MONTHLY CALENDAR. 239 



is Saxifrac/a sannentosa, which does well undei* ordinary treatment ; it is of 

 variegated foliage and highly ornamental. Another suitable plant is Disandnc 

 prostrata, with bright yellow flowers, and pretty foliage like ground ivy. Both 

 these will trail eighteen inches or more from the basket in very graceful festoons. 



645. Very prettily- designed troughs are now made to fit the window-sills ; 

 wire baskets, of ornamental patterns, are planted, some with ferns and 

 lycopods, and others with trailing plants, having a very pretty effect, may 

 be obtained at many of the shops near the markets. Some of these are made 

 of wire : these require lining with moss to make them hold the soil ; the moss 

 ought to be partially dried, but damped again before using. Others are made 

 of wood, ornamented outside ; and some with pieces of fir cones tacked over 

 them, which gives a neat and rustic appearance to them. Others, again, are 

 ornamented with bark, or different-coloured pieces of wood. Terra-cotta 

 vases, surrounded with wires for suspension, are also in use for the same 

 purpose. When these baskets are of wood, they should be lined with zinc : 

 this makes them more durable ; for wood, as it decays, is sure to breed fungus, 

 which is injurious to plants. 



646. In planting a basket, if it is to be filled with ordinary soft-wooded 

 ilowering-plants, that is, geraniums, verbena;', petunias, &c., the soil ought 

 to be two-thirds loam to one of very rotten dung or leaf-mould, and a little 

 sand ; if planted with ferns or hard- wooded plants, as Myoporum parviflomm, 

 Monochcetoii ensiferum, PuUenceas, and the like, the soil should be one-half 

 turfy loam and one-half peat, using rather more sand than for the freer-growing 

 plants. To those who are not acquainted with soils, it may be worth while to 

 observe, that good loam is of a yellowish hue, and feels soft and silky to the 

 -touch ; it is usually the top s]pit of meadow-land, while peat is obtained in 

 places where heath grows wild. 



647. If the baskets are made of wire and lined with moss, they are suffi- 

 ciently drained ; if of wood, there should be one or more holes in each, to let out 

 surplus moisture : as to soil, those who cannot obtain it otherwise may 

 purchase it at the nearest nursery, properly prepared for the particular kind 

 of plants it is intended for. In filling the baskets, jDut some rough lumpy 

 soil at the bottom. This should lie hollow, so that surplus water may readily 

 fiizd an exit. The soil should be laid in roughly, with some broken pieces of 

 potsherd mixed with it, when it will keep sweet for years. 



648. The best plants for suspending in baskets are fuchsias of a j)endulous 

 habit, as Nil desperandum, a good fuchsia of beautiful drooping habit, red in 

 colour. Better still, is the Duchess of Lancaster, a splendid white variety of 

 a similar habit. The Princess of Prussia is a neat-growing plant, of drooping 

 habit and very showj', the corolla of the flower being white, and the calyx and 

 tube red. There are other drooping sorts, but none more suitable for the 

 purpose than those named. These baskets being suspended within the room, 

 and fuchsias being capable of standing a small amount of frost, if kept tolerably 

 dry, they will live in this way for many years, flowering through the summer 

 and often through the si:»ring and autumn if the soil were coarse and lumpy 



