J88 



THE FLORISTS MANUAL. 



Howard s Star Petunias. 



in the field they travel badly and soon 

 have a wilted appearance. Their sea 

 son of use is often prolonged by cutting 

 the flower stalks and buds when quite 

 tight, or as soon as the buds show 

 color, and keeping them in water in cold 

 storage, a degree or two above the freez 

 ing point. 



They are propagated or increased 

 most easily, either in early spring or 

 fall. September or October is the most 

 favorable time. If you wish to slightly 

 increase your stock you can divide 

 strong clumps into two or three sec 

 tions, but if desirous to greatly increase 

 some choice variety, any piece of strong 

 root with an eye will do and in three 

 years from a single root and eye you 

 will have a strong clump of flowering 

 roots. The autumn is the most favorable 

 time for planting peonies, and it is then 

 nurserymen usually ship. 



FORCING. To me it is doubtful if 

 forcing of the peony can be made profit 

 able. If you receive an order for some 

 special occasion you would have to get 

 it two months ahead of time. The forc 

 ing of peonies is exactly like that of 

 rhubarb. The roots should be dug be 

 fore frost, placed in a coldframe and 

 protected by some material like light 

 stable litter or leaves, and brought into 

 heat about eight weeks before the flow 

 ers are wanted. We think that the price 

 obtained does not warrant the operation, 

 unless for a special occasion, and then 

 notice must be given in time. 



The extent of the latitude of our con 

 tinent admits of the peony being in sea 

 son for several weeks. The southern 

 flowers command a high price and grad 

 ually the flowers of Pennsylvania, Ohio, 

 southern New York, and at last our 

 northern flowers, are coaxed into blos 

 som by the strengthening sun, and 



wherever they blossom they are favorites 

 and in demand. 



One word of advice to the florist of 

 small ground or capacity fifty clumps 

 of well cultivated plants will make you 

 more profit than an acre of neglected 

 peonies. 



PEPEROMIA. 



This is a very large genus contain 

 ing hundreds of species. Those best 

 known and most useful to the florist 

 are P. maculosa, P. marmorata, P. 

 pubi folia and P. Saundersii (often 

 known as P. arifolia argyreia). They 

 are from tropical South America, which 

 stamps them as plants that like heat, 

 but they endure a greenhouse tempera 

 ture for weeks without any apparent 

 harm. A pan of these beautiful little 

 plants is very attractive and their fleshy, 

 succulent leaves enable them to with 

 stand the dry air of a living-room bet 

 ter than the vast majority of our plants. 



They need shade in the summer but 

 none in the winter and should never 

 be kept too wet. A lumpy, loose soil 

 with a mixture of broken charcoal, or 

 even broken crocks, will suit them well, 

 and a pan three or four inches deep is 

 better for them than a deep pot. The 

 best specimen of P. maculosa I ever 

 saw was growing on a rockwork at the 

 side of the path in a palm house where 

 it received plenty of moisture but no 

 superfluous water at the roots. 



They are easily propagated in sand 

 or sandy soil in a bottom heat of 75 

 degrees, either by the leaf, as you do 

 Begonia Bex, or with an inch or so of 

 the stem attached. Early spring is the 

 best time to propagate. 



The flowers of all are inconspicuous ; 

 it is the ornamental leaves that make 

 the plant valuable. P. pubifolia is well 

 adapted for a hanging basket. P. 

 maculosa makes a fine subject for a 

 pan, and the beautiful species illustrated 

 herewith makes a compact plant of great 



Peperomia Saundersii (P. Arifolia Argyreia). 



