THE FLORISTS MANUAL. 



J5 



plants and the successful grower re 

 marked that the lime not only kept 

 down slugs and snails, but was he be 

 lieved a stimulant to the plants, and that 

 I believe we proved is ail there is in 

 growing cuneatum or Croweanum. 



AGAPANTHUS. 



A genus of strong growing, hand 

 some greenhouse plants which do well 

 out of doors during summer, and when 

 slightly protected will live through the 

 winter where there is not more than 10 

 degrees of frost. In the south of Eng 

 land A. umbellatus does well planted out 

 of doors, with us it requires large pots 

 or tubs and thrives in a well enriched 

 coarse loam. In summer you cannot well 

 overwater them. In winter they can be 

 stored under a bench in a cool house 

 and will then require very little water. 

 But be careful after so keeping them 

 all winter not to expose them to a late 

 spring frost or they will suffer and their 

 beauty be marred for the whole sum 

 mer. They grow very fast and can be 

 rapidly multiplied by division. 



The varieties are all from A. um 

 bellatus, introduced into Europe from 

 South Africa two centuries ago. Its 

 erect stem and showy umbel of bright 

 blue flowers is familiar to all. The 

 best known varieties are albidus, pure 

 white; aureus, leaves striped; varie- 

 gatus, smaller but finely variegated 

 leaves; and maximus, a blue of the 

 largest size, as its name denotes. Prop 

 agated by division of the roots. 



AGAVE. 



This noble genus includes a great 

 number of species, one of them at least 

 being known to every one the well 

 known century plant. All the species 

 have one characteristic : when fully ma 

 tured they send up a stately flower spike 

 from the center of the crown of leaves 

 and then die. This is the case with 

 the great majority, although there are 

 a few that continue to flower year after 

 year. They are almost all from Mexico, 

 a few from South America and one or 

 two from our extreme southwestern 

 states. 



There is a widespread fallacy in con 

 nection with Agave Americana. It is 

 popularly supposed that they live 100 

 years and then flower and die, hence 

 the familiar name. They will not 

 flower till they have made their full 

 growth, but that may be fifty years or 

 seventy-five years. We remember a pair 

 of A. Americana that we had watched 

 from infancy, one the plain green and 

 one variegated. They were of immense 

 weight, each weighing a ton or more 

 with the large tub and soil. About 

 1856 they both flowered together and 

 sent their candelabra-like spikes twenty- 

 five feet in the air. It was a remarkable 

 co-incidence that both showed flower the 

 same season, as no one knew their ages 

 and the one who had taken them as 

 suckers from the parent plant was long 

 gone from his field of labor. 



Within forty years there have been 

 several distinct and beautiful species 

 discovered in Mexico, some of which 



have not yet flowered and no knowl 

 edge of their flower is available. Most 

 of the species are stemless, but not all, 

 their fleshy leaves radiating symmet 

 rically from near the base of the plant. 

 Nicholson s Dictionary of Gardening 

 enumerates nearly a hundred species 

 and then states there are many more 

 which it is not worth while to describe 

 as there is only one specimen of each 

 in cultivation. They vary in size from 

 eighteen inches in height and the same 



Agave Americana in Flower. 



in width to the majestic species of ten 

 feet in diameter. 



. The smaller species make beautiful 

 plants for the greenhouse or for out 

 door decoration, and the large species 

 are noble objects for the adornment 

 of large grounds but get very heavy 

 and awkward to handle when of any 

 considerable size. Few plants will put 

 up with the rough treatment that is 

 often given the agave. Their thick, 

 succulent leaves provide them with the 

 means of resisting long periods of 

 drought. 



The same general treatment Mill suit 

 all the species. A well drained pot or 



tub, with good turfy loam; add leaf- 

 mold or sand if heavy. They will stand 

 the strongest sun out of doors and 

 should receive plenty of water. In win 

 ter, if you wish merely to store them for 

 next season s growth they will do very 

 well in any cool house or even shed, but 

 must not freeze, and when the tempera 

 ture is low they will do without water 

 for weeks. They are easily propagated 

 by suckers, which you have only to cut 

 off and pot. 



The rarer species are too expensive 

 for the commercial florist and in too 

 little demand, and the larger species 

 require too much labor and room to be 

 of any profit; they are best left in the 

 hands of the private gardener. 



AGERATUM. 



Since the wane of the carpet bedding 

 and the return of the popular flower 

 ing plants to flower garden favor the 

 ageratum has been in constant demand. 

 A. Mexicanum is the only species in 

 which we are interested. By selection 

 many improvements have been made, a 

 more spreading and dwarf plant has 

 been produced as well as a variation 

 in color. It is well to try the new 

 varieties as they are disseminated, as 

 they are very inexpensive and frequently 

 great improvements on existing varie 

 ties. 



I have found that when propagated 

 by cuttings for a few years a variety 

 will often lose its character and grad 

 ually revert back to the original type. 

 If I were asked what was the easiest 

 of all plants to propagate I would say 

 that the ageratum was absolutely the 

 one, and so it is. Nothing but the most 

 wailful neglect will cause a batch of cut 

 tings to fail. New varieties are, of 

 course, raised from seed, which can be 

 sown in January and the seedlings will 

 flower freely by the following June. 



It is by cuttings that our varieties 

 are perpetuated. Lift a few old plants 

 and pot into 5-inch or 6-inch pots 

 before frost. Keep them cool and light 

 till after Christmas, when you can begin 

 propagating. It is well, however, not 

 to propagate too early, as the plants 

 get stunted when not shifted on and 

 it does not by any means pay to have 

 this cheap bedding plant in larger than 

 3-inch, or at the most in 4-inch pots. 

 The cuttings root freely with or with 

 out bottom heat and the plants grow 

 rapidly in a temperature of 50 degrees. 

 Their only enemy is red spider, which 

 must be kept down by frequent syring 

 ing and the weekly fumigation. 



New varieties of both the blue and 

 white are being constantly sent out. 

 The dwarf, compact sorts are the most 

 valuable. The variegated variety of 

 Mexicanum is of little value. 



ALLAMANDA. 



Few plants bring back childhood s 

 days more vividly than the showy al- 

 lamanda. Though not a commercial 

 florist s flower it hardly has a rival as 

 a hothouse climber. The leaves are 

 sharp-pointed, oblong, and come three 

 or four in a whorl. The flowers are 



