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TJte HorticuUurist and Journal 



Tlie G-arden in the House. 



Hatttjhitj Jitmltets. 



THIS graceful and convenient form of deco- 

 ration increases in popularity from year to 

 year. Many a city home, which would other- 

 wise be destitute of floral adornment, is bright- 

 ened by a hanging basket or two ; and in the 

 country, among people of taste and refinement, 

 they are becoming more and more common. 

 The baskets themselves are made of wire, 

 terra cotta, or wood. The first named is the 

 most usual, but the small terra cotta baskets 

 are extremely neat and elegant for bay win- 

 dows or other interior situations. They, pos- 

 sess, with the rustic wood baskets, the addi- 

 tional advantage over the wire of retaining 

 moisture longer, and thus suffering less from 

 neglect of frequent watering. The wood 

 basket generally consists of a turned wooden 

 bowl, covered over with twigs and roots to give 

 it a rustic appearance. When this kind of 

 basket is used, care should be exercised to see 

 there are a few holes in the bottom to permit 

 drainage. The matter is scarcely ever at- 

 tended to by the makers, and florists who sell 

 them ready filled with plants are apt to neglect 

 it. The consequence is that the basket soon 

 becomes water-logged, and the plants con- 

 tained in it die of wet feet. Where provision 

 for drainage has been neglected until after the 

 basket is filled, holes may be bored from the 

 outside, and the dropsical condition relieved. 

 The wire baskets are first lined with thick 

 Moss and afterwards filled with earth, into 

 which the growing plants are set. 



Selection of Infants.— The central por- 

 tion of the basket should be filled with upright 

 plants of a neat dwarf habit, and around the 

 edge those of creeping or trailing growth. 

 But while a basket filled with any bright 

 thrifty plants of suitable habit of growth is a 

 thing of beauty, it is far better to make such 

 a combination of color as to present a harmo- 

 nious living picture. The colors, not only of 

 the flowers, but also of the foliage employed, 



should be studied with a view to this eiFect. 

 Our greenhouses furnish such a variety of 

 plants with ornamental foliage — crimson, gol- 

 den, white, bronze, purple, and silvery-grey — 

 that almost any desired effect of color can 

 be produced independently of the blossoms. 

 When a less complicated style is preferred, a 

 basket may be made beautiful by its very sim- 

 plicity. In such cases a single plant is suffi- 

 cient, provided it makes up, by its luxuriance 

 of growth, for the lack of variety. We saw 

 a very attractive basket recently, which was 

 completely wreathed with the rich foliage and 

 bright mauve-colored flowers of an Ivy Ge- 

 ranium. A plant of Saxifraga sarmentosa, 

 sometimes called Strawberry Greranium, set 

 in the centre of a small basket, will soon 

 cover the surface with leaves, while the long- 

 tendrils and tassel-like stolons droop gracefully 

 down the sides. Another useful plant in this 

 way is the Convolvulus mauritanicus, a single 

 specimen of which will soon make the basket 

 a rich mass of bright green foliage and blue 

 flowers. No one need be depi'ived of hanging- 

 baskets on account of remoteness from green- 

 houses, or inability to purchase greenhouse 

 plants. No baskets are produced more exqui- 

 site than can be made by judicious use of the 

 plants found in the forests and fields. The 

 basket itself may be made of woven twigs, the 

 end of a little barrel covered over with rustic 

 branches and roots, or a framework of brass or 

 galvanized iron wire. Then, for filling, the 

 forest furnishes abundance of Moss, rich light 

 soil, and Ferns, Partridge Ben-y, Saxifrages, 

 and all the immense variety of other plants 

 which love to nestle in its shades, or seek its 

 open sunny banks. 



Care of BasJcefs. —The first and most 

 essential requisite for the health and even the 

 life of plants suspended in baskets, is suffi- 

 ciently frequent watering. Their wants in 

 this respect vary, of course, with the size of 

 the baskets and the material used. Wire 

 baskets, in addition to being sprinkled every 

 day and the Moss kept fresh, are greatly bene- 

 fited by an occasional dipping in water. Wood 

 and terra cotta baskets evaporate only at the 

 surface, and, therefore, need less frequent 



