452 



HORTICULTURE 



April 7, 1906 



PLANTS AND BULBS MOST IN DE- 

 MAND FOR EASTER TRADE. 



Head before the Gardeners' and Florists' 

 Club of Boston, by D. Lmnsden. 



There is a something about the ap- 

 proach of the Easter festival that in- 

 spires us with zeal and ambition. The 

 very plants themselves seem to antici- 

 pate the approach of Easter. The lily, 

 the queen of Easter flowers, appears 

 to wear a whiter gown than at other 

 seasons of the year, as Dame Nature 

 smiles and adds beauty and coloring 

 to all flowers; from the glorious rose 

 to the humble little violet all share in 

 in gladdening our hearts during Eas- 

 tertide. It also imbues mankind with 

 new hopes and ambition: a spirit of 

 generosity is prevalent on all sides 

 and the wealthy and the humble alike 

 share in trying to make some one 

 happy on that glad day, by sending a 

 box of flowers or a plant with Easter 

 greetings. From ancient times it has 

 been customary to decorate our 

 churches with Easter plants and flow- 

 ers. Thousands make the first visit 

 of the season to the cemetery, to adorn 

 the graves of loved ones with flowers. 



I do not purpose tonight to enter 

 into minute details as to the culture 

 of the Easter plants, as time would 

 not permit me to do so. First and 

 foremost ranks the lily. What would 

 Easter be without the lily? Each 

 year sees more lilies grown than the 

 previous year and every year sees the 

 lily more in evidence. We receive our 

 lily bulbs during the fall months from 

 Japan and Bermudas. Some growers 

 pot them immediately into their flow- 

 ering pots (which is considered a sav- 

 ing of labor), while others pot the 

 bulbs into 4 or 5-inch pots to be re- 

 potted later when well rooted and ac- 

 tive growth has commenced, the soil 

 used being a good heavy fibrous loam 

 with a liberal dressing of well decom- 

 posed manure with addition of a lit- 

 tle sand to keep the soil open. They 

 are then placed in a cold frame cov- 

 ered with about 3 inches of loam, the 

 surface of the soil having been previ- 

 ously covered with a layer of sand or 

 ashes after watering, so that when 

 taken out of the frame the covering 

 loam will not adhere to the pots. 

 They are next covered with leaves, 

 old straw or anything available and 

 shutters placed over them until from 

 the middle to the end of December, 

 when they are then taken out and 

 placed in a house, temperature about 

 60 degrees night; by that time they 

 should be well rooted and commence 

 to show signs of growth. The grower 

 who puts his bulbs into their flower- 

 ing pots at first has of course to com- 

 mence to feed his lilies earlier than 

 the grower who gives them a shift 

 when they are well rooted in the 

 small pots. Unfortunately for the 

 lily grower disease is so prevalent and 

 we have found no means of detecting 

 it until the lily is well in foliage, 

 therefore considerable expense has 

 been added before it is thrown out. 

 Regarding the correct temperature to 

 grow lilies to be in flower for Easter 

 it would be a difficult matter for me 

 to state, as so much depends on the 

 weather conditions, but the main point 

 Is to get the bulbs well established or 

 rooted before you commence to force 

 them. All bulbs do not mature ex- 

 actly the same time in their native 

 habits, so lilies for Easter trade need 



a good deal of moving and shifting 

 from house to house, to have them in 

 good shape for Easter. It is far bet- 

 ter to err in the way of being a little 

 early than to have to force them dur- 

 ing the last minute, as this naturally 

 impairs their keeping quality and 

 they are not so desirable to handle as 

 lilies that have been well on time, and 

 have had a chance to harden up the 

 last week prior to delivery. 



Next in importance comes the aza- 

 lea, which we receive in large quan- 

 tities each year from Belgium during 

 the early fall. They are then potted 

 up, placed in a cool house kept at a 

 temperature of 38 to 40 degrees, 

 brought in the forcing house (temp. 

 60 degrees) from time to time as re- 

 quired. The varieties most suitable 

 for Easter trade are Bernard Andre 

 alba, double white, Empereur de Bre- 

 sil, double rose, Empress of India, rich 

 rosy salmon, Mme. Van der Cruyssen, 

 semi-double crimson, Professor Wol- 

 ters, single, undulated pink, white 

 margin, Haarenseana or Easter Lady, 

 double, salmon shaded white, Dr. 

 Moore, double, deep rose, a very fine 

 variety. Strange to say, with few ex- 

 ceptions the single varieties of Azalea 

 indica do not sell well with the com- 

 mercial florist, although they are 

 among the best in coloring and form 

 of flower. Dwarf azaleas on their own 

 roots make pretty plants for Easter 

 and command a ready sale. The va- 

 rieties are Chas. Enke, single, salmon 

 with white margin, Marie Louise, sin- 

 gle, white striped rose, and Firefly, 

 semi-double, crimson scarlet, and a 

 very desirable variety. Rhododen- 

 drons we treat practically the same as 

 azaleas with the exception the rhodo- 

 dendrons must be shaded heavily dur- 

 ing forcing or the leaves will burn 

 and disfigure the plant. The varieties 

 best adapted for forcing purposes are 

 Blandyanum, deep rosy crimson, Ever- 

 estianum, rosy lilac, John Waterer, 

 deep amaranth, Kate Waterer, rosy 

 crimson, yellow centre, Mad. Carvalho, 

 blush, changing to pure white, Mrs. 

