January 3, 1001. 



The Weekly Florists' Review^ 



H7 



MISCELLANEOUS 

 SEASONABLE HINTS. 



pOrlaill .111. I r\.l pi.plll.n pl.iM 'lir 



zonal uriMiiiiiiii. i>iii iii'i-t -:iii-i.i i"iy 

 plant is from the cutting that has l.._'en 

 rooted in September. TLey are now fine 

 little plants in 2i-inch pots, but for want 

 of room liave been occupying as little 

 space as possible. As soon after New 

 Year's as we can get at it they should 

 have a shift into a 3-inch. By taking 

 a little soil off the top of the ball this 

 gives them shift enough and starts them 

 fnto growth, so that by the beginning or 

 middle of February you are able to get 

 a cutting from almost every plant. This 

 does them no harm, for they would want 

 pinching in some way. 



Don't use too rich a soil or at least a 

 mixture with much leaf mould or rotten 

 manure, as geraniums like a good stiff 

 loam. A fifth or sixth of well decayed 

 manure is enough. A firm, solid growth 

 is what is desirable in geraniums at all 

 times. Pot firmly and give them the 

 lightest benches. Geraniums are the 

 most important of our summer bedding 

 plants. Nothing for the outlay gives us 

 such a continuous, brilliant display of 

 color, and good, thrifty plants are al- 

 ways in demand. 



The Ivy Leaf section is also an im- 

 portant one. They do not flower continu- 

 ously when planted out where the roots 

 have plenty of room, but when used in 

 veranda boxes and vases they are very 

 attractive and flower so freely in May 

 that thousands are sold in our markets 

 to people who just keep them growing 

 in the pots and they flower a long time 

 in this way. For our largest plants we 

 shift these now also into 3-inch. And 

 the cuttings made from the tips, if put 

 in sand, make fine plants by bedding 

 time. Many of the Ivy Leaf section are 

 now so beautiful both in size and color 

 of bloom that they are worth growing as 

 pot plants equally with the zonals. 

 Marguerites. 

 Plants of tlieso that were lifted from 

 the ground in September and put into 

 7 and 8-inch pots sell well at Easter, for 

 if they have been cool and light they will 

 surely be in full flower in April. Whether 

 you have given them one pinching dur- 

 ing winter or not, some very attractive 

 and salable pans can be made by taking 

 off a number of the leading shoots of 

 these old plants and putting them in the 

 propagating bed; they root quickly and 

 then can be planted in 8, 9 or 10-inch 

 pans. They will soon flower and there 

 being, say, 9 or 10 plants in an 8-iiich 

 pan, they make a sheet of bloom which 

 is most attractive. There is yet time to 

 do this and have them in fine order for 

 Easter, and the large plants will flower 

 in plenty of time. Tliis wrinkle I owe 

 to a western friend. 



Propagating. 



There are many things to propagate 



now. Some plants you can get up a 



,„.,.,il -lu, I, nf ill :i -I1..1I linir. I.ul others 

 wani "i-i- li-ii- l-i in-iiiMT, you 

 wniilil lir I1...I1-I1 1- |.ni|i:i'j.ii.' a great 

 lot 111 riilni- ov a'jiriililiii ju-l now, for 

 tli.'v w. uM tie too large or get exhausted 

 liriiiir luil.llng time.' Others want sev- 

 n.il iiioiiths to make good plants. 



Lutnlia^ that we use for baskets and 

 vases should be put in the sand in quan- 

 tity, for you want showy plants. 

 Aealypha should be propagated at once. 

 Put in all the fuchsias you can this 

 month, for those later propagated make 

 stunted plants. Tlie conditions for 

 propagating what is necessary are more 

 perfect this month than any; usually a 

 cool atmosphere with little need of shad- 

 ing and a genial heat in the sand. Carna- 

 tions, roses and everything else that is 

 propagated by cuttings root readily and 

 surely just now. 



Azaleas. 

 Let me remind you once more that 

 your Easter azaleas that you imported 

 in October will be making a lot of young 

 growth from the base of the flower buds, 

 and if that is allowed to remain on it 

 will grow at the expense of the flower 

 bud, which won't amount to anything. 

 They must be pulled off. We usually 

 have to gO' over tliem twice during the 

 winter. If you want most of the azaleas 

 in at Easter you can hardly keep them 

 all in the same temperature. Varieties 

 that want to flower early, such as the 

 favorite Mme. Van der Ciuyssen, will do 

 for two months little above the freezing 

 point, while late varieties, like Emperor 

 de Brazil and Souv. de Prince Albert 

 will do better in 50 degrees. 



