All Time Favorite Bulbs are For Growing in Pots and Boxes

Agapanthus or Blue Lily of the Nile

Fleshy-rooted evergreen plant, with strap leaves, often grown in tubs and urns on terraces and steps during the summer, when the tall blue spikes unfold. Culture is easy, but plants require a well-lighted, frost proof room or greenhouse in winter.

This is an old-time favorite, often seen in gardens of Europe.
Calla Lily. Showy, hardy outdoors in warmer regions, but a tender pot plant in the North. Most familiar is the white one with large, shiny, heart-shaped leaves. Start bulbs indoors in February or March in rich soil and, when weather settles, transfer to large pots and take outdoors. Calla lilies do well in full sun or part shade, are heavy feeders and need much water. There is also a dainty yellow with white-spotted leaves. Rest bulbs after foliage ripens and grow again.

Dahlias. Colorful and free-flowering, they provide bounteous cut blooms. Tall, large-flowering kinds can be grown only in large planters and boxes, but the dwarfs, even freer flowering, are excellent in small containers.

Attaining one to two feet tall, they grow easily from tubers in average soil in sun or part shade. They may also be raised from seed sown indoors in February. If tubers are stored in peat or sand in a cool, frost proof place, they can be grown for years. Check bulbs during winter, and if shriveling, sprinkle lightly.

Gladiolus

Summer-flowering with spear like leaves and many hued spikes. Corms can be planted in containers outdoors after danger of frost is passed. Set them six inches apart and four to six inches deep. If several containers are planted every two to three weeks, there will be a succession of bloom.

Stake stems before flowers open. After the leaves turn brown, or there is a frost, lift corms, cut off foliage and dust with DDT to control thrips. Store corms in a dry place at 45 to 55 degrees F. Gloxinias. Summer-flowering and tender with large, tubular blooms of red, pink, lavender, purple, or white, and broad velvety rosettes of leaves. Start tubers indoors and don’t take outside until weather is warm. Since the leaves are easily broken or injured by wind or rain, put plants in a sheltered spot. The low broad eaves of contem?porary houses, with restricted sun, offer an appropriate setting for rows of pots or window boxes filled with gay gloxinias.

Lilies

Gorgeous and hardy, with blooms in many colors. It is now possible to have a lily container garden, with flowers from May to frost. Open the season with the dainty Lilium pumilum and continue with madonnas, Golden Chalice hybrids, Olympic hybrids, auratums, and specios-ums. Lilies can be planted in fall, like daffodils and tu?lips, and they will also flower from bulbs set out in early spring. In cold regions, the rules for Dutch bulbs outdoors in winter apply also to lilies, which do well in large plant?ers, two feet wide and two feet deep. Group several of one variety for a good effect. Plant smaller sizes in individual six or eight inch pots to be wintered in cold frames. Plant larger sizes in eight or ten inch pots. After flowering put containers out of sight while stalks ripen.
Nurserymen and florists offer pot-grown lilies in early spring ready to plant in containers without disturbance of roots. Try combining several in large containers, with English ivy, vinca, grape ivy, dwarf annuals, or other low plants for softening effects. After flowering, bulbs can be planted in the garden, grown again in containers or given to friends.

Tuberose

Tender and summer-flowering with narrow foliage and tall spikes of single or double white flowers, fragrant and long-lasting. Where seasons are short, bulbs are best started indoors six to eight weeks before planting outdoors. Plant in six-inch pots and feed with liquid fertilizer. Tuberoses need a rich, well-drained soil and full sun and staking of the tall spike. Since bulbs do not flower well a second year start with fresh stock each spring.

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

Biennials

Canterbury-Bells. Choice biennial, with long-lasting bells in purple, lavender, blue, pink, and white. Worth the effort, even if they die after flowering. In the spring, garden centers offer budded specimens. For dramatic compositions, group several together. You can grow your own from seed sown in June or July.

