182 
THE FERN PARADISE. 
times produce very charming effects by the pro¬ 
fuse and artistic display of beautiful-leaved plants 
and flowers. Sometimes the display is confined 
to a simple and tasteful arrangement of flowers, 
either on the window-sill or upon a flower-stand, 
just inside the window. At other times the 
windows are occupied by small conservatories, 
which fill the space projecting equally into and 
from the room, or are made to project only beyond 
and outside of the window. Occasionally we 
may see either the entire front of a city or 
suburban residence, or the lower or upper half of 
its front made charming by the presence of the 
spreading leaf clusters of some climbing plant— 
Virginian creeper, clematis, wistaria, or what not. 
Such floral transformations of town dwellings 
are very pleasant. They give pleasure, in fact, 
not merely to the occupiers of the houses thus 
adorned, but to all passers-by, for perhaps the 
next best thing to a country ramble for those in 
cities pent during the greater part of the year is 
a walk through suburban districts made green and 
» 
bright and beautiful by the abundant presence of 
trees, shrubs, and flowers. 
