30 



The Florists^ Review 



Makch 29, lyiT. 



One severe (lryiii}]f out will kill some 

 liard-wooded plants, and will at least 

 seriously cripple all of them. 



Forced Shrubs. 



The number of varieties of forced 

 shrubs is now considerable. There is