Page:Every Woman's Encyclopedia Volume 1.djvu/158

 THE GARDEN 138 flower-beds. Whether the change was made from the point of view of economy in the upkeep of the gardens, or whether it was done for the prevention of rheumatism in the old people, by enabhng them to walk about on dry ground, is not known. Whatever the motive was, the present result is original and deUghtful. In spite of a hard fight and struggle for existence, sweet sultan, wallflowers, sun- flowers, and sweet-peas have managed to sow themselves and come up in between the chinks and cracks of the slabs of stone. They fought their way at first, but now the almshouse people help them, and each year little packets of seed are bought and dropped into the holes between the stones. The effect is wonderfully picturesque, for flowers look their best springing up irregularly with this soft grey-blue background. This idea, somewhat modified, might be adopted for a children's playground and garden plot. So often little ugly, neglected beds are seen, cut out of a damp, dark shrubbery, possibly surrounded by hedges or high trees. Children are expected to amuse themselves here, and make flowers grow, but the results are usually disappoint- ing. Nothing will flourish if robbed of food WINDOW»BOX PLAMT^ FOR AUTU: WINTER by larger beings, and the big elms or yews take all nourishment from the children's garden. Here, too, the paths are a source of trouble, for wet earth is apt to soil clothes, and gravel is tiresome when you kneel upon it, and holes in stockings are the natural consequence. A paved court in a sunny aspect, with a few mounds of good soil let in here and there, would give pleasure and would prevent many a cold. Certainly, flower-beds would look their best, instead of being little brown heaps of disappointment. Those who are interested in this subject will find it well described, with plans and drawings, by Miss Rose Haig Thomas in a book called " Stone Gardens." She has made a careful study of the subject. All the following little plants are mentioned by her as suitable to the chinks in paving-stones, and their names are added as being possibly less well known than the plants mentioned at the beginning of this article. The experiment may be made first wath the commoner kinds of rock plants, and when these are firmly estabhshed the following may be added : Gentians, lithosper- mum prostratum, the annual phacelia cam- panularia, also saxifraga oppositi folia, tufts of lychnis, crinus alpinus, niyosotis rupicola. By EDITH WEBSTER, F.R.H.S. W/'hy is it that window-boxes are invari- ably left neglected and empty for nearly half the year ? This, too, at the particular period of the year when something is wanted to relieve the dull monotony of rows and rows of houses with closely drawn blinds, and the general look of desertion which meets the eye in so many directions. And what is really worse than empty flower- boxes is the sight of dead or dying summer flowering plants left to wither still further if not soon removed, a sorry spectacle indeed where life and beauty have only recently reigned. Some people are under the impression that there are no suitable plants that will live out of doors through the winter except heavy, dark laurels or yew ; and the latter are objected to by sorae persons as having the superstitious credit of being unlucky ; but a row of the former, although better than nothing, does httle to relieve the sombreness of the house in the dull and dreary winter days. If it is not possible to have the boxes filled and looked after during this period, they had better be taken down, emptied of the mould, etc., and stored awav in the basement until they are required again in the spring, and so avoid the damage which damp and exposure naturally cause. Then they will come up again clean and bright for the spring and summer seasons. The green and variegated euonymus, and some Aucuba vera, with their clusters of red berries, will last through the whole winter until they can be replaced by the spring or summer A neat and simple windowbox for a town house plants. The green and golden privet is also a most useful evergreen for window-boxes, the golden variety being most effective. A row of these placed at the back of the box, with a row of solanum (winter cherry) in the front, or red China asters, make a really bright filling for boxes, and can replace the geraniums, etc., which have faded in the early autumn. When the asters have done flowering, a row of short euonymus can be planted in their stead. Another autumn arrangement is to use yellow to bronze chrysanthemums at the back of the box, with a tall cryptonieria or juniper at each corner, and solanum in the front; the red-coloured berries tone very well with the autumn-tinted shades of the chrysanthemums. Another suitable
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