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The Weekly Florists' Review. 



March 6, 1902. 



MISCELLANEOUS 

 SEASONABLE HINTS. 



Easter. 



I am writing this ilouday, March 3. 

 Three weeks next Sunday is Easter Day, 

 but we florists must always think of a 

 few days ahead of that, particularly 

 those who do any shipping. If we knew 

 what the weather was going to be it 

 would be simple to say how our crops 

 are for earliness, but there comes tlie 

 great uncertainty. We have just left 

 behind a dozen beautiful days, bright 

 sun and balmy air, and it has helped 

 very much those whose lilies were back- 

 ward. Now the snow is falling again 

 and perhaps coal will have to be the 

 only resource we can call on for most 

 of the next twenty-five days. 



Azaleas. 

 Almost our most important Easter 

 plant. There is no excuse to have any 

 of these too early or late. Any of them 

 can be brought out by a good heat and 

 there is always more anxiety to keep the 

 early varieties retarded. We once put 

 a hundred 'fine plants in the basement of 

 our dwelling house. It was light and 

 cool and drj-, but the}' suflTcred on their 

 two weeks stay there; lost color and did 

 not look right. Beneath a bench in a 

 cool house is better. Two weeks ago we 

 removed a lot that were just showing 

 color into a house that is not over 40 

 degrees at night and with a shade on 

 the south side and air on all possible oc- 

 casions they are about standing still, 

 and a few days in a brighter, warmer 

 house will bring them into the right 

 condition. People want a lily fully out, 

 but we find they know enough about an 

 azalea to ask for one that ''has buds to 

 come." 



Lilies. 



I have seen quite a few places this 

 last two months and mostly everywhere 

 the lilies are a ragged, uneven lot. The 

 Japans seem to have a dozen diseases 

 and are very unsatisfactory. I am of 

 the opinion that lilies are going to l)c 

 scarce and those that have them can ob- 

 tain a very profitable price. Getting 

 them in flower is purely a matter of heat 

 and perhaps helped with sunny days. 

 If the buds can't be seen and counted 

 now don't attempt to force Tliem out. 

 There is a demand for them after Eas- 

 ter. 



If you have the Bermudas, which are 

 in without any trouble, and you think 

 some are too early, don't remove them to 

 a much cooler house till thej- are just 

 about to open. When about to expand 

 their petals they will do it in almost any 

 temperature, but a week or so before 

 that period they will stand perfectly still 

 if taken from a warm to a cold house, 

 Tlie trouble of greenfly is over, because 

 frequent but mild fumigating will now 

 keep them perfectly clean. Be sure and 

 don't pretend to be too busy to have 

 tied them up in good style. 



Roses. 



To our surprise the fine warm spell 

 of late has brought along Crimson Ram- 

 bler so fast that here and there a flower 



is out. If we could have foreseen this 

 a lower temperature would have done, 

 but now they can have only about 55 

 degrees at night, at which temperature 

 the color and texture of the flower will 

 be much finer than if given 10 degrees 

 higher. We know there are a few roses 

 that do best at Go degrees at night, but 

 the Ramblers and all the hybrid perpet- 

 uals are a great deal better at 10 de- 

 grees lower. The Ramblers, particular- 

 ly, show a marked difference. If you 

 can't see the trusses of flowers on the 

 Ramblers now or the buds plainly on 

 the hybrid perpetuals, it is no good to 

 try and force. 



Hydrangeas. 



Hydrangeas should be showing the 

 llower now or it will be a heavy force to 

 get them in. In fact, they should be a 

 little better than that and if near the 

 point of showing color so much the bet- 

 ter. They are great feeders and soon 

 exhaust the flower and as thoir generic 

 name is derived from their fondness for 

 water, it is needless to say how much 

 liciuid they will absorb. A pound of 

 nitrate of soda in forty gallons of water 

 will help the color of both flower and 

 foliage, and a peck of cow nuinure in 

 same quantity of water will also be a 

 help to them, but not every day; every 

 other day will do. 



■ Lilacs. 



The lilac is a useful Easter plant, and 

 if it does not sell as a pot plant it 

 gives you a good profit to cut. There is 

 much more profit in these plants that 

 only need the greenhouse four or five 

 weeks than in those that fill the benches 

 for six months or more. You can force 

 out lilacs with great heat in three weeks, 

 but five weeks is better and the flower is 

 stouter and more durable. 



