T.HE FLORISTS MANUAL. 



33 



Various Styles of Bedding. 



on the surface. Tell your customers 

 that cannas and caladiums can be soaked 

 every dry evening, but that geraniums 

 and beds of coleus and most everything 

 else should be left alone except in very 

 dry times, when a thorough soaking 

 should be given once a week, followed by 

 a hoeing the next morning if the plants 

 are not touching each other. 



Tn charging for the bedding plants, 

 whether contract or not, you should put 

 down in your day-book just how many 

 plants of each variety it took to fill the 

 different beds. Then, if Mrs. Goodpay 

 orders her large circular bed filled with 

 geraniums again this year you will refer 

 to her charge of last year and find that 

 it took seventy-five Mt. of Snow for a 

 double row on the outside and the center 

 required 140 Ernest Lauth. These fig 

 ures are at random. But w r hether you 

 plant the same or vary it you will know 

 exactly how many are needed. Again 

 you are asked a hundred times this 

 question: &quot;I have a flower bed eight 

 feet across. How many geraniums will 

 it take to fill itt Or how many coleus 

 will it take?&quot; We reckon ten inches 

 apart for our 4-inch geraniums, about 

 nine inches for coleus, fifteen inches for 

 cannas and caladiums, and some specified 

 distance for all the plants we commonly 

 use. You can have a card with the sizes 

 of the beds and quantities needed all 

 made out so that you can give an an 

 swer in a few moments, whereas, if. you 

 had not the thing figured out you would 

 have to begin a sum in mathematics while 

 somebody else is waiting for an inter 

 view. 



The bedding plant business is not go 

 ing to die out and you should cater to 

 it. There is a good profit in it, and it 

 does not conflict with other branches of 

 your business. With a clear head you 

 can do it all. 



BEGONIA. 



There is no more interesting class of 

 plants, either for the amateur or pro 

 fessional florist, than this large genus. 

 It embraces hundreds of species, besides 

 thousands of varieties. Begonias are 

 roughly divided into four sections as fol 

 lows: Fibrous rooted or shrubby, old 

 Fuchsioides being a good type of these; 

 semi-tuberous, of which the now famous 

 Gloire de Lorraine is an example; the 

 true tuberous-rooted, summer flowering, 

 and the well known Rex section, which is 

 grown almost solely as an ornamental 

 foliage plant. The writer can well re 

 member, about 1857, a small plant of the 

 Rex begonia being purchased in London 

 with two leaves. The price was about 

 $5 per leaf. We have since sold thou 

 sands at 10 cents a plant. The above 

 division is quite rough, for there have 

 been such innumerable crosses between 

 the many species that it would be dif 

 ficult to determine to which section many 

 belong. Semperflorens is classed with 

 the shrubby, but is very different from, 

 say, incarnata, for it flowers more pre 

 cociously and freely as a summer bed 

 ding plant. Begonias are not very par 

 ticular as to soil. A good loam with the 

 addition of sand, if heavy, and a fifth 

 of rotted manure will suit most of the 

 flowering kinds, while the Rex section 

 and kinds grown for their foliage will 

 delight in a third or fourth of leaf- 

 mold. Although begonias are all na 

 tives of warmer climates, they thrive in 

 the winter at a temperature of 50 to 60 

 degrees. 



The Shrubby Section. 



The shrubby section is the most pop 

 ular and the most useful to the florist, 

 the winter flowering kinds being in good 

 demand. They flower for months. They 

 are propagated during winter and we 



find they root in late spring without 

 bottom heat; but propagated in Feb 

 ruary you can have fine plants for the 

 following fall. They may not be an 

 important florists flower although some 

 are very useful as cut sprays, but as a 

 plant for the window they are in de 

 mand. 



Rust attacks some of the begonias, 

 notably that fine variety incarnata grand- 

 iflora, and it is caused by heavy shade 

 and dampness under glass in the sum 

 mer months. They should be shaded 

 only from brightest sun and need a free, 

 dry atmosphere. Many of them can be 

 plunged out of doors in the summer 

 months without any shade and will make 

 stout, robust plants. 



Gloire de Lorraine is such an impor 

 tant plant that cultural directions for 

 its management by a specialist are in 

 cluded in this article. 



Another splendid variety we made the 

 acquaintance of this past winter is in 

 carnata Sanderii. It is a robust grower, 

 growing two feet high and from Christ 

 mas into April just smothered with its 

 pink blossoms. 



The following are some of the most at 

 tractive in this section: 



Winter Flowering Shrubby Begonias. 



Suaveolens, dark green foliage, pure 

 white flowers. 



Nitida, robust grower, waxy pink. 



Incarnata, upright stout growth, soft 

 rose pink. 



Incarnata Sanderii, is much superior to 

 above, in fact, it is the grandest begonia, 

 not excepting any. 



Rubra, very strong, large plant, coral 

 red flowers. 



President Carnot, reddish colored foli 

 age, bright carmine. 



Metallica, very handsome in both 

 flower and foliage. 



