240 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



AUGUST 10. 1899. 



onstration would be very small and 

 the result very large considering that 

 the convention is to be held in this 

 city next year. 



Bright effects are usually desired at 

 country festivals and at city affairs 

 also, where gay costumes predominate. 

 Innovations are looked for and you 

 are expected to contribute. Well made 

 crescent wreaths of scarlet, crimson or 

 pink geraniums look extra fine when 

 suspended by long ribbon bows of the 

 same colors against a white or green 

 background. Zinnias can also be used 

 in like manner but great care should 

 be used to keep the colors separate; 

 and so arrange the wreaths that the 

 colors will make each other harmon- 

 iously prominent. The wreaths should 

 be connected by crescent garlands of 

 greens or similar colored flowers. This 

 form of decoration is most suitable 

 for fancy dress balls or hunting par- 

 ties, where the brighter the flower the 

 better the result. 



Wreaths and garlands are destined 

 to be more widely used in decorations, 

 but you must be careful to avoid fu- 

 nereal tones. Don't be afraid of bril- 

 liancy where there is no possibility 

 of jarring contrasts. 



Phloxes are useful flowers, especial- 

 ly to the small country florist. The 

 white are excellent for funeral work, 

 all the other colors are fine for vase 

 work. Whilst white asters are recog- 

 nized as fine for ground work, wreaths 

 made of some of the varieties look very 

 good. This is more the case with pur- 

 ple asters. Use a good sized wreath, 

 first green it, toothpick your poorest 

 flowers and make up solid with them, 

 then stem your best flowers from 2 to 

 6 inches long (2 on a stick), arrange 

 these so that the short ones will bare- 

 ly show between and round off well 

 both inside and out; add a cluster of 

 white roses to the purple wreaths. If 

 this design is properly made it does 

 not look in any way cheap, but can 

 be made to please all grades of cus- 

 tomers and is a good design for sum- 

 mer travel. 



Many of you will remember the ole- 

 anders at Omaha last August; it's a 

 wonder they are not more extensively 

 grown for decorative purposes in the 

 eastern states, especially at the sea- 

 side resorts. Tritomas are in; try a 

 vase of them in the window. 



Lobelia gracilis does fine in baskets 

 or boxes in shady places; the color is 

 scarce 'mongst flowers, and Its inabil- 

 ity to withstand our scorching sun is 

 sorely felt where there is much formal 

 bedding to be done; it seems at home 

 in cool, shady locations, and will grow 

 well in high altitudes. Phrynium var- 

 iegatum has proved itself a good thing 

 to use where variegation is required; 

 it is fine as an edging to dark leaved 

 cannas, or goes well in sub-tropical 

 work. This may also be said of varie- 

 gated funkias, which are extensively 

 used for window boxes and plant vases. 

 A few well fruited branches of black- 

 berries or strawberry- raspberry placed 

 on a low dish look well and enticing 



on the breakfast table; the idea can 

 be extended to having the guests pick 

 their own berries off the branches fac- 

 ing them. 



At the fashionable clam bakes given 

 at Newport it is customary to deco- 



ROSE NOTES. 



Now that tying up of plants is all 

 done and they are making fine growth 

 it is time to prepare soil for next 

 season's work. Roses do best in soil 

 that has a good proportion of decayed 

 sod in it and is of heavy clay texture. 

 Some varieties require a heavier soil 

 than others. I have found that Brides 

 and Maids do best in good stiff loam, 

 while Beauties do their best in a still 

 heavier clay. Perles, Meteors. La 

 France and Kaiserins I have had in 

 better form in lighter compost than 

 the above and Perles I have had quite 

 good success with in a very light soil, 

 though I think it best not to have 

 the soil too sandy even for these. 



If one has at hand good soddy loam 

 that is all right, save for the clay, 

 this can be added by hauling from 

 another locality and mixing well at 

 time of filling benches. Too great 

 care cannot be taken in the prepara- 

 tion of the soil, for upon it very 

 largely depend the chances of suc- 

 cess. It is impossible from a distance 

 to give directions just what soil is 

 best, but each grower must be able 

 to select for himself according to the 

 varieties he is to grow. I do not be- 

 lieve in hauling in the fall and piling 

 the soil as is often advised. I much 

 prefer to select the spot from which 

 the soil is to be taken (an old pasture 

 lot where the sod is firm), spread a 

 thick coating of manure and plow 

 about nine inches deep. In the spring 

 just before planting time spread more 

 manure, if the soil is not already as 

 fertile as you like, and some bone 

 meal and plow again across the fur- 

 rows of the summer plowing. Haul 

 directly from the field and fill the 

 benches. The soil will usually be in 

 the proper condition to plant unless 

 hauling is done too soon after a show- 



rate with all manner of garden truck; 

 we have seen some amusing sights at 

 these affairs, and often wondered why 

 more suitable stock, such as fancy 

 gourds, the Chinese lantern plant and 

 many others were not grown for such 

 events. Gardenias are very scarce and 

 expensive just now; one or two of the 

 experts at Newport control the supply 

 for the east. A few sprays of plum- 

 bago look O. K. in a box or vase of 

 flowers. IVERA. 



er. which should never be done. Shov- 

 eling on to wagon, dumping therefrom, 

 and wheeling into the house will mix 

 the soil, manure and bone meal thor- 

 oughly. Plowing the soil in the fall 

 I believe is the best way to get rid 

 of many insects, as they freeze in the 

 loose earth during the winter. 



You will have some young roses to 

 pot in the spring; don't neglect get- 

 ting the soil ready till the cuttings are 

 ready to come out of the sand and 

 then hustle the teamster out to haul 

 in chunks of frozen earth to thaw out 

 in the potting shed or greenhouse, or 

 take the soil out of a mum bench upon 

 which lilies have stood perchance. 

 Haul in several loads of the soil you 

 have ploughed to a shed where it will 

 not freeze. I have seen cuttings potted 

 in soil that was miserably wet and 

 firmed into the pots, the succeed- 

 ing pottings being done in the sam; 

 material. When they were planted 

 some were still wet, some were dry. 

 Those that were damp would take 

 the water when planted but the dry 

 ones the water runs down the sides 

 of and into the fresh soil of the 

 benches and it is next to impossible 

 to get the ball of soil wet through. 

 It is needless to say that plants un- 

 der such conditions cannot start right 

 off after planting, and make the fine 

 growth they should in congenial quar- 

 ters and under favorable conditions. 

 Therefore take great pains to secure 

 the best of soil for each variety; pre- 

 pare it properly; place it on the 

 benches in the best possible condition 

 and you will be a long way on the 

 road to securing a paying crop. 



Keep a sharp lookout for all the de- 

 tails in culture at this season. Insects 

 are still very numerous and of great 

 variety — keep constantly after them. 

 Watering needs plenty of time and 

 care. The plants now in full growth 

 will require a great deal but don't 

 get the ground soggy; much better 

 keep them on the dry side. Be con- 

 scientious in picking off the buds and 

 though the plants look thrifty and 



