94 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



JUNE 29, 1899. 



very finely divided, graceful branch- 

 lets are, however, preferred by some 

 above A. plumosus. 



A. Sprengeri is a more recent intro- 

 duction and comes from Abyssinia 

 (the other species are from South 

 Africa). It is a strong grower, form- 

 ing a large clump of roots and crowns 

 from which it sends out long, strong 

 shoots covered on all sides with fine 

 branchlets. In older plants there is an 

 inclination to run up strong shoots 

 which may climb, but the value and 

 beauty of the plant is in the long, 

 pendent growths. It is a strong feed- 

 er and requires an abundance of water 

 and will grow and keep its color in 

 the full sun; only from our hottest 

 suns should it receive any artificial 

 shading. 



It is easily raised from seed which 

 is best sown in early spring. By the 

 following winter the plants will give 

 fine sprays. For hanging baskets it 

 has scarcely a rival, either for the 

 conservatory, the veranda or parlor 

 window. The magnificent baskets that 

 remain in good condition while hang- 

 ing for months in a florist's window 

 are evidence of its great adaptability 

 to unfavorable surroundings. Three 

 small plants put in a 10-inch basket 

 in July or August will make fine orna- 



mental baskets for winter, most use- 

 ful for decoration or to sell at a good 

 profit. While the Sprengeri lacks a 

 little of the grace and fineness of plu- 

 mosus and tenuissimus it is for cer- 

 tain purposes their superior, and 

 when the sprays are matured their 

 lasting qualities are equal to the well 

 known durability of plumosus. To 

 grow good sprays (and it can be 

 grown five or six feet, and perhaps 

 longer) you should give it the middle 

 of a house where the winter tempera- 

 ture is 55 to 60 degrees. Plant fifteen 

 inches apart in boxes as long as the 

 width of the house between walks. 

 Let the boxes be twelve inches wide 

 and eight inches deep. Raise the 

 boxes three feet from the ground by 

 some convenient means and keep them 

 three feet apart. This will allow the 

 sprays plenty of room to develop with- 

 out getting dirty from the sand or soil 

 of a bench. Small, well grown plants 

 in 4-inch pots should be always in 

 stock; for mantel decorations they are 

 invaluable. 



None of our well known green- 

 house pests trouble the asparagus if it 

 is given plenty of syringing and water. 

 A rather heavy loam with a liberal ad- 

 dition of animal manure is all it 

 wants. 



Exhibitions. 



Retail florists should take a more 

 active interest in flower shows, and 

 now is the time to see that the sched- 

 ules are properly made up. Almost 

 every florists' club or horticultural so- 

 ciety in the country complains very 

 bitterly of the indifferent manner in 

 which the retailers regard the flower 

 shows. This should not be so, because 

 exhibitions benefit the florist in the 

 store as well as the florist in the 

 greenhouse, and very many of the 

 "show failures" are due to the lack of 

 harmony or unity between the two 

 great sections. If the exhibitions are 

 failures you yourselves are to blame in 

 most cases. 



We would like to see the retailers 

 in every city organized in some way 

 for the purpose of attending to many 

 great and important matters, one of 

 which is a better representation of our 



I beautiful art at the shows. Go to the 

 | different exhibition committees now 

 and have your section of the schedule 

 attended to, and have a committee of 

 retailers appoint the judges. Don't let 

 the growers or any other element ar- 

 range your classes when you can do so 

 yourselves; let us have classes calling 

 for more picturesque groups of plants, 

 do away with the formal mounds in 

 your section. Then there are plant 

 baskets, plant vases, fern dishes, 

 hanging baskets, window boxes, 

 trimmed plants, head wreaths, bridal 

 set, trimmed dress, box and flowers, de- 

 livery system, in fact classes too nu- 

 merous to mention, besides the ones 

 we are most familiar with. Flower 

 shows in this country are failures of- 

 ten because they are too formally ar- 

 ranged. The classes are made more to 

 suit the growers because the retailers 

 are so apathetic. The average visitor 



can usually go through or stand and 

 look at one of the best shows, take it 

 all in in a few minutes, and then won- 

 der what he came there for. We should 

 avoid this feeling of disappointment 

 by exhibiting miniatm-e gardens, plant 

 grottoes, arches or arbors, decorated 

 fountains, and the different other 

 classes referred to, and so arrange the 

 whole that they cannot be seen at a 

 glance, but so that each will entice the 

 visitor to inspect and admire. 



We are too much inclined to look at 

 the immediate prize-money side of ex- 

 hibitions. That is where we are at 

 fault. We will spend lots'of money in 

 foolish ways to get ourselves before 

 the public and deliberately shut our 

 eyes to the best and most economical 

 way — the flower show. We believe the 

 success of shows in America depends a 

 great deal upon the floral artist, and 

 we should go in more for the honor 

 than the money, and if we are honestly 

 beaten, have the courage to come up 

 again till we win. Attend to the mat- 

 ter now, and make the classes so that 

 the humblest may be induced to com- 

 pete if only in the boutonnieres. 

 Flowers in Season. 



It seems very strange that with all 

 we see written about sweet peas only 

 a very few varieties are obtainable as 

 cut flowers on the market. These va- 

 rieties are principally confined to 

 Catherine Tracy, Blanche Ferry, Em- 

 ily Henderson, Counte.-s of Radnor and 

 a few others. We would like to see a 

 very much larger variety of these 

 beautiful flowers on the northern mar- 

 ket. Sweet peas are here to stay. They 

 are indispensable just now, but we 

 want them with longer stems, a little 

 foliage and more colors; that is how 

 they have them in California where 

 they get very much less for them, and 

 there is no reason why we should not 

 get them east .of the Rocky Mountains. 

 We seldom see the yellow or finer col- 

 ored sweet peas on the market, and 

 the ones we do get are acceptable to 

 the most fastidious in all manner of 

 designs. Cut sweet pea vines when 

 most covered with flowers make 

 charming trellises and screens, or you 

 can frame a mirror or doorway with 

 them; if you want them to last well 

 put them in jars of water, but hide 

 the jars with them. Of course it will 

 be necessary to tie on lots of flowers, 

 but when they are properly fixed they 

 give a fine and natural tone to the 

 decoration. You can either mix the 

 colors or have them in one shade. 



Penstemons are very good for vase 

 work; they are seldom seen here, we 

 are sorry to say. 



Phlox decussata in all its glorious 

 varieties are commencing to show up, 

 and they are splendid flowers for the 

 retail florist. Their varied colors give 

 you material for most kinds of work, 

 and if you grow some of your own 

 stock don't forget to have the best 

 of them. 



A wreath of blue cornflowers makes 

 a striking design and a most beautiful 

 one too if well made. You can add a 

 cluster of water lilies or something 



