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PRETTY WINDOW GARDENS. 
Upon tliis and a succeeding page are given illustra¬ 
tions of some very beautiful ways of decorating win¬ 
dows and rooms with the living greenery, of our pop¬ 
ular window flowers. There is no home but can be 
vastly improved by the addition of a few plants; and 
there is no description of furniture that can compare 
with the delicacy, grace, and refining influence of win¬ 
dow vines, blossoms and plant beauties. 
It is hardly necessary to describe in detail all these 
engravings. It will be easily seen that the decoration 
of the windows on this page are far superior to those 
on page 11G. And this difference is easily ex¬ 
plained by the use of so many climbing vines. Figs- 
1 and 2 are especially charming for the tasteful 
! arrangement of the vines, and the addition of the 
vase in the first, and the spray of leaves and ferns, 
above and before the looking-glass in the second, 
make an inexpressibly tasteful effect. 
In Pig. 3 is a sketch of a simple bracket which 
any one can make, the rustic fence being purchasable 
at any florist’s at a cheap price. In several o-f the 
illustrations will be noticed wall pockets containing 
plants. This idea can be extended more freely than it 
usually is, and plants of beautiful foliage put in them 
in various places against the wall, every one of which 
will do far more than pictures to brighten a home. One 
of the most beautiful homes we have ever seen, had 
under each picture, fastened to the wall, a pretty 
group of leaves, ferns and moss. And the verdict of 
visitors was for the woodland treasures in preference 
to the costly pictures. These illustrations, we believe, 
were engraved by Mr. Vick from photographs of the 
homes of some of his ardent floral admirers. 
Fig. 3. Window Plant Stands and Brackets 
est profusion from the middle of April until the last 
of August, after which they produce a few scattering 
ones until frost. These flowers are very fine for bou¬ 
quets. The seed should be sown from the first of 
April until the last of May, and from the first until 
the last of September. For plants to bloom in early 
spring, in patches where wanted to bloom, as the 
plant has a tap root and is quite difficult to transplant, 
cover about one-eighth of an inch in depth, and thin 
to four or five inches apart before the plants become 
spindling and weak • at this distance they will make 
a compact bed and will bo a complete blaze of beauty 
all the summer. Apart from its beautiful flowers, the 
leaves are very ornamental, being many-parted. 
Plants from seed bloom about the middle of August 
and sometimes in July. Seed should be saved from 
the first blooms that open, as they are the largest. Al¬ 
low none to seed except those you wish to save, as it 
will cause the plant to produce very small flowers, 
and in time will stop it from blooming entirely, I 
would advise all who wish something showy to grow 
this plant. There are several other varieties of Esch • 
scholtzia, but this is the only kind I have tried. 
__ W. a. Ivy. 
A Magnificent Ivy. —A lady in Yardville, N. J., 
who bought an Ivy last fall, less than six feet in 
length, took such good care of it during the winter 
that when it was planted out in June, it had grown 
three hundred feet, and one of the main branches was 
forty-five feet long. 
