Line the baskets with moss with a little soil attached. Place in the
center a small pot containing a showy plant of upright habit ; fill up
the surrounding space with rich woods and old hot-bed soil ; fill in with
plants of a climing or trailing habit ; when the center fades, you can
replace it by a fresh plant. In filling a basket, select plants of a similar
nature — those of like shape and moisture— the fuchsia, lobelia, ivy,
geraniums, ivies, linaria, panicum, balms, gold and silver vinca and
ferns. A basket for a hot, sunny situation, should be filled with coleus
for center, also double petunia, sedums, convolvulus minor, nastur-
tiums, begonia and mignonette for trailing. A carnation will make
a constant blooming center — a coleus a brilliant one.
Among the numerous plants now in use for the ornamentation of
hanging-baskets, for draping vases, or for training loosely up conserva-
tory pillars, few surpass the ivy-leaved pelargonium. The green and
106 FLO WERS.
bronze-leaved varieties are also suitable for use in this way, but the
variegated varieties are the most attractive.
A novel basket for these plants is made in this way : Get a piece of>
log, eight inches long and six inches through ; flatten one side and chip
out the inside until you have just a shell ; leave the bark on ; glue on
some lichens ; where the ends were sawed off glue on pieces of bark,
and also some lichens ; fasten four rings in it, one at each corner, and
hang with brass chains.
FLORAL ORNAMENTS FOR THE SITTING-ROOM.
Pretty ornaments can be made for the sitting-room by taking a large
sponge, and after it is thoroughly soaked, rolling it full of all kinds of
grass and bird seeds. Or take a pine cone and treat the same as the
sponge, and put the cone in the center of the sponge. This can be kept
in a deep dish or suspended by a cord in front of the window. Both
must be kept constantly wet, and after the burr has soaked a few days,
it will close up to the form of a solid cone, then the little blades of grass
will begin to emerge from the walls of the sponge and cone, making a
lovely ornament.
Here is another simple ornament : Take about twenty wheat ears,
with two or three inches of straw, tie them together, hang them up in a
warm place, keep them sprinkled with water, and when they commence
to sprout, put them in a celery glass, with water ; the top will soon become
a perfect pyramid of verdure and will retain its beauty for several
weeks.
Get an old wire sieve, not too fine, and sew it together with wire in a
cone shape. Then take moist earth and form it to suit the wire mold.
Have a quantity of grass seed and press them in the earth cone until it
is completely covered, then put it in the wire mold and bend the pointed
end under to keep the earth from falling out. Cut the pointed part of
the mold at the top, winding and spread the edges out like a funnel.
Cover the top of the earth all over with the seed and sprinkle a little
moist earth over it. Wrap in a paper loosely, then set in a soup plate mr
remove the paper every other day to see if the seeds have sprouted ; as
soon as they sprout take the paper off and set in a warm, sunny place ;
sprinkle now and then with tepid water, and in a short time you will have
a beautiful green.
Page 94
Presented as published in 1886. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
Line the baskets with moss with a little soil attached. Place in the center a small pot containing a showy plant of upright habit ; fill up the surrounding space with rich woods and old hot-bed soil ; fill in with plants of a climing or trailing habit ; when the center fades, you can replace it by a fresh plant. In filling a basket, select plants of a similar nature — those of like shape and moisture— the fuchsia, lobelia, ivy, geraniums, ivies, linaria, panicum, balms, gold and silver vinca and ferns. A basket for a hot, sunny situation, should be filled with coleus for center, also double petunia, sedums, convolvulus minor, nasturtiums, begonia and mignonette for trailing. A carnation will make a constant blooming center — a coleus a brilliant one.
Among the numerous plants now in use for the ornamentation of hanging-baskets, for draping vases, or for training loosely up conservatory pillars, few surpass the ivy-leaved pelargonium. The green and
bronze-leaved varieties are also suitable for use in this way, but the variegated varieties are the most attractive.
A novel basket for these plants is made in this way : Get a piece of log, eight inches long and six inches through ; flatten one side and chip out the inside until you have just a shell ; leave the bark on ; glue on some lichens ; where the ends were sawed off glue on pieces of bark, and also some lichens ; fasten four rings in it, one at each corner, and hang with brass chains.
FLORAL ORNAMENTS FOR THE SITTING-ROOM.
Pretty ornaments can be made for the sitting-room by taking a large sponge, and after it is thoroughly soaked, rolling it full of all kinds of grass and bird seeds. Or take a pine cone and treat the same as the sponge, and put the cone in the center of the sponge. This can be kept in a deep dish or suspended by a cord in front of the window. Both must be kept constantly wet, and after the burr has soaked a few days, it will close up to the form of a solid cone, then the little blades of grass will begin to emerge from the walls of the sponge and cone, making a lovely ornament.
Here is another simple ornament : Take about twenty wheat ears, with two or three inches of straw, tie them together, hang them up in a warm place, keep them sprinkled with water, and when they commence to sprout, put them in a celery glass, with water ; the top will soon become a perfect pyramid of verdure and will retain its beauty for several weeks.
Get an old wire sieve, not too fine, and sew it together with wire in a cone shape. Then take moist earth and form it to suit the wire mold. Have a quantity of grass seed and press them in the earth cone until it is completely covered, then put it in the wire mold and bend the pointed end under to keep the earth from falling out. Cut the pointed part of the mold at the top, winding and spread the edges out like a funnel. Cover the top of the earth all over with the seed and sprinkle a little moist earth over it. Wrap in a paper loosely, then set in a soup plate or remove the paper every other day to see if the seeds have sprouted ; as soon as they sprout take the paper off and set in a warm, sunny place ; sprinkle now and then with tepid water, and in a short time you will have a beautiful green.