Primula Obconica. 



A plant that is gumg to figure with 

 us this year at Easter time is Primula 

 obconica. Those who had the good for- 

 tune to see those plants of it at Indian- 

 apolis grown by H. W. Rieman and the 

 Bertermann Floral Company now know 

 what a wonderful decorative plant it is. 

 It is doubtful if an.y better plants of ob- 

 conica were ever grown anvwherc, and 

 the colors were remarkable. When you 

 get this beautiful plant with flowers a 

 lovely pink, you have a jewel. If you 

 have any, keep them very cool; it is al- 

 most a hardy plant. 



Cytisus, acacia and metrosideros you 

 can control by temperature and shading, 

 but the earliness of Easter is suiting 

 these plants, for they are usually a lit- 

 tle too early. 



Bulbs. 



We are still often asked how long be- 

 fore Easter should tulips and hyacinths 

 be brought in to force. It depends alto- 

 gether when Easter comes and this year 

 they will all want what really can be 

 called a little forcing. If three weeks 

 later it would be so much nearer their 

 flowering time that a few days in green- 

 house would be enough. Give them all 



three weeks. The double tulips take a 

 few days longer and to make up for that 

 you can give them 10 degrees more heat. 

 I'ulips come with plenty of stem now 

 and the}- should have the full daylight, 

 so that they will have a stiflF. sturdy 

 stem. Fifty-five degrees at night will 

 suit the tulips, hyacinths and narcissus. 



LUy of the Valley. 



There is always a good demand for 

 this dainty flower at Easter time. If 

 you have a suitable forcing bed twenty- 

 one days will bring it along in good 

 shape and give you a day or two to have 

 it cut and in water. The condition that 

 valley needs is a strong heat in.the sand, 

 perhaps now 75 degrees is enough, a 

 cool top heat, 50 degrees is all right. 

 Shade heavily at first with a lighter 

 shade the last eight days and none at all 

 for a few days and the flower never wet. 



Pots and pans of valley sell well and 

 it is no fraud to fill them from the bed 

 after the spike is fully developed. They 

 last just as long. We began a few years 

 ago to dig up tulips from flats and fill 

 pans to order. At first I thought it was 

 a fakcy trick, but it really is nothing 

 of the kind and we have proved over and 

 over again that a pan made up of these 

 bulbous flowers lifted from a Hat when 

 they are just about opening their flow- 

 ers will last every day as long as if 

 grown in them and you can certainly 

 make a fine pot or pan this way as they 

 can be all perfect flowers. 



I saw a large grower in Toronto last 

 week who is pre-eminently a rose king, 

 but he knows "uder t'ings when he sees 

 'em." and he remarked when I looked at 

 some very stout and fine Dutch hyacinths 

 in flats that he pots them later into ii- 

 inch pots and gets better results than 

 growing them in the pots all winter. 

 There is no fraud about it. 



Buying Plants. 



Now, in conclusion, a bit of what I 

 think is sound advice. Many of you re- 

 tailers have a greenhouse and many 

 stores have the great blessing of a con- 

 servatory in the rear and you have to 

 buy more or less, the exclusive store 

 man everything. Now, make up your 

 mind what you will want in azaleas, and 

 more particularly in lilies. When in 

 flower the full blown lily is most diffi- 

 cult to pack and ship and arrive in any- 

 thing like good order. When only in 

 large ready-to-open bud it is simple. 

 Buy two weeks ahead your lilies and aza- 

 leas. The man who ships them to you 

 knows to a certainty what will be just 

 right and you will save him a most 

 tedious packing and save yourself some 

 express charges and the terrible disap- 

 pointment and annoyance of w*iting 

 back and saying: "Dear Sir: The lilies 

 you sent me were fine plants, but I re- 

 gret to say many of the flowers were 

 bruised and useless. What are you go- 

 ing to do about it?" 



William Scott. 



I 



NEPHROLEPIS PIERSONL 



We present herewith an engraving 

 from a photograph of some fronds of 

 Nephrolepis Piersoni, a sport from the 

 Boston fern that originated with the F. 

 R. Pierson Co., Tarrytown, N, Y., three 

 y»ars ago. The photograph hardly does 

 the subject justice, judging from the 

 fronds sent us by Messrs, Pierson & Co. 

 The pinnse of the main frond subdivide, 

 making perfect miniature fronds, pro- 