Foxgloves

Delightful, with tall spikes covered with bells. Sow seed in June or July and winter young plants in cold frame or garden, covering with marsh hay or evergreen branches. Old-fashioned kinds have bells on one side of the spikes, but the new English hybrids have flowers all around the stems. Pot-grown rosettes are available in spring.

Other perennials and biennials to grow are heuchera or coral-bells, veronica, showy stonecrop or sedum, helenium, Japanese iris, scabiosa, shasta daisy, lythrum, platy-codon or balloon flower, pentstemon, peony, Oriental poppy, monarda or bee-balm, lavender, liatris, tritoma, heliopsis, anthemis, gaillardia, gas plant, columbine, and butterfly weed. Do not overlook such rock garden plants as arabis, aubretia, basket-of-gold, snow-in-the-summer, thyme, viola, ajuga, dianthus, primrose, and auricula. (A well-illustrated catalog will help you select.)

Herbs For Fragrance

If you like herbs and enjoy them in cooking, you can have an herb garden in containers. Try sun-loving rosemary, marjoram, parsley, sage, fennel, mint and chives in individual pots or tubs or with other plants in large boxes. Grow with them some of the scented-leaved geraniums,

Perennials, Herbs, and Vegetables

…like rose, cinnamon, nutmeg, lemon, apple, and peppermint

A few years ago, Mrs. Frances R. Williams of Winchester, Massachusetts, who was unable to raise herbs in her shady garden, decided to try them on her nine-foot square porch, which had sun until late afternoon. She used twelve low bushel baskets and four egg cases, each filled with half-rotted compost to within four inches of the top. Then three inches of fertilized soil was spread on top.
In two of the egg cases, Mrs. Williams planted summer savory, and a dozen basil plants in the other two. Dill, lettuce-leaved basil, narrow-leaved French thyme, and sweet marjoram were also grown. All yielded enough for summer salads and winter drying. In a few of the other baskets, Mrs. Williams planted small-fruited red cherry, red and yellow pear, and yellow plum varieties of tomatoes. Since the deep containers held moisture for a long time, they did not require daily watering. On the shady side of the house, bushel baskets, filled mostly with compost, were planted with open heads of leaf and Bibb lettuce.

Vegetables
Vegetables can also be grown in containers, if only for novel effect. Purple kale and cabbage are attractive and always arouse curiosity. Grouped around a small pool or on a table, white-fruiting eggplants in individual pots are charming. Rhubarb in large planters or boxes will make a bold accent for the contemporary terrace. In containers, the feathery leaves of carrots, the linear foliage of onions, and the fruits of tomatoes, especially the small kinds, are fun to look at and eat.
The pot garden offers an excellent opportunity to grow miniature plants, a new form of gardening that is increasing in popularity. In England, where growing miniatures has become a hobby, it appeals strongly to older people, who like to fuss with tiny plants in old stone sinks and other containers raised to waist level.

Nice Flower Pot Choices: Cacti, Waterlillies, Bonsai

Cacti and Succulents

In hot climates with little rainfall, cacti and succulents can be the answer. They can be grown, too, in other areas, particularly by gardeners who like to travel without worrying about the container plants they leave behind. Foliage patterns and forms of these plants are fascinating, and many extraordinary compositions can be achieved. Easy to grow, they need a lean soil and are best in small pots.

Water Lilies

Water lilies and other water plants can be grown in small low tubs, perhaps one water lily with a specimen of Cyprus or floating hyacinth. In a large tub, Egyptian lotus, with its enormous leaves and blooms rising several feet above the surface of the water, is a handsome sight.

Bonsai

Bonsai or Japanese dwarf trees are also container plants, but these comprise a specialty that is a study and art in itself. It is, however, increasingly popular, and books are available that tell how to train and maintain these dwarf trees and shrubs. Plants can be purchased from nurserymen who specialize in this unusual aspect of container gardening.

Scented Leaved Geraniums

Scented leaved geraniums comprise a varied group that is treasured for the scent of the crushed leaves.

