6 WnXDOW GARDENING 
In Brussels, says M Victor Paquet, " the balconies are turned into greenhouses 
and miniature stoves, gay with the brightest and greenest foliage. And in Paris 
chere are many contrivances in use by means of which the rarest and most 
ocautiful plants are produced. Passifloras cling to columns in the upper tloors; 
water plants start into blossom in tiny basins curiously contrived in solid brick- 
work, and limpid water flows down a miniature rockery from whose crevice.s 
start up ferns and lycopodiums." 
The rooms of the Parisian are gay with flowers replaced freshly every day, 
and in the denser parts of London, black with its smoky atmosphere, may be 
found some of the choicest of plant-cases. An English writer visiting such a 
locality once was ushered into a room where the darkness was almost felt, but 
every window was occupied with a plant-case in which plants were growing in 
an astonishing manner. Ferns of the greenest and fresliest hue, orchids never 
surpassed, were there in redolent health and vigor. He was told to his great 
surprise that the cases were hermetically sealed, and that no water had been ad- 
ministered for months 
There is a never-faiiing charm, too, in the outside decorations of the house or 
"Window Gaiden. The trelli.s-work of the balcony may be made ornamental with 
green foli.age and its homeliness tastefully hidden The ivy will cover the un- 
painted wall and make it still more anistic. The verandah can be soon covered 
with the most luxuriant of profuse blooming creepers. Unsightly objects, bare 
gardens, and plain fences can all be relieved. In fact no home is devoid of the 
means of tasteful decoration. And so many and easy are the forms of window 
embellishments at the present day, that we know of no better device for increas- 
ing the elegancies and attractions of indoor life. 
Window Gardens, too, ar^ educators of taste. In our large cities it is noticeable 
that the fair occupants of the wealthier homes are themselves practicalh"- inter- 
ested in window ornament. It is quite the fashion for their own hands to flU 
with pretty plants, of their own arrangement, jardinieres of costly tile, or else 
place them in baskets of rustic yet most artistic make After a little time wher 
they have grown to appropriate height, or the drooping plants have attained suffi- 
cient length, the full beauty of the Window Garden is apparent. Visitors are 
entranced with their wondrous beauty and are free with their exclamations of 
delight. The passer-by on the sidewalk stops for a moment to look lovingly 
upon the cozy bower of bloom just inside the glazed window pane. When pass- 
ing away, he still keeps it in mind, and long afterwards cherishes the me.r.ory of 
this artistic beauty spot. Flowers and plants, by their beauty and fragrance, are 
always in harmony with rich and costly furniture, pictures or statuary. 
A simple flower stand near the window, a hanging basket over head, all 
shedding their perfume, add day by day brightness to the other genialities of the 
home; and all through the wintry months, furnish food for pleasant thoughts; 
a single [)!ant of the Ivy trained on the wall, or festooned over the window, ia 
a joy to all beholders 
