1881.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
.155 
Gardening without a Garden. 
The love for plants and flowers is innate. 
It may not be, as would sometimes appear, 
the strongest in those whose purses are the 
shortest, but the efforts of those who strive 
to give expression to this love, are more 
striking because made under adverse circum¬ 
stances. We look upon the fine garden of a 
man of wealth as a matter of course, but 
when we see the little garden of the farmer’s 
wife or daughter, it at once interests us as 
an expression of that love for plants that will 
manifest itself in spite of all obstacles. Still 
more interesting is it, when obliged to pass 
through some of the densely populated 
quarters of the city, to look up to the fourth 
or fifth story windows of those human hives 
called “ tenement houses,” to see a window 
sill or shelf crowded with plants, and so 
bright and flourishing, that we do not notice 
that the gay geranium is in a “ crock ” that 
can no longer do service as a teapot, and that 
the other plants are in old fruit and tomato 
cans. Most touching, indeed, are these 
strivings for something beautiful amid squalid 
surroundings ; they indicate that while the 
inmates may be poor, they are not degraded. 
There was, many years ago, on one of the 
avenues, a garden which we enjoyed visiting 
more than we did some much larger ones, 
©n one of the avenues the lower story of a 
tenement house was extended to the rear 30 
feet or more, to give room for a store. What 
could be seen from the street of the contents 
of the roof of this extension, was so attrac¬ 
tive that after a while the writer, who pass¬ 
ed it daily, searched for the gardener, and 
asked permission to visit the garden. The 
gardener was a very old German 
lady, and her assistant a robust 
daughter. This roof-garden had 
for its “ borders ” boxes from the 
neighboring stores, while its 
walks, to protect the roof, were 
of boards obtained by knocking 
apart large boxes. The border- 
boxes were painted a dull blackish 
green, and contained mostly an¬ 
nuals in variety and perfection of 
growth rarely seen imder vastly 
more favorable conditions. There 
are many ardent lovers of flow¬ 
ers, living where they are de¬ 
prived of a garden, who do not 
seem to be aware of how much 
gratification can be afforded by 
a window-garden of some kind. 
One of the features that strike a 
stranger in London, is the great 
number and beauty of the bal¬ 
cony gardens and window boxes. 
The culture of plants in pots in 
window gardening, however prac¬ 
ticable in winter, is very difficult 
in summer, and especially so in 
our climate ; the small masses of 
earth in porous pots dry out so 
rapidly that healthy growth is 
most difficult to secure. We are 
glad to see that window boxes of 
various kinds are offered by deal¬ 
ers, as it indicates a demand for 
such articles. But the great ma¬ 
jority of window gardeners must 
rely upon their own ingenuity, 
and get along with the least pos¬ 
sible expense. The box, as long 
as the width of the window, may 
be 8 or 10 inches wide, and of 
about the same hight; this will 
give a depth of soil of 6 or 8 
inches, and it needs to be strong 
as the weight is considerable. 
Line the box with sheet zinc, or galvanized 
iron, which ever may be most readily done 
by the tinsmith; this lining, which in our 
climate is necessary, is the chief expense. 
The exterior of the box may 
be painted of some neutral 
brownish tint, or it may be 
covered with sheets of bark, 
or with some neat pattern of 
oil carpeting. The engrav¬ 
ing from “ Gardening Illus¬ 
trated,” a most popular week¬ 
ly journal, by Mr. Wm. 
Robinson, of “ The Garden,” 
London, shows a style of 
window-box in use in Eng- 
lish cities. The front and 
sides are covered with what 
is known there as “ 
Cork.” This, which appears 
to be cork-bark, too thin and 
poor for cutting into corks, 
is an admirable article for 
various horticultural uses, 
and we hope that our dealers 
may import it. Still it is of 
little consequence how the box is covered, if 
the two essential points in planting a window 
box are observed. To be effective from the 
outside, the planting should provide firstly, 
for climbers, to run up and over the win¬ 
dows, and secondly, for trailers, or plants 
that will hang over and fringe the whole 
front of the box with a green drapery. 
These, which are but littla seen by the oc¬ 
cupant of the room, are the most conspicu¬ 
ous to the passer-by. Among the plants best 
suited for draping the sides are the various 
trailing Tradescantias, which are abundant 
and cheap at the greenhouses ; another use¬ 
ful plant is “ Creeping Charlie,” Lysimachia 
nummularia. Some of the small Lobelias 
are useful for this purpose, and many that 
are grown as climbers may be used as trail¬ 
ers. For climbing, to be trained by means 
of wires or cords over the window frames, 
and make a dense, quick-growing mass of 
green, against which flowers will show ef¬ 
fectively, we know of nothing so useful as 
the so-called “ Parlor or German Ivy,” to be 
had readily at all greenhouses. Among an¬ 
nuals are the so-called “ Cypress Vine ” (Ipo- 
moea Quamoclit), Maurandia, Thuribergia 
alata, the Nasturtiums ( Tropceolum ), especi¬ 
ally ( Tperegrinum) the “ Canary-bird Flow¬ 
er,” which, by its fine foliage, abundant 
flowers, and endurance of hot weather, is a 
most admirable plant. Having provided the 
climbers and trailers, the rest of the plants, 
which are to be seen mainly from within, 
may be annuals or ordinary bedding plants. 
Here the range is so large that the selection 
must be left to individual taste. If restricted 
to a single flower, we should, perhaps, choose 
one of the small-flowered single Petunias, 
like the brilliant “ Countess of Ellesmere,” a 
compact grower, which comes true from seed. 
The Medlar. 
Whenever we receive an inquiry about the 
Medlar, we are sure that the writer is from 
some part of Europe, and wishes to grow 
here a tree that is associated with the recollec¬ 
tions of his boyhood. So little is the Medlar 
known in this country, that it is not even 
mentioned by Downing and Thomas, and 
though noticed by Barry, is disposed of in a 
few lines. The Medlar, Mespilus Germanica, 
is found in England and in Central and South¬ 
ern Europe, and in its wild state is a more or 
less thorny shrub or small tree. It has entire 
leaves and solitary, white or pinkish flowers 
the medlar (Mespilus Germanica). 
an inch and a half in diameter. Its fruit, as 
seen in the engraving, has a broad, depressed 
• space at the top, in which are exposed fiv# 
AX OUTSIDE WINDOW GARDEN. 
