HOW TO FILL A BASKET 191 



What you use in the center of a basket is, after all, not nearly as 

 important as to have the sides of the basket well covered. 



A beautiful effect for a partly shaded porch can be created by 

 filling a basket soUd with Fuchsia "Trailing Queen." These Fuchsias 

 will flower all Summer and completely cover the basket by the end 

 of the season. Another good subject is the trailing or weeping 

 Lantana, which is ideal for baskets. Still another is Rosy Morn 

 Petunia, or the new purple one. Balcony Queen. Of course, any of 

 these will prove a success only when properly taken care of. 



Nemesia, Thunbergia, Maurandia, Lobelia, double Alyssum, 

 Dusty Miller, Achyranthes, Coleus, Guphea, and Nierembergia— 

 all are among the general run of plants used for baskets and boxes. 



No wire basket should ever be filled and deUvered the same 

 day. Do your filling a week or so before and go over your baskets 

 once or twice. The sheet moss along the edges usually settles 

 down with the soil after watering and more should be put on, or, 

 in other words, a regular ridge made along the edge so as to hold 

 the water that the plants may get some good out of it. To send out 

 a basket with the rim above the moss is wrong and before long will 

 cause trouble. Use plenty of moss for lining and only the best of 

 soil, and don't crowd the plants too much. When filling a basket 

 don't start in the center. Get the traihng plants in first — they 

 mean more than anything else ; no matter how well filled the center, 

 if you are short on trailing plants, it won't be much of a basket. 

 Be sure to get the sides well covered. You can, if necessary, make 

 use of the bushy plants for the center and have a good looking 

 basket. 



In window or porch boxes we use about the same variety of 

 stock as for baskets or vases. Of late years, however, many orders 

 have called for just Ivies and pink or red Geraniums, or Vincas, 

 variegated or green, and perhaps Petunias. A good many people 

 object to a mixture of stock — they want either a red, pink, blue, or 

 white effect, and there are times when it isn't very easy to get them 

 to decide which. However, a box filled with English Ivies, Poite- 

 vine Geraniums and a few Boston Ferns or Grevilleas makes as 

 attractive an arrangement as anything you can mention. Rosy 

 Morn Petunias make a wonderfiil display if not exposed to the 

 broiling sun all day. It used to be all red Geraniums, but the 

 people got tired of that; at present it is pretty much all pink, but 

 no one can tell when things may change again. 



Variety in Window Box Filling 



Those who use only two or three porch boxes usually call for a 

 variety of stock. This means the variegated Vinca along the edge, 



