ON SUSPENDING PLANTS. 
269 
tasteful management may be made to form most beautiful 
objects; every one admires the picturesque appearance of those 
lovely inhabitants of a sunny land the Orchidacese ; the effect is 
produced by their uncommon arrangement, being either sus¬ 
pended on blocks from the roof of the house, or growing in 
baskets of wire or other material, and the almost total absence 
of pots, but their great price and the expense of keeping them, 
militates much against their becoming general. Yet the same 
effect may be procured, and that with some of the commonest 
plants to be found in any greenhouse; no tribe of plants is better 
suited for this purpose than the Cactacese ; all the decumbent 
species are peculiarly suited to it. I may mention Epiphyllum, 
Macoyi and speciosa, Cactus truncatus, Cereus mallisonia, and 
flagelliformis ; these occur at the moment, and there are several 
others. Small rustic baskets or vases should be selected in which 
to suspend the plants, or rough blocks of wood may be hollowed 
to receive such as are not parasitical, but on no account should 
the common garden pots be tolerated, as in such a situation they 
would be quite out of place, and an eyesore. The proper soil 
must of course be given to each plant, with this addition, a thin 
layer of moss should be placed round the inside of each basket 
that is made of thin materials, to protect the roots from the sun; 
if the baskets are of wire, sufficient moss is required to keep the 
earth from falling through, but if made of rough wood very little 
is necessary. The plants may be arranged at different heights 
according to the taste of the owner, with this exception, plants 
having small or delicate foliage should be placed lower or 
farther from the glass than those having large or thick fleshy 
leaves. Some consideration is necessary as to their relative 
habits, if of an alpine character or from exposed rocks or plains, 
as in the case of cacti, they will bear exposure to the heat of a 
midsummer’s sun, to a far higher degree than such as may be 
natives of forests, for these a shaded situation should be chosen: 
for examples of the latter I may mention Russelia juncea and 
Manettia glabra, which form beautiful objects treated in tins 
way, if allowed a good supply of water while growing; several 
species of Ipomea are very handsome when suspended and fes¬ 
tooned in various directions ; the genus Kennedia offers many 
