What do you get when you add up 700 gardeners, 1,200-plus plant species and more than 30 million floral blooms? A phenomenal flower extravaganza, which is exactly what you'll find at the Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival 2000! How would you like to create a hanging basket that's brimming with all the fresh herbs you love to use in the kitchen? Or maybe a basket that exudes a heady, lemony fragrance? Here Heather Will-Browne, bedding-plant specialist at Walt Disney World, shows how to put together a basket that perfectly suits your tastes. Start with a hanging-basket frame made of galvanized steel (to prevent rusting). Line with pressed-coconut mats (available in garden centers). The liners allow good drainage while still retaining moisture and will generally last five to seven years. Whenever you're ready to change your basket theme, simply peel out the old plant material and start fresh. A lemon basket (figure A) offers the aroma and color of a variety of herbs. Good choices for this basket include lemon thyme, variegated lemon thyme, lemon balm, lemon basil and "Lime Green" flowering tobacco (Nicotiana alata). For an Italian basket, try miniature eggplant, miniature basil, curly-leaf parsley, purple-ruffle basil and chives. Plant some oregano at one edge; it will spill over the side as it grows. The "kitchen-sink" basket has a little bit of everything (figure B). Begin with a miniature pepper in the center of the basket. Then add sage, peppermint, variegated mint, dill (choose a compact variety such as fern-leaf dill), purple basil, rosemary and lettuce. Decorative edible flowers such as violas and nasturtiums add a special touch. Hang your basket in full sun, and water as needed. Either fertilize either with a slow-release granular fertilizer or lightly apply a liquid fertilizer once a week. Pinch off any bug-infested growth -- but don't use pesticides. Snip your plants to harvest and to keep them growing vigorously. To save what you can't use right away, snip stems and hang upside down in a dry, dark area.
RESOURCES :
For Your Garden: Hanging Baskets and Planters
Model: 1567999557
Author: Teri Dunn
Michael Friedman / Fairfax Publishing, 2000
Hanging Baskets
Model: 1850292981
Author: David Joyce
American Horticultural Society, 2000
Out of Print
Colorful Hanging Baskets and Other Containers
Model: 0806994800
Author: Tessa Eveleigh & Deborah Patterson
March 1997
Herbs
Model: 0754806170
Author: Andi Clevely and Katherine Richmond
2000
Lorenz Books / Anness Publishing Inc.
Website: www.lorenzbooks.com
American Horticultural Society Practical Guides: Herb Gardens
Model: 0789441500
Author: Richard Rosenfeld
80 pages
(April 1999)
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