Baskets Or Hampers Of Plant Material And Sprays Of Cut Flowers

( Originally Published 1923 )

Within the last few years there has been quite a change in the demand for baskets of plant material. Until quite recently baskets of cut flowers only were called for. Now people realize that it is quite possible to have living plants, in an attractive receptacle, which will retain their freshness much longer than will cut flowers. Hence, the demand for baskets and hampers of potted plants.

Plant Baskets

Either flowering or foliage plants alone, or an association of both flowering and foliage species, make an attractive basket which keeps fresh for a considerable period. Such plant combinations are excellent Christmas and Easter gifts. Made-up baskets may also be used for large decorations when a single plant would appear insignificant. Plant baskets are a profitable feature for the florist. In many instances plants which are not perfectly formed may be combined with others so as to conceal all defects. A flowering Azalea with a long, unsightly stem may be used in a basket or hamper and the area about the base be filled with ferns or low flowering plants such as Primroses, and a good looking basket is the result. An Erica may have a top well filled with flowers but the base may be unsightly, hence unsalable. By combining with ferns or other plants the objectionable base may be hidden.

The baskets should be of attractive material, inconspicuously colored and of pleasing shapes. Some are round, some oblong, others rectangular. The handles should be attached securely and be high enough to come well above the plant material. In selecting material for filling baskets it is best usually to hold to one or two species of flowering plants. Too large an assortment means con-fusion and much of interest in the combination is lost. For example, if a large Hydrangea is used for the center, it will be the principal "point of emphasis." If it is possible to combine two, imperfectly shaped plants, the effect may be pleasing. Cyclamen or Primroses may be the secondary element and the empty spaces may be filled with ferns. A green and white foliage plant, like Pandanus Veitchii, may be inserted for variety.

Lilium longiflorum and Marguerites make a pleasing combination, the large flowers of the Lilies towering above the finer massed blooms of the Marguerites. Plants with brilliant foliage effects, like Crotons, Dracænas or Pandanus Veitchii, may be combined with green-foliaged ferns, the one helping to increase the attractiveness of the other.

In arranging the material, the same principles should be observed as for bouquets of cut flowers. There should be balance or an apparent stability, and this may be obtained, first, by choosing a receptacle with a broad base, and second, by so placing the plants that there will be no appearance of top-heaviness. The large flowers should not come above the handle of the basket. There should be a fine sense of proportion; that is, the plants should not be too large for the basket nor the basket too large for the plants. The material should be selected with consideration for the size, height of handle and color of the basket, and it is usually better to fill the zinc or tin receptacle before it is placed inside.

It is best to place pieces of broken pots or stones in the bottom of the container to allow for a little drainage, with a little soil over them. The largest plant is to occupy the center of the receptacle, and after its removal from the pot all surplus soil is removed. This must be done with very great care so as not to mutilate the root system. The other plants are prepared in a similar manner and placed in position. The plants should not appear crowded but all vacant spots should be filled and from all angles the basket should appear finished. Any spaces between the plants should be filled with soil and sufficient room left to allow for watering later. Some decorators cover the soil in the basket with sheet moss, but if small, compact ferns are used as fillers about the base of the larger plants, this is unnecessary. After the container is filled and watered, it is placed inside the basket and then each plant is adjusted carefully.

Ribbon may be used in various ways for increased decorative effects. It is best usually to make a ribbon bow and then attach it with wire to the handle of the basket, the base of the plants or wherever it is desired. In making the bow, the ribbon is taken in the left hand, and rested against the table or the knee, and three or four loops of the desired length are plaited between the thumb and fingers of the left hand. A strand of No. 20 or 22 wire is then wound tightly around the base of the loops with the right hand, and the ribbon cut from the roll with ends of the desired length. The loops are arranged in a natural, bow-like form and attached to the basket with the same wire used in holding the loops in position. If the bow is to fill a vacant place among the ferns in the basket it may be wired to the top of a green matchstick placed in the soil at the proper place. There are varying opinions as to the appropriateness of the use of ribbon on plant baskets. In many instances they detract from the beauty of the plant material, but if there is a scarcity of flowers or an unsightly spot in the composition, a bow of ribbon may be a great addition.

