THE FLORISTS MANUAL. 



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Bed of Canna Souvenir de Antoine Crozy Edged with Pecnisetum Longistylum. 



ing I should resort to the old watering 

 pot, unless yon have a very slow stream 

 running from the hose and your mind 

 intently on your work. 



The fine leaves of the gloxinia are 

 very brittle and easily broken, and when 

 shifting or handling must receive good 

 care or your plant will be spoiled. 



When out of flower, if you wish to 

 keep over the old conns, lay the pots 

 on their sides under a warm, dry bench 

 and leave them undisturbed till you want 

 to shake them out and start again in 

 the spring. 



There are now grand strains of most 

 beautiful rich shades of color and the 

 upright or erect flowering are the best. 



GRASSES. 



Several grasses should be prominent 

 in all mixed borders of hardy plants, or 

 make beautiful clumps on the lawn, 

 either singly or in groups. They will 

 thrive in any ordinary good soil and 

 those named are perfectly hardy. They 

 are propagated by division and rapidly 

 increase in size. 



The finest and most ornamental of 

 all, the Pampas grass, is unfortunately 

 not hardy enough to withstand our 

 northern winters. Where the tempera 

 ture does not drop more than 15 de 

 grees below the freezing point it will 

 do finely. The Pampas grass (Gyne- 

 rium argenteum) is a native of the Ar 

 gentines and temperate South America, 

 thriving grandly in California, from 

 whence we get our plumes. It seems 

 ns though with the protection of a stout 



box filled in with dry leaves and with 

 a movable cover, this ornamental plant 

 could be wintered safely, and in the 

 decoration of fine grounds well repay the 

 labor. We assuredly go to greater ex 

 pense in preserving some plants that are 

 not of so much value. 



Arundo Donax: This is the noblest 

 of the hardy grasses, growing in one 

 summer eight to ten feet in height. It 

 needs no protection. In the spring cut 

 off close to the ground the last year s 

 canes and mulch with a few inches of 

 manure. 



A. Donax versicolor or variegata is 

 not quite so hardy, but is much more 

 ornamental. It should be protected in 

 the winter months with a covering of 

 six inches of litter over the crowns. 

 It is identical in every respect with 

 the type except that its leaves are 

 beautifully variegated. 



Eulalias are the most iiseful grasses 

 and are so hardy they need no pro 

 tection. The tops are usually left stand 

 ing during winter and removed by cut 

 ting or burning off in the spring. 



Eulalia Japonica; the flower is or 

 namental but it is the long, narrow, 

 4-foot leaves that make this grass such 

 an acquisition to the garden. 



E. Japonica zebrina; the leaves are 

 very handsome, having bars of yellow 

 across them. 



E. Japonica foliis striatis; in this sort 

 the creamy baud runs lengthwise of the 

 leaf. 



E. Japonica gracillima univittata ; this 

 is the narrowest leaved and most grace 

 ful of all, but not such a robust grower 



as the others, and is more suitable for 

 a choice place in the border than to form 

 a mass on the lawn. 



Erianthus Bavennae; this might be 

 called a small Pampas grass, throwing 

 up handsome plumes. It is quite hardy. 



Arundinaria tecla ; a very ornamental 

 grass, but should be planted in moist 

 ground or given water very freely. It 

 does well on the margins of lakes. 



Pennisetum Japonicum ; well worthy 

 a place in the mixed border and per 

 fectly hardy. 



Pennisetum longistylum; this pretty 

 plumed grass is very effectively used 

 in bedding. It can be grown from seed, 

 but is usually propagated by division. 

 Take up several clumps in the fall, trim 

 off the foliage, place in a box and set 

 under a bench in a house with a tem 

 perature of 40 to 45 degrees. In March 

 shake out the soil, tear the clump to 

 pieces and pot two or three runners in 

 a 3-inch or 4-inch pot. Place in a house 

 with a temperature of 60 degrees. They 

 make plants in a short time and may 

 be bedded out the latter part of May 

 or early in June. The accompanying 

 engraving shows a border of this pon- 

 nisetnm around a bed of cannas. 



GREENHOUSE BUILDING. 



In step with the growth of our busi 

 ness, the demand for flowers and their 

 rapid production, and the high quality 

 now demanded, the science of building 

 our greenhouse structures has kept well 

 to the front. When we see the old 

 dark structures of twenty-five years ago, 



