240 PRACTICAL FLORICULTURE. 



CHAPTER XLIV a 

 HANGING BASKETS. 



It is only of late years that the taste for hanging 

 baskets has become so universal. The taste has extended* 

 to every town and hamlet throughout the land. The 

 baskets are made either of wire-work, earthenware, or 

 of rough and gnarled roots or limbs, to form "rustic" 

 work. The wire and rustic baskets are the kinds in 

 most general use. 



Only certain kinds of plants are suitable for hanging 

 baskets ; such as are of low compact growth to cover the 

 surface, and such as are of drooping or trailing habit, to 

 hang over the sides. For a basket of one foot in diameter 

 we name the following as suitable : 



For center plants, either Dracena terminalis, D. 

 draco, D. indivisa or the " Screw Pine " Pandanus 

 utilis. 



Coleus VerscJiaffellii, well-known bronze foliage plant. 



Ooleus Golden Gem, clear yellow foliage plant. 



Coleus Firebrand. 



Centaurea Candida, a plant with white, downy leaves, 

 of compact growth. 



Geranium, semi-double scarlet, or semi-double rose. 



Sedim Sieboldii, a plant with light glaucous leaves 

 and graceful habit, which is not only desirable on 

 account of its foliage alone, but for its purplish rose 

 colored flowers. 



These are suitable for the upper surface of the 

 basket. Those proper to plant near the edge of the 

 basket are : 



Lobelia Erinus Paxtoni, blue, drooping eighteen 

 inches. 



Tropceolum, Ball of Fire, dazzling scarlet, drooping 

 two feet. 



