Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1890-08-20


habits of the flowers in it more care
fully than You would be likely to if you
had several beds full of them growing
in yard.
The first thing to do Is to find box
as long as your window. about foot
wide, and foot in depth.
1t doesn't matter If this box is a plain
pine one If you have good luck with
your flowers, they will soon hide 1t
completely. OF course you can paint
1t, If you want to, or you can take a
strip of oil cloth and tack over 1T, make
1t look quite like a costly window-box
covered with tiles, ut little distance.
Fasten it to the window-sill SO that
inside of the casing. You Will be max
ing a mistake If you have it above the
sill.
After driving some stout nails through
the box into the sill, fit two braces from
the outside corners of it SO that they
Will reach back to the side of the house
about two feet below the box. These
are quite necessary, as the box, when
full of soil, will be quite heavy, and it
will require good support.
Get the best soil you can to fill 1T.
By searching you can almost always
find place where leaves have rotted.
Or you can take old turf or sods and
cut them up into otis. If this is the
best you can do, get some manure, if
possible, and add to it. and mix in some
sand, or old mortar, to make 1t light
and mellow.
If you want an awning that will be
far more beautiful than any that you
could buy at the stores, plant morning
glorIes at the ends of the box, to clam
ber up about the window. You can
make square frame of lath, or strips
of thin wood, that can be fastened to
the top of the window. A brace on
each side, starting at about the middle
of the window frame, viii hold this
square ont and away from the window
i'll such n way as to shade it when it is
! covered with vines Train the morn
ing-glorIes up to the framework, and in
a short time they will completely cover
1t, and the vines will hang about 1t j.
fringe of foliage and flowers that .sill
be far more beautiful than the costliest
lace you could fashion into curtains for
your window.
About the outside of the box plant
some trailing plant to droop over and
! cover 1T Petunias Will do this we'll.
So viii nasturtiums. Very likely you
have some friend who has house-plants,
| dillOuB WHICH there Will L,
or tradescantia, or coliseum ivy. She
will doubtless be pleased to give you
little slips of these. Plant them in the
soil, and they Will soon take root, and
almost before You know 1t your box
Will be covered with vines.
You can grow almost any flower in
such a box if you take proper care of it.
\ geranium will do well there. or a
| heliotrope. If the window Is q north
one you can have psnsies.
When the plants come into blossom,
you will be delighted with your little
| garden away up IN the air. You will
appreciate it all the more because it has
cost you considerable time and labor.
You will find it charming companion,
and Que from which you can learn q
great deal about the habits and char
acteristics of plants.
L have said something about taking
proper care of 1t. will tell you what
| i mean by that
| Window-boxes have become quite
popular in the cities. You will see
them in the most fashionable parts of
the town. But if you have been OBJ
! serving, you viii have noticed that very
many of these boxes had a sort of sickly
look about them. The plants In them
did not appear to be doing well. Their
leaves were yellow and dropping off.
and as for flowers, there were none to
| speak Of From this you may have got
the idea that window-box was a
somewhat difficult thing to manage sue
| cessfully. But II Is not. The boxes
you seen filled with sickly plants were
neglected ones. They had not been
cared for properly
The fact il, n window-box. because II
is exposed to the air on all but one side.
loses the moisture in its soil very rap
IDLY by evaporation. The wind, and
air. and sun have a chance to get at it,
and they do their work thoroughly IL
but little water Is given, IN a few days
the soil an inch OF two below the sur
face will become as dry as dust, and oi
course the roots of the plants suffer III
consequence. Most persons get into
the habit of giving water to their plant:
in small Quantities, but they give il
often. This is wrong, If you would
be successful with a window-box, give
all the water the soil can drink in al
one time, and then wait till the surface
of the soil looks dry. When this dry
look is seen, give another thorough ap-
plicatIon. Give so literally that the
water penetrates the soil in every part
of the box, and runs out through the
cracks in the bottom and corners. II
you do this, you may be sure that al
the roots get all the moisture they re
quire, and you Will be surprised to see
what rapid growth your plants make
and what fine flowers they bear. If you
neglect your box for a day or two, you
will find that your plants begin to will
rs soon as the sun comes up, and very
soon you will notice that many of the
Ia,v
mute but eloquent remonstrance.
against such neglect, and if you love
your plants you will take care not Il
have 1t happen again
IT is a good plan to water daily.
Make IL a rule to do So at a certain hour
and you will not be likely to forget 1t
. 1t Is always best to give the water a
night, or after sun down, as eyapora
tion does not take place so rapidly then
When you apply water to the soil
sprinkle the plants well. This keep
them clean, and unless they are clear
they will not he as attractive as the,
ought to be- Dusty plants tell of neg
lect, and are never as healthy as thos
whose pores are kept open for the ad
mission of air. Plants breathe through
their leaves, YOU know.
From what have said, you viii Sc
that the great secret of having a win
, dow-box that will afford you a vas
amount of pleasure is really no secre
Mt all. 1t all consists in giving tn
proper care. 1t is quite as easy t
: grow good plants in a box as in tn
open ground. There is little NOR
labor connected with it, but that wi
not be grudgingly given if you reall
= love flowers. If you do not love them
do not try to grow them.-Houle Make