The flowers, smaller and less showy than those of zonal, are not so important. Familiar kinds include the nutmeg, with round leaves and small white flowers; the peppermint, with large, hairy, velvety leaves; the pine-scented, with big finely-cut leaves; the rose, with deeply-cut, toothed leaves; and the lemon-scented, with small leaves on compact plants.

A variety of the lemon-scented, Prince Rupert, is admired for its variegated green-and-white leaves. Scented-leaved geraniums prefer a light, well-drained loam. They make unique pot plants, and for a black iron kettle nothing is more decorative than a great sprawling peppermint geranium.

Ivy-leaved and Lady Washington Types

The trailing, ivy-leaved geraniums are among the most profuse flowering when grown under favorable conditions. They dislike shade and high humidity and thrive best in climates with warm days and cool nights, as in California. In window boxes, they offer a pleasant change from English ivy and vinca and present masses of lively color in hanging baskets suspended on porches, posts, lath houses, garages, or trees. Adaptable basket varieties include the lilac-white to pink Alliance, the double pint Galilee, and the lavender Santa Paula.

Lady Washington’s, considered the handsomest of geraniums, are not so easy to grow. Like the ivy-leaved, the) prefer cool nights and warm, sunny days, responding to shelter from wind and all-day sun. You may want a few for variety’s sake, like the lovely Easter Greeting, Lucy Becker, Gay Nineties, and Marie Rober. Lady Washington geraniums are sold by florists at Easter time, and gift plants you receive can be included in the container garden.

Cactus and Climbing

If you are a geranium enthusiast, you may want to spark your pot plant collection with some cactus and climbing geraniums. They have bizarre and fascinating forms and flowers and are certain to arouse comment. There is the parsley-leaved Otidia, the heart-leaved, knotted and rue-scented stork-bills, the prickly-stalked geranium, and the climbing square-stalked Jenkinsonia. Perhaps they are more interesting than handsome.

Sunshine Required

Geraniums are sun-loving plants. They will grow in window boxes and pots on the east, south, or west side of the house and on terraces with sun for half a day. In spite of their love of sunshine, they will even flourish with just a little, provided they receive plenty of strong light.

The north side of a house, beyond the shade of trees, will produce extraordinary plants. When geraniums are grown against hot, sunny brick, concrete, or stone walls or pavements, some shielding from the torrid noonday sun is advisable. This is to cut down on reflected heat through the middle part of the day.

Soil and Potting

Geraniums flourish and look well in pots, boxes, and planters. They thrive in various soil mixtures if drainage is good. For abundant bloom, however, supply a special preparation, not high in nitrogen, or lush foliage and few blooms will result.

A combination of three parts good garden loam and one part leaf mold, peat moss, or compost plus a five-inch pot of bone meal to each bushel is good. If the garden loam is heavy, add sand. Acid soil will also need some lime. I have success with good garden soil and a sprinkling of a 5-10-5 fertilizer and bone meal. During the growing season, plants respond to a low-nitrogen fertilizer in liquid form.

When potting, be generous with drainage material to insure free passage of water. Always water with care, since too much or not enough can be harmful. The best rule is to water when the surface of the soil feels dry. Then soak the soil well and do not water again until plants need it. If soil is kept too wet, leaves will turn yellow; if too dry they wilt and discolor. Both extremes cause legginess, a common complaint from gardeners.

Keep up Appearance

To maintain even plant growth, turn containers frorr time to time. Remove yellow leaves and faded blossoms which are especially distracting on plants at doorways and other key spots. If rain rots and disfigures the centei florets of the heads, pull them off with your fingers, leaving the unmarred outer florets and buds. This is admittedly an exacting chore for the busy gardener, but one that greatly improves the appearance of plants.

On the whole, geraniums are pest free, but if insects prove troublesome, malathion or lindane will clean them up. To your delight, you may even discover dead Japanese beetles on the foliage, since flower and leaf parts contain a substance that is poisonous to this pest.

