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FLOWER STANDS AND BOXES. 
One of the elegant flower-stands or wardian-cases, 
which are so often advertised, wrnuld be an agreeable 
acquisition; but many ladies, who love and appre¬ 
ciate the beautiful, can with difficulty meet the ex¬ 
pense of such a purchase. 
Almost any one, by using a little ingenuity, can 
make a very respectable flower-stand, which will give 
her greater real pleasure than one far more expensive, 
for she has planned and made it herself. 
Let me tell you how I made mine. It consists of 
two parts, viz.: a warming-pan and a box for the 
flowers. Of the former I shall first speak. By means 
of shave and plane I made the legs of some chest¬ 
nut logs taken from a pile of wood; when completed 
they were perfectly square at the top, but soon changed 
to a round form, tapering gradually toward the base, 
in which some casters were inserted. I then nailed 
two hoards, nearly two feet long and four inches wide, 
on the inside of the legs at the top, letting the corner 
of the leg project one inch beyond the end of .the 
hoard. This space is for the fastening of the ends. 
From the desired width of the hox, when finished, I 
subtracted twice the side of the leg, thus obtaining 
the dimensions of the end pieces, which, like the sides, 
should he four inches wide and one inch thick to meet 
the outer corner of the legs. 
In this way I made one end. For the other I cut a 
place one inch deep in the upper side of the side 
hoards, and in these hollows firmly fastened a narrow 
hoard of the same length as that used for the first end, 
thus making this framework even as to itself, and also 
as to the top of the legs. 
I then nailed hoards over the upper and the lower 
side, as one would put the top and bottom on the hox, 
being careful to have them very firm, thus making 
the cavity within a tight box, w 7 hich, being beneath 
the plants, was intended for a pan of hot water to 
give bottom heat. The top of this “ warming-pan ” 
has holes bored quite thickly in order that the steam 
may more easily penetrate the soil above. 
In making the flower-box, I nailed on the end 
pieces, first having cut a place in the bottom of one 
for the opening in the “ warming-pan.” I placed the 
side hoards even with the bottom of the ends, and 
nailed them firmly to these, the bottom and the 
legs. 
For the end door I fitted a hoard to the opening of 
the pan beneath and hung it with a hinge. I now 
had the plain hox in a state of completion, hut wish¬ 
ing for some ornamentation, with a knife I cut a de¬ 
sign in some thin butternut boards, and overlaid the 
whole hox, letting the scalloped edge fall below the 
bottom, thus giving it the appearance of carved work. 
After the door in the end has been covered with this 
trimming it is scarcely perceivable. 
The flower-stand is twenty-two inches wide, eight 
inches deep, and nearly four feet long. When stained 
with asphaltum, it was very pretty and satisfactory, 
and has been much admired. 
For soil, I used two parts of leaf mold and rich 
loam from the woods, one part street scrapings and 
compost, one peck of pulverized charcoal, one pint 
each of slacked lime, wood-ashes, and soot, thor¬ 
oughly mixing the whole. With this I filled the hox, 
first lining it with moss, over which I placed a layer of 
pounded charcoal. 
In the centre I plunged a thrifty Calla; on one side 
I planted a Rose Geranium, on the other a Coleus, fill¬ 
ing the remaining space with China Pinks, Florists’ 
Pinks, Stevia, double variegated Petunia, Begonias, 
and other small plants. About the edge of the hox I 
set some Gypsophila Muralis, that had seeded itself in 
the border; I also scattered some seeds of the 
Linaria Cymbalaria among the other plants. I put 
Maurandya and Adlumia cirrhosa in the ends. All of 
these are now growing finely, and bid fair to cover 
the soil with their delicate green. I plunged my Calla 
in the pot that its feet might he constantly kept wet 
without injury to other plants. 
Last winter I gave it the same treatment, and it 
grew exceedingly well, blossoming all through the 
winter and spring, and even in the summer. One 
summer I turned the pot on the side, and left it to care 
for itself, when one day I looked, and lo! there was a 
fine large blossom ; since then I have set it in the 
ground in the summer that it may gather strength for 
the coining winter; but it always blossoms just the 
same. I pot it early in September, using sand, sod 
and cow manure, each being well rotted, in equal j 
parts. I keep it in the shade for a few days and wa¬ 
ter sparingly until it gets established, then give it hot 
water in abundance, but with care, for if it receives 
too much at a time the roots will become cooked. 
Press the earth up a little around the stalk that it may 
not be injured. 
On a shelf, next the window, I have some Gera¬ 
niums in five-inch pots, which were started from slips 
last spring; they are already in bud. The shelf 
hangs below the window from screens fastened in the 
walls. 
