426 FRITZ BAHR'S COMMERCIAL FLORICULTURE 



of all. Treated like L. 

 speciosum rubrum or L. 

 auratum, it appears to be as 

 hardy as either and a most 

 welcome addition to what 

 we already have. It can 

 also be grown and flowered 

 in pots. 



LILY OF THE VALLEY 



The flowers of the Lily 

 of the Valley are used the 

 whole year around by the 

 florist. With the help of 

 cold storage facilities, the 

 pips are available for forc- 

 ing at any time and the 

 great demand for the flowers 

 has produced specialists 

 near the large flower markets 

 in every section of the United 

 States who force many thou- 

 sands of pips and put a 

 steady, daily supply of flow- 

 ers on the market. Here, 



as in so many other lines, it no longer pays the retail grower 

 to think about doing the forcing himself and making it pay, with 

 the exception, perhaps, of doing it for special occasions like Christmas, 

 St. Valentine's Day and Easter. Whether or not he uses cold storage 

 pips, as is necessary for Christmas forcing, it is always well to allow 

 about twenty-four days from the time the pips are put into sand 

 until the flowers, or the majority of them, are ready to be cut. 



The specialists and large seed houses can supply you with any 

 amount of cold storage pips just when they are wanted, which makes 

 it unnecessary for anyone to try and do the storing. 



For Christmas, pips should be planted in sand in the forcing 

 frame or they may be potted up into 5- or 6-in. pots, using as many 

 pips as a pot will hold and cutting the roots back if too long for the 

 pots. Place the pots in the forcing frame. This can be of any size, 

 made out of 12-in.-wide lumber and fitted over a bench with sufficient 

 bottom heat so as to create an 85-deg. temperature around the 

 pips. The frame can be covered with a shutter or sash and should 

 be covered so as to keep all light out for the first twelve days. It 

 is a matter of heat, darkness and moisture. In order to produce 

 three or four inches of growth supply these requirements and don't 



Fig. 202. LILIUM AURATUM. While not 

 as valuable for the florist as some others, 

 this is one of the showiest of all hardy 

 varieties and a fine companion for Lilium 

 speciosum 



