Gardening Notes.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume IX, Issue 2778, 19 December 1887, Page 2

Gardening Notes.

Plants for hanging baskets.—There are few plants'that look more ornamental in hanging baskets than ferns, especially those with drooping fronds. Une of the most elegant for this kind of work is Pfceris Scaberula, which does well in a greenhouse temperature.: and is of moderate, growth; it has beautifully-divided .fronds, aud creeping rhizomes that soon travel over the surface of a small basket or pot, and clothe them with the richest of greenery. Davallia Novas Zealandiro is also a very choice fern, somewhat •after the manner and character of the preceding, but rather more dense in habit, and the fronds are a darker green in color, Adiantum Setulosum is quite a gem, and requires so little soil that it' Will grow in a cocoanut shell or a small perforated orchid pot, through the holes of which the young fronds find their way, and have a very pretty appearance. Acrophorus Iramirsus is another fern well adapted for baskets; it has creeping stolons that traverse the soil and send out fronds above and below, thus forming a complete globe of elegant verdure. This species, being deciduous, dies down early in the autumn, after which it should be kept rather dry till August or September, when, with a gentle watering occasionally, the roots will soon start again into growth. Asplenium flaccidum is remarkably graceful in a basket or vase, tho fronds are pendulous, and range from two to three feet long. Like most of the aspleniums, it is viviparous besides whicn, it seeds freely, and therefore admits of ready increase. "Where a fine bold plant is required, and room can be afforded it, there is nothing to equal Woodwardia Badicans, the frauds of which being not only broad, but long and bold, and when in an elevated position, produces a very striking effect. Being a strong growing plant, it needs plenty of root space, andall through the summer an abundant supply of water to keep it in health. Woodwardia Orientalis is also a handsome kind, but being of a stiffer habit, not so well adapted for baskets, unless used for the centre, with others of a drooping character around it. Woodwardia Radicans is almost hardy, and, with slight protec- . tion, will live outdoors in any favored spot. Nophrolepis Tuberosa is an extremely ornamental fern, and will cover a basket quicker than any fern with which I am acquainted. It sends out long wiry stolona in all directions, and each of these forms a plant at the end, which emits ■ a number of elegant-looking .wavy frouds . that have a light and gracefel appearance, The foregoing are all greenhouse sorts; among the stove species there are several, one of the newest being Nephrolepis Pectinata, which is a miniature form of the other. The most'striking species of Nephrolepis is N Davolloides, winch-has fronds from three to five feet, and so persistently drooping that they can only be seen to advantage when much elevated, as the plants may be in baskets suspended to afters and girders, or in high pockets on rockwork, one or other of which position this form should always liaye. Goniophlebium Subauriculatum which lias much the same habit of growth, should be treated in a similar manner. Lygodiums, too, such as L. Scandens and L. Palmatum, form exceedingly graceful objects in baskets, tlce first named being quite a climber. Under favorable circumstauces it grows several yards in length, and may be led about in almost any direction required. These only need greenhouse heat. There are several of the Lygodiums, too, such as Galeotti wd Uncmatum, that make lovely basket plants, the tysfc pinet] being quite unique jn character, as, besides being very trailing, The color of its fronds and leaves is of a glaucus, metalliclooking green, which renders it very distinct, and gives the plant a charming appearance. All that is necessary in starting with any of the abovenamedjis to line the baskets in which they are to be planted with moss, and then fill them with rough peat and fibry loam, in which they do well. Ferns and m baskets so much exposed to the air, require frequent watering to keep the soil moist; but so ornamental are they that they are deserving of ;\i\y attention that may bo beslowed upon them.