548 



GARDEI^ERS' CHRONICLE 



The Greenhouse, Month to Month 



W. R. FOWKES 



Al'RlL and early May, with longer days and all plant 

 life active, call for greater activity in the green- 

 house. Floors require more damping down ; ven- 

 tilation must be watched; and all small items, such as re- 

 potting and transplanting of seedlings, must be properly 

 attended to. 



The comjjost heap needs to be turned several times, 

 and when time permits, should be chopped ready for fill- 



ing the benches. 



Young carnation plants should be in a cold frame to 

 gain vigor. They can withstand early outdoor planting, 

 if properly hardened. 



Young '^lums require repotting. The cold frame is an 

 excellent place for them until they are ready for their 

 final pots or beds. 



Nearly every one has his mind made up as to what 

 new varieties of roses he desires to grow. After a visit 

 to the New York Show, where large and small places ex- 

 hibited, and where the best standard varieties of plants 

 were on view, as well as the novelties, most people placed 

 their orders for young roses. It is a waste of time for a 

 person with limited glass to propagate when he can buy 

 splendid stock from first-class houses whose reputations 

 are well established. Order your roses so that they will 

 come when the benches are ready and prepared for plant- 

 ing. It will save a lot of most valuable space and time 

 later on. 



The young cyclamen plants should be ordered to ar- 

 rive in July in three-inch pots. It is not worth the time 

 for a man who grows only a few plants to sow seed and 

 give the coddling these plants require. The specialist 

 grows them by the thousands in special houses, devoted 

 entirely to them, where they have the advantage of com- 

 panions early in life. Plants are like human beings and 

 enjoy congenial company. 



In May. AmaryUis shouUl be placed into a frame, and 

 gradually ripened oiT. 



Gloxinias must be fed, and cow or sheep liquid is fine 

 for them. The fleshy leaves are now hiding the pots, and 

 one should be careful not to allow water or dust on the 

 foliage. Dampen around the gloxinias several times daily 

 or their usefulness will be materially shortened. 



The pot fruits can be syringed more. Disbud the young- 

 shoots, leaving sufificient for next year's wood. Bear 

 in mind that it is better to have too much young growth 

 a peach or nectarine tree than insufficient. As the 

 fruits develop watch with caution, and never close the 

 house except in case of a storm, until after stoning. If 

 you do not know wdien they have stoned, cut a fruit in 

 two on each tree. If the hard stone is there, it will be safe 

 to give more heat, but until they have passed the stoning 

 period, the night temperature must not exceed fifty de- 

 grees. This needs to be constantly emphasized. They 

 are a source of great pleasure and their full beauty will 

 be more than appreciated when you can take the fully 

 developed plants to the dining room. 



The peach and nectarines may be a little pale in leaf, 

 due to a deficiency of iron in the soil. If so, give half 

 an ounce of sulphate of iron in a gallon of water once a 

 week for three weeks, which will invigorate them. After 



tlle^e plants have stoned, the night temperature can be 

 raised, and air should be left on all night. 



It is now time to prepare a supply of plants to take 

 the place of those which are to be removed to verandas, 

 porches, etc. Cclosia, Pride of Castle Gould, is a very 

 fine plant for this purpose and will develop fully four feet 

 in diameter. Sow a pinch of seed, picking off as soon as 

 they are fit to handle, into flats of leafy soil. Keep them 

 warm, and pot into three-inch pots. Never allow them 

 to become pot bound, but have them growing continually. 

 You will be amply rewarded for your efforts when they 

 reach their flowering size. 



In the propagating house, which is sometimes a barren 

 spot m Summer, grow a few climbers. Gloriosa Roth- 

 childiana makes a very good annual climber. The bulbs 

 or tubers can be procured and started in ten-inch pots in 

 which they are to bloom. The compost should be rich. 

 Drain with two inches of crocks, covering the crocks 

 with two inhes of dry cow manure. The rest of the soil 

 should be loam and sand with a little leaf mold. Do not 

 water until growth commences, and then syringe well to 

 drive off the red spider. Trained on a trellis or pillars, 

 this climber will delight vou with its unusually attractive 

 flowers. 



Liliitm spcciosuvi. if potted now, will flower nicely by 

 mid-Summer and be vei-y charming in the conservatory 

 when the bulbs are out of season. The variety Kraetceri 

 is especially adaptable for this time, .-ilbiim is another 

 fine variety and the seedmen's catalogs list annually 

 varieties worth growing. 



The orchids require top air during the night. One 

 should be careful not to wet them too much with the 

 extra spraying now necessary. The pots and paths should 

 also be dampened more, but at the same time, every orchid 

 house should have a short period of dryness to keep the 

 voung roots active. To do this properly, one should have 

 all under his own control, and there should not be constant 

 (Iriiiping. The old-fashioned idea of troughs on the pipes 

 is out of date for orchids. Moisture should be applied 

 with study and for a reason. The excessive dampness 

 arising from the evaporating troughs or pans causes soft 

 growth that will not give a fair yield of bloom. To grow 

 and flower successfully, it is unnecessary to have the 

 plants green. 



Pinch off a few buds from each rose bush in order to 

 have a steady supply. If a heavy crop for Decoration 

 Day is desired, one nnist sacrifice April's first buds. Feed 

 well W'ith liquid manure twice a w-eek. watch that the 

 plants are never dry at the roots. Syringe more heavily 

 every fine morning than during the past few months. 



Sow the earliest batch of primulas, malacoides and 

 flhconica. They come up irregularly, and to the amateur 

 this is a source of worry. Do not throw a pan of seed 

 away for two months. IJse light, sandy, finely sifted soil 

 with half leaf mold and some sifted sphagnum moss, and 

 water the whole two hours before sowing the seed in a 

 seed pan. Sift a minute portion on top and gently press 

 the soil down. Cover with a pane of glass and shade 

 with paper. Place in a temperature of about 65 degrees 

 at night. Do not trv forcing, for in so doing, one may 

 lose them all. 



