Febriarv 13. 1802. 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



379 



MISCELLANEOUS 

 SEASONABLE HINTS. 



[The followlaff notes were written for last week's issue but arrivfd too late owing to delay in 

 the mails. Readers will please mate allowaace for one week's time havliis elapsed.] 



Easter. 



Kaster i.s liiit six weeks next Sun- 

 tlay. It will soon be here and the timing 

 of our crops for that date will give iis 

 mental and physical exercise from now 

 on. 



Azaleas. 



Azaleas, if not the most important, 

 are certainly second onlj- to the lilies as 

 an Easter plant. There should be no 

 failure in getting those in a.s desired. 

 If we get much snowy and cloudy 

 weather such varieties as Mme. Van der 

 Cruyssen. Empress of India and other 

 good ones will be just about riglit in a 

 house where now it is kept at about 45 

 degrees at night. But later varieties, 

 like Emperor de Brazil, will want 10 

 degrees higher, and perhaps more, if you 

 wish to bring them in. 



There is some demand, of course, for a 

 nice azalea plant after Easter, but really 

 we get so much more for them if in the 

 right condition at Easter that it would 

 be most satisfactory to sell out every 

 plant. Keep the growth rubbed off 

 wliicli starts from base of flower buds 

 and till they show color syringe them 

 on every fine morning. 



I think I mentioned once that the 

 finest plants we had last year were some 

 Bernhard Andreas, the splendid deep 

 pink. They had been carried over in 

 pots the previous summer and made 

 grand plants, a ball of flowers. This 

 grand variety does not import well, or, 

 rather, seldom flowers sufficiently well 

 to be sold the following spring, so if 

 yours are in that condition pinch out 

 the flowers and reserve them to be 

 grown on. 



Azalea Jlollis can n«w be potted up 

 •from cold-frame or root-house. When 

 Easter is early this is a most useful 

 plant, for the flowers then hold, but 

 when flowered end of April and weather 

 should be hot they drop their flowers 

 very quickly. Two weeks in a cool house 

 will do, and syringe them daily till color 

 shows. 



Deutzias. 



Deutzia gracilis is a cheap plant, but 

 we think it pays. Even if you don't sell 

 all the plants it is most useful for cut- 

 ting. They need aljout seven weeks in a 

 temperature of .55 degrees to open up 

 nicely. You can easily give them a little 

 more if necessary. 



Rhododendrons. 



Rhododendrons should be brought into 

 a good heat at once; 55 degrees will do 

 for a few weeks, but they may need 

 more: that you must see for yourself. 

 The Rhododendron delights in plenty of 

 moisture when being forced. Some years 

 ago importers brought over fine varieties 

 of Rhcdodendrons just because they had 

 splendid flowers, but many of these beau- 

 tiful varieties were almost useless for 

 forcing. Now the florists have told them 



what varieties they want and there is 

 not the same disappointment. 



Cytisus and Acacia. 



I said something a few weeks ago 

 about cyti.sus and acacia. They are 

 always in time; if not, a house about 50 

 degrees will be sure to bring them right. 

 Keep water away from the little globular 

 flowers ot Acacia armata after they be- 

 gin to show color. 



Hydrangeas. 



Hydrangeas should now be all show- 

 ing their flower heads and require a 

 good, high temperature to be fully out 

 at the right date. These are often forced 

 at a very high temperature and suffer 

 accordingly when sold and delivered at 

 Easter. If we could get them in good 

 bloom a week ahead of time and give 

 them the spare days in a cool house they 

 would be much more satisfactory to the 

 purchaser. 



These hydrangeas always fill the pots 

 with roots. They are gross feeders, both 

 for manure and water. In fact, the 

 genus derives its name from Hydra 

 (water). This interesting information 

 was not' discovered by me, but by one 

 of the classically learnt florists of Phil- 

 adelphia, George Watson, I think, who 



is such a judge of water and . But. 



as I was saying, they are thirsty crea- 

 tures and if the water rims away as it 

 should you can scarcely over water them. 

 Now you can begin to give them liquid 

 manure, at first not too strong, but in- 

 crease the strength till flowers are open, 

 then quit. If liquid manure is not handy 

 to you a slight amount of sheep manure 

 on the surface of soil, every two weeks, 

 will help them. 



