Flowering Baskets Make Great Gifts

Saturday, December 09, 2006 03:45 AM

Flowering baskets are a great gift idea for any time of the year and for any occasion. They come in all sizes, colors, and type of container and can be customized to fit any décor.

The wonderful thing about them is that they are much longer lasting than a fresh floral arrangement and plants can be changed throughout the year to suit any occasion.

Flowering baskets are becoming a popular item and can be bought already made up, or be custom made, or you could make one yourself.

There are two different methods of putting together a flowering basket.

The first method is similar to planting up an outdoor hanging basket or container garden.

You would choose a few plants that have the same growing requirements i.e. light, moisture, and humidity.

Choose a container that has good drainage and is large enough to hold the plants chosen. If the container has no drainage you need to place an inch layer of rock or broken up clay pots to create some drainage as you do not want the plants roots to sit in water for any length of time because this causes the roots to rot. Using a high quality potting soil place a layer of soil in the bottom of the container or above the drainage material. Next take the plants out of their grow pots and place them in the container as to where you want them to go. Tall growing plants would be in the center or in the back of the basket depending on whether you want a circular display or one that goes against the wall. Trailing plants such as ivies and babies breath etc. would be on the outside edges of the basket. The top of the soil line on the plants should be even with the top of the basket so that the plants will not be buried any deeper than they were in their growing pots. Fill the basket with the potting soil patting it down and making sure that plants are securely planted. Give it a good thorough watering and then care for it as the plants growing requirements are needed.

The second method and the one that I prefer is keeping all the individual plants in their original growing containers.

Choose a basket that you want to use as your display container and then choose the plants that you want to place in it. Place the plants in the container as to where you want them. You can place a layer of rock on the bottom for the plants to sit on if the container has no drainage. If you have plants that come in varying height containers you can use an empty grow pot and place it upside down and place the shorter plant on top of it so that it will be the same height as the others. After the plants have all been placed to where you want them get some sphagnum moss and cover the top of the grow pots so that the individual pots are no longer visible and it looks like one large planting. You do not want to cover the foliage off the plants so you need to be careful when doing this to nsure that plants remain healthy.

I prefer this method because each individual plant can be watered as they need it and you can constantly change plants around when you want a different look. This is especially true for flowering plants as old finished plants can be exchanged with a new fresh flowering plant

After the basket has been planted up you can add some extra ribbon, balls, or other decorations to give the basket a festive look.

As for baskets, you can use any type of container. Popular ones are wicker and ceramic but if you have an old pan, or other interesting containers they can be used as well. You want a container that has some size to it so that you can have a few plants fit in easily.

I always say to use your imagination and have fun with it!

-Jos

Jos Van Hage owns two Art Knapp Garden Centres in Prince George: