2J8 



THE FLORISTS MANUAL. 



contented to see their neighbor's in 

 weeds would be narrow minded indeed. 



There are various ways of filling 

 vases, but where there are thousands 

 in one cemetery and perhaps two or 

 three hundred on one "section" alone, 

 there must be a good deal of sameness. 

 Some few have one palm alone. Many 

 are filled with one color of geraniums 

 with or without any drooping plant for 

 an edge. A few are filled with cannas 

 or caladiums. Some contain a mass of 

 one variety of coleus with a distinct 

 edge, but more than half of the whole 

 are filled with a variety of plants with 

 some drooping plants to hang over the 

 edge. If in a windy place the so-called 

 "vines" or droopers have a hard time 

 of it, and are little ornament. 



Nearly everyone wants his or her 

 vase to look just perfection the day it 

 is put out and expect it to continue to 

 keep looking so till October, the unrea- 

 sonableness of which we have to strive 

 with and do our best to please. Water- 

 ing is not the only thing a vase wants 

 in summer. Much can be done and 

 must be done by keeping off withered 

 flowers, yellow leaves and pinching 

 out the stronger growing plants, of 

 which the coleus is the worst to crowd 

 out the rest. Cleaning the vases, as 

 we call it, should be attended to at 

 least once a week. 



In palms or that style of plant, a 

 Chamaerops humilis, any of the phoe- 

 nix or Dracaena indivisa can be used 

 in the broad sun. It is impossible to 

 give water enough to keep the lata- 

 nias or kentias from burning, but if 

 in the shade of trees then any of the 

 handsome palms can be used. Any of 

 the foliage plants such as coleus, 

 achyranthes or acalypha have a good 

 appearance if nicely pinched and in 

 order. 



It is undeniable that the geranium is 

 unequaled as a vase plant if flower 

 and color is wanted, but they should 

 be in the full sun. The varieties 

 should be not only good bloomers but 

 strong, vigorous kinds that will keep 

 their foliage as well as flower. The 

 single, for this purpose, are of little 

 use. Of those we have tried for the 

 purpose the best are Prokop Daubeck, 

 a very robust, large, double red; there 

 is hardly a variety as good; Ernest 

 Lauth, fine for the purpose; Alphonse 

 Ricard, orange scarlet; S. A. Nutt, 

 crimson; Tower Eiffel, bright scarlet; 

 Emile de Gerardin, pink, but now su- 

 perseded by F. Perkins, a pink un- 

 equaled; Beaute Poitevine, salmon; 

 La Favorite, double white. The silver 

 leaved Mountain of Snow is most use- 

 ful as an edge, and so is the compact 

 Mme. Salleroi. Sometimes the gera- 

 nium vases have only one of the varie- 

 gated geraniums for an edging, and 

 sometimes some drooper, but when the 

 latter only one kind should be used. 

 Vinca, glechoma or the ivy geranium 

 are very suitable. A favorite vase 

 with hundreds is pink geraniums with 

 the pink ivy leaf for an edging. 



The mixed vases are in the majority 

 and are the least profitable to the flor- 

 ist and the least satisfactory. In the 



center we use a small phoenix or a 

 dwarf canna, but nearly all ask and 

 expect us to use a Dracaena indivisa. 

 This wonderfully useful plant not only 

 thrives under the worst kind of treat- 

 ment but actually improves every day 

 till fall, and near the end of summer 

 is the redeeming feature of many a 

 vase. When using mixed plants there 

 is quite a variety. Dwarf flowering 

 cannas; Grevillea robusta, which gives 

 a light, feathery effect; all the gera- 

 niums mentioned; coleus, in great va- 

 riety; three kinds of achyranthes, Be- 

 gonia Vernon, and some other flower- 

 ing kinds; Abutilon Souv. de Bonn 

 (and we think Savitzii will be a great 

 addition to our vase plants), antheri- 

 cum, Centaurea gymnocarpa, aspidis- 

 tra; fuchsias, but these should only be 

 used in partial shade, and Black 

 Prince and old speciosa are the two 

 best for the purpose; variegated 

 euonymus; and perhaps a few more 

 can be added to the list. The coarse 

 monster Caladium esculentum should 

 not be used with other plants, for it 

 entirely exhausts the soil. 



For droopers we have a variety to 

 choosei from. The weaker kinds get 

 crushed out, but look pretty for the 

 first month. We use first the varie- 

 gated and green trailing vincas. We 

 consider this the most important of 

 all our vase droopers. Several varie- 

 ties of the ivy geranium, English ivy, 

 gramanthea (a small creeping succu- 

 lent), glechoma (variegated), the so- 

 called German ivy (senecio), lysi- 

 machia, double sweet alyssum, lobelia, 

 nasturtium, Abutilon vexillarium, 

 lopospermum, Solanum jasminioides, 

 Pilogyne suavis, nierembergia, petu- 

 nias, Kenilworth ivy, etc. 



The prettiest vase in our cemetery 

 this entire summer is a vase of tuber- 

 ous-rooted begonias. It is grand, but 

 it is in the shade of trees. Where this 

 is the case it makes a splendid plant. 

 Asparagus Sprengeri seed is yet a lit- 

 tle expensive; when as cheap as smilax 

 seed we believe this asparagus will be 

 one of our finest drooping vase plants, 

 and particularly for our veranda boxes. 

 In a warmer section of the country the 

 crotons make splendid vase plants. Do 

 not put in plants that are showy, but 

 that you know will quickly go out of 

 flower and flower no more that season; 

 such plants as our Show pelargoniums 

 and pyrethrums. 



As the soil you use is to support as 

 many plants in a 2-foot vase as would 

 properly fill a 6-foot flower bed, you 

 must use the richest soil. In addition 

 to one-third of rotten manure added 

 to your loam, add a 6-inch pot of bone 

 flour to- every barrow-load. Keep the 

 plants pretty well up on the surface, 

 but see that the soil is firmly packed 

 around every plant. We find work- 

 men very guilty of neglecting that 

 part of it, and we find when three or 

 four hundred vases have to be filled in 

 a week that there has to be some sys- 

 tem about it. 



First a list is given the boss of the 

 gang, of the names of the owners which 

 reads like this: "Mrs. Particular, one 



iron vase. Fill good mixed, only light 

 colored geraniums." Or "Mrs. Usual, 

 cne iron vase. All pink geraniums and 

 pink ivy leaf." And every vase has 

 the name of owner attached. With a 

 man to place the plants in, another to 

 fill in solid, another to moss and water 

 and another to keep the supply of 

 plants on hand, a great many vases 

 can be filled in a day. 



I had almost forgotten the impor- 

 tant item of moss. We cover the sur- 

 face of the soil, or at least four inches 

 all around from the edge, with green 

 wood moss. We used to load up wag- 

 cns and drive to the country with 

 plants and soil, but find a much better 

 plan is to bring home the top or bowl 

 of the vase, fill it and return it the 

 same or next day. People ask you to 

 get their vase started in the green- 

 house. We should want a circus tent 

 to hold them all, and they are none 

 the better for getting the tender 

 growth of the greenhouse. Fill them 

 up and away with them. 



Decoration Day, or about that time, 

 is the only week of the year that we 

 are truly miserable, but with all the 

 hurry and vexation we survive, or have 

 up to date. 



VENTILATION. 



Ventilation is primarily afforded to 

 keep down temperature when the sun's 

 rays have heated up the houses, but to 

 give and afford a free circulation of 

 fresh air to the plants is quite as 

 much a reason for ventilation. Our 

 large glass of the present day quickly 

 runs up the temperature with the sun 

 shining, and if ventilation is not faith- 

 fully attended to at the proper time 

 great harm, is done, and in the case of 

 roses months of hard and faithful la- 

 bor can be ruined. 



The necessity and benefit of ventila- 

 tion is too well known to need any 

 lengthy remarks. It is the mental side 

 of the business. It wants watching 

 like the water gauge of a steam en- 

 gine, but more scientific. It is the 

 same sort of science that is brought 

 into use by Mary Murphy when she 

 knows the potatoes are just done, and 

 cooking is a science. You can lay down 

 rules that this or that house should be 

 ventilated when the thermometer reg- 

 isters a certain degree, but to that 

 should be added some knowledge and 

 judgment. In rose growing it is per- 

 haps the most particular of all work 

 connected .with them, and if a man has 

 charge of three or four houses it will 

 almost keep him busy in the spring 

 and fall months running from one to 

 the other regulating the ventilation. 



A man should be able to tell with- 

 out even looking at the thermometer 

 whether the sashes are too much or 

 not enough open. The thermometer is 

 of course an infallible guide and au- 

 thority, but there are times when even 

 a few degrees higher is of less injury 

 to the plant than a keen, cutting 

 draught of air. Often the sashes are 

 opened six inches when two inches 

 would be plenty. There is one good 

 rule and that is to begin ventilating 



