Window-Boxes—Their Utility and Beauty 
ON A LARGER SCALE 
The size of the win¬ 
dow-box will I depend 
upon the window, but 
they should be deep 
and wide enough to 
afford abundant soil 
for the plants they will 
contain, for to obtain 
the best effects the 
plants must be some¬ 
what crowded or 
massed in the boxes. 
About ten inches deep 
and as many wide is a 
good size for the ordi¬ 
nary window; larger 
boxes have a heavy 
appearance, which it 
is desirable to avoid; 
they are also a strain 
on the supports, un¬ 
less they constitute a 
part of the architecture 
of the house and are 
strongly built. 
The boxes should be 
nearly or quite water¬ 
tight and plugged for 
the escape of surplus 
water during times of 
excessive humidity. 
Boxes that leak water 
at every pore are diffi¬ 
cult to keep suffi¬ 
ciently moist; further¬ 
more, the leaking of 
the water through the 
earth and out of the 
box carries with it 
much of the nurture 
of the soil and conse¬ 
quently impoverishes 
it to the detriment of 
the plants. Plants 
crowded together in 
small compass and de¬ 
pended upon to give a 
thrifty, vigorous effect, 
must be well supplied with moisture and nourishment. 
Good garden loam incorporated with a liberal 
supply of old, well-rotted manure will grow the 
majority of plants to perfection, but for such plants as 
heliotropes, and fuchsias and begonias, a consider¬ 
able proportion of leaf mould should be added, but 
this is too light for the generality of plants, and, as 
it dries easily, requires more moisture. 
Much money may be expended in the purchase of 
choice florist’s plants, while charming results may 
be attained by quite simple means, providing the 
color scheme is carefully thought out and the loca¬ 
tion of the box considered. 
It is doubtful if there is any better combination of 
color for general effect than scarlet and white, and 
boxes with this motif may be charmingly developed 
by combining the S. A. Nutt geranium with a good 
white geranium, antirrhinum or camphor geranium. 
Scarlet and white verbenas—so the scarlet be vivid 
and the white pure—also give excellent results, while 
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