Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1917-05-11
HANGING BASKETS
FOR SPRINCTIME
Expert Points For Her Who
Wants to Have Greenery and
Bloom the Way Grandmother
Used To-Tips About Soil
and Varieties.

TATE can all remember the time
&EAF and attention our grand
mothers devoted to the care
OF their wire hanging bas-
kets, but this seems to belong entirely
to the past.
But now the japanese are responsible
for their return to popularity by send
ing us some most artistic handmade
baskets, stained in the softest of wood
tones and so tasty that indoor gardens
do not seem complete without one of
these charming baskets filled with a
growing fern or trailing vine.
Plants for hanging baskets must nee
essarily Withstand a very dry atmos-
phere. A basket hanging in a sunny
window of a warm room dries out very
rapidly and in most cases needs just
about twice the quantity of water usu-
ally given. Therefore it is useless to
attempt to grow soft, tender summer
Towering plants or trailers.
To be successful with a basket the
soil must be "just right" One compos-
ed of loan, and sand in the
proportion of one-half loan and one
fourth each of sane and manure Is sat
isfactory. The whole should be thor
oughly pulverized and mixed together
before using.
Cedunis in variety are easily grown
and make very pretty basket plants. c.
Carnea has small foliage and is very
attractive. C. lieboldii has thick, feshy
leaves. The latter is an upright grow
er and is therefore useful for center
piece when more than one variety is
selected. The cedunis will stand lack
of attention, which is apt to be the fate
Of all plants suspended in a warm
Doh They dry out more rapidly than
plants in pots and therefore require
much more water.
Othonna crassifolia, commonly called
the pickle plant, is a very easy, rapid
growing, trailing vine and is one of the
most satisfactory plants that can be
used. After it is well established it re
quires little care beyond watering. A
well grown specimen will drop from a
basket for several feet and is most at
tractiye. This little vine is as easily
~propagated as it is grown. Simply cut
off a bunch of shoots, plant them in a
pot and keep them shaded for a few
days and they will start at once to
growing.
The common parlor ivy grows beauti-
fully In a basket, but in a very warm
place is apt to become attacked by the
aphis or green fly. To prevent this
give frequent sprinklings of water over
IL el.--- - AI1.-x Ill 1I-o4
dust shaken over the plant while the
leaves are wet. 1t, however. re-
quires a great deal of sun. Various
specimens flower beautifully In the
house.
A fish bowl suspended and filed with
this little vine makes an attractive ad-
dition to a window garden. Tradescan-
tia will grow without direct sunlight.
Vinca minor or the common evergreen
periwinkle makes a very desirable has.
ket plant for winter as the foliage OF
this little plant is SO attractive. II
will thrive in a very cool place, and
even occasional freezing will not injure
it. 1t thrives without a great deal OF
sunlight.
Lysimachia nummularia or old fash
Toned moneywort is perhaps better
known as Wandering Jew. We almost
hesitate to recommend 1t not because ii
isn't suitable or attractive, but because
it is a pernicious weed that spreads
quickly and is much to be dreaded
when on the lawn. For a basket of
moneywort just plant a few of the tops
in the center Of the basket. Keep them
wet and they will soon start to grow.
They do not require a great deal of
sun.