J42 



THE FLORISTS' MANUAL. 



The bench should be of roofing slate 

 over which you spread half an inch of 

 cement, all of which is a good con- 

 ductor of heat. Mr. Simpson says that 

 under the bench should be four 2-inch 

 pipes or three 4-inch. If steam, that 

 would do, but better have five 2-inch 

 hot water pipes and four 4-inch. There 

 should be a 12-inch board above the 

 bench, back and front, the front one 

 movable for convenience in planting, 

 cutting, etc. These boards should be 

 high enough so that when the shading 

 is put on it would be four or five 

 inches above the tops of the fully de- 

 veloped flowers. It is bottom heat 

 that is the great requisite, as we all 

 know, and the earliest forced bulbs 

 want about 85 degrees, gradually less- 

 ening the heat till in April, near their 

 natural time of growing, 65 to 70 is 

 enough. 



For the first few days, or till the 

 pips have grown three or four inches, 

 they are covered with wooden shut- 

 ters which almost entirely exclude the 

 light, then these are replaced by cloth 

 shutters; cheese cloth oiled and fast- 

 ened on frames will do nicely and the 

 last few days these are removed and 

 they are given full light, but no direct 

 sunlight. I have often noticed in hand- 

 ling valley that was in boxes that 

 even if fully developed they quickly 

 wilt if exposed to any draught. 



This same place will do for the sum- 

 mer and fall growing, but little bot- 

 tom heat is needed, though shade and 

 watering are the same. In summer in 

 addition to the portable shading over 

 the plants the house should be shaded 

 and made as cool as possible. 



We always handle a good deal of 

 the flowers during the short week they 

 are in bloom out of doors, and very 

 poor stuff it often is. A heavy shower 

 will quickly ruin it. Every florist who 

 has the ground should have some beds 

 outside, planted with good pips. The 

 beds will last for years. They should 

 be made the size of your frames or 

 planted in permanent frames. Then 

 when winter was over you could put 

 on the sash and with water and shade 

 produce some very fine flowers and 

 foliage several days ahead of the com- 

 mon, unprotected stuff. 



It would be also possible with the 

 aid of some ice and shade to retard 

 your crop a week or ten days after 

 the outside flowers were gone, all of 

 which would be much cheaper than 

 the most ready way of forcing the im- 

 ported pips. 



Lily of the valley can never recede 

 in public favor. It has all the attri- 

 butes that appeal to the most refined 

 and delicate senses. Its grace and 

 simple beauty is unsurpassed and its 

 delicate odor is loved by all. Even 

 supposing you don't get more than 75 

 per cent, of good flowers, then it is a 

 more profitable flower to the grower 

 and retailer than almost anything you 

 handle, and there is no greenhouse 

 where provision could not be made for 

 its successful culture. 



Pans and pots of it sell at Christ- 

 mas and Easter. They can ba treated 



just as described above, but a better 

 way is to select roots with some per- 

 fect flowers and foliage and put them 

 into the pans when in full bloom. 

 There is no fraud about this as if kept 

 moist they last just as long as those 

 grown in the pans from the start and 

 will have a better appearance. I have 

 never had any satisfaction from the 

 imported clumps and would not ad- 

 vise anyone to bother with them. 



LINUM TRIGYNUM. 



Some of the species of this genus are 

 used in flower gardening. L. grandi- 

 florum is a pretty, deep rose-colored 

 summer annual. L. trigynum is the 

 species that is sold for a winter bloom- 

 ing plant. It is not likely to become 

 very popular as a house plant on ac- 

 count of its dropping its petals so 

 quickly, although for the conserva- 

 tory it is a most showy plant and is 

 always in the best of order about 

 Christmas time. When supplied with 

 pot room and plenty of water it makes 

 a shapely, rounded plant, covered with 

 its bright yellow flowers. It is often 

 attacked by red spider and needs daily 

 syringing when in the greenhouse. A 

 night temperature of 50 degrees does 

 it well. 



It roots freely from the young 

 growths in March and should be plant- 

 ed out of doors in a light soil end of 

 May. It will need constant pinching 

 to keep it compact, and lifts with the 

 greatest ease in September. Its flow- 

 ers come in clusters 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 extremely 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 

 cold-frame and placed in their perma- 

 nent 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 a 

 flower garden plant 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, where they can be de- 

 pended on to flower all summer. Here 

 they are very gay out of doors till per- 

 haps 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 ve- 

 randa boxes they are to us" indispensa- 

 ble, and if not lasting all summer 

 they add greatly 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 

 September, cut them back a trifle, and 

 before 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 sup- 

 plied with plenty of lobelias in 3-inch 

 pots with a thick growth eight or ten 

 inches long and just ready to flower 

 about middle to 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 and its varieties is the 

 one most useful to us, the variety 

 called speciosa being most in use. If 

 seed is sown of speciosa you will get 

 a number of varied forms, and some of 

 those grown by us have originated lo- 

 cally. A good, free growth and a fine 

 blue flower is what we select in spe- 

 ciosa. 



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 hot-bed 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 bet- 

 ter. 



LYSIMACHIA. 



There is one species, Numinularia, 

 the creeping, little, yellow-flowered 

 "Money Vine," or moneywort, that be- 

 sides being one of our best hardy rock- 

 work plants is with us a standard so- 

 called vine for baskets and vases. Its 

 long, pendant growth is just what we 

 want for that purpose. For cultivation 

 see Glechoma. 



JJon'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 dur- 

 ing 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 a prominent commercial plant, 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. cordifolia, scarlet; M. micans, or- 

 ange; this species is more suited for 

 inside. 



