248 FRITZ BAHR'S COMMERCIAL FLORICULTURE 



any time during Summer and Fall, or kept over until the following 

 Spring. 



ALOYSIA CITRIODORA (LEMON VERBENA) 



Your bedding stock, no matter how large the assortment, is 

 never complete without Lemon Verbenas. Don't be obliged to say 

 to your customer: "We can fill your entire list of stock wanted 

 with the exception of the Lemon Verbenas." It isn't what you make 

 on the few plants sold during May and June that counts; you should 

 carry them to oblige your customers. 



When you plant them out you can grow six-foot specimens 

 which, with their delightful odor, belong in every flower garden; 

 but for stock to propagate from, it is as well to grow them on in 

 5- or 6-in. pots. Keep the plants in a cool house all Winter and 

 start them into growth about February. The new wood will give 

 you the cuttings, which root easily with a little bottom heat; pot up 

 later on and keep shifted. 



The man in need of only one hundred or so plants, instead of 

 bothering with raising his own stock, will find it cheaper, I think, 

 to buy 2-in. stock about April first, shift it into 3j^-in. pots, and 

 be done with it. 



ALTERNANTHERA 



There are many florists who go through life without ever han- 

 dling or growing Alternantheras, for these plants are really only 

 useful for carpet bedding or grave planting. 



You cannot help but admire a well laid out and properly kept 

 carpet bed or border. You praise not only the plants in it, but also 

 the man who was able to lay out the design, and the one who carried 

 out the planting. Such beds in the public parks or large grounds 

 always attract well-deserved attention. To the average florist, 

 however, Alternantheras don't mean much; in fact, I often think the 

 men located in the smaller towns could to their own advantage 

 push carpet bedding a little more. There are occasions when such 

 a formal bed will act as a splendid advertisement. The first thing 

 people will do when looking at one is to wonder who did the laying 

 out, and who furnished the plants. 



Alternantheras also make fine border plants where something 

 low is wanted. In full sunlight, if not planted too close, their beauti- 

 ful, ornamental leaves are always greatly admired. 



Give Alternantheras heat, sun and moisture and they will 

 grow in almost any soil. They stand still during the Winter months 

 even in a house where Roses do their best. Take cuttings during 

 early August and place them closely in flats filled with half soil and 

 half sand; they will root in a few days in a frame where they can 

 remain until September. Bring indoors to a light bench, and a house 

 of not less than 55 deg., and let them remain there until the end of 