Last winter I wanted a shelf for small pots placed 
across the window in such a way that the shade might 
be dropped between it and the window. After con¬ 
siderable thinking and planning, I sawed out two 
small brackets with a fret saw, leaving one side of 
each plain to fit the window-casing. I made the shelf 
long enough to reach across the window and rest upon 
the brackets. From the hack side of the shelf, be¬ 
tween the two brackets, I cut a strip one inch in depth, 
rounded the corners on the front and nailed the brac¬ 
kets close to the ends of the shelf; sawed out a pretty 
design to nail on the ends, which gave it a finished ap¬ 
pearance. After it was stained and hung upon screws 
put in the wall, I thought it very pretty, and have 
since found it quite serviceable. 
I have seen advertised a patent portable window 
garden ; but the one I am about to describe is un¬ 
patented, so any one can make a similar article. For 
the bottom a hoard two feet and six inches long and 
one foot wide is necessary. The end pieces are 
twelve and one-half inches long and eight inches wide, 
and should he carved or sawed in some pretty design; 
nail these on the ends of the bottom, making the 
fronts even ; hut letting them project one-half inch 
beyond the bottom on the.hack side. Make the front 
hoard, which should also be carved, eight inches wide 
and long enough to lap by the edge of the ends, to 
which it should he nailed. 
Our hox is now 7 finished, wfith the exception of the 
hack, for which make three small brackets, placing 
one in the middle and one at each end; the brace of 
each bracket should be eight inches in width at the 
top. 
This hox should also he stained with asphaltum and 
hung by the brackets against the wall under the win¬ 
dow. Either pots or a plain hox of nearly the same 
size may he set 'within. It will contain quite a num¬ 
ber of plants. 
We have various devices for hanging-baskets ; hut 
the prettiest I have made is of pine boards in the form 
of a hexagon larger at the top than at the bottom. I 
nailed small silk spools, split in halves, on the corners 
in a vertical row 7 , thus making them look as if turned 
out. On the sides and bottom I nailed deep thread 
spools, with some larger silk spools; then stained, 
varnished, and put screws in near the top for the cords. 
If the basket is large, three at equal distances w 7 ill he 
necessary; if small, tw 7 o are sufficient. Coids may he 
made of tw'ine and covered with old dress braid which 
can he put to no other use. C. J. A. 
WINDOW GARDENS VERSUS CURTAINS. 
I have four wdndow 7 gardens, and, seen as they are, 
are lovely. I will describe one of them. It is a large 
bay-window, situated on the “sunny side,” filled with 
plants delighting to bask in full sunshine, and as a 
matter of course there is an abundance of bloom. In 
the top casing six bird cage hooks are inserted, from 
which suspend as many pots of trailers, some of which 
nearly trail on the floor. These hooks carry the plants 
so far from the glass, there is no danger to be appre¬ 
hended from frost. One of these plants, a Lobster 
Cactus, has just delighted our vision with fifty beau¬ 
tiful carmine and w'hite blossoms. 
Half way dow 7 n the window 7 I have a shelf all the 
w 7 ay round for the accommodation of more stately and 
aspiring plants, that are always getting mixed up with 
“ things above;” in the same pots are trailers also, so 
thickly matted as to make them invisible, thereby ren¬ 
dering covers of cloth or pasteboard unnecessary, an 
article I have always looked upon as a nuisance when 
there were a hundred or more pots of plants to be 
sprinkled every tw 7 o or three days. 
At the bottom I have twrn window boxes, one at the 
right, the other at the left, filled w 7 ith vines, trailers, 
and vining plants, that need supports; for these I 
make trellises of different styles. Here, again, my 
trailers serve as ornaments, for I can find no glue that 
w 7 ill secure cones and other ornaments for any length 
of time, and leather work curls up in a little wdiile, 
giving the appearance of rags hung along the boxes, 
but trailers are all right always. 
The vines soon after commencing to grow, discover 
they have been “ sent on a mission,” for, aw 7 aiting 
their pleasure, are cords arranged, simulating drapery 
curtains, looped hack over flow r er pot holders, each 
holding a pot of plants. 
The groundwork and flowers of this curtain are all 
to he woven by the graceful interlacing of four twin¬ 
ing vines, but their zeal from the first shows that the 
task will soon he accomplished, and ample time re¬ 
maining for a circuit of the room, besides stopping 
to drape each picture they come in contact with. Co- 
hea scandens is a rapidly growdug vine and profuse 
bloomer, hut I think it a rather coarse plant for house 
culture; at least I prefer finer ones. 
The tassel at the top is a goblet with the stem 
broken off, set in a basket made of heads strung on 
twine, finished with a tassel of heads. The goblet is 
filled with water, and a hunch of Lobelia blossoms in¬ 
serted, which are expected to grow 7 and bloom all 
winter. 
In front of the middle sash stands a rustic vase 
containing a large Cactus, wfith vines and trailers 
w 7 reathed together so closely as to conceal its origi¬ 
nality. 
At the left of the vase is an Oleander which blos¬ 
soms during a greater part of the year ; at the right an 
Ahutilon always in bloom. Min. 
