40 



The Florists^ Review 



March 22, 1917. 



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Dutch Bulbs for Easter. 



Hyacinths and all varieties of nar- 

 cissi and tulips come along rapidly at 

 this season. Three weeks should suffice 

 to flower practically anything in this 

 line, while a fortnight would enable 

 some to flower in a night temperature 

 of 50 degrees. Do not stand any of the 

 pots or pans below the benches. You 

 want them as stocky as possible, in order 

 to obviate the necessity of staking. Spe- 

 cially popular varieties in pans this 

 Eastor will be Golden Spur and Vic- 

 toria narcissi, Murillo and Tea Rose 

 tulips, white and pink hyacinths. Plants 

 which are a little too advanced can 

 ensily l)e retarded on the floor of a cool 

 collar. Any which seem at all back- 

 ward should be given a little more heat, 

 but keop them near the glass, so they 

 will not become drawn up. 



Violets for Easter. 



The increasing power of the sun will 

 now send violets along rapidly. Par- 

 ticularly is this true of the single va- 

 rieties. As soon as the plants start to 

 throw up a big crop of lusty leaves, that 

 is a sure sign of the beginning of the 

 end, so far as flowers are concerned. 

 At Easter there is a heavy call for vio- 

 lets, and they will bring much better 

 prices than at present. In order to hold 

 flowers in good condition until that date, 

 it will be necessary to place some 

 shade on the glass to assist in lowering 

 the temperature, in addition to keeping 

 ventilators and doors wide open. Propa- 

 gation should be started at once. Se- 



lect strong, healthy plants for stock. 

 You can afford to sacrifice some flowers 

 on these. Tear the plants to pieces, 

 cut away all but a few of the new leaves 

 and shorten the roots. Place them in 

 sandy loam. Cuttings without roots 

 should go in clear sand and if kept 

 shaded and properly watered will prac- 

 tically all root. 



Easter Lilies. 



The date of Easter is April 8, and 

 this is a reminder that lilies will need 

 close attention between now and that 

 date, to time them correctly. Put the 

 laggards in the warmest house you have, 

 spray and water them freely and close 

 the house early in the afternoon, in or- 

 der to bottle up a brisk heat, always 

 provided the house does not contain 

 plants which will be injured by such 

 treatment. Plants well advanced should 

 go into a somewhat cooler house. If 

 buds are now ready to bend down they 

 will be on time if given a night tem- 

 perature of 60 to 65 degrees, but do all 

 the forcing you can now rather than 

 nearer Easter, and remember that while 

 you can get from $8 to $12.50 per hun- 

 dred for buds and flowers before Easter, 

 they are worth but little after that date. 

 Therefore hurry them along all you can 

 oow. 



Pansies. 



Pansies carried over the winter in 

 coldframes should now have the mulch 

 of dry leaves over them removed. Give 

 them a watering with the hose and firm 

 any which frost may have heaved. Air 

 freely, but keep the sashes closed on 



cold nights. These plants will furnish 

 early flowers, and plants in small bas- 

 kets, a dozen in each, will be found sal- 

 able. The same holds true of myosotis 

 and double daisies. Do not be in too 

 much of a hurry about removing mulch 

 over the plants outdoors. March is a 

 notoriously treacherous month. One day 

 of heat reminds us of the tropics, but is 

 followed by an arctic wave. If your 

 mulch was somewhat heavy and snows 

 have packed it down solid, remove a 

 little of it, but go slowly about uncov- 

 ering pansies, violas, Canterbury bells, 

 foxgloves, daisies, forget-me-nots and 

 beds of bulbous plants. 



Amaryllises. 



It is possible to have amaryllises in 

 bloom over quite a long season by keep- 

 ing the dormant bulbs in a cool, dry 

 house or shed, a few degrees above freez- 

 ing. Amaryllises are beginning to have 

 more commercial value. One grower 

 wholesaled all his spikes at $12 per 

 dozen this season. This is not an extrav- 

 agant price for good hybrids, but as 

 many plants produce two spikes they 

 pay fairly well. 



The plants should have some of the 

 old surface soil removed and be given 

 a top-dressing of fibrous loam and old 

 cow manure before starting up. Any 

 that are badly potbound should be care- 

 fully repotted; be sure to give them good 

 drainage. Give the plants a tempera- 

 ture of 60 degrees when started. It will 

 not take the flower stalks long to ap- 

 pear. Move the plants into somewhat 

 cooler quarters as the flowers open. For 

 shipping it is always best to cut the 

 spikes before the blooms become fully 

 developed. They will open well in 

 water. 



Snapdragons. 



Snapdragons in the benches now are 

 throwing up a fine crop of stout shoots 

 for spring flowering. If you want fancy 

 spikes, cut out the weakest of these, 

 but if your trade calls for small to me- 

 dium stalks, do not trouble to do this. 



Carnations and Roses at the First St.^Louis Spring Show» March )5 to IS, 



