84 



PLANTS FOE BASKETS. 



I iiave not succeeded in flowering I yam or not, wherever a tasteful eye 

 Sinecio mikania?, but like it as muck as lights upon it, it will be at once noted 

 ever for the sake of its really beauti- 1 as apecvdiarly graceful and interesting 

 ful foliage. It does better to hang I plant. Ipomea hederacea is another 

 down in festoons, but it will climb ; of the good things to train round the 

 freely ; for an odd bit that I planted : sides of a large basket ; its fine ivy- 

 out at the foot of an arch, and left to shaped leaves and profusion of blue 

 train itself, had gone right over it, a flowers give it great distinctness of 

 height of ten feet, before August, and character, and if its roots are confined 

 there it mixed very effectively with it flowers sufficiently without attain- 

 ting beautiful Cobea scandens. I had ing to a rank and unmanageable 

 last season from Mr. Thompson, of growth. Loasa aurantiaca may be 

 Ipswich, who introduced this climbing 

 Senecio, a pretty thing called Poly- 

 gone suavis. It is a slender spare- 

 leaved twiner, which not only trains 

 itself, but throws out tendrils. The 

 leaves are dark-green, ovate, and 

 serrated ; and the flowers come in the 

 axils of the leaves. They are creamy - 

 white, small, and inconspicuous ; and 

 therefore this must not be adopted 

 as at all striking as an ornament. 

 Trained down the sides of a hanging 

 basket it is peculiarly graceful, and 

 its flowers emit such a sweet and 

 powerful odour that a single plant is 

 sufficient to scent the atmosphere of 

 a large conservatory. Tradescantia 

 zebriua makes a beautiful object when 

 grown on a block mossed over and 

 trained down. It is also a good plant 

 to mis with light-foliaged creepers in 

 baskets ; its leaves are dashed with 

 crimson and purple lines on a dark- 

 green ground, stems crimson, and 

 flowers^ pink. Though a stove plant, 

 it does well in a warm greenhouse 

 or conservatory. Thunbergias are 

 charming things for dark-coloured 

 baskets, producing abundance of their 

 neat yellow and orange blossoms all 

 the summer, and if sown early come 

 well from seed. For planting out to 



entered as a desirable half-hardy 

 annual to hang down in six-feet ring- 

 lets, with plenty of orange-coloured 

 blossoms. Gesnera scabra is another 

 good one, which attains a length of 

 eighteen inches. For the centres of 

 large vases nothing can equal pyra- 

 midal fuchsias, and indeed a set of 

 fuchsias of sizes suited to the vase, 

 ranging from dwarfs at the edge to a 

 tall pyramid in the centre, will often 

 prove better planting than the most 

 fanciful mixtures that can be devised. 

 The variegated mint and Cerastium 

 tomentosum train over baskets well, 

 and make a capital edging to Flower 

 of the Day, or Andre, or Purple King 

 Verbena. I believe it will yet be 

 found that variegated-leaved plants 

 are, after all, better for vases and 

 baskets than those which have gaudy 

 flowers. What a splendid thing for a 

 vase is Farfugium grande, laying its 

 bold blotched leaves over the soft rim 

 of a stone vase,, or filling a basket of 

 moss or hazel rods. Cineraria mari- 

 tima, the silver-frosted plant, never 

 looks so well as when grown to a good 

 size in a pot, and dropped into a 

 wicker or bark vase. Stachys lanata, 

 again, has charming silvery leaves ; 

 so have Achillea tomentosa and Cen- 



run over a trellis or bank, I know of taurea argentea, and the strikingly- 

 few things more elegant than the I marked Fragaria foli variegata, which, 



Chinese Yam, Dioscorea battatas 

 with its shiny heart-shaped leaves 

 and pretty sweet-scented blossoms. 

 Whether people take to eating the 



by the way, is not near so hardy as a 

 common strawberry, and must not be 

 exposed to frost. S. H. 



EEMINDEES FOE APEIL. 



Auriculas are not very forward this 

 spring, and in some places will be hardly 

 up to the mark for the early shows. There 



is a prospect of increased popularity for 

 this flower, and this is a good time to buy 

 stock of leading kinds in bloom. A cool, 