Hampers

Hampers with handles on each end are excellent for bulbs or other low-growing plants. A low, green basket filled with Paperwhite Narcissi planted in pebbles is very attractive. Bulbs, such as Tulips or Hyacinths, may be prepared for forcing in earthen pans. About the time the tops commence to grow, bulbs of uniform stages of development may be selected and carefully transplanted into containers which fit the hampers. They are then ready for sale. People enjoy watching bulbs grow in the home and they sell fully as well as if in full bloom. Rustic hampers covered with bark or woven with natural willow twigs make appropriate receptacles for bulbs.

Cut Flower Baskets

Baskets filled with cut flowers are now used extensively for funeral tributes, for presentation gifts, for musical artists, for dramatic performers, for steamer flowers; in fact, they are appropriate for almost any occasion. They are much more natural and pleasing than are other arrangements. The earlier method of making a presentation basket was to fill it with damp Sphagnum moss, to cover the moss with Dagger ferns and then to wire each flower and inset it in the moss in the position desired. This was a long, tedious operation and the effect of the finished basket was not pleasing.

The baskets now offered for sale are far less ornate than formerly. They are decorated in colors that harmonize with a wide variety of plant material. Each is sold with a tin or zinc receptacle and the flowers will keep fresh in water much longer than in moss. For large cut flowers, such as Roses, Lilies, Delphiniums or Carnations, select a basket with a broad base for stability. The plainer the basket the more pleasing will be the finished composition. Fill the metal container about half full of water, then put in sufficient green material to hold the flowers in place. The foliage of various plants may be used for this purpose. Some use the wood ferns, commonly called Dagger ferns, others use branches of Laurel, Privet or other broad-leaved evergreens. In this way the cut flowers may be loosely and naturally arranged and will remain in place even with considerable jarring in transportation. If, after all the flowers are in place, Sphagnum moss or sheet moss be inserted carefully among the flower stems at the top of the basket, the arrangement holds its shape much better and the water is not so easily spilled. The length of time flowers will keep fresh when arranged in this way is quite remarkable. Last Summer I found in my state-room, as I was leaving the United States for a European trip, a basket made as described, which had been sent by friends with a "Bon Voyage." Ophelia Roses were the principal element in the composition. With them were a few sprays of light blue Delphiniums, pink Gladioli, blue and pink Water Lilies, and sprays of a little, delicate pink flower which is rarely seen in retail stores, Sabatia angularis. For foliage effects, branches of golden-leaved Privet were used. The handle of the golden brown basket was tied with Ophelia-colored ribbon and the whole effect was most. artistic. The keeping qualities were surprising and the basket brightened the dining room table during the greater part of the trip.

For smaller baskets, Sweet Peas, Marguerites, both white and yellow, Bon Silene, Cecile Brunner or George Elgar Roses are very effective. Many garden flowers lend themselves splendidly to basket arrangements.

Sprays of Cut Flowers

Next to basket compositions, the arrangement of cut flowers in sprays is the most natural and pleasing. The making of a good spray is, however, difficult. Anyone can make a "bunch" of flowers, but the artistic spray is something more than an ordinary bunch. There are no hard and fast rules to follow, consequently there are nearly as many types of sprays as there are designers. Almost everyone has a different idea as to what a spray should be, which allows for much flexibility in the design. The spray which interests most people is one arranged in the most natural manner. This does not mean that the flowers are thrown together in a haphazard manner; in fact, a natural effect is more difficult to obtain than a formal one. Sometimes fancy Dagger ferns are wired together for a foundation and on this Carnations are regularly spaced and held in position by wires. This is neither natural nor artistic.