Planting Bulbs in Pots or Boxes

As a group, bulbs are outstanding plants colorful, showy, and generally easy to grow. Many have evergreen foliage; with others, the leaves ripen after flowering and the bulbs are stored and started again, year after year. Some bulbs are hardy, others, tender, though what is and is not hardy in a particular area is a matter of winter temperature averages. In cold regions, tender types tuberous begonias, gloxinias, calla lilies, and gloriosa lilies can be treated like summer container plants. This gives the gardener a wide variety to grow from earliest spring to late fall.

Dutch Bulbs

Included in this group are crocus, snowdrops, eranthis or winter aconites, chionodoxas, scillas, grape hyacinths, leucojums or snowflakes, Dutch hyacinths, daffodils, and tulips, the pride of northern spring gardens. Though hardy, they are not adapted to containers outdoors where temperatures drop much below freezing. They require the protection of a shed, unheated cellar or cold frame. Pots can also be dug into a trench in the ground for the winter and covered with a thick blanket of marsh hay or straw. Where temperatures do not go below freezing, Dutch bulbs can be left outdoors in containers over the winter.

For best results, start with fresh, firm, large-sized bulbs each fall. Insure good drainage in the bottom of each pot and use a light soil with bone meal added. If in clay pots, plunge during the rooting period in damp peat moss to prevent rapid drying out. If this occurs too often, roots will be injured and flowers will be poor. When weather permits, after the danger of freezing passes, put containers outside where they are to flower or in a nursery row until they reach the bud stage. After blooming, place containers where foliage can ripen unseen.

For fragrance, concentrate on Dutch hyacinths, excellent for bedding large planter boxes or raised beds. Daffodils look well grouped around trees or large shrubs, as birches and forsythias. Tulips, formal in character, combine delightfully with pansies, violas, wall flowers, forget-me-nots, marguerites, English daisies, and annual candytuft.

As already indicated, in cold areas, Dutch bulbs cannot be potted or planted in small window boxes and left outdoors unprotected for the winter. They can, however, be set out in large planters and boxes, deep and wide enough to contain plenty of soil. Containers should be one and a half to two feet deep and about two feet wide. Set bulbs, with at least six inches of soil above them, planting them early enough in the fall so that they can make root growth before soil freezes hard. In penthouse gardens in New York City, Dutch bulbs have been grown successfully in this way, but it is always a risk. It makes no difference whether containers are made of wood, concrete, or other material; it is the amount of soil they hold that counts.

Actually, it is not the freezing of the soil that injures bulbs (this occurs in open ground), but it is the pressure and counter pressure exerted by frost on the sides of containers, which are firm and do not give. As a result, bulbs are bruised and thrust out of the soil, their roots torn. Where there is no hard freeze, but sufficient cold weather, hardy bulbs can be grown successfully in containers of small size.

Perennials, & Herbs, For Containers

Herbaceous perennials are valuable in the container garden. In planters, raised beds, and large boxes, they contribute greatly to the garden design with their distinctive foliage and attractive flowers. As a group, perennials are adapted to a variety of conditions, tolerating sun or shade, moist or dry locations. For the most part, they are hardy, but some require winter covering.

Select some perennials with good all-season foliage. When daylilies, peonies, phlox, coral-bells, gas plant, astilbe, and hardy candytuft finish flowering, their leaves remain attractive. With Oriental poppies, bleeding hearts and primroses, the leaves turn yellow once blooming is over, though this does not mean they are undesirable. Bare spots left by them can be concealed by other plants like quick-growing annuals.
Perennials like daylilies and iris thrive where it is hot; lupines, delphiniums, and astilbes prefer cooler temperatures.

You can have some biennials, too foxgloves, cantetbury bells, sweet williams and verbascums and discard them after flowering.

Today, nurserymen and garden centers offer mature perennial and biennial plants in tins, baskets, tar paper, papiermache, and other temporary containers. They provide for quick, colorful effects.

Perennials

Acanthus or Bear’s Breech. Tall and striking from southern Europe, whose leaf the ancient Greeks adapted for the capitals of Corinthian columns. Arching, deep-cut, thistlelike leaves, two feet long, shining dark green, are surmounted with tall, white, rose-tinged spikes. Give plants large pots with good drainage and full sun. Not hardy in the North where they need winter protection.

Asters. Handsome with starry blossoms for rich purple, lavender, rose, pink, and white autumn displays. Many varieties vary from nine inches to four or more feet. Plants need full sun and respond to feeding and watering, but are otherwise easy. They are best divided each spring.

Bearded Iris. Number one favorite, beloved for its exquisite blooms in rainbow colors. Hardy and easy to grow, spearlike leaves provide accent among other plants. Clumps need dividing every third year.

Chrysanthemums:Free-flowering and invaluable for the pot garden. With these alone, you can enjoy riotous color from August even to December. Grow your own or buy plants in bud from commercial growers. They move easily when in bloom, if you take care to keep them moist. After flowering, plant in garden or cold frame and give winter protection or discard the roots like annuals.
Daylilies or Hemerocallis. Thriving in hot and cold climates, in shade or full sun. Straplike foliage remains attractive all season. For warmer regions there are evergreen varieties. Trumpet flowers, mostly yellow and crimson, open over a long period, even though each bloom stays fresh but one day. The Greek name, hemerocallis, means “beautiful for a day.”

Delphinium: Regal plant with tall, stately spikes in shades of blue, purple, and white. Sow seed in February or March for flowering plants the same season or purchase seedlings in spring for large containers. Seed sown in June or July will bloom the following summer. Delphiniums need sun and staking up to their heads. Try some of the gorgeous Pacific Hybrids.

Hostas These handsome perennials have broad leaves, green or variegated. Low growing types are ideal to edge

Plants for Large Planters: Hardy, pest free and easy. Consider the August lily, with fragrant white bells in summer; Honey-bells, with tall spikes of purple flowers; and Thomas Hogg, with green leaves edged white.

Phlox: Dependable for bright color in July, August, and September. Thrives in sun or partial shade and needs plenty of water. Allowed to dry out, phlox wilts and the lower leaves turn brown. Comes in pink, salmon, rose, red, scarlet, lavender, purple, and white. If tips are pinched when plants are six to nine inches high, flower heads will be more numerous, though smaller.

Rose Mallow or Hibiscus Spectacular for tall, bold effects. Large flowers, like single hollyhocks, appear during late summer and fall in red, rose, pink, and white. Hybrids measure nine and more inches across. Good for screening hedges. Plants like rich soil, abundant moisture, and full sun though partial shade is endured.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Gran Canaria’s Colourful Plant Life (seuropetravel.suite101.com)

The Beauty Of Fushias

If you want enchanting flowering plants for shade, rely on the fuchsias. Whether in individual pots, window boxes, or hanging baskets, lady’s ear drops, as fuchsias an sometimes called, are gorgeous plants noted for their grace and splendor. There are hundreds of varieties, single and double, in rose, purple, and white shades, and in both upright and hanging types. Fuchsias are particularly popular in California, where the summers are cool and the winters sufficiently moderate; but they make handsome container plants in other climates too.

Except for the hanging types, fuchsias are by nature upright shrubby growers, fine as specimen plants for containers. Under proper conditions, some attain considerable size. The dark purple-and-red Reiter’s Giant grows to five feet or more, and the single red Mephisto is even taller. Alice Hoffman, a semi-double white and pink, is a dwarf, to two feet, as is the three-foot Camellia, a double white and red.

Tree Types

Tree, or standard, fuchsias are always greatly admired. These are simply the usual fuchsias trained to tree form. With patience, you can develop your own, starting with a four- to five-inch cutting kept tied to a strong four- to five-foot stake. At the desired height of two, three, or four feet, the single stalk can be pinched back and allowed to branch. In the meantime, do not remove all leaves from the stem, because they are needed to manufacture food.

