WINDOW GARDENS.

Globe, Volume XXII, Issue 2084, 28 October 1880, Page 4

WINDOW GARDENS.

In the cultivation of plants outside the window, boxes should invariably be employed, apart from all considerations as to their appearance, because of the protection they afford the roots from extremes of temperatare. When the pots are placed upon the oill without any protection, ae is frequently done, it is a matter of extreme difficulty to maintain the plants in a healthy state, for not only are the roots subjected to an injuriously high temperature during periods of bright weather by the action of the sun upon the outside of the pote, but the moisture is so quickly evaporated from the soil forming the aides of the ball that it is practically impossible to prevent their suffering more or less from drought. The least troublesome and as a rule the most satisfactory way of embellishing windows is to grow the plants entirely in the boxes, but if it is so desired they may be grown in pots, and be then plunged within the boxes in cocoa-nut fibre refuse. This latter plan entails considerable labor, bat it has the great advantage of affording facilities Car changes to be made when thought desirable, and in some instances this would more than counterbalance the additional labor entailed. The form of the boxes, and the material of which they arc made, must in a great measure be determined by the style of architecture of the house, and the taste and means of the occupier. For cottages and small villas boxes of rustle wood and of deal, with a neat moulding along the bottom and upper edge, and painted dark green, brown, and chocolate, are the most suitable, whilst for more pretentious structures, boxes faced with tiles are preferable. In the selection of the boxes, those rather quiet in coloring should have the preference, as they show off the flowers and foliage with which they are furnished to much greater advantage than those of which the tiles aro very brightly coloured. In all cases they mast fid the window nicely, and they must be of sufficient width and breadth to hold a goodly quantity of soil, or the plants will not be much better off than they would bo in pots. They ought, as a rule, to be not loss than 9in in width and depth, and if they project a few inches beyond the sill it will not be a matter 0 1 much consequence, as their appearance will not bo at all objectionable, and they can be held

securely with neat brackets, one at each end —“ Q-ardencr’s Magazine.”