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The Florists' Review 



October 26, 1916. 



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Olnerarlas. 



As the cool weather arrives the rate 

 of growth on cinerarias becomes ac- 

 celerated and they will need rather fre- 

 quent spacing apart in the coldframes. 

 As they fill the pots somewhat quickly 

 with roots, overhaul them before they 

 become at all stunted. The best place 

 for cinerarias until mums have passed 

 is in coldframes. ) By using the neces- 

 sary protection they can easily be kept 

 in these until Christmas. Scatter fresh 

 tobacco stems among the plants to keep 

 down green aphis, or, better still, spray 

 them once in eight or ten days with a 

 good nicotine solution. 



Variegated Vincas. 



A few degrees of frost will not harm 

 the vincas in the field, but it is not 

 wise to expose them to too much cold, 

 as the young, tender shoots are liable 

 to be nipped. Some of the clumps can 

 be divided when they are lifted and all 

 should be pruned back well. The 

 plants can stand fairly close on a 

 bench in a cool greenhouse. Later in 

 the season, as the growths get under 

 way, they can be stood along the edges 

 of some of the benches where their 

 long shoots can hang down. If you 

 are short of stock, take a good batch 

 of cuttings now. Soft shoots rubbed off 

 with a heel will root the most quickly, 

 . but more mature wood, cut in lengths, 

 can also be used, although it takes 

 much longer to root. 



Fancy Caladiums. 



As the foliage on the fancy ciladiums 

 begins to decay, gradually reduce the 

 water supply.. Keep them in a moder- 

 ately warm house still, as they will not 

 endure cold. When all the foliage has 

 died away, store the pots or pans in a 

 warm, dry shed or under a bench that 

 is absolutely free from drip. It is quite 

 necessary to keep caladium tubers warm 

 in winter. They need a higher tempera- 

 ture than tuberous begonias, gloxinias 

 or achimenes, all of which should now 

 be gradually dried off also. 



Freesias. 



The earliest batch of freesias should 

 now be about a foot in height, and a 

 temperature of 55 degrees at night, with 

 a light bench, or, better still, a sunny 

 shelf, will bring a fair proportion of 

 them into bloom for the holidays, when 

 they are specially valuable. Any "bulbs 

 still in bags or boxes should be placed 

 in pots or pans at once. They merely 

 fritter away their strength if kept out 

 of the soil beyond this date, and when 

 they flower they will come much 

 shorter-stemmed. If you have a lot of 

 small bulblets, scatter these fairly 

 thickly in flats containing four inches 

 ef soil. They will make good flowering 

 bulbs for another season. 



Planting Deddoous Shrubs. 



Many deciduous shrubs succeed much 

 better if planted in October or early in 



November than in the spring, and there 

 is more time to do this work properly 

 now than in April or May. Among 

 shrubs which do better if fall-planted 

 are: All varieties of lilacs, philadel- 

 phus, loniceras, symphoricarpos, spireeas, 

 most of the viburnums, deutzias, comus, 

 el«eagnus, exochordas, forsythias and 

 prunus. The following do better if set 

 out in the spring: Weigelas, hydran- 

 geas, tomarix, buddleitJls, vitex, ligus- 

 trunis, or jftrivets; Viburnum plicatum 

 and 'V. tomentosum, and corchorus, or 

 kerrias. Most of these latter can be 

 successfully planted if gn^eat care is 

 taken, but spring planting for them is 

 safer. 



Nerines. 



The nerines, or Guernsey lilies, are 

 attractive at this season. They suc- 

 ceed best in comparatively small pots 

 and flower most profusely when baked 

 thoroughly all summer, receiving no 

 water from the time the foliage dies 

 until the flower spikes show. The 

 scarlet varieties, like Fothergilli major, 

 Sarniensis and corusca, flower earlier 

 than the pink, rose and other forms. 

 Among the latter are some beautiful 

 varieties and they flower with won- 

 .derful freedom. Plants of N. excellens 

 in 5-inch pots carry twelve spikes each; 



even 2^-inch pots in some cases have 

 three good spikes. The nerines want 

 cold house treatment when growing and 

 should only be repotted when they be- 

 come much crowded. Usually the 

 plants flower more sparsely the season 

 after being repotted. For use in groups 

 at fall shows the nerines are not nearly 

 so well appreciated here as they are 

 in Europe. The cut spikes last well 

 and there can be no more charming 

 table centerpiece than one of pink or 

 rose-colored nerines. 



Bambler Boses for Forcing. 



Bambler roses that were pot-grown 

 through the summer should be kept 

 much drier at the roots now, to assist in 

 ripening the woodb well. Field-grown 

 plants should be potted up as soon as 

 possible. Stand the plants in an open, 

 sunnV^ pit' ttnd pack some straw or 

 leavOT about the pots to prevent break- 

 ages as frosts become more sei%re. The 

 plants should be kept butdoors until 

 December and then stored in any frost- 

 proof pit or frame until they are 

 wanted for forcing. 



Bougaiu'villeas. 



Unless they are wanted for quite 

 early forcing, keep bougainvilleas in a 

 rather cool house for some time and 

 give theto a reduced supply of water 

 at the roots. Occasionally plants are 

 seen in bloom as early as Christmas, 

 but the color is hardly what people are 

 looking for at the holidays, and Easter 

 will be found a much better season for 

 disposing of them. Let the plants have 

 full sun to ripen the wood well. While 

 propagation can be done now with half 

 ripe or well ripened wood, it can be 

 carried out more successfully in spring. 



Marseilles, France. — The value of the 

 French bulbs exported from Marseilles, 

 the only shipping point, to the United 

 States increased from $258,091 in 1914 

 to $261,047 in 1915. 



Paris, France. — Among the recent 

 casualties reported by^the war office is 

 that of Lieut. Paul Mottet, son of the 

 chief of the experimental grounds of 

 Vilmorin-Andrieux et Cie, who is 

 known to many American seedsmen. 



Groningen, Holland. — One may see 

 an evidence of the necessity for a rise 

 in the cost of Holland's seed, bulb and 

 plant crops in the statement that such 

 outdoor crops as cabbage are selling 

 at prices from 100 to 300 per cent above 

 those that prevailed before the war. 



London, England. — Sphagnum moss 

 is being extensively used in the war to 

 provide first field dressings for wounds. 

 Speculations are made as to the theory 

 of the moss containing any actual heal- 

 ing properties, besides the quality 

 which makes it valuable, viz., resiliency, 

 and the exclusion of air and germs from 

 the wound. The moss grows thickly on 

 Dartmoor, and it has been assiduously 

 collected by many people for the pur- 

 pose of field dressings. 



Quedlinbiirg, Oermany. — Until the U. 

 S. government finds a means to secure 

 the inviolability of mails passing be- 

 tween neutral countries, American or- 

 ders will fail to reach addressees here, 

 except in desultory fashion, and ship- 

 ments, even of small flower seeds by 

 parcel post, will be attended »yith 

 much uncertaintjr. Advices from Hol- 

 land representatives of German houses 

 are to the effect that they are, one by 

 one, falling under the ban of the Brit- 

 ish censor. 



Beading, England. — Sutton & Sons, 

 seedsmen, have completed a second se- 

 ries of experiments with radium fertiliz- 

 ers and have published a report from 

 the pen of Martin H. F. Sutton. 

 Briefly, it was found that "radium has 

 no marked effect on the growth of 

 plants. This conclusion, though nega- 

 tive, is valuable to the horticulturist, 

 for without it he might be tempted to 

 incur considerable expense in the pur- 

 chase of radium 'fertilizers.' With 

 these results before him, however, the 

 gardener will, if he be wise, spend his 

 money on natural and artificial ma- 

 nures rather than on the radium fer- 

 tilizers which are beginning to finrt 

 their way into the market." 



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