THE FLORISTS MANUAL. 



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them going again in fresh soil and pots, 

 with us a 4-inch. Placed in a tempera 

 ture of 55 degrees, in a few weeks they 

 are covered with young growths which 

 are just the thing for cuttings. They 

 root easily but not nearly so surely as 

 many of the soft-wooded plants. I pre 

 fer the sand to be a little warmer than 

 the house. Keep the sand well soaked, 

 twice a day is not too often, and never 

 let the cuttings wilt from the sun or 

 dryness. 



In April we shift them from a 2-inch 

 to a 3-inch pot and plunge in a mild 

 hotbed, where by the middle of May, 

 with one pinching, they will have made 

 fine, bushy plants. They want lots of 

 syringing to prevent red spider, and if 

 the proper fumigation is regularly given 

 they will not be troubled with fly. A 

 florist should always be supplied with 

 them, for they are usually difficult to 

 procure when wanted. 



ALTERNANTHERA. 



It seems as though it would have been 

 almost impossible to carry out the won 

 derful designs in carpet bedding had 

 we not had these little plants to serve 

 us. Carpet bedding came into its 

 greatest popularity shortly after the in 

 troduction of the alternanthera, some 

 thirty years ago. It may be that their 

 great fitness for that style of bedding 

 helped to make it popular. Certain it 

 is that alternantheras owe their popu 

 larity to carpet bedding. Nothing 

 troubles the alternantheras but cold 

 weather. They are all tropical plants, 

 growing freely in our warm summer 

 months, but only just existing in the 

 greenhouse during winter in a tempera 

 ture of 60 degrees. 



They are propagated by divisions or 

 cuttings. In the former method the 

 plants are lifted from the beds after 

 the first slight frost, and after their 

 tops are shortened and trimmed up they 

 are stored away in a few inches of soil 

 in flats. After the first good watering 

 they are best kept rather dry till the 

 following April, when they can be torn 

 to pieces and either potted singly or 

 again planted in flats and started grow 

 ing in a warm, light house, or what is 

 better, a hotbed. Where very large 

 quantities are needed the old plants are 

 generally depended upon. Where only 

 a few thousand are needed I prefer the 

 cuttings. 



Prepare some flats two inches deep and 

 any convenient size, in which have one 

 inch of light soil and one inch of sand. 

 About the middle of August take off 

 the cuttings from the plants outside and 

 put them thickly in the sand. In a few 

 days in the greenhouse they will be root 

 ed and can be kept on any bench or stood 

 out of doors till cold weather arrives. 

 In the flats they will winter well and 

 are little trouble. Keep them rather 

 dry during the dark days and away 

 from cold and damp. When potted off 

 in April and placed in a hotbed they 

 make splendid little plants by bedding 

 out time. They root and thrive like the 

 proverbial &quot;weed&quot; if kept warm. 



There is no trouble in wintering any 

 of them except the one that is the most 



valuable, which is known in many places 

 as A. paronychioides major, but which I 

 feel sure is A. paronychioides magnifica, 

 which is much -the highest colored of all. 

 In elaborate bedding room is found for 

 most of the cultivated varieties. If you 

 cannot give them a temperature of 60 

 degrees during the winter the next best 

 thing is to give the flats a light, dry 

 position and be sparing of water till the 

 warm days of spring arrive. 



The most useful are A. paronychioides 



finely. If extra good plants are required 

 they can be shifted from the flats singly 

 into 3-inch pots, and nowhere will they 

 do so well as in a hotbed. 



A few of the handsomest are: Bi- 

 color, foliage green and yellow; hypo- 

 chondriacus, large spikes of crimson 

 flowers; salieifolius, narrow drooping 

 leaves, orange, carmine and bronze; 

 sanguineus, blood red leaves; tricolor, a 

 very handsome species with carmine and 

 yellow leaves. 



A Corner of the Amaryllis Show at Lincoln Park, Chicago. 



magnifica, almost scarlet when well col 

 ored, but not such a robust grower as 

 the others; A. versicolor, bright rosy 

 pink and bronze green ; A. spathulata, 

 reddish pink and brown shaded with 

 bronze and green; A. amabilis, rose color 

 and orange; A. amoena, orange red and 

 purple; A. tricolor, dark green edge, 

 center of leaf rose striped with purple 

 veins and orange; A. paronychioides au- 

 rea nana, the best of the yellow or golden 

 leaved sorts. 



In very warm rainy seasons they grow 

 so fast that the beautiful markings of 

 the leaves do not show at their best. 

 They should never be planted in a very 

 rich soil. Their great adaptability for 

 carpet bedding is because they can be 

 sheared to any sharp line and can be 

 kept very dwarf. 



AMARANTHUS. 



Strong growing tropical annuals hav 

 ing feathery spikes of flowers and 

 highly colored leaves. They are very 

 suitable for the mixed border or for 

 large subtropical beds. It is on account 

 of the showy markings of the leaves that 

 they are mostly grown. They should not 

 be planted out till settled warm weather, 

 with us the first part of June, but they 

 grow very luxuriantly in the warm months. 

 They require deep, rich soil to obtain 

 the best results. 



Sow the seed the latter part of March 

 in pans in a warm house and transplant 

 when large enough to handle into flats, 

 placing them two or three inches apart. 

 The moist heat of a hotbed suits them 



AMARYLLIS. 



The Belladonna lily is the true ama- 

 ryllis and the fine plants generally 

 known as amaryllis are really hippe- 

 astrums. Several other genera are 

 closely allied and as their cultivation is 

 the same the cultural directions here 

 given will include hippeastrum, crinum 

 and vallota. They are bulbous but not 

 herbaceous, although resting partially 

 during winter. 



They seed freely and if sown at once 

 and the young plants grown on in a 

 warm house, and rested slightly during 

 the winter, will flower the third year. 

 They can also be increased by the off 

 sets from the old bulbs. 



If you obtain the dormant bulbs start 

 them in a little bottom heat, keeping the 

 bulb near the surface of the soil. They 

 flower when making their first leaves but 

 must not be put away and neglected or 

 stood under the bench after the flower 

 is faded, for it is then that the plant 

 makes its principal growth and stores up 

 strength for future flowering. Keep 

 them watered and growing till the win 

 ter months, but as they are not decidu 

 ous, or only partially so, they are best 

 in a light, cool house and with an oc 

 casional watering. After they require 

 a 7-inch or 8-inch pot they need not be 

 shifted, but can be resurfaced annually. 

 They like a rich, rather heavy loam. 

 Few, if any, of our greenhouse pests 

 trouble them. Being all tropical, when 

 growing they must have a light, warm 

 house and plenty of moisture. 



The offsets can be removed from the 



