" Through this house with glimmering light Hop as light as bird from briar;
By the dead and drowsy fire, And this ditty, after me,
Every elf and fairy sprite Sing and dance it trippingly."
FLOWERS.
Why does not everybody have a geranium in his window,
or some other flower? It is very cheap; its cheapness is
next to nothing, if you raise it from seed or from a slip;
and it is a beauty and a companion. It sweetens the air,
rejoices the eye, links you with nature and innocence, and
is something to love. — LEIGH HUNT.
Flowers are the alphabet of all angels — whereby
They write on hills and fields mysterious truths.
A LOVE of flowers has always ranked among
the refined pleasures of a polished people.
Apart from cheerful and hygenic consider-
ations, there is a question of ornamentation in the
presence of plants and flowers about your
^ rooms. Not many of us can afford con-
servatories, but all of us, with the sun's
' aid, can compass the window garden; and
what picture on our walls is apt to
be half so beautiful as a window
where the sun is sifting through the
snow and gold of tropical-leaved
> 4 callas; through the geranium blos-
soms like scarlet fire, through the blue
lobelia and yellow oxalis, and rose,
and carnation, and the net work of all
their leaves.
The window gardens enliven the
dreary wastes of bricks and stone,
showing a marvellous wealth of beau-
tiful plants on its window-sill, and
can be made brilliant with flower-
boxes in every window. The favorite
plants for early spring are pansies
and daisies which send their white
and pink blooms high above all the
rest. Later, scarlet and pink gera-
niums, yellow calceolarias, and blue
lobelias, while hanging from the boxes
in graceful festoons aretrailing-vines
28 HOME DISSERTATIONS.
of English and German ivy and nasturtiums with crimson and golden blossoms. Other
boxes can be arranged with a mass of solid green and scarlet — green ivy waving below
and scarlet geraniums all of one shade glowing above.
The most satisfactory window gardens for the entire summer are those where the
plants grow from seeds or slips. These make their natural progress through the season
and are assailed by no premature blight. In the spring the little seedlings may be seen
coming up out of the soft earth. By June some of them are beginning to flower, and in
July and August the little garden is in a glory of color with yellow coreopsis, crimson
petunias and verbenas of every tint. It is surprising how many wanderers from the
winged life of the fields these gardens will attract — buzzing bees, saucy yellow-jackets,
and sometimes in June mornings bright butterflies will flutter over the flowers.
It frequently happens that the outlook from some particular room in the house is not
altogether pleasant, or that the window is so placed in relation to the street as that passers-
by can observe what is going on in the interior of the room. In such cases as these,
window gardens will be found exceedingly useful as well as highly ornamental — the
plants forming a natural blind of the most elegant description.
Page 20
Presented as published in 1891. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
" Through this house with glimmering light Hop as light as bird from briar;
By the dead and drowsy fire, And this ditty, after me,
Every elf and fairy sprite Sing and dance it trippingly."
FLOWERS.
Why does not everybody have a geranium in his window, or some other flower? It is very cheap; its cheapness is next to nothing, if you raise it from seed or from a slip; and it is a beauty and a companion. It sweetens the air, rejoices the eye, links you with nature and innocence, and is something to love. — LEIGH HUNT.
Flowers are the alphabet of all angels — whereby They write on hills and fields mysterious truths.
A LOVE of flowers has always ranked among the refined pleasures of a polished people. Apart from cheerful and hygenic considerations, there is a question of ornamentation in the presence of plants and flowers about your ^ rooms. Not many of us can afford conservatories, but all of us, with the sun's ' aid, can compass the window garden; and what picture on our walls is apt to be half so beautiful as a window where the sun is sifting through the snow and gold of tropical-leaved > 4 callas; through the geranium blossoms like scarlet fire, through the blue lobelia and yellow oxalis, and rose, and carnation, and the net work of all their leaves.
The window gardens enliven the dreary wastes of bricks and stone, showing a marvellous wealth of beautiful plants on its window-sill, and can be made brilliant with flowerboxes in every window. The favorite plants for early spring are pansies and daisies which send their white and pink blooms high above all the rest. Later, scarlet and pink geraniums, yellow calceolarias, and blue lobelias, while hanging from the boxes in graceful festoons aretrailing-vines
of English and German ivy and nasturtiums with crimson and golden blossoms. Other boxes can be arranged with a mass of solid green and scarlet — green ivy waving below and scarlet geraniums all of one shade glowing above.
The most satisfactory window gardens for the entire summer are those where the plants grow from seeds or slips. These make their natural progress through the season and are assailed by no premature blight. In the spring the little seedlings may be seen coming up out of the soft earth. By June some of them are beginning to flower, and in July and August the little garden is in a glory of color with yellow coreopsis, crimson petunias and verbenas of every tint. It is surprising how many wanderers from the winged life of the fields these gardens will attract — buzzing bees, saucy yellow-jackets, and sometimes in June mornings bright butterflies will flutter over the flowers.
It frequently happens that the outlook from some particular room in the house is not altogether pleasant, or that the window is so placed in relation to the street as that passersby can observe what is going on in the interior of the room. In such cases as these, window gardens will be found exceedingly useful as well as highly ornamental — the plants forming a natural blind of the most elegant description.