Crimson Ramblers. 



Crimson Rambler rose is now a most 

 important plant. I saw a lot at .James- 

 town a few days ago, lifted from their 

 own ground and put into 6-inch pots. 

 They were most excellent little bushes 

 and feathered with brea-fc.s to the pot. 

 Ours are plants carried over last sum- 

 mer. Both waj's are all right if well 

 done. 



The Ramblers should be now showing 

 the truss distinctly. They have a finer 

 color and are better plants all around 

 if they can be fiowered in a night tem- 

 perature of 55 degrees. Syringe fre- 

 quently but look out for mildew. I am 

 sorry to say this beautiful rose is often 

 attacked by this scourge. A draught is 

 most oft«n the cause of mildew with 

 our tea roses, but with these pot roses 

 there may be other reasons for its ap- 

 pearance. Excessive dryness is danger- 

 ous and if it went the length of wilting 

 the leaves ypu would be neaily sure to 

 have mildew. Or excessive heat, or a 

 dro]i of 10 degrees below what they have 

 been kept steadily at during nights. Of 

 course yoii wotdd not allow any such neg- 

 lect as that, but vou know careless fel- 



lows that have, and then thev call it bad 

 luck. 



Lilies. 



Lilies give us the most concern to get 

 them in just right. Fortunately the 

 • fapan bulbs arrived in good time last 

 fall, so that they wei'e well rooted before 

 we began to grow them inside. From 

 what I have observed they will generally 

 be on time. Those that have full control 

 of heat and can keep up 70 degrees at 

 night have nothing to fear even if the 

 lilies are a week or so behind. But we 

 don't all have unlimited steam power. 



The lilies should all be now showing 

 their buds distinctly, and if the first 

 buds are an inch long, so much the bet- 

 ter. Be careful not to take out any of 

 them into a cooler house unless you are 

 sure they are much too early, either the 

 .Japans or Harrisii. They 'will almost 

 stand still if given a night temperature 

 of 10 degrees lower. Better let them 

 come on till the buds are just ready to 

 open their petals, then they will endure 

 the cool house and open. Remember, you 

 can keep a lily easily two weeks and 

 more in a cool, shaded house from the 

 time the first bud expands, but you are 

 much more likely to be watching their 

 increasing size than trembling about re- 

 tarding them. 



No excuse for aphis after buds are 

 once in sight. A mild smoking twice a 

 week will keep them perfectly clean. To- 

 bacco dust will do, but there is nothing 

 like smoke for aphis; it gets everywhere. 

 The trouble is that fumigating is a disa- 

 greeable job and it is often shirked. It 

 should be done as regularly and time 

 given for it just as much as watering, 

 which we never dream of neglecting. If 

 you can vaporize by steam, perhaps you 

 don't need to smoke. 



William Scott. 



ROSES. 



Seasonable Hints. 



Those who wunt to have a house of 

 Kaiserins in bloom early in summer 

 should proceed with their planting at 

 once. This rose revels in a rich loamy 

 soil with plenty of soil in it. The pro- 

 portion of well decomposed cow- manure 

 should be one load to four of soil, the 

 whole to be well chopped up and thor- 

 oughly incorporated. If the soil should 

 ]>e in a wet and sodden condition (as 

 often happens at this .season) it should 

 bo allowed to lie on the benches a day 

 or two to dry; turning it over once or 

 twice, in a temperature of 70 degrees, 

 will bring it to a mellow condition. 



As this rose when in a growing condi- 

 tion requires copious supplies of water 

 it is well to give the bench plenty of 

 drainage. The boards for the bottom 

 of the bench should not be wider than 

 six inches and placed one inch apart. 

 Spread some litter over the spaces to 

 keep the soil from running until the soil 

 gets firmed. The depth of the soil in a 

 loose condition should be five incites. 

 When the soil is firmed down and after 

 many applications of wt.ter this will be 

 reduced to three and one-half inches, 

 which will leave ample room for mulch- 

 ing. A sprinkling of desiccated bone 

 meal will be of Ijenefit in helping to 

 start growth ; twenty pounds to a bench 

 100.x4i feet is quite sufficient for the 

 immetliate use of newly planted stock. 

 There is no necessity for stirring it into 

 the soil as sufficient will fall around the 



