J34 



THE FLORISTS* MANUAL. 



moisture and heat at the roots and 

 the ammonia charged atmosphere, the 

 growth of many plants is prodigious. 



When hotbeds are started early, say 

 1st of April, you should always cover 

 them nightly with mats or shutters, 

 the former much preferred both for 

 warmth and convenience. You must 

 not trust to the bare glass on, nights 

 of sharp frost. The surface of the soil 

 gets quickly cool and then Jack Frost 

 touches the plants, whose tops are 

 very near the glass. 



The hotbeds are a great relief to us 

 in our crowded state in April and May. 

 And more than that when the beds are 

 emptied the material is tossed up on a 

 pile and chopped down once or twice 

 during fall, and there you have an ex- 

 cellent substitute for leaf-mould, with 

 some ammonia in it. If not, its me- 

 chanical condition is what you want 

 for all of your soft- wooded, and many 

 of the hard-wooded, plants. 



HOYA. 



These hot-house climbers are seldom 

 seen now. The days of short-stemmed 

 flowers are gone, and hoyas are only 

 found in the private collection. H. car- 

 nosa was once a very common plant in 

 our greenhouses, and we have all 

 heard the dear old lady tell us hun- 

 dreds of times that her "wax plant did 

 not flower." 



H. carnosa and H. bella are the two 

 best known. The latter is a beautiful 

 but more delicate plant. They root 

 easily in the spring from the tops of 

 the growths. If a specimen is wanted 

 they should be trained on a wire 

 frame. They like plenty of sun and 

 ventilation in summer time, and in 

 winter should be given a rest by keep- 

 ing rather dry and in a house at about 

 50 degrees. 



Their waxy flowers, in fine umbels, 

 are very pretty, but they are not a 

 florist's flower. 



HYACINTH. 

 See Bulbs. 



HYDRANGEA. 



These are among the most impor- 

 tant of our decorative flowering 

 plants. Large quantities are sold for 

 Easter church decorations, and later 

 on large plants are in demand for out- 

 side decoration. The hardy Hydran- 

 gea paniculata grandiflora is one of 

 the finest of our hardy shrubs. 



H. hortensis and its variety Otaksa 

 is the common hydrangea of our 

 greenhouses. The flowers of Otaksa 

 are nearly always sterile, and from 

 that fact arise their fine, showy heads 

 of bloom. The normal color of Otaksa 

 is a beautiful flesh pink, but it varies 

 with certain soil, and in some parts 

 they assume a beautiful blue color. 

 Iron dust or filings in the soil is said 

 to produce this. If so, it cannot be 

 done with one season's treatment, but 

 must be followed up from the time the 

 plant is first rooted. When Otaksa is 

 well colored its beautiful shade of pink 

 can scarcely be improved by changing 

 to a blue. 



All the hydrangeas can be readily 

 rooted from the young growths in 

 February and March. Old plants that 

 are given a little heat in the winter 

 will give you fine cuttings, and they 

 should be short, stout pieces of the 

 very latest growth, which root quickly 

 in the sand. For early spring use the 

 cuttings should be propagated in Feb- 

 ruary, potted on till June and have the 

 tops pinched out, when they can go 

 into a 5-inch pot and be plunged out- 

 side on a dry bottom, giving them 

 plenty of room between the plants. If 

 they grow freely give them a 6-inch in 

 August. 



After the first few mild frosts, which 

 does them no harm, take them into a 

 light house. By this time you have 

 some chrysanthemum benches empty 

 and can give the hydrangeas a good 

 bench. Till the New Year they do not 

 want any forcing, but after that if they 

 are wanted for Easter they must get 

 55 degrees at night, and increase it if 

 you see they are going to be late. 

 Plants that are not wanted for Easter 

 can rest in a very cool house, in fact 

 under a bench till February, and bs 

 given enough water to keep them from 

 shriveling, after which they can be 

 cleaned up, shifted, if necessary, and 

 started growing. These will be in good 

 flower about the end of May, when 

 there is a good demand for them. 



