silvery surface. Sonderbruchii, foliage 

 divided into nine sharp points ; bright metallic-green, 

 veined and shaded with black. It bears large panicles 

 of pinkish white flowers, well above the foliage. 



I need not name more than these, which are well 

 adapted for the box. I always have a few small plants 

 of abutilons, as they are reliable for flowers. For 

 beauty of foliage and its light drooping habit, I admire 

 Mesopotamicum, with its small pointed leaves, elegantly 

 marbled green and yellow, while its pendent bells of 

 crimson and yellow grow profusely along the slender 



branches. Darwinii is also well adapted for the box, 

 because of its dwarf habit and its free blooming charac- 

 ter. It blossoms when only a few inches in height; the 

 flowers are very open. Color orange scarlet, veined 

 with pink and borne more in clusters than singly. 



Coleuses are admirable to brighten up the box, and 

 vines can be set in the corners to droop over and twine 

 around it. Of course the plants must not be very large 

 when set out if one would have many, as they would ' 

 soon crowd each other. I set the largest in the center 

 and put very small ones next to the box, and these will 

 make nice plants for bedding out in the spring. I did 

 not find it necessary to water the plants oftener than 

 twice a week, for they do not dry out as in pots. 



Another way of arranging plants to have a pretty ef- 

 fect is to have brackets, each holding two or three pots, 

 fastened to the window casing one above another at 

 proper distances. Three on each side of the window 

 will make it a bower of beauty. The brackets can be 

 swung outward when one wishes to drop the shade, but 

 the plants will so cover the window as to render this 

 hardly needful. For these brackets the larger leaved 

 begonias than those I have specified are admirably 

 adapted. Olbia is one of rare elegance. The leaves 

 are large, deeply pointed, and of varying shades of 

 brown and red, giving them a changeable appearance. 

 The veins are so sunken as to give the surface a crape- 

 like appearance. The plant soon has a stout main trunk, 

 from which the branches grow in an erect form. It has 

 racemes of large lemon white flowers. 



Semperflorens, var. elegans, is a very fine variety 

 which grows to a height of twelve to fourteen inches, 

 and has a compact mass of glossy olive-green foliage, 

 sharp pointed and toothed. The flowers are rosy-white 

 and many of the florets are double, having larger outside 

 petals, and a double rosette center. 



Argentea, var. guttata, is a cross between olbia and 

 alba picta, and combines the silvery blotches of picta 

 with the form and beauty of olbia ; flowers white. 



Ricinifolia has very large leaves which are divided 

 into seven or more deep points ; they are borne on thick 

 stems eighteen inches or more in length ; color a rich 

 green with reddish markings. The bloom is magnifi- 

 cent ; color pink. 



For a trailing begonia, glaucophylla, var. scandens, is 

 fine ; flowers orange colored. 



The aspidistra is an excellent window plant. Varie- 

 gata has long lance-shaped leaves, broad, and striped 

 with white. It is very easy of culture. 



Pandanus or screw pine is very ornamental for a 

 bracket. P. ittilis is the one most generally cultivated. 

 /'. Vi-iUhii has leaves striped with creamy white. The 

 long narrow foliage droops very gracefully. 



The new abutilon, Golden Fleece, I find to be all 



