WIXTKK r.L()()MIX(J I'LAN'TS 75 



that come or the buds that are on there will keep developing and bloom- 

 ing all winter. It makes a good plant for window boxes, and outdoor 

 work where there is a particularly shady position. 



Another plant for a Christmas plant, and one which is probably the 

 most important of all, is the poinsettia. At this time of the year put 

 them under the benches in a warm, dry position, and leave them there 

 until April, May or June, and set them up, and in two or three weeks 

 you can have all the goods you want for summer propagation. These are 

 easily rooted in a propagating bench. They require a good rich soil and 

 not too much water to the roots. Of course take an early propagated 

 plant and pot it, and it is too much of a shift at a time and the plants 

 become too large. But by giving them two shifts and keeping them 

 growing on the dry side, you will get a large plant for the following 

 Christmas. While these are not satisfactory for a house plant, yet they 

 are a good Christmas plant, and will last longer than cut flowers, and 

 everybody will advise people to buy the poinsettia for Christmas. In fact, 

 the past winter there wasn't near enough to meet the demand. Many 

 more could have been sold. These, after the bracts begin to forpi, re- 

 quire lots of heat, and you want an even temperature, and a moist 

 house. 



Take the cineraria, and that is another plant that is grov.'n in great 

 quantities, and while they do not last long as a house plant, they will last 

 long if you will give them lots ot waler, and yoti v;ill get colors in those 

 you do not get in any other v/iuter blooming plant. The seed should be 

 sown in June or July to get good piants for the following winter. The 

 great trouble with the cineraria is to carry them through the hot months 

 and the hot summer to the cool weather, btit by getting a good shady 

 place, watching them carefully, and getting them past the middle of Sep- 

 tember there is no bother with them, at all, and they will grow any place. 

 But in order to get them in good shape and have the flowers last, they 

 should be grown in a temperature of 50 to 55 degrees and kept on the dry 

 side when the flowers commence to develop. If you take them to a house 

 where they will dry out as fast as they will in the greenhouse, they 

 won't get water enough to keep them in condition. A great many times 

 I have seen them taken to a dwelling house and over night I have seen 

 them drop down; the next morning they would come back and say it was 

 frozen or something of the kind. 



Take the azalea. That is the plant that almost all of us will grow, 

 and have grown, although not all of them will grow. These are imported 

 from Belgium and they must be soaked well before they are potted. And 

 I generally put a lot of water around them. When they become dried 

 out it takes quite a while to soak through, and by leaving them stand 

 in the water a few minutes they become soaked up enough for potting. 



If you want them for Christmas keep them in a cool place for a week 

 or two and then keep them in heat starting at 60 degrees, and then 

 after a week run up as hot as you can until the flowers commence to 



