MAY 26, 1898. 



The Weekly Florists' Review^ 



971 



they paid very well In furnishing sum- 

 mer flowers. He stated that the late 

 Mr. N. Singler often said that l:e made 

 more money out of carnations grown 

 outside for summer flowers than from 

 those grown under glass in v.iuter. The 

 way he handled the plants they be- 

 gan blooming by June 1st; by August 

 all the other growers would have out- 

 side flowers, but in the meantime ho 

 was the only one who could furnish 

 them, and he therefore reaped a har- 

 vest. 



Referring to sweet peas under glass, 

 he had cut flowers as early as .Tan. 22. 

 and said it was very easy to get them 

 in good bloom by Feb. 1. He had had 

 3(X) or 400 in pots, and these were the 

 earliest. Some planted in a raised 

 bench, where violets had been grown, 



string and were about two feet tall. 

 They were planted in rather poor soil. 

 Referring to asters, he had found 

 them very profltable when not affected 

 with disease. At his city establishment 

 he had lost four-fifths by disease, but 

 when at Bowmanville he had had very 

 good success on a piece of apparently 

 very poor ground, while plants put out 

 at the same time in a good, rich piece 

 of ground were practically all lost 

 through disease. 



ZINNIAS. 



I Knini advaiu (■ sheets of the Florists' Manual, by 

 William .Scott. | 



The annual zinnias are the only ones 

 in which the florist is Interested. With 



tilled piece of ground and will then 

 stand our hot, and often dry, sum- 

 mers better than most of our summer 

 flowering plants. 



While the zinnia well deserves a 

 place in the flower garden, it is the 

 most unpopular of all flowers for even 

 the cheapest sort of a bouquet. The 

 poorest purchaser does not want them 

 at any price. We have noticed this so 

 often that we never cut them, however 

 short of cheap flowers we may be. 

 This proves that there is an uncon- 

 scious taste for the artistic, even 

 among the most lowly. The zinnia is 

 so absolutely regular in form, stiff and 

 formal, one flower being exactly like 

 another, that the eye rebels against 

 it. In a bunch of roses, carnations, or 

 almost any other flower, no two are 



Zinnias. 



but which had been thrown out on ac- 

 count of club root, had bloomed by 

 Feb. 1, while others planted in a solid 

 border in November had not bloomed 

 until May. His experience had taught 

 him that the sweet pea should be 

 planted in October and then left out- 

 side way into November after hard 

 frosts had come and the wood was 

 thoroughly ripened. If planted inside 

 the plants make a soft growth and 

 bloom late. The soil should be rather 

 poor to produce the best results, and 

 the temperature about 4.5 degrees. He 

 had tried the sweet pea as an Easter 

 plant and it had been very satisfac- 

 tory. He had sold some good pot 

 I)lants at Easter at $1.M each. These 

 plants were in 5 and fi-inch pots and 

 the peas were trained with stakes and 



selection and culture, they are now 

 among the handsomest of our annuals 

 for the border, and in certain places 

 a whole bed of them, in many shades, 

 is very striking. 



They are very easy to grow and need 

 only the ordinary treatment given 

 many other annuals, except that no 

 frost must ever touch them while in a 

 cold-frame. Sow from the middle to 

 the end of March, and when an inch 

 high transplant into flats two inches 

 apart. By the middle of April a cold- 

 frame is the right place for them. 

 Plant in beds or borders after there is 

 no danger of frost. 



They are strong, rampant growers, 

 and should have plenty of room: 

 eighteen inches to two feet apart is 

 close enough. They should have a well 



precisely alike, but the zinnias look as 

 though they all came out of one 

 mould. Then again, the stem is so 

 rigid that while it is all right on the 

 plant, it detracts from the flower when 

 cut. 



Grow zinnias to make your border 

 gay, but don't offer the cut flowers to 

 your customers. We raise quantities 

 every year and sell the young plants 

 from the flats at 25 cents per dozen. 



THE USE OF FRAMES OVER 

 HARDY PLANTS. 



The recent heavy and continued de- 

 mand for funeral designs here in our 

 town caused a decided run on white 

 flowers. Some firms were at times un- 

 able to procure enough flowers on 



