The outside window-box is a thing of beauty if well cared for, a disfigurement if neglected. So greatly does it add to the cheerfulness and apparent size of the rooms under the windows of which it is placed that I should advise its use whenever practicable. One of my pleasantest recollections is a window-box full of Heliotrope under a sitting-room window, filling the room so full of perfume that going into it in the early morning was like stepping into a garden of fragrance.

Window-boxes do well in any window not shaded by porches, and the plants best suited to the light may be selected. Many plants too tender to bed out in the open ground may be trusted to the window-box. Fuchsias, Ferns, Asparagus Sprengeri, A. tenuissimus, Ageratums, fancy-leaved Caladiums, and various tuberous-rooted Begonias, like the silver-spotted, known as Angel’s Wing, are all lovely in the window-box. Rubra and most of the Begonias do admirably in a north window. For windows facing the street, where effect is principally sought, bright Geraniums, Heliotropes, Coleus, Crotons, and similar plants are preferable, provided there is sufficient sunshine to bring out all their rich colouring.

The fancy-leaved Caladiums may be used where bright effect is sought in a north window.

The boxes used for this purpose should be as ample as possible, the full length of the window-casing outside and at least a foot wide and deep. They should be made of inch boards, closely fitted together so that the sides shall not warp and allow the water to run through too freely, washing out and exhausting the soil. A hole may be made in the bottom at one end, and provided with a plug, for the escape of surplus water during continued rains. A piece of broken crock or other drainage must be placed over the hole on the inside of the box to prevent the earth working in and obstructing the free passage of water. The hot air of summer will shrink the earth away from the sides of the box, leaving a channel for the water to escape without properly soaking the soil; but if the surface of the soil is kept open, and the centre left a little lower than the sides, this will be prevented. A little experimenting will show just how much water is needed to wet the soil properly without letting it run away, and this amount should be used daily during dry weather. Only as many plants as will do well in the limited space of four square feet should be planted in the window-boxes. Five erect plants and three vines are enough for a box of that size, and even these may need attention before the season is over, especially if in south or west windows. North or east boxes will, usually, keep their contents fresh until frost; but a west or south light makes great demands upon the vitality of plants confined within the limited area, and it is a good plan to leave Geraniums and similar flowers in their pots, that they may be easily exchanged for others when they grow shabby, cutting back and repotting the old ones for winter blooming if removed not later than August.

A better plan is to have two boxes; starting one in the house in March, that it may be ready to place as soon as danger of frost is past; and the second in June, that it may be ready to replace the first when needed. For the latter the vines started in the house, or hotbed, in April will be available. Maurandya, Thunbergia, and the like, and many flowers from seed will have reached sufficient size to be used for the second box. Plants that have been carried over from another season, or purchased from the florist, will be necessary for the first boxes. There is no more beautiful vine for a window-box than the Maurandya; it drapes more gracefully than any other vine I know (unless it be the Wild Cucumber, which attaches itself to the window-screen in wreaths of exuberant bloom, drooping far below the window-box, and making a lovely background for scarlet Geraniums). Its only fault is that it will grow shabby before the season is over, when it had better be pulled up and replaced by a fresher vine that has been grown in a pot for the purpose and can be slipped into place without checking its growth.

Perhaps no plant is more satisfactory for a south or west window-box than a good Geranium—either the dark, rich vermilion of the S. A. Nutt, or the vivid scarlet of the Bruant. Both of these appear to better advantage when contrasted with white flowers. Camphor Geranium is excellent, being a freer bloomer than other white Geraniums, and the Giant White Antirrhinum is especially vivid. Double white Petunias and white Phlox Drummondi are also good. Purple Ageratums and Heliotrope are charming with scarlet and white. The large-flowered Ivy Geraniums—Souvenir de Charles Turner—are the best, and do finely in east and west window-boxes, while the variegated variety makes a lovely mass of pendent foliage for an east or north box. Trailing Fuchsia, Japanese Morning-glory, Glechoma, and Wild Cucumber all do well on the north side of the house. The following combinations may all be depended upon to give satisfactory results:

Nasturtiums make an attractive window-box, but need abundant root room, and not more than three plants should be put in a box having three other erect plants. Morning-glories, on the contrary, require but little room, and one may be put in each end of a north window-box and trained over the window. If strings are provided they will reach the roof by midsummer, blooming every step of the way; other vines may be grown in the front of the box. The Centrosema—when it can be persuaded to grow—is a charming vine for a north or east window, but it is a very shy plant, hard to get started, and refusing to grow in an uncongenial situation, though quite hardy when once established.

The best support for the window-box is the wooden bracket made by nailing to the side of the house, thirteen inches below the window-sill, a strip of inch stuff the length of the window-frame and three or four inches wide; on top of this and at right angles to it nail three similar strips of wood one foot long, the outer ends resting on strips of wood attached to the sill of the house; these last strips must have the ends bevelled sufficiently to fit snugly against the baseboards and the bottom of the horizontal pieces and be securely nailed together. If the measurements are carefully taken the box will slip into place, on the supports, just under the window-sill. Paint boxes and supports to match the house. Window-boxes may be kept in the cellar through the winter, or emptied, dried and stored in a dry place, according to their contents. Always empty and thoroughly scald the boxes before using.

In stocking window-boxes never put plants received by mail directly into them; they should be ordered early enough to pot and become established (the pots full of roots) by the time they are needed for the window-boxes, when they may be slipped into place without disturbing the roots or checking their growth. Placed at once in the boxes, in a sunny position, they would probably be lost.

Very fair window-boxes may be obtained at trifling expense by using the boxes in which grass scythes are packed, which may be purchased at the hardware store for five or ten cents apiece. These are not as wide nor as deep as one could wish, but have the advantage of cheapness and availability. Preference should be given to those having close seams. If warped or open they must be tightened by driving in extra nails, or nailing thin strips of wood over the cracks on the inside. The longevity of the window-box is greatly lengthened by keeping the windows above them—especially on the south and west sides of the house—open as much of the time as possible. If the sun beats on the glass of the closed window and is reflected on the plants, it is literally confining them between two fires and they cannot be expected to come through uninjured. Let the wind sweep through and over them and they will stand any reasonable amount of heat or moisture. This is the reason plants do better in the open than when placed against the side of a wall or building—the air must not only have free access, but pass beyond, carrying off noxious vapours and excess of moisture.

When there is garden room for their cultivation I do not approve of growing annuals in window-boxes; it is better to reserve these for choice plants; but when the window-box must be the only garden, and economy must be studied, very pretty boxes may be arranged with Sweet Alyssum; scarlet, white, or pink Phlox Drummondi; scarlet, pink, or white Verbenas; the various coloured Antirrhinums, Petunias, Nasturtiums, the blue Phacelia and Ageratums, Wild Cucumber, the finer foliaged fancy gourds, as Bryonopsis Coccinea Indica, and Abobra viridiflora. By using the scythe boxes, and starting the plants from seed, very pretty boxes may be gotten up for from thirty-five to fifty cents a pair that will give as much pleasure as more expensive ones. The more flowers are cut from these boxes of annuals the more freely they will bloom, and no seeds should be allowed to form. A little liquid manure should be given all window-boxes—except those containing Begonias—once a week during the summer, and all withered flowers and leaves promptly removed. Nip back weak, straggly growths and encourage the plants to grow stocky and the vines to branch freely.