Febbuaev 18, 1904 



The Weekly Florists' Review, 



599 



View in the Large Daffodil House of the Leedham Bulb Co., Santa Cruz, Cal. (Seepage 617.) 



has become thoroughly familiar, also a 

 vase of his good white, which he has 

 christened Chicago White. 



Wietor Bros, staged Enchantress, 

 Morning Glory, Guardian Angel, Law- 

 son, Harlowarden and Chicago, blooms 

 from regular stock but up to exhibition 

 standard. 



Sinner Bros, showed America and 

 Lawson in good shape and also a white 

 sesdling, from Norway crossed White 

 Cloud which looked pretty good. 



Anton Then had a vase of No. 122, 

 a good variegated. 



John Reardon put up two fine vases 

 of Mrs. Lawson. 



From F. E. Thornton, of Gesler & 

 Drury, Galesburg, 111., came a pink setd- 

 ling christened Illinois. 



The Thompson Co. also made an ex- 

 hibit of carnations. 



The George Wittbold Co. put up a very 

 fine lot of bulbous stock and a couple of 

 rhododendrons in handsomely decorated 

 pots. The public liked this exhibit rath- 

 er better than anything else. 



G. Swenson, of Elmhurst, was. repre- 

 sented by good California violets. 



Oechslin Bros, put up a large group 

 of the well grown decorative and flower- 

 ing plants on which thtir place in becom- 

 ing so well known. 



H. N. Bruns had a good vase of valley. 



W. L. Palinsky brought well grown 

 cinerarias and Primula obeonica. 



Last but not least was the exhibit of 

 Klehm 's nurseries. This was valley 

 from home grown pips labeled ' ' the true 

 Berlin variety.'- Certainly no finer val- 

 ley was ever seen in this market. They 

 also had La Eeine tulips in splendid 

 shape. 



The sum of -$100 in gratuities was di- 

 vided among the exhibitors. 



FOR SHADY SITUATION. 



Can you suggest any plants suitable 

 for beds in front of a residence facing 

 east and shaded at a distance on the 

 south by taU trees? They get nearly all 

 the morning sun. ]\Iy customer says 

 geraniums seem to run to leaves and 

 they get very few flowers from any plants 

 used. Can the trouble be that they are 

 in too rich a soil and get too much wri- 

 ter? Would scarlet Phlox Drummondii 

 or scarlet verbena do for an early show 

 of bloom among Niitt geraniums if the 

 bed is not watered too much ? I think 

 they wish a red flower display rather 

 than tropical foliage effect. Or would 

 salvia be a good blooming plant if grown 

 somewhat dry in such a location ? 



G. F. H. 



The conditions described, "shade at a 

 distance," and the "sun up to noon" are 

 by no means unfavorable and we think 

 that a rich soil and the curse of the 

 senseless use of the hose is the main 

 cause of the failure of the geraniums. 

 It's true that the zonale geraniums do 

 best in the broad sun without any shade 

 whatever, but we have all seen them go 

 to leaf with little flower in a very wet 

 season or when kept soaked with water. 

 Scarlet Phlox Drummondii would make 

 a brilliant bed if the flowers were kept 

 picked off and if, in a long dry spell, an 

 occasional soaking was given the bed. 

 Verbenas would make a pretty bed, but 

 I would not mix them with geraniums. 



The taste for coleus, achyranthes and 

 that class of foliage plants is very much 

 on the wane and flowering plants are cor- 

 respondingly on the increase in favor. 

 The objection to the scarlet salvia for 

 such a position is that it's rather late 

 flowering. Yet from August on till hard 

 frost, what is more cheering and beauti- 



ful than the scarlet salvia? It seems to 

 blend with tints of the foliage and the 

 ripening fruits and berries of our woods 

 and orchards. It gives us a feeling of 

 warmth. 



However, the flowering ])lant that the 

 writer would advise for such a bed would 

 be a good, dwarf, free-flowering canna. 

 Tarrytown is a grand variety, and a 

 brighter scarlet and very dwarf, with 

 plain green foliage is The Express. The 

 latter is not very common yet, but it is a 

 jewel where a pure scarlet dwarf canna 

 is needed. The canna has another ad- 

 vantage: neither the owner or the hired 

 ".John Thomas" could injure them with 

 the profuse or careless use of the hose. 

 William Scott. 



DAHLIA PROPAGATION. 



Being interested in your notes on prop- 

 agating the dahlia, it might not be out 

 of the way for me to state that com- 

 mercially the general method pursued 

 has been by cuttings, as a new variety 

 can be increased very much faster in 

 that way, but it is at the expense of 

 vitality. The clumps grown from cut- 

 tings are smaller and need a second 

 year's growth to make full sized, strong 

 clumps. When the regular clump is di- 

 vided and one, two or three tubers are 

 planted together, the stalk allowed to 

 grow has a good foundation to live on 

 while the roots are forming in the soil. A 

 stronger plant and the consequent 

 stronger clump is bound to be the result. 



Time and care ar? the two main fac- 

 tors in the result, understanding, of 

 course, that we have good soil in either 

 course pursued. When the cutting is 

 t^'.ken off it is of necessity a weak thing. 

 Properly cared for, it soon strikes root, 

 but must get all its nourishment from 

 the soil. The growth is necessarily slow. 



