November 22, 1900. 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



759 



MISCELLANEOUS 

 SEASONABLE HINTS. 



Herbaceous Plants. 



Any herbaceous plants that were sown 

 in August and are being wintered over 

 in flats siiniild now be in a cold-frame, 

 where witli the protection of sash they 

 will winter very well and be in far better 

 condition than if coddled up even in the 

 coolest of houses. Keep the sash otf till 

 we get hard freezing weather and give 

 air in mid-winter whenever it is mild. 



While speaking of herbaceous plants, 

 for which there is a strong fancy just 

 now, would say that another very good 

 plan where they are all for your own 

 planting is to sow the seed in February 

 or Marcli, transplant into frame in May 

 or June, where you can keep them wa- 

 tered, and by middle of August they will 

 be strong plants and can be put out in 

 their permanent locations. They will 

 have plenty of time to get thoroughly es- 

 tablished before winter sets in and be 

 in fine condition to flower the following 

 summer. I allude to such plants as core- 

 opsis, digitalis, heuehera, Lobelia car- 

 dinalis, aquilegias, etc. 



To digress a moment — there is a school 

 of landscape gardeners, reading papers 

 and publishing essays nowadays in which 

 they condemn the use of any of our gay 

 bedding plants that give us five or six 

 months' continual bloom and advocate 

 the exclusive use of hardy perennials. 

 The name '"landscape gardeners" is a 

 misnomer. They are landscape vision- 

 aries, with a fad and a dollar in sight. 

 Do these windy and one-sided men not 

 know that the proper use and value of 

 the hardy perennials has been known to 

 all intelligent gardeners for a century 

 and more? 



On the margins of plantations or in the 

 mixed border, but more particularly if 

 one is a student of plants, then the use 

 of herbaceous plants is to be commended 

 and they will be appreciated. In a gar- 

 den of a tew acres there is always room 

 for a border of herbaceous plants, but in 

 a small city lot do you think people are 

 going to be satisfied with a bed that will 

 be gay and attractive less than one 

 month, or not at all, or a border that is 

 simply green, or here and there a plant 

 in flower? To enjoy such a border you 

 must be well acquainted with plants and 

 while -you are showing your friend 

 around you will have to tell him how 

 beautiful so and so was in June, and 

 how lovely you expect the anemones to be 

 end of September. "There is not much 

 in flower Just now, don't you know; but 

 I do think these hardy plants are inter- 

 esting." As an honest gardener said to 

 me recently: "When pictures of these 

 hardy perennials are shown to the pros- 

 pective buyers they should show how 

 they look in May. July and September." 



Another thing, are not our geraniums, 



verbenas, heliotrope, petunias and other 

 favorites the selection of years that have 

 been found to suit the conditions and 

 give the best general and pleasing re- 

 sult? You might as well try to make all 

 our women don the somber Quaker colors 

 as banish the gay flowers from our gar- 

 dens. But there is not much fear of its 

 being done by a few young men whose 

 only ability consists of drawing pretty 

 pictures in an office. 



Don't think for a moment, Mr. Editor, 

 that I don't realize that these gay flow- 

 ers in formal beds arc entirely out of 

 place when surrounded by natural scen- 

 ery, but in public squares, near build- 

 ings, and in the small garden surround- 

 ing the dwelling they are entirely proper 

 and welcome summer guests, and will 

 never be supplanted by plants that are 

 advocated because they are simply in- 

 teresting. When the liod carrier reads 

 Gibbon's "Decline and Fall of the Ro- 

 man Empire." and our children crave 

 Darwin's "Plants and Animals Under 

 Domestication," then our gardens may 

 be occupied solely by the curious, odd 

 and uncommon. 



One thing more — the matter of ex- 

 pense. These college-bred draughtsmen 

 say: "Why plant these tender exotics 

 which have to be purchased every 

 spring?" They ought to know that any 

 herbaceous border, if it is going to be 

 kept neat and orderly and in the slight- 

 est way attractive, the labor on it will 

 be more than the cost and labor on a bed 

 of cannas or geraniums. 



