WliXn IF GARDENING 
9 
somer Balsams than any professional ever raised, while some of the finest new 
Chrysanthemums ever produced it is said have originated in the window garden 
of some of these humble citizens. 
A quaint old English writer calls this form of home pleasure, " Fenestral Gar. 
dening," (^Hortus Fenesti-alis) expressive of the decoration of rooms with green 
drapery from the garden. Many are deterred from the commencement of a 
window garden, or the care for cases of plants, on account of the supposed trouble. 
There are really but few requisites to success. If any are ignorant of the 
plants or their proper arrangement, read these pages and learn how many simple 
forms may be adopted to make every house garden alive with plant beauty, and 
yet require only a half hour per day. A hanging basket or two, a window box or 
row of bulb glasses, a wardian case or fernery, all are easy. Once set, they need 
little care. In the other departments of propagation and culture, a little time, 
patience, and, best of all, trials of experience, will soon render the knowledge easily 
acquired. 
To have some few choice, fragrant, beautiful flowers in mid winter when there is 
no green thing in sight, save the dense evergreen of the forest, or the garden 
hedge of spruce, prompts many to an assiduous care, and a hearty devotion to 
Buch plant treasures. Yet the recompense is worth the labor. 
The matchless beauty which nature once bestowed on the gardens without, is 
now restored and perpetuated within ; and to many a fair finger deftly handling 
the tender plant, the exquisite embroidery of the leaf, or coloring of the flower, 
will form objects for the eye to rest upon with unwearied delight. 
