There are, of course, infinite variations and combinations that you can employ in setting up your indoor garden, but basically there are three main approaches to the arrangement of house plants:

1) Individual pots which can be set up and moved about at will.
2) A tray or box arrangement (almost always in a window) in which a number of different plants are grown together.
3) Terrariums (also known as Wardian cases) of which only the smallest or bottle variety are truly mobile.

For the beginner, obviously the easiest arrangement, individual pots, is the best. Here, each plant can be given completely separate attention. The likes and dislikes of the plant can be catered to, and the chances of success are greatest. The arrangement possibilities are limitless. There are any number of holders and shelf arrangements on the market designed to help you arrange your indoor garden to show off to the best advantage. Suffice it to say that starting an indoor garden in the least ambitious way, with individual pots rather than with a window-box or pan arrangement, is safest, cheapest, and probably in the long run the most satisfying way to begin.

Remember, you are not restricted to displaying your plants in the same places you grow them. If, for instance, you have a sunny kitchen window with a wide shelf - an ideal spot for growing plants, but not much of a showcase - there is no reason you can't grow them there until they flower and then bring them into the living room. If you can return them to the sunlit window during the day, so much the better. You can set a pot of trailing ivy on either side of your mantle piece, brighten up the dining-room sideboard with two or three philodendron plants. Nothing adds to the charm of a room like plants. A flowering geranium in the guest room makes your home a much more attractive place to visit.

For the more experienced gardener, a really striking display can be made with a tray arrangement, in which a number of different plants are set out together, in individual pots, in one large box or tray. This type of set-up can consist of anything from a specially built box to go under a picture window or on a sun porch to a small garden growing in a baking dish. By grouping plants in a box or tray, you can really achieve some interesting effects, and with deft handling and wise choice of the plants you use, you can make a miniature flower garden which will bloom all year round. There are problems with this kind of arrangement, as we have indicated before. Since all the plants are placed together, they must live under the same physical conditions of sun, humidity and, to a certain extent, water supply. These problems are, of course, not insurmountable since the range of plants that will live together is broad, but a great deal of care is necessary not only in the choice of plants selected but in the handling once the garden is started.

The third planting arrangement mentioned, terrariums or Wardian cases, is a completely different approach to house-plant culture. Back in the middle of the nineteenth century an English botanist by the name of Nathaniel Ward discovered by mistake that many wood plants will grow and posper with little or no care if kept in a sealed container. Terrariums growing moss, ferns and lichens can provide a woodland in miniature for your home, and almost any glass container can be used, from a fish bowl to a cocktail glass. From the point of view of home decoration, the difficulty with terrariums is that 1) the plants that will grow in them are relatively few, and 2) because they are enclosed they don't add the same kind of color to a room as do potted plants.

It doesn't matter if you have room for just one or two plants - or if you can grow a veritable flower garden indoors - the pleasures that come from growing plants are tremendous. And the pleasures are not just your own - they are shared by everyone who visits your home and sees them.

Maybe we're prejudiced, but we can't think of a hobby anywhere nearly as rewarding!