Spiraea Japonica. 



Don't let these lay around in a case, 

 perhaps in a warm shed, and get dried 

 up. "They will stand a lot of abuse, but 

 if you want the best success unpack them 

 and lay them in a cold-frame with some 

 earth around them. New Year's is time 

 enough to pot them for forcing. 



Begonia Lorraine. 



I have noticed some Begonia Lorraine 

 lately that have been grown in a very 

 warm, shady house. They look attract- 

 ive, but are in poor condition for cus- 

 tomers. When they are showing lots of 

 flowers a temperature of CO degrees is 

 plenty. And give them the fullest light 

 and ventilation when possible. They are 

 not any too lasting when removed to the 

 dwelling house, but will be less so if 

 very soft. 



Chrysanthemums. 



In my travels this fall I have noticed 

 two very fine chrysanthemums which 

 ought to be in every collection. One is 

 not new. but it is a dandy, namely, W. 

 H. Chadwick. It is a magnificent white. 

 The other is Col. D. Appleton, the yellow 

 that has turned out such an immense 



bloom, a good grower and in every way a 

 magnificent yellow. If you can buy old 

 roots of these now it is much cheaper 

 than young plants in the spring, and 

 usually better stock. 



Timothy Eaton is not yet for sale, and 

 where it will land is uncertain. It was 

 kind and good business policy to name 

 the flower after the great department 

 store proprietor of Toronto, but I would 

 rather have some abbreviated descrip- 

 tive name; for instance, "Monstrosum 

 giganteum robustum rigidum album" 

 would give one an inkling of what the 

 flower is like. Mr. Miller has a pink 

 variety that I think is the most pleasing 

 pink I have seen, as good in color as Mrs. 

 Perrin, a better grower and a finer flow- 

 er, that he unwisely calls Mrs. Timothy 

 Eaton. This is sure to lead to confu- 

 sion. If Timothy Eaton is to be the 

 name of the wonderful white, then call 

 the pink one "Mine Frau." 



Carnations. 



No worse possible weather could we 

 have for carnations than the past two 

 weeks; dark, damp, without a ray of 

 sun, and often warm. You must fire a 

 little and give plenty of ventilation, even 

 if it is warm outside. 



'Violets. 



The same can be said of violets. It is 

 the most difficult time to keep them 

 healthy. They continually want going 

 over and removing the deca3'ed leaves. 

 ■Violets don't like fire heat, but in all 

 good violet houses the pipes should be 

 on the side walls above the plants, and 

 a little fire heat and ventilation makes 

 a circulation of air and prevents damp- 

 ing of the leaves. Wm. Scott. 



CARNATION NOTES. 



Illinois has been visited with an un- 

 usual abundance of rain and dark weath- 

 er the past week, which will have a 

 tendency to shorten up the supply of 

 blooms, which probably will be an ad- 

 vantage for the plants to cool them- 

 selves off and get themselves settled into 

 their regular winter habits, throwing 

 good flowers, instead of romping off, as 

 they have done the past two months, giv- 

 ing the grower the impression that thev 

 intended doing all their work while the 

 sun shines, in spite of him and his skill 

 with a gentle hint (on the side) that he 

 must do his part when the cloudy and 

 cold weather comes. 



Well, now comes our turn. Split ca- 

 lyces will be the first thing to test us. 

 White Cloud will be one of the first to 

 get in line, but it can be stopped by prop- 

 er ventilating and firing. Run the tem- 

 perature up to as high as 62 decrees in 

 day time and .54 degrees at night^as lone 

 as they seem inclined to burst. But this 

 IS four degrees too high to retain strong 

 stems, so each one must judge for him° 

 self. When they no longer require the 

 extra temperature, syringing should not 

 be thought of excepting inVery ui-went 

 cases, or where spider has got a st?on<r 

 foothold; in that ease he must be dis°- 

 lodged at all hazards. 



I have heard quite a few complaints 

 about the Mrs. Lawson coming bleached 



