﻿Apbil 8, 1920 



The Florists' Review 



23 



!l SEASONABLE 



i^ SUGGESTIONS 



HANGING BASKET PLANTS. 



Spring Brings Call. 



With the first warm weather of spring 

 comes the demand for plants for hang- 

 ing baskets. Some members of the trade 

 do much of this kind of work and those 

 who make up these baskets each year 

 are constantly seeking new ideas. There 

 are a large number of plants of vine- 

 like or climbing habit which are useful 

 for this purpose. Many that would be 

 useless to use in vases make pretty bas- 

 ket plants, because in the vase they are 

 exposed to drought, sun, wind and neg- 

 lect, while the basket has more or less 

 shelter and is under the care of some- 

 one whose duty is to keep it well sup- 

 plied with water, the chief need of a 

 successful hanging basket. 



Some of the plants used in baskets 

 are of upright habit. These are either 

 plants of naturally small stature, or are 

 practically such for a season from a 

 slow habit of growth. The suitability 

 of these erect-growing plants for the 

 purpose is determined, ande from their 

 stature, by their freedom of bloom, 

 beauty of foliage, striking form or grace 

 of habit. Such plants are used princi- 

 pally for filling the central part of the 

 basket. Plants of trailing habit are in- 

 serted near the sides, some to droop, 

 others to twine upward on the cords or 

 handle by which the basket is sus- 

 pended. Some plants are more suitable 

 than others for shady places; the sela- 

 ginellas are examples. Others thrive 

 only with several hours of direct sun- 

 shine each day. 



Available Plants. 



Some plants of vine-like habit are, 

 first, those that are long-drooping: Eng- 

 lish ivy, Kenilworth ivy, Vinca major, 

 Vinca Harrisonii, Saxifraga sarmentosa, 

 Cissua discolor. Moneywort ivy, tropse- 

 olums (nasturtiums), Ampelopsis 

 Veitchii; second, those that are climb- 

 ing: Lygodium scandens, maurandia, 

 feenecio scandens, thunbergia, Cobsea 

 scandens, Japanese variegated hop. 

 Clematis coccinea and forms of con- 

 volvulus; finally, those that are short- 

 drooping, or half -erect: Lobelia Erinus, 

 Othonno crassifolia, sweet alyssum, 

 tradescantia, petunias, Oxalis flori- 

 bunda, Busselia juncea, fittonia, Fuchsia 

 procumbens, ice plant, verbena, ivy ge- 

 raniums, selaginellas and begonias. 



Plants of upright habit are low-grow- 

 ing and tall-growing. Some of the low- 

 growing plants are torenia, pansy, 

 ^uphea platycentra, C. hyssopifolia, 

 primula obconica, dwarf alyssum and 

 iselhs perennis, which are flowering 

 P'*"*8, and peperomia, Begonia Eex, 

 J arfugium grande, maidenhair fern and 

 alternanthera, which are foliage plants. 

 Inose of taller-growing habit are gera- 

 niums, pelargoniums, fuchsias, petunias, 

 Degonias, browallias and Stevia serrata 

 yar. nana, which are flowering, and 

 tlusty miller, crotons, palms, ferns, fancy 



caJadiums, coleuses and achyranthes, 

 which are foliage plants. 



Arranging the Basket. 



Some of the foregoing plants make 

 large subjects when growing in the open 

 ground. Of such, only young or smaller 

 plants are available for use in hanging 

 baskets. Ordinarily, several different 

 sorts of plants are used for filling a bas- 

 ket. In some cases, however, a satis- 

 factory basket is made by using but 

 one kind of plant. A hanging basket 

 filled with sword fern (nephrolepis), for 

 example, makes a handsome object. 



The soil used in hanging baskets is 

 simply good, common potting soil. This 

 usually contains about twenty-five per 

 cent of humus and a small amount of 

 sharp sand to make it porous. 



A common mistake in arranging bas- 

 kets is crowding or filling them too full. 

 Fewer plants wUl appear more grace- 

 ful, growth will be more vigorous and 

 the basket will retain its grace and 

 beauty for a longer time. Exercise vigi- 

 lance and care in watering. After the 

 roots have well filled the basket, water- 

 ing is best done by dipping the basket in 

 a tub or barrel of water and allowing it 

 to become well saturated, but never 

 leaving it sitting in a foot of water, as 

 is done sometimes. Dipping the basket 

 in a weak liquid manure once or twice a 

 month will greatly promote vigor when 

 the plants have been long in the basket. 



Search for New Arrangements. 



Florists are constantly on the search 

 for new ideas in the arrangement of 



ways of arranging them^ write The 

 Eeview about it, so that yon may get 

 the ideas of florists in other towns and 

 give them yours in exchange. 



GROWING AZALEA HINODIGIBI. 



Please give the culture of Azalea 

 Hinodigiri, from propagating to bloom- 

 ing. J. D. — Pa. 



Azalea Hinodigiri is propagated from 

 soft-wood cuttings or seeds. Sow the 

 seeds on pans of fine peat, to which a 

 good dash of sand has been added. Sift 

 some fine dry sphagnum over this before 

 sowing the seeds. Do not cover the lat- 

 ter at all; they will germinate much 

 better when the mulch of fine sphagnum 

 is used. Prick off into flats of peat, leaf- 

 mold and sand quite thickly and later 

 into coldframes, where they can get 

 some shade and be regularly watered. 

 They are best if kept in frames until 3 

 years old, when they can be planted in 

 nursery rows, if the climate is mild 

 enough to permit their outdoor cul- 

 ture. If not, hold them in frames. 

 Finodigiri is a splendid azalea for out- 

 door uses and is equally good in pots. 

 It would be better to keep the flowers 

 and seed pods picked from all the plants 

 while small. While azaleas will grow 

 well in ordinary loam, you will find a 

 mixture of fine peat, leaf -mold and sand 

 particularly good for the plants while 

 small. C. W. 



BOSTON. 



The Easter Market. 



Everyone seems well pleased with the 

 volume of Easter business done. The 

 cold, drenching rain which continued 

 uninterruptedly through Good Friday 

 hurt trade considerably and retailers 

 stocked up sparingly with cut flowers, 

 but Saturday, April 3, brought ideal 

 weather with a cloudless sky and a 

 temperature well above freezing, so 

 that little wrapping of plants was neo- 









Begonia Alice Manning in Hanging Basket. 



hanging baskets. Their patrons appre- 

 ciate a novel style in contrast with that 

 of previous years. Eeaders of The Ee- 

 view who do much of this work would 

 welcome an interchange of ideas on this 

 subject. If you use different plants from 

 those mentioned above or employ new 



essary. Probably in gross sales it was 

 the best Easter business which Boston 

 has yet had, but it is doubtful whether 

 it broke all previous records for net 

 profits. Plants were the main feature 

 to a greater extent than ever before, 

 but cut flowers sold well. 