In making a spray the same principles should govern the designer as those outlined for the arrangement of cut flowers in vases or baskets. There should be a mental picture of a pleasing spray and this picture should be before the designer throughout the construction. A spray should not be long and narrow; neither should it be broad and short. The outline will be governed, to a considerable degree, by the size of the flowers, varying much, depending upon whether Lilies, Roses, Carnations, Freesias or Violets be used. There should be displayed, however, a fine sense of correct proportion as to length and width. If one can picture a rectangle about one and one-half times as long as it is wide, the width depending to a large extent upon the size of the flowers used, and then arrange the flowers in an ellipse so the edge of the outline touches the edge of the rectangle at the center of each side, the general outline of the spray will not be far from accurate. There may be variations in the regular line of the ellipse, and it is quite permissible, even desirable, to have sprays or individual flowers break the regular line of the ellipse in an interesting way.

The spray should not be too flat, neither should it be too thick. The most natural arrangement is to have the flowers thin at the top and around the outline, then to elevate them by so-called "padding" with Dagger ferns or other green at the center and base. This is more easily done with Carnations or the smaller flowers than with Lilies. If Gladioli are used, the fully opened flowers at the base and the buds at the top of the spray, naturally form such an arrangement. In making a spray of Roses, if buds are used for the upper marginal flowers, half-open flowers within and fully-open for the base, the general surface of the spray will naturally form such an arrangement. If one or two winds of silkaline are made as each flower is added, the spray is very firm, yet flexible. When the flower stems are short, as with Sweet Peas, they may be wired to the ends of Dagger ferns, and this helps in building up the center.

In selecting flowers for the spray it is just as essential to use fresh flowers as in any type of flower arrangement. It is a mistake to use faded material and expect to disguise the fact by covering the flowers with Maidenhair ferns or greenhouse Asparagus. If flowers of varying degrees of maturity are chosen, the effect will be more pleasing. Buds should be selected, also flowers partly and fully open. ln combining various species, the same consideration should be paid to color and form harmonies as in the selection of material for table decorations, vase arrangements or any other type of flower arrangement. In combinations of flowers, those of relative values should be used. Orchids, Lilies of the Valley and Roses make a splendid combination and one of the richest. It is difficult to combine other flowers with Easter Lilies without detracting from their beauty of outline and purity of whiteness. Callas, also, are difficult to combine with other flowers. In either case if variety is sought, it may be obtained by using a bunch of Violets with the green material, a spray of Freesias or other delicate flowers, or a ribbon to tie the stems.

Garden flowers should not be combined with greenhouse material. Either by itself is excellent but there are such differences in comparative values that a combination of the two is rarely ever pleasing. When garden material is used for sprays, it should be thoroughly "precooled," that is, placed loosely in cold water in a deep receptacle for several hours before it is arranged. This tends to keep it fresh much longer, for flowers grown out of doors wither much more rapidly than do those grown in green-houses.

When the flowers in the spray are arranged and securely fastened by fine wire or green silkaline, it is necessary to finish the ends. This is done in various ways. Some designers finish with the foliage similar to that used in the spray to space the flowers and give emphasis to their form. Small sprays of Asparagus plumosus, Maiden-hair fern or other green may be wired and inserted among the stems so that the tying and the blunt stems are hidden. A nice strand of Asparagus Sprengeri may be tied about the stems, provided it is not thick enough to appear bulky. The end of the Asparagus may trail over the ends of the stems in a natural manner. This method of finishing the ends is good, especially when the buyer requests that no ribbon be used. Another effective method is to form a small spray of the finer flowers used in the composition, and to fasten it to the stems of the spray, reversing it so the flowers will cover the ends of the stems. The ribbon may then be tied at the junction of the large and the small sprays and an attractive bow made. When a spray is finished it should be so securely made that no flowers will be loosened, even if handled rather hastily, perhaps carelessly, as is unavoidable on some occasions.