Good varieties to train to tree form include the purple-and-red Muriel, the red-and-white Storm King, the double lavender-and-red Gypsy Queen, and the all-white Flying Cloud. Tree fuchsias lend themselves to the simplicity of modern architecture; the large specimens are always attractive on the terraces and patios of contemporary ranch houses. On the other hand, they are also handsome with houses and gardens of traditional design.

For Hanging Baskets

Many gardeners believe that the best way to appreciate fuchsias is in hanging baskets, because their exquisite blooms are seen at or above eye level. They are most decorative for patios, entrances, lath houses, and on walls and tree trunks. They can be suspended in redwood slat boxes and in glazed or plastic containers. In moss-lined wire baskets, they require more water because the roots dry out more quickly.
For basket planting, you will like the double magenta-and-carmine Anna, the single red-and-white Claret Cup, and also the semi-double purple-and-red Muriel, mentioned for tree-training. Among the most brilliant varieties are the double, bright red Marinka; the nearly orange Aurora Superba; the carmine-rose and orange-red San Francisco; and the rose-purple-and-pink Amapola. It is more effective to grow but one variety in a container.

Espaliers and Pyramids

In planters or raised beds of containers, fuchsias can be trained into interesting espalier forms against a wall or fence where the space may be too narrow for other plants. Though not difficult, the espalier plant requires time and patience. First make a trellis of wood or wire. Five to seven tiers are customary. Then train your plant as it grows, pinching growth frequently to induce branching and to avoid bare stems. Varieties to espalier include the red-and-scarlet Falling Stars, the blue-and-rose Coquette, and the red-and-white Dr. John Gallwey.

Fuchsias can also be trained into pyramids in the manner of formal English ivy plants. Since the young fuchsia shoots tend to break easily, it takes patience and a steady hand to tie them properly to the form. Fully grown plants are delightful in a formal setting, and a pair for an entranceway are distinctive indeed.

Ferns That Like Meadows

The hay-scented fern

This fern Found (Dennstaedtia punctilobula, 2-3 ft.) grows in sunny openings in rocky woods where its light green lacy fronds grow in dense masses. It spreads madly, and even when transplanted produces new fronds from underground runners all season. The fronds taper gradually at the tip. When cut, crushed, or dried, the foliage gives off a wonderful sun-on-the-meadow scent.

Interrupted-fern (Osmunda claytoniana, 4 ft.)

Very much like the cinnamon fern, the identifying feature of Interrupted-fern (Osmunda claytoniana, 4 ft.) is its freedom from tuft at the base of the pinnae. On the sporophyll the orderly march of pinnae up the stem is interrupted by a section of twisted curled dark brown spore cases-a most interesting feature and, of course, the reason for its name. Very hardy, very easy, very beautiful.

The lady fern (Athyrium filisfemina, or Asplenium filis-femina, 3 ft.)

The lady fern (Athyrium filisfemina, or Asplenium filis-femina, 3 ft.) though delicate to look upon, is tough, and a rank grower. By fall it becomes raggedy and loses its color, but all summer its soft green fronds and feathery look make it a must. The curved fruit dots are one of its identifying features; also, the pinnae increase in length sharply from the tip of the frond to the base, giving it a triangular look.

Maidenhair fern

Maidenhair fern (Adiantum pedatum, 1-3 ft.) is a delicate, lovely species that grows in rich moist leafy soil. It will be content in a rocky, well-drained location, especially on a steep bank. In the spring the fronds uncurl in small wiry button?hook designs of a deep magenta color. These fronds open into a sort of semi-circle pattern. The whole effect of the plant suggests, in color and texture, wild columbine, or meadow rue. This is the fern that dances. The fluttering delicate pinnae are ever in motion, so susceptible are they to every breeze. New fronds constantly emerging from the running rootstock produce fresh green foliage from April to September. This is one of the most beautiful of all ferns in its swirling patterns, its rhythms, and dancing grace.

