FlBBDABT 16, 1017. 



The Florists' Review 



21 



BXTLB GBOWINO IN HOLLAND. 



[This is the third and last installment of a 

 paper read at a recent meeting of the Cleve- 

 land Florists' Club, in CleTCIand, O., by John 

 Van Leeuwen, of Sassenheim, Holland. The pre- 

 ceding two sections of his paper were published 

 in The Review of January 25 and February 1.] 



We now come to a genus of extremely 

 popular bulbous plants, namely, nar- 

 cissi. 



In Greek mythology Narcissus was 

 the son of the river god Cephissus and 

 the nymph Liriope, and was distin- 

 guished for his beauty. The seer Tiresias 

 told his mother that he would have a 

 long life, provided he never looked upon 

 his own features. The rejection of the 

 love of the nymph Echo drew upon him 

 the vengeance of the gods, who made 

 him see his own image. He fell in love 

 with his own reflection in the water of 

 a spring and pined away, or killed him- 

 self, and the flower that now bears his 

 name sprang up in the spot where he 

 died. That is one version. 



Narcotic and Poisonous Properties. 



Another opinion is that the name is 

 derived from the word "narce, " on 

 account of the flowers' narcotic per- 

 fume. In mythology the plants were 

 consecrated to the Furies, who are said 

 by the older writers to have employed 

 the narcissus to first stupefy those 

 whom they wished to punish. "Writers 

 of comparatively modern date claim 

 that the odor of the flowers causes mad- 

 ness, just as the flowers of the common 

 scarlQt field poppy are now said by 

 country people to induce faintness or 

 headache. In support of this theory 

 many instances are on record in our own 

 day where the odor of Narcissus Taz- 

 etta, for example, in close rooms, has 

 proved extremely disagreeable if not 

 actually injurious to delicate persons. 

 All the parts of the plant are narcotic 

 and highly poisonous, a fact which has 

 been proved by many florists who have 

 to cut a large quantity of the flowers 

 every day. 



Narcissi are natives of central Europe 

 and the Mediterranean regions, while 

 one species, Narcissus Tazetta, extends 

 through Asia and Japan. From some of 

 these, by cultivation and hybridization, 

 have sprung the numerous modern va- 

 rieties which are now so popular. 



Five Botanical Groups. 



Botanically narcissi are divided into 

 five groups: 



Hoop Petticoat, or Corbularia. These 

 have unusually large trumpets compared 

 with the small petals. They are only 

 small flowers, anyway. 



Pseudo-narcissi, which correspond to 

 the group Ajax, and which are the so- 

 called daffodils. To this group belong 

 the bicolor varieties and the large trum- 

 pets, such as Emperor and Golden Spur. 



Mock narcissi, or star daffodils, to 

 which belong N. incomparabilis, of which 

 Sir Watkin is a variety. 



Polyanthus narcissi, to which belong 

 the Chinese sacred lilies and Paper 

 White grandiflora. 



Poet's narcissi, or Pheasant's Eye nar- 

 cissi, to which belongs Poeticus ornatus. 



Narcissi have been grown in western 

 Europe since 1500, and it is highly prob- 

 able that the most common species were 

 introduced long before that time. Lobel 

 speaks of the culture of narcissi as far 

 back as 1570 and Gerard describes sev- 

 , eral kinds which were popular at the 

 time of Queen Elizabeth. 



Soil and Culture. 



The soil in which we grow narcissi 

 is the poorest we have. While for hya- 

 cinths and tulips the soil must contain 

 a certain percentage of chalk, a large 

 percentage of this mixed with the soil 

 would be injurious to narcissi. They 

 require but little manure; in fact, many 

 of them are grown without any. They 

 are planted often in ground which has 



not been loosened and they do not seem 

 to be any the worse for it. 



The cultivation is extremely easy and 

 requires but little care. The only point 

 about which we must be careful is that 

 a certain disease, which we call "fire," 

 does nqt spread. This is a fungous dis- 

 ease which produces small gray spots on 

 the foliage, and, if the leaves on which 

 it appears are not immediately removed, 

 it spreads so quickly, under certain con- 

 ditions of the weather, that a healthy 

 plant, perfectly green and growing fast, 

 will be as dead as a doornail inside or 

 three days. 



A Destructiye Pest. 



Last year, however, a small but for- 

 midable pest, which we never had seen 

 before, played havoc with acre upon 

 acre of daffodils. This pest was im- 

 ported with a lot of bulbs which came 

 from Guernsey as planting size. It is a 



[Continued on page 41.1 



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Dutch Bulbs. 



It will not be necessary after this date 

 to place bulbous stock in the dark or 

 below the benches to give it the neces- 

 sary length of stem, but if bench room 

 is scarce a row of flats or pans can be 

 stood below the benches near the walks. 

 It is better, however, to place the bulbs 

 in pans or pots direct on the benches 

 to keep them stocky. A common ques- 

 tion now is how soon to start to force 

 tulips, daffodils and hyacinths for 

 Easter. Not yet awhile. About three 

 weeks in an ordinary greenhouse tem- 

 perature should suffice for any of these 

 bulbs, provided they are well rooted 

 and started when housed. Much depends 

 on the weather. Plants will grow more 

 during one clear, sunny day than in two 

 dark ones, but speaking generally if 

 bulbs are housed about March 10 to 

 15 they should be in ample time. 



Boses for Easter. 



If the ramblers and polyanthas or 

 Baby ramblers have buds nicely showing, 

 they will be in nice season for Easter 

 in an average night temperature of 58 

 to 60 degrees. If the pots are well filled 

 with roots, as they should be now, give 

 them occasional soakings of cow manure 

 water, but discontinue its use as soon as 

 the flowers start to open, as its use then 

 tends to take color from the flowers. 

 Spray them on clear days only and be 

 sure the foliage is dry before nightfall. 



Avoid cold drafts, which bring mildew 

 and all its attendant evils. On the first 

 appearance of it use sulphur on the pipes 

 and plants; in fact, it is a safe plan to 

 keep a little sulphur on the pipes right 

 along. It is well to send the plants along 

 so that they will be in flower suflSciently 

 early to gradually inure them to a cooler 

 tempeiature before shipping or offering 

 for sale. 



Easter Lilies. 



At this season Easter lily queries ar- 

 rive almost every day. It is generally 

 conceded that if the buds can be seen 

 when Lent comes in, the plants will 

 be all right if given an average night 

 temperature of 60 degrees. As Lent 

 arrives February 21, backward plants 

 should be given more heat and frequent 

 syringings to forward them. Plants 

 which are too dwarf can be lengthened 

 by placing them in a batch together and 

 shading them rather heavily. Do the 

 necessary hard forcing now, rather than 

 nearer Easter, and you will have flowers 

 of much greater substance. 



Deciduous Shrubs for Easter. 



Such deciduous shrubs as lilacs, wis- 

 tarias, mains, prunus, cratnpgus, cor- 

 chorus and forsythias should now be 

 placed in an ordinary greenhouse tem- 

 perature, in which they will break far 

 more strongly and bloom better than 

 when placed in a tropical temperature, 



