Evening Republican, Volume 14, Number 168, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 July 1910 — WINDOW BOX ARRANGEMENT [ARTICLE]

WINDOW BOX ARRANGEMENT

Home Decoration Capable of Adding 'immensely to Appearance of the House. to The artistic arrangement of window boxes is a form of decoration that interests almost every Woman, especially the home gardener, who has discovered that certain combinations flourish so they need no renewing throughout the season. Of the latter geraniums are satisfactory because they require little care and put forth an endless succession of flowers. I often wonder why climbing geraniums are not used more, for they are effective. In England one sees them everywhere and they grow finely in any place except where hot sun beats on them all day. They require little shade and an even amount of moisture. Given that they flourish. English daisies are also pretty for boxes and if clipped occasionally will put forth blooms several times a season. Their foliage is fine and the little white blossoms are lovely. Nasturtiums are as obvious as geraniums, and for the same reason. Many persons will say that heliotrope will not thrive in window or piazza boxes, butjjpuch has not been the experience of the home gardener. She has raised both purple and white ones. Nor does she find the care of them difficult. Heliotrope cannot have too much sun, and it must be watered often. Heliotrope cannot be placed in a box which is narrow or thin because the roots will feel the heat of the sun too much. The box holding them must be deep, so the same conditions will prevail as if they were in the ground. Petunias, especially the double va rieties, are charming for window boxes. Not good for cutting, the flowers have a delicate odor which becomes evident the instant they are damp. Double white petunias suggest roses, and once firmly established these grow rapidly. Amateurs must not try to raise them from seed. The small plants in two-inch pots cost little and beat transplanting.

The most common cause of spindling and scraggy looking window boxes is that the roots are not kept at an even degree of moisture. To douse the soil to a condition of mud and then let it dry to powder affects the plant precisely as extreme changes of temperature do human beings. They become weak trying to adapt themselves. *

The soil must be kept damp, and to do this successfully the boxes must be Intelligently observed each day. When a high wind has been blowing the dirt will be dryer than on a damp day, and when the sun beats down severely moisture will naturally dry sooner. For this reason the amount of water given varies from day to day.