 R. D. Holford, rich salmon, Prince 

 Camille de Rohan, white with brown 

 spots, and Princess Louise, white, 

 edged with rosy purple. The rhodo- 

 dendron, although such a desirable 

 Easter plant, does not sell readily, a 

 limited quantity only being sold. 



The Crimson Rambler rose is a 

 standard Easter plant with us. All 

 strong plants from the field may be 

 lifted during the month of November, 

 potted and kept cool for at least one 

 month, the shoots having been short- 

 ened back to about 4 ft. When com- 

 mencing to force them start slowly, 

 allowing about twelve to fourteen 

 weeks, which will be none too much 

 time to allow them to be in nice shape 

 for Easter. I may here state it is not 

 policy to allow the shoots to run up 

 straight; you get better results by 

 training them around stakes in the 

 pots; they make more even growth 

 and much better shaped plants. The 

 Baby Rambler will also become a very 

 valuable addition to our Easter plants, 

 treated practically the same way as 

 the Crimson Rambler, with the ex- 

 ception of not being trained round the 

 stakes; if judiciously pruned before 

 starting it needs no stake at all, and 

 being of a very floriferous nature and 

 compact growth makes a handsome 

 little plant which will sell at sight. 

 In Hybrid Roses in pots for Easter 

 we have to mention the following va- 



rieties: Ulrich Brunner, Magna Char- 

 ta, American Beauty and Gen. Jacque- 

 minot. 



Hydrangea Otaksa makes a nice 

 plant for Easter, but sale for same is 

 only limited. Astilba Japonica and 

 varieties better known as spiraea is 

 also grown as an Easter plant, also 

 in large quantities for cutting for Me- 

 morial Day. Lilacs are sold in quan- 

 tity for Easter trade, the varieties 

 most suitable for forcing being Marie 

 Le Graye, white, and Chas. X, purple. 

 Acacia armata or paradoxa is a desir- 

 able plant; when treated like azaleas 

 can be forced readily for Easter. 



Cytisus, better known as genista, 

 although we cannot class it as a good 

 house plant owing to its flowers and 

 leaves dropping caused by the dry air 

 in the room, sells well as an Easter 

 plant. The deep yellow color of the 

 flowers, as well as the profusion in 

 which they are borne tempts the buy- 

 er. The variety racemosus is the best 

 seller; canariensis is a trifle deeper 

 in color. I would not be doing my 

 duty if I omitted everybody's plant, 

 the geranium, from my list of Easter 

 plants. With due respect to all other 

 plants the geranium stands without a 

 peer in its class and many persons 

 who cannot afford to pay the price 

 for a lily will gladly pay 25 cents for 

 a geranium for Easter day. Gerani- 

 ums made up in bulb pans about four 

 plants to a pan, with nice flowers, 

 make a very attractive Easter gift 

 and command ready sales. The gera- 

 nium is grown in large quantities to 

 be presented to the scholars of the 

 various Sunday schools on Easter 

 Sunday. 



In bulbs for Easter we find large 

 quantities of the Dutch hyacinths 

 grown from five to a dozen bulbs in 

 a pan and when well grown and not 

 too fully bloomed make an attractive 

 Easter plant. The following varieties 

 are among the best: Gertrude, rosy 

 pink, Norma, fine pink, La Grandesse, 

 pure white, La Innocence, pure white, 

 Chas. Dickens, dark blue, and Grand 

 Maitre, porcelain blue. Tulips in va- 

 riety in pans also command a ready 

 sale, the following being a few of the 

 best single tulips: Belle Alliance, 

 scarlet, Couleur Cardinal, bronze scar- 

 let, Due Van Thol, scarlet, Keizer- 

 kroon, bright red with broad yellow 

 edge, La Reine, pure white, Mon Tre- 

 sor, golden yellow, extra large flower, 

 Rose Gris de Lin, pink, and Yellow 

 Prince, yellow. In double varieties 

 we have Coronne d'Or, yellow, La Can- 

 deur, white, Murillo, pink, Salvator, 

 rose, and Tournesol. red and yellow. 

 In narcissus, Von Sion takes the lead, 

 and for cutting, also pan work, it is a 

 good variety to handle. Bicolor Hors- 

 fieldii, Golden Spur and Princeps are 

 all valuable varieties. Lily of the 

 valley both cut and in pots and pans 

 is invaluable for Easter decoration. 



There are other useful Easter 

 plants I have not mentioned, includ- 

 ing various made-up combinations of 

 flowering plants in pots and pans that 

 time will not permit me to speak of. 

 Any plants well grown in flower at 

 Easter will find a ready sale. We 

 sometimes hear it remarked when we 

 see well-grown plants brought into 

 our cities "That grower is quite a 

 genius," and I think the title is truly 

 applicable to a good grower, for as 

 Carlyle defined the word, "Genius is 

 at first little more than an immense 

 rapacity for taking pains." 



