THE FLORISTS MANUAL. 



luta (May), E. ventricosa, E. Wil- 

 moreana (spring; a grand hybrid). All 

 of these are fine commercial kinds. 



The propagation of ericas is mostly 

 in the hands of a few specialists and 

 it is -well to depend on them for your 

 stock of plants, for from several causes 

 they are difficult plants to manage. If 

 you have any good plants that did not 

 sell shorten back the last year s growth, 

 keep them in a well ventilated house 

 and spray occasionally, but always early 

 in the day so that they will not be 

 wet on the foliage at night. As soon 

 as fear of frost is gone plunge out of 

 doors in the full sunlight, and be very 

 careful about watering. While a severe 

 drying out might kill them or at least 

 destroy all hopes of a future crop of 

 flowers, a wet stagnant condition of the 

 soil is very injurious to them, hence the 

 pots should be well drained. 



ERIOSTEMON. 



This beautiful plant belongs to that 

 class of Australian shrubs that for 

 years were called New Holland plants, 

 of which the pimelia is another well- 

 known member, and there are many 

 more. With us ihey are seldom seen in 

 commercial places, but they are fine, in 

 teresting plants and are not difficult to 



pimelia and all that class, a good turfy 

 loam with some rotten manure or leaf- 

 mold will grow them. As they will 

 remain several years in the same pot 

 i^ey should be well drained. 



There are many species, and Nichol 

 son selects the following as being the 

 most desirable: E. buxifolius, pink, 

 April to June; E. intermedius, white 

 and pink, April; E. neriifolius, rose, 

 April; E. salicifolius, pink, June; E. 

 scaber, white tinged pink, April and 

 May. 



EUCHAEIS. 



Hothouse evergreen bulbs bearing 

 beautiful, fragrant flowers, which either 

 cut as stalks bearing four or five flow 

 ers or as single flowers, are invaluable 

 to the florist. Their white, star-shaped, 

 elegant flowers are admired by all, but 

 are not seen in quantity, as they should 

 be. In Europe they figure most prom 

 inently in all the cut flower markets, 

 but in this country I have not heard 

 of their being grown systematically in 

 large quantities anywhere, and I believe 

 there is a great opportunity for their 

 cultivation, for as long as designs of 

 Bowers are used (and they will always 

 be to some extent) there is no flower 

 more beautiful for the purpose than the 



Bench of Eucharis Grandif lora. 



grow. In Europe the long sprays of 

 eriostemon are much valued for cut 

 flowers, but with us that would not pay. 



The leaves are small, and the flow 

 ers, which are mostly white and pink, 

 are borne in great profusion. All the 

 species flower in March,. April, May or 

 June. As small plants they are not 

 attractive, but when of a good size, 

 and slightly trained to stakes, they are 

 fine ornamental plants. Like most hard- 

 wooded shrubs, they root freely from 

 the young growths in spring. 



Though coming from Australia these 

 shrubs want by no means a tropical 

 temperature. Th^y are much the best 

 plunged out of doors in summer, and 

 in the winter 40 to to degrees will suit 

 them. A? with tne acacia, metrosideros, 



eucharis. There is scarcely a plant 

 grown ox which you hear so often the 

 same remark made, and it is this: 

 &quot;Yes, a grand plant. I wish I knew 

 how to make IL flower.&quot; Or, &quot;I don t 

 have any luck with it. It grows, but 

 don t flower.&quot; 



There are several species, all want 

 ing the same treatment. E. grandiflora, 

 so generally called Amazonica, is the 

 fine species we all know, bearing an 

 umbel of four to six flowers four to 

 five iffches across on stout, erect stems 

 eighteen inches to two feet high. E. 

 Sanderiana is somewhat smaller and the 

 throat or tube of the flower is yellow. 

 E. Candida is also pure white, bearing 

 seven to ten flowers on one stalk, but 

 not so large a flower as Amazonica. I 



would advise the beginner to try the 

 cultivation of the latter, as it is the 

 handsomest of all. 



Good authorities say the eucharis 

 should have an abundance of water at 

 all times. South American travelers 

 and collectors have also told me that 

 they have walked over arid plains in 

 the dry season with scarcely a sign of 

 vegetation and returned in six mouths 

 over the same ground and found it 

 covered with the leaves and flowers of 

 eucharis, a gorgeous sight. This does 

 not agree, and we have seen the bulbs 

 dried off considerably, and when pot 

 ted up send up flower stalks. But dry 

 ing off as you would a hyacinth or tulip 

 is certainly not advisable or anything 

 approaching it. 



The bulbs multiply readily by send 

 ing out offshoots, and when once you 

 have a few healthy plants your stock 

 is easily increased. As the plant is 

 from New Granada, a warm house is 

 needed at all times; 60 to 65 degrees is 

 the lowest they should be at any time. 

 Disturbing of the bulbs and roots must 

 be avoided or you will not get flowers. 

 If established in a pot from 8-inch to 

 12-inch, or on a bench in six inches 

 of good soil, feed them when making 

 their growth of leaves, but don t dis 

 turb the roots for four or five years. 

 At most times of the year they un 

 doubtedly want lots of water, so drain 

 age in the pot and opportunity on the 

 bench for water to pass freely away is 

 of great importance. 



The soil should be a good rough 

 loam with one-fifth of well-decayed cow 

 manure. As the soil is to remain un 

 disturbed for several years, add a tenth 

 of broken up charcoal to the compost; 

 it will help to keep the soil porous. 

 If you receive the bulbs dormant, plant 

 three in an 8-inch pot or five in a 

 10-inch, the top of bulb two inches be 

 low the surface. If on a bench plant 

 six inches apart in the row and the 

 rows eight inches apart. 



The principal object to observe is 

 this: Supposing an established plant 

 has been growing freely for two 

 months and making a fine lot of 

 leaves. If you continue giving it water 

 freely it will continue to make its 

 handsome leaves and no flowers, but 

 if you shorten up the supply of water 

 and keep the plants rather dry, not by 

 any means dry enough to show any 

 effects on the leaf, then flower leads 

 will be formed in the bulb instead of 

 leaves, and after a rest of two months 

 apply again an abundance of water 

 and up will come the flower stalks. 

 After flowering give them only a very 

 short rest and top dress and start again 

 for another two or three months 

 growth. Remember that in cultivation 

 whatever their native conditions may 

 be a rest is cfily a lessening of the 

 water, not a drying off, and their foli 

 age should not suffer at any time. 



We have all heard English garden 

 ers say that they could produce three 

 crops of flowers in twelve months. Pos 

 sibly so. Two crops will do very well. 

 I will just add that two years ago I 

 saw exhibited at Toronto s great fair 



