March, 1914. 



THE CANADIAN HORTICUT.TURTvST 



6S 



in a temperature of fifty degrees at night. 

 As they begin to get crowded pot them 

 off into small pots, using a compost of 

 loam with the addition of sufficient leaf 

 mould and sand to make it light and 

 porous. To this should be added a fair 

 sprinkling of pulverized sheep manure. 

 Continue to pot them on as the roots 

 show around the side of the pots. 



It is not advisable to sow seeds of the 

 baby Primrose (Primula Malacoides) at 

 this time. P. Malacoides is a very de- 

 sirable plant which should have a place 

 in every amateur's collection. It makes 

 a better Easter plant than it does a 

 Christmas plant and to start seeds now 

 would result in many losses by damping 

 off before the plants could be carried 

 through to another Easter. Damping off 

 is about the only thing that can be urged 

 against this primula, and this to a large 

 extent can be overcome by sowing the 

 seeds later. June first is soon enough to 

 start the seeds. 



CANNAS 



Cannas are very popular bedding 

 plants and they are becoming more so 

 each year as the new and improved var- 

 ieties are being tried out. Where a large 

 bed is to be planted nothing will give 

 more satisfaction than these plants. They 

 are showy and bloom throughout the 

 summer until frost cuts them down. 



To make the best showing the roots 

 should be started early enough to produce 

 good strong stock by bedding out time 

 next June. They should be started as 

 early in March as possible. If there are 

 any varieties you wish to add to your 

 collection now is the time to get them. 



Remove the clumps from the place , 

 where they have stood all winter, shake 

 off all the old soil, and cut away the dried 

 up stalks and roots. They should then 

 be cut into small pieces, and if stock is 

 plentiful, left with two or three "eyes" 

 to each piece. If, however, you are 

 short of stock they may be cut to one 

 "eye," although by so doing weak plants 

 are often produced. 



Have a few boxes ready such as you 

 would use for sowing seeds in but pre- 

 ferably a little deeper. Place an inch of 

 soil in the bottom of these, on which put 

 the divisions of the cannas closely to- 

 gether, cover with light sifted soil and 

 water thoroughly. 



Very often some of the clumps are 

 found to have started into growth before 

 being taken from the winter quarters. 

 Where this happens the eyes should be 

 sorted and those with growths on them 

 should be placed in a box by themselves, 

 and all the dormant eyes together. Have 

 but one variety in a box and mark the 

 name plainly on it. When ail the pieces 

 are boxed up and watered they should be 

 placed in a warm position where some 

 "bottom heat" is to be obtained. 

 Cannas will grow and do well in a tem- 



perature of from fifty to sixty degrees, 

 after they are once started, but to get 

 the dormant eyes into an active condition 

 bottom heat is indispensable. This is 

 where a great many amateurs fail when 

 attempting to grow cannas with such 

 conditions as generally obtain in the 

 dwelling house. 



Arrange matters so as to have the 

 boxes elevated above the radiator, the 

 kitchen range, or even an oil stove, as 

 was suggested for starting warm blood- 

 ed seeds last month. Don't have the 

 boxes get real hot but maintain a steady 



brisk heat and your cannas will respond 

 handsomely. If such an arrangement is 

 impossible indoors, make up a mild hot- 

 bed out doors, and start them in a sandy 

 soil. When they have made a few inches 

 of growth they should be potted into 

 three and a half or four inch pots, and 

 grown along until bedding time in a 

 temperature of fifty to sixty degrees. It 

 should always be borne in mind that 

 cannas are sub-tropical plants and are 

 easily injured by frost, therefore plant- 

 ing out should be delayed until all chance 

 of frost is over. 



The Tuberous Bedding Begonia 



H. J. Moore, Queen Victoria Park, Niagara Falls, Out. 



WHERE the culture and require- 

 ments of the tuberous bedding be- 

 gonia are understood the plant is 

 very popular. The tjiree outstanding es- 

 sentials to successful cultivation are 

 shade, moisture and a soil of light tex- 

 ture. These are as necessary as light 

 and air to human beings. Who would 

 not grow tuberous begonias, were such 

 possible? Among the singles we find 

 flowers five to seven inches in diameter, 

 the colors ranging from pure white 

 through all the shades to intense crim- 

 son, while the doubles, many of them 

 resembling roses, are equally as varied 

 in color, and as desirable. The frilled 

 singles of recent Introduction attract at- 

 tention more quickly than the ordinary 

 singles or doubles, and in many locali- 

 ties could be grown successfully. Less 

 known, but equally beautiful, are the 

 varieties Bertiniana, a tall vermillion 

 single with pointed petals ; Count Zep- 

 pelin, a dark orange double of dwarf 

 habit ; Lafayette, likewise of dwarf hab- 

 it closely resembling Count Zeppelin ; 

 and Worthiana, a vermilion single, the 



flowers somewhat resembling those of a 

 fuschia. 



For our beautiful tuberous bedding 

 begonias, all of which are annual stem- 

 med, we are indebted to the Andean spec- 

 ies of South America, such as B. Pearcei, 

 Veitchii, and probably Davisii, these be- 

 ing the first tuberous sp)ecies introduced, 

 and being readily crossed have proved 

 worthy progenitors of our magnificent 

 garden types. 



It is not advisable to attempt to grow 

 any tuberous variety on a large scale in 

 localities where the temperature hovers 

 around 85 or 90 degrees for weeks at 

 a time, and foolish to attempt to grow 

 any with a higher temperature, or where 

 an abnormally dry atmosphere exists. If 

 such be attempted doubles alone should 

 be planted, as their closely arranged 

 petals are more resistant to heat than the 

 singles, whose petals do not afford pro- 

 tection to each other. An average sum- 

 mer temperature of 75, a humid atmos- 

 phere, and a light soil containing humus, 

 retentive of moisture, are ideal condi- 

 tions for promoting vigorous growth, 



jifamw 



A Bed of Mixed Tuberous Begonia^ 



These are not so effective as a 



bed of one variety. 



—Photo by H. J. Moore. 



