78 



THE FLORISTS MANUAL. 



plants and flowers are often .seen to sur 

 vive two or three years. 



The Dianthus Chinensis and its splen 

 did varieties, Heddewigii and its many 

 forms, are the most useful to the florist. 

 They also are biennials but are invar 

 iably treated as annuals and sown every 

 spring. For their .culture follow instruc 

 tions given under the heading Aster and 

 you will have no trouble. They look well 

 in either the mixed border or in a solid 

 bed. 



DRACAENA. 



In garden nomenclature the names 

 dracaena and cordyline are interchange 

 able, but I prefer to call them dracaenas, 

 by which name they are commonly 

 known, although botanical authorities 

 class some of our draeaenas as cordy- 

 lines. 



The dracaenas are noble, erect growing 

 foliage plants, grown entirely for the 

 beauty of their leaves and stately habit, 

 for the flower is small and inconspicuous 

 compared to the plant. They do not 

 usually flower till they attain consider 

 able size, although occasionally they 

 flower when quite young, possibly through 

 some check to the vigor of the plant. 



Though not of equal commercial value 

 to the palms as greenhouse and hothouse 

 decorative plants, they certainly rank 



Pandanus utilis, the ideal house plant, 

 could not beat this. 



Some of the species may grow six feet 

 or thirty feet tall in their native habitat, 

 and with age have bare stems crowned 

 with a tuft of leaves, but our object in 

 growing them as small or medium sized 

 decorative plants is to preserve the leaves 

 to the very bottom of the stem, and with 

 the best cultivation they will carry their 

 bottom leaves for some years. 



Tt is noticeable that the fragrans type 

 (tropical Africa) will bear and require 

 10 degrees more heat in the winter time 

 than the terminalis and the high colored 

 varieties. The terminalis type will do 

 very well in a minimum winter tempera 

 ture of 55 to 60 degrees, while fragrans 

 and its varieties and Goldieana require 

 10 degrees higher. Fragrans also wants 

 a good shade in the summer months, 

 while the varieties of terminalis need 

 shade only from the brightest rays of 

 the sun. 



Except in the darkest days of winter 

 dracaenas should have a thorough daily 

 syringing. By thorough is meant that 

 every particle of the underside of the 

 leaf should receive a good force from 

 the syringe or hose. This necessitates a 

 good condition of the soil that the water 

 will pass freely through. The moisture 

 arising from the syringing is conducive 



Dracaena Massangeana. 



very high. Some of them are excellent 

 plants for the house. I have in mind a 

 plant of D. fragrans Lindenii some three 

 feet high in a 9-inch pot, furnished to 

 the pot with its beautiful leaves, that has 

 stood several feet from a window in a 

 sitting-room for the past six months, and 

 is to all appearances in perfect health. 



to growth, but a necessity as well to 

 keep down thrips and red spider, which 

 are very fond of dracaenas, especially 

 the terminalis type, and will soon ruin 

 the appearance of the leaf if allowed 

 to commence their work. 



Propagation in nearly all species is 

 by cuttings, which grow from the ri 



pened stems. The leading shoot will 

 root freely, but this would be a very 

 slow process, so stems are imported, or 

 the ripened stems of old plants are used. 

 They can be cut up into pieces one to 

 two inches long, or the whole length of 

 the stem can be laid in the propagating 

 bed. A good mixture for the propagat 

 ing bed is coarse sand and chopped 

 sphagnum in equal parts, and the heat 

 of the bed should be 80 degrees. Let 

 the stem be even with the surface of 

 bed. From the eyes or joints will spring 

 young shoots which when two or three 

 inches long can be cut from the stem, 

 and they quickly root in warm sand 

 and are soon on the road to make young 

 plants. 



The soil for dracaenas should be a 

 good loam, not too finely broken up, and 

 a fourth of leaf-mold, and the plants 

 potted moderately firm. The pots, which 

 should never be larger than necessary, 

 should have an inch of broken crocks 

 covered with a layer of green moss; this 

 is as near good drainage as you can 

 get. 



Some of the species are very beauti 

 ful, but more suitable for the private 

 collection than for the commercial man. 



Draco, very suitable for subtropical 

 gardening or for vases. 



Goldieana, beautifully marked with 

 dark green and silvery grey. 



Fragrans, this is one of the finest 

 species, requiring a good heat in winter 

 and shade in summer. 



Fragrans Lindenii, same habit as 

 fragrans, but the leaf has a series of 

 stripes of creamy white or yellow on 

 each side of the green center. 



Massangeana, another variegated form 

 of D. fragrans, the chief distinction 

 from Lindenii being that the variega 

 tion appears in a broad band of yellow 

 or cream color throughout the center 

 of the leaf. 



Australis, a fine plant for outside 

 decoration. 



Novo-Caledonica, a fine bold species 

 with large bronze leaves. 



Sanderiana, an upright striped green 

 and white species of recent introduction,, 

 which has proved very good for the 

 center of large ferneries, and which 

 stands the dry air of rooms admirably. 



Terminalis, green or bronze, when 

 young, with age the leaves assume fine 

 shades of scarlet or crimson; most gen 

 erally cultivated of all dracaenas and 

 the parent of scores of the finest varie 

 ties. The following will be found to be 

 beautiful and distinct sorts: Metallica,. 

 dark purplish bronze; amabilis, fine 

 habit, glossy green suffused with pink 

 and white ; Baptistii, green margined! 

 with yellow and pink; imperialis, broad 1 

 deep green leaves, the younger leaves 

 crimson and pink; terminalis stricta 

 grandis, the most highly colored and 

 best of the terminalis form; Youngii,. 

 bright green streaked with deep red; 

 and Lord Wolsley, Gladstoneii, Kebecca,. 

 Bella, Scottii, and Annerleyense, are all 

 beautiful varieties. 



Indivisa, a distinct species from New 

 Zealand. It will thrive in a much lower 

 temperature than any of the others ex- 