I failed to mention that the earlier 

 forced plants should also be given a 

 shift into a 6 or 7-inch pot when they 

 start to grow at New Year's. Otaksa is 

 about hardy in the milder parts of 

 Europe, so it does not want anything 

 but a cool greenhouse except when 

 forced. 



Hydrangeas, especially the hortensis 

 type, are great feeders, and should 

 have a rather heavy but good, fresh 

 loam with a fourth of decayed manure, 

 and some bone flour added at the last 

 shift will help them. Water they want 

 in great abundance when growing and 

 flowering, and if allowed to suffer for 

 it they soon show it, and will show it 

 later by yellow leaves. 



There is little trouble with hydran- 

 geas from insects. You can fumigate 

 them should fly trouble them, and al- 

 though red spider will attack the 

 flowers it should never be allowed as a 

 daily syringing should be given them. 



Plants that have not sold should 

 have the flowers removed by cutting 

 back the stem to within a few eyes of 

 the pot. Remove .some of the soil and 

 give them a shift and plunge outside 

 for the summer. They will make fine 

 plants for another spring. The prin- 

 cipal object to attain with any of these 

 plants is a strong growth in summer, 

 and well ripened wood in the fall. So 

 bright sun, cool nights, and a lessen- 

 ing of the supply of water, are the 

 requisites. 



When hydrangeas gat into 10 and 

 12-inch pots they take up too much 

 room unless you are assured of a good 

 sale. They make magnificent plants in 

 tubs for the lawn, but those that have 

 developed their flowers under glass are 

 not valuable for this purpose, as they 



soon lose the beauty of their flowers. 

 The best plants for this purpose that 

 1 have seen were wintered for several 

 years in the basement of a coach 

 house. There was no artificial heat. 

 It was not too dark, and with an occa- 

 sional watering the plants remained 

 dormant till it was time to return 

 them to the lawn, when they came 

 along naturally about the same as the 

 hardy shrubs, and the flowers lasted 

 the greater part of the summer. 



Some such place as this should be 

 provided for large plants, as the green- 

 house, however cool, will bring them 

 on too fast. 



Some growers adopt a different plan 

 with the young plants. Instead of 

 growing them on in pots they plant 

 them out in good, deep, rich soil, and 

 lift and pot in September or October. 

 I have often done this, and for late 

 spring sales it is a good plan, but for 

 the Easter lot I prefer to grow them in 

 pots all summer. 



The kinds forced include Thomas 

 Hogg, a pure white variety of horten- 

 sis. Paniculata is also forced in some 

 places, but we think we have better 

 plants. There is a finer variety with 

 purplish red stems and highly colored 

 pink flowers, rather a tall growth but 

 very handsome. H. hortensis Otaksa 

 is the finest variety, giving the largest 

 head of bloom, and forcing well. 



IMPAT1ENS SULTANI. 



This little perennial flowering bal- 

 sam is not so much seen as it was a 

 dozen years ago. Nearly all the year 

 it is covered with bright scarlet 

 flowers and is chiefly valuable as a 

 bright flower for the greenhouse in 

 summer when most of our flowering 

 plants are done. It roots readily from 

 cuttings in warm sand, or can be 

 raised from seed. A rather rich, open 

 soil suits it, with plenty of water. 

 Plants in 4 and 5-inch pots are most 

 useful. 



Being from tropical Africa it should 

 'not be kept lower than 55 degrees in 

 the winter, but any greenhouse does it 

 well in summer, and it does not .want 

 much shade. 



When plants get shabby from the 

 want of a shift it is cheaper and better 

 to throw them away, as young and 

 thrifty plants are so easily raised. 



IRESINE (ACHYRANTHES.) 



These are known almost entirely 

 under the name of achyranthes, but 

 iresine is correct. They, with the co- 

 leus, are the principal plants used to 

 furnish color to the tropical and foli- 

 age beds. 



Their culture is so well known and 

 so simple that little need be said. They 

 thrive in any ordinary good soil. They 

 have an advantage over the coleus in 

 that they are not nearly so tender and 

 will grow during winter when the co- 

 leus would starve. Outside, though in- 

 jured by the first frost, they will not 

 drop their leaves when the thermome- 

 ter gets down to 40 degrees, as do 

 many coleus. 