Rhododendrons. 



We have never been quite satisfied 

 with rhododendrons as a forcing plant, 

 although they are a most decorative 

 plant. They are of course almost hardy, 

 but should not be kept so cool if wanted 

 for forcing. We found that when you 

 do put them into heat, which should be 

 about two months before they are 

 wanted, they need a good brisk heat, say 

 60 degrees at night, with lots of syring- 

 ing. The latter is important, as the 

 moisture -is needed to loosen up their 

 compact tight buds. 



Cytisus. 



Many of these are still grown for 

 Easter! It is not advisable to do any 

 more clipping of the shoots after this 

 date, but they should be kept quite cool, 

 say 40 degrees at night, or they will be 

 in flower before you want them. 



Pansies. 



If you do not sow pansies in the fall 

 and have none in cold-frames for early 

 spring use, some fine plants can be raised 

 by sowing now or within two or three 

 weeks. Transplanted into flats or on to 

 a bench that is not too valuable in a cool 

 house they make very fine plants by 

 middle of April and for filling vases are 

 just the thing. The main thing is to keep 

 them cool enough so that they don't 

 draw up. William Scott. 



CARNATION NOTES. 



Lowering the Temperature. 



If \ou lii-L':iTi rfiliniiK_r the temperature 

 ill \i,iii' r,M nation houses right after 

 Xiiia-, v'u will lll^^ly have them at their 

 iioiiiLiI li in|ii ral iii'i' again by this time, 

 .uid they can go ahead producing strong, 

 healthy growth and good blooms. The 

 drop ill the temperature may have short- 

 ened the cut to some extent for a few 

 days; but as soon as I In |.l.iiii- a r. ae 

 cu.stomed to the lower t. iii| . 1 ii hm 1 Imv 

 will move along as befoi- , I h> .,< iii.iiiil 

 is usually somewhat liyhLer i-.r u lew 

 days right after Xmas, and it is better 

 for everybody if the market does not be- 

 come crowded, as would be the case if the 

 forcing were kept up right along. If 

 you were careful and succeeded in reduc- 

 ing the temperature without causing any 

 of the calyxes to split you Were fortunate 

 and there is no danger of your plants 

 having suffered much from the recent 

 forcing. That is the way it usually shows 

 first. If you have not already lovcered 

 the temperature to where it belongs, do 

 so at once. Too long a spell of forcing 

 will weaken the stems and make the 

 blooms smaller, and it is hard to get them 

 back into good shape again after they 

 once g'et that far. 



Carnations will soon be getting more 

 plentiful; before long only the best grades 

 will bring fair prices, so it will pay you 

 to sacrifice a few blooms now in order to 

 keep your plants in good, healthy and 

 strong condition, so they can produce the 

 highest quality blooms. The next few 

 weeks will determine whether, your 

 blooms will be found among the better 

 grades or whether they will be among 

 the lower grades, and often find their way 

 to the ash barrel. Do everything you can 

 to promote a strong, healthy, well ma- 

 tured growth. 



Standard Varieties. 

 Last week we went over the white and 

 pink standard varieties, so now we will 

 take up the others. 



Among the scarlets we still consider 

 Jubilee king. Thei'e is nothing out now 

 that can touch it when it is grown as it 

 should be. It has by far the finest color, 

 the blooms are good size and the stem is 

 long and strong. When it is allowed to 

 develop properly before it is pickred it is 

 a fine keeper and it always brings the 

 top price. It takes special culture to 

 make it pay, but it will well repay the 

 grower who will tak'e the trouble to grow 

 it properly. Strike the cuttings early 

 and plant inside early in spring, or, han- 

 dle it so it does not suffer any kind of a 

 check during hot weather, and it will 

 bloom early and freely until hot weather 

 sets in again. 



America is a good one for ordinary good 

 culture. The blooms are large and borne 

 on fine stems; but the color is a light 

 red. A bunch of them shows up fine and 

 sells well, but it must not be mixed up 

 with .lubilee. Wc like it on account of 

 its fi'eencss and easy management. 



G. H. Crane is considered by many as 

 the best all-around scarlet. The color is 

 between America and Jubilee. The growth 

 is strong and the stems are long and 

 strong and bear large blooms. It is an 

 early and free bloomer and should make 

 a profitable variety for the average 

 gi-ower. 



Red Jacket would have been a good 

 one had it not stem-rotted so badly. The 

 color, size and stem were good, and it 

 grew rapidly. 



