MAY IT. inoir 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



757 



Decoration of a Washington Church for a Wtdjing by Mr. O. A. C. Oelimler. 



from sliowing, no regard was paid to 

 the terrible contrast between liie 

 beauty of tlie flowers on the face of 

 a design and the awful metallic flit- 

 ter on the back. 



Nowadays the bacl< of every well 

 made wreath, etc., is carefully 

 greened, thus insuring more harmony. 

 Foliage has taken the place of tin foil 

 in almost every kind of work. You 

 can either put your greens in the 

 frame before you moss it, or pin it on 

 afterward with small wire hooks. Art, 

 flowers and foliage only should be 

 seen on all natural flower work. 



IVER.\. 



CHURCH DECORATION. 



The accompanying engraving is fron' 

 a photograph of a wedding decoration 

 arranged in St. John's Church, Wash- 

 ington, D. C, by Mr. 0, A. C. Oehmler, 

 while with Mr, Z. D. Blackistone, the 

 florist, of that city. The details of 

 the picture are so plain that any de- 

 scription seems unnecessary. 



Mr. Oehmler is now with Aldred &. 

 Co., New York City. 



A WRINKLE IN BULB GROWING. 



The grower of the finest bulbous 

 flowers for the Chicago market is un- 

 doubtedly Mr. August .lurgens. He 

 grows large quantities of hyacinths 



in pots and pans for Easter, and the 

 spikes are always large, not too tall, 

 and with thick, strong stems. V.'e 

 asked him if these flne spikes were 

 the result of careful selection of tlio 

 bulbs, or of the method of growing. 

 and he replied that it was due entirely 

 to the way the bulbs were treated. 



Though there is a good deal in the 

 temperature given, it being frequently 

 changed as the needs of the plant de- 

 mand, considerable of the size of spike 

 and stoutness of stem is gained by 

 removing a portion of the foliage and 

 throwing all the strength of the bulb 

 into the flower. In the case of some 

 that need more strength than others, 

 all the foliage is removed, some with- 

 out foliage being frequently desiia))Ie 

 in pans of six or more bulbs. As latc- 

 in the season as Easter there is not 

 apt to be any unevenness in growth 

 in the bulbs in a pan, but when .such 

 is noticed the lagging flower spike can 

 be encouraged by the removal of the 

 foliage. When this can not be done 

 or is not sufflcient, he cuts out the 

 backward bulb and inserts another of 

 same kind from a 4-inch pot. 



The partial or entire removal of the 

 foliage from bulbous plants has 

 proved useful with him in many ways. 

 In the case of lily of the valley, 

 where the flower spike is deficient in 

 length, he removes one leaf, and this 



always stimulates the growth of the 

 spike. If the spikes are unusually 

 short he removes all the foliage and 

 depends upon the foliage of other 

 batches for leaves enough to put with 

 the spikes in marketing. 



But where the foliage has been re- 

 moved, more care must be exercised 

 not to overwater, for the plant has 

 little surface left with which to 

 throw off excess of water. 



In a batch of paper white narcissus 

 in which the flower stem showed but 

 declined to grow long, the desired re- 

 sult was accomplished by the removal 

 of the foliage. 



ASPARAGUS PLUMOSUS. 



Kindly tell us through The Review 

 the proper distance apart to plant 

 Asparagus plumosus under glass for 

 cut strings. For years we have been 

 growing it one foot apart, with strings 

 every six inches, but find it gets badly 

 tangled and runs together. How can 

 we remedy this? We have one house 

 devoted to this asparagus and think 

 of planting another, K. 



The principal thing to observe in 

 growing asparagus, and even smilax, 

 to avoid that tangle, is to give them 

 prompt attention as soon as they want 

 strings. If neglected they soon get in 