The marsh fern (Dryopteris thelypteris, 2 ft.) grows under the speckled alders, or perhaps you’ll find some plants in a sunny bog among the cattails, facing their fronds helter skelter in any old direction. This is a rampant grower. Its lower pinnate are very long, and the pinnules of the sporophyll appear pointed because of reflexed edges.

The New York fern

The New York fern (Dryopteris noveboracensis, 1-2 ft.), though related to the marsh fern, is different in that the fronds taper at both ends. New Yorkers are said to burn their candles at both ends, hence its name! The fronds, thin in texture, grow erect and are arranged in parallel ranks facing the light. Stems are smooth and scale-free. What a pleasant odor the fern emits when crushed, and what a fine ground-cover it creates, multiplying and spreading rapidly. Look for the fruit dots on the margins of the pinnules.

The oak fern

The oak fern (Dryopteris disjuncto, 1 ft.) is a delicate and beautiful triangular-shaped fern whose very pointed pinnae grow opposite each other on the stem. It thrives in the company of hemlocks and cedars and must have constant dampness and perfect drainage.

The Ostrich Fern

The ostrich fern (Pteretis nodulosa, or P. struthioteris, 4-7 ft.), a lovely plumy variety, reproduces from its underground runners one new plant every second year. It spreads most rapidly in rich wet woods. In July the short bronze sporophyll, resembling curled fronds, rises up in the center of the plant.

Robust Garden Ferns (That Can Handle Cold Weather)

Christmas Ferns

The Christmas fern (Polystichum acrostichoides, 15-18 in.) with rich dark glossy  leaves, is one of the sturdiest and most dependable. Last year’s fronds are still green as this year’s new ones emerge. You can easily recognize the Christmas fern for each pinna is shaped like a long Christmas stocking, foot and all (foot against the stem). Light brown scales also cling to the stalk. One plant for years remains one plant. It spreads by spores alone, not by underground runners or by division of clumps.

The evergreen wood-fern, leather wood-fern or marginal shield fern

This species of fern (Dryopteris marginalise 2-3 ft.) weathers almost any winter and is found among snowy boulders in thickly forested areas. It is common, easy to grow, and spreads very slowly, remaining a single plant for some time. You will recognize this fern by fruit dots located on the margins of the pinnae, the chestnut brown scales on the stems, and its habit in the growing season of erupting its roots several inches up out of the ground!

The common polypody

This fern variety (Polypodium vulgare, 4-10 in.) sends a parade of erect fronds marching across the surface of rocky ledges where they are bright green whether surrounded by snow or by summer. They soften harsh ledges wherever they grow, also cling to steep banks, and make splendid terrarium material.

The ebony spleenwort

The ebony spleenwort (Asplenium platyneuron, 4-12 in.) is almost evergreen. You can find its twisting turning stem and delicate green pinnae snuggled in any bank of snow along with ground pine and cedar. It takes many hard freezes before this fern finally gives up. It is ideal for terrariums.

Bublet Berries

The berry bladder fern (Cystopteris bulbifera, 2-3 ft.) not only likes rich moist woods but is often found clinging to limestone cliffs. A fine ground-cover for large areas, it spreads rapidly. You will know it by its tapering almost vinelike fronds, but more especially by the tiny bulblets at the base of the pinnae that drop to the ground and sprout (hence the “berry” in its common name). It also bears the more conventional fruit dots.

Bracken Fern

Bracken (Pteridium aquilinum, 3-4 ft.) has a nice Scotch sound, and it does thrive in great sweeps in Scotland as well as in almost every country in the world. In England it was the basis of an old time medicine. And in rural areas many a mattress was stuffed with the fronds to prevent rickets! Bracken is an informal fern suitable for casual plantings. It is one of the most adaptable and will grow anywhere-wet, dry, sun, shade, high, low, hot, cold. Where nothing else will live the bracken fern will thrive, and spread furiously. The sporophyll edges curl under, and spore cases are hidden beneath these rolls.

The cinnamon fern (Osmunda cinnamomea, 3-5 ft.)

