45 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



December 3, 1903. 



Give ])lenty of air on all favorable 

 occasions, even -when compelled to keep 

 a fioo'l fi'''' goi'igi =^"'1 i'^' •''' ^'' possible 

 ' kecji on a small i-rack of ventilat.on 

 during the night. This prevents an ac- 

 funinUition of moisture in the house 

 whicli, when it condenses on the foliage, 

 is very harmful. 



When a long spell of cloudy weather 

 is with us it is much safer to drop the 

 temperature a few degrees so as to re- 



tard the growth as much as possible, as 

 the wood produced under such condi- 

 tions is seldom very robust, 



A careful study of these general rules, 

 care in putting them in practice, the 

 maintenance of a steady temperature 

 suited to the different varieties and the 

 attending conditions, should bring us 

 over tlie dullest and shortest days with 

 safety. Kibes. 



MISCELLANEOUS 

 SEASONABLE HINTS. 



Christmas Plants. 

 Presuming that Howcring and foliage 

 as well as berried plants arc going to lie 

 a leading feature of our Christmas trade, 

 there should be no delay in seeing that 

 your stock in these lines is up to 

 date in variety and quantity. If you are 

 the only florist in a small town and 

 ' ' monarch of all you suncy, your right 

 there is none to dispute," you may nol 

 have to keep much variety to please your 

 patrons, but nowadays, in small cities 

 -4is well as large ones, there is keen com- 

 petition and lots of it, and the more 

 costly your location and business ex- 

 penses, the more need of keeping a first- 

 class stock in every line of your busi- 

 ness. We can remember wiring for 

 Christmas stock, such as orange trees, 

 about December 20, and received the an- 

 swer, ' ' Sold out. ' ' Very few retailers 

 even with a dozen houses at tlieir back 

 can or do grow all the plants that are 

 asked for at the holidays. Our patrons, 

 and that includes the whole public, do 

 like novelties. Perhaps we as a nation 

 are not at all peculiar that way, yet I 

 think we slightly are, and the love of 

 novelties must be catered to. 



Of plants likely to be in favor this 

 coming festive season, the azaleas ought 

 to be just showing- color, and will be in 

 fine order in three weeks, 



Poinsettias. 



Some florists would not consider the 

 poinsettia an important plant, yet we 

 do. If you have to buy them, buy small 

 plants in pots and keep them in the pots 

 until a few days before Christmas and 

 then put a half dozen in an 8 or 9-inch 

 pan, Xo matter how little you disturb 

 the roots, they feel it and soon the yel- 

 low leaves appear, so unless they were 

 put into pans two weeks ago, delay it 

 now until you offer them for sale. 



This reminds me of a little incident I 

 once overheard in my friend, Jlr. Chris- 

 tensen's office. It appears a lady cus- 

 tomer had sent her maid for the fern 

 dish which had been left a few days 

 previously and finding it unfilled, so re- 

 ported to "the Missus," and after wait- 

 ing a few days the good lady arrived via 

 carriage in person and as she bounced 

 into the office she let out: "Why is mv 

 fernery not tilled?" and then came forth 

 the wisdom and diplomacy of the noble 

 Dane, "Madam, I did not think you 

 wanted the fernery till Saturday and we 

 always put off filling them till the last 

 moment. As they begin to die from the 

 lime they are put into the dish, the later 



they are tided the longer you have thein 

 in good condition." "Oh, I see! Ah! 

 To be sure; but you will send it tomor- 

 row, surely, won't youf Good after- 



Spider Web Scteen Design. 



noon." And there was peace and good 

 will all around. 



Lorraine Begonias, Etc. 



The wonderful Begonia Luiraine is 

 suri' to be in demand. Prail as this lit- 

 tle gem looks, it travels well and I do 

 hear occasionally of some people keep- 

 ing it looking well in the living rooms. 

 Even if it does drop its blossoms in a 

 week 'or two, it has lasted longer than a 

 Imiich of roses or carnations. There is 

 something in me that whispers low but 

 clearly that more and more will plants 

 lie used for table decorations. All the 

 art that our greatest floral artists can 

 i-ommand can never put together a bunch, 

 a vase or basket of flowers of any kind 

 tliat will compare in beauty and grace 

 to the growing plant, with its flowers 

 :nid foliage. 



The cyclamen is always a good seller 

 and its price within the reach of all. We 

 made up baskets of cyclamen last year, 

 seven or eight plants from 4-inch pots, 

 and they sold well. Primula obconica 

 is not a great essential, but it is a fine 

 house plant and far outclasses the Chi- 

 nese, lavge-flowcri'd ])rimulas in every 

 way. 



Bulbous Stock. 



It is rather late to remind you of pans 

 of lily of the valley and Roman hya- 

 cinths, but both of these are just about 

 as well made u]i the day they are sold, 

 as any other way. 



Liliuni longiflorum, or rather the Ber- 

 muda type, is sure to be wanted, not so 

 much as a pl&nt as for church decora- 

 tions. We found this year that 5 to 7- 

 iiich bnlbs, potted as soon as received in 

 July and kept in a frame till they were 

 an inch or two above the soil and then 

 kept in a rose house temperature came 

 in, the earliest, just on December 1. So 

 70 degrees at night for the last two 

 months would have brought them in sev- 

 eral weeks earlier, but in the rose house 

 temperature you can have a full crop by 

 the holidays. 



Foliage Plants. 



In foliage plants I don 't think there 

 is any doubt that the Boston fern will 

 take the lead. What is more free and 

 easy and beautiful and, withal, does so 

 finely in the house, office or store? There 

 is one in a high-toned crockery shop in 

 our city, and it has been there three 

 years, that for beauty of growth can't 

 lie approached even by Win, K. Harris. 



Palms have sold slowly for a year or 

 two past, but you must have a few in 

 value from $1 to .'flO, Kentias, arecas 

 and latanias are the kinds. Paudanus 

 Veitchii sells well and is a most perfect 

 |dant for the drawing room. Dracjena 

 lerminalis has many friends'; its rich col- 

 oring sells it and if we could give it a 

 good character as a house plant more 

 could be sold. Dracaena fragrans and the 

 two fine varieties, Lindeni and Massan- 

 geana, are good house plants and are 

 well liked. 



Rubbers not over eighteen inches high 

 are asked for, but the branchy plants sell 

 much better. In mentioning the Boston 

 fern I by no means wish to ignore the 

 magnificent aristocrat, Piersoni, and the 

 very graceful Anna Foster but they arc 

 not quite common enough yet and where 

 you have large plants of them they 

 should be worth double the old Boston va- 

 riety. Anna Foster is a particular]}- fine 

 plant as a large specimen. Another 

 fern, Cibotium Sehiedei is not only a 

 most beautiful plant but thrives in the 

 nujst uncongenial surroundings. A cheap 

 hardv fern is Cvrtomium falcatum. 



