J50 



THE FLORISTS MANUAL. 



compact, and lifts with the greatest ease 

 in September. Its flowers come in clus 

 ters at the axil of the leaf and although 

 a flower lasts but a few days there is 

 such an abundance to take its place that 

 the plants for a month or more are ex 

 tremely showy. 



LOBELIA. 



This extensive genus includes some 

 very handsome hardy perennial plants. 

 L. cardinalis, the cardinal flower, is one. 

 They are best raised from seed sown in 

 August and wintered in a coldframe and 

 placed in their permanent position early 

 in the spring. This method is suited to 

 a great many of our best hardy perennial 

 plants that do not divide easily. 



The dwarf tender species of lobelias 

 are of most interest to us, although they 

 are not of such value here as flower 

 garden plants as they are in the cooler 

 summers of Northern Europe. In Great 

 Britain some of the best flower garden 

 effects are produced by the blue lobelia, 

 Avhere they can be depended on to flower 

 all summer. Here they are very gay out 



in color when first used, and are 

 not so much missed later, as stronger 

 growing droopers take their place. 



Select a few of the best plants in Sep 

 tember, cut them back a trifle, and be 

 fore a hard frost dig up and pot and 

 give them a light, cool place. With a 

 little more heat they will give plenty of 

 cuttings, and both from the old plants 

 and the young ones you will get all the 

 cuttings you want, which root like the 

 proverbial weed. 



We like to grow them on hanging 

 shelves, as it affords room to let them 

 droop. We endeavor to be well supplied 

 with plenty of lobelias in 3-inch pots 

 with a thick growth of eight or ten 

 inches long and just ready to flower 

 about the middle or end of May, and this 

 you can do from cuttings struck in 

 February if pinched once or twice and 

 given a good light shelf. 



L. Erinus, with its varieties is the one 

 most useful to us, the variety called 

 speciosa being most in use. If seed of 

 speciosa is sown you will get a number 

 of varied forms, and some of those 

 grown by us have originated locally. A 



Martinezia Caryotaefolia. 



of doors till perhaps the middle of July, 

 when they will go entirely out of flower 

 and your design is left with a streak of 

 dark green in place of the brightest of 

 blues. 



For hanging baskets, vases and veranda- 

 boxes they are to us indispensable, and 

 if not lasting all summer they add greatly 



good, free growth and a fine blue flower 

 is what we select in speciosa. 



Paxtoniana is another variety of 

 Erinus which is still more straggling in 

 growth, with light blue flowers with 

 white throat. 



The dwarf compact form of Erinus, 

 compacta, which is so largely used 



in Europe, would be the best of all for 

 bedding, but it is not to be depended 

 upon here and is not of any other use. 

 Seed of the varieties of Erinus can 

 be sown in January and by the help of 

 a hotbed in April and May would be 

 large enough for bedding plants, but to 

 have them in good order* for our vases, 

 etc., cuttings are much better. 



LYSIMACHIA. 



There is one species, nummularia, the 

 creeping, little, yellow-flowered money 

 vine, or moneywort, that besides being 

 one of our best hardy rockwork plants is 

 with us a standard so-called vine for 

 baskets and vases. Its long, pendent 

 growth is just what we want for that 

 purpose. For cultivation see Glechoma. 



Don t attempt to take it into the 

 greenhouse in any shape in the fall, or 

 it will get rusty and be useless. To 

 thrive it must have its freeze-up during 

 the few hard winter months. 



MANETTIA. 



All the species are climbers, and used 

 on trellises they make good summer vines 

 in situations that have a sheltered, sunny 

 exposure. They are not prominent com 

 mercial plants, but we occasionally are 

 asked for them. They root very easily 

 during winter from tender tips of the 

 growth, and will grow in any good loam. 

 The flowers are tubular, freely produced 

 and attractive. 



The species are: M. bicolor, scarlet 

 with yellow tip; M. coccinea, white tube 

 spotted with red, yellow throat; M. cor- 

 difolia, scarlet; M. micans, orange; this 

 species is more suited for inside. 



MARANTA. 



These very ornamental-leaved hot 

 house plants are now known botanically 

 as calathea, but it is not likely that we 

 shall ever know them commercially as 

 anything but marantas. There are 

 many species, all from tropical America, 

 entirely grown for their handsome 

 leaves. They have creeping rhizomes 

 and Avhen shaken out the roots can be 

 readily divided. June and July is a 

 good time for this operation. Some of 

 the smaller growing species make beau 

 tiful plants for table decoration or for 

 the larger ferneries, but they do not 

 thrive long in the dry air of a living- 

 room. It is as fine plants for the hot 

 house that they are chiefly cultivated. 



The essential to grow a fine plant is 

 a good coarse loam, to which can be 

 added a fifth of well decayed manure, 

 and some sand to keep the soil open. 

 As when growing they want abundance 

 of water and syringing there should be 

 ample drainage to let water pass freely 

 through. In a shaded, sheltered place 

 they will do out of doors, but are far 

 better suited in a shaded house where 

 there is abundance of moisture. In win 

 ter they will do in a temperature of 60 

 degrees, but as they are evergreen they 

 must not get dry, only a less quantity 

 of water. For a full development of 

 their velvety leaves they should every 

 two or three years be shaken out and 