The cinnamon fern (Osmunda cinnamomea, 3-5 ft.) is not only one of the loveliest ferns but also one of the easiest to grow. You will know it by the abundance of golden brown wooliness on its unwinding fronds in the spring. Also characteristic are brown wool-like hairs on the stem, a tuft of down at the base of each pinna, and several long slender lovely sporophyll during the summer. The fruiting stalk is a rich cocoa brown, erect and clustered.

The fragile fern or brittle bladder fern

This fern (Cystopteris fragilia, 5-18 in.) is not too fragile to grow the world over, even in the frigid areas of Greenland and Alaska. Thus it actually is a robust grower; the brittleness of its stems is responsible for its name. Clinging to shaded rock ledges, it also grows on the ground, and is among the first ferns to start up in the spring.

Planting Geraniums in Pots and Boxes

All over the country, geraniums flaunt their red and scarlet, rose, pink, and white blooms with a gay abandon that few other plants can rival. In boxes on city fire escapes and rooftops, in window boxes on suburban and country houses, in tubs and pots on terraces and patios, and in hanging baskets of the porches of summer cottages, they are beloved and cherished plants as a welcome symbol of warmth and hospitality.

For sheer impact of color, they cannot be surpassed.

Geraniums are also great favorites in Europe, where red- and pink-flowering zonals, the common types, are commonly treated as bedding plants. In western and northern European countries, they are widely planted in window boxes and in pots and tubs at doorways of city and country gardens. Along the Mediterranean, where geraniums are hardy, zonal types develop into mounds that are six feet tall and equally broad. Ivy-leaved kinds clothe banks and slopes and cascade like waterfalls from balconies, rooftops, and garden walls.

This widespread planting is easy to understand. Not only is the geranium a spectacular flower, but it grow; almost everywhere with ease, blossoming under neglect and surviving where other plants fail. Though it prefer: and needs sun to bloom, it tolerates shade, where it is usually handled as a foliage plant. What it resents is toe much moisture and a rich diet. Kept too wet, the leave; turn yellow; given a heavy soil, one high in nitrogen plants go to foliage and flower sparingly. Even at that geraniums are amazing plants that will perform admir ably under a wide variety of growing conditions.

Actually, the name geranium is incorrect, for these free flowering shrubby plants are members of the genus Pelar gonium. The Greek word, meaning stork-bill, refers to the slender, curving form of the seed pod. Nevertheless geranium is the commonly used name for the members of this interesting clan.

Great Variety of Types

Far from uniform, the genus includes types that are herbaceous, shrubby, deciduous, annual, biennial, perennial, stem less, long-stemmed, tuberous and fibrous-rooted all of them well suited to container gardening. Even if you choose no other plants, you could have a varied pot garden of single and double zonal, fancy-leaved or variegated, scented-leaved, ivy and Lady or Martha Washing-ton geraniums (also called show or fancy geraniums), not to mention a few oddities of cactus and climbing types.

Zonal, Fancy- and Scented-leaved

The zonal geranium is characterized by dark circular markings on the rounded green leaves. Double types dominate the trade and are offered by florists in the spring for planting in gardens and window boxes. You will like such pinks as Mrs. Lawrence, Fiat Enchantress, and Pink Abundance. Olympic Red is excellent, as is Better Times, an outstanding dark crimson. Among desirable singles, consider the carmine Barbara Hope, the cherry-red to white Apple Blossom, the creamy coral Ecstasy, the scarlet to wine-red Nuit Poitevine, and the light orchid-pink Helen Van Pelt Wilson. All are so beautiful, they should be planted where they can easily be seen.

Variegated geraniums, with leaves that are often brilliantly colored, are attractive even out of bloom. Indeed, some feel, as I do, that flowers detract from the foliage. Among the best are Mrs. Cox, vermillion and purple, with an edging of yellow; Miss Burdett Coutts, purple-zoned and pink-splashed; and Skies of Italy, crimson-zoned with a yellow edging. Set among green-leaved geraniums and other foliage plants, pots of the variegateds add color and pattern.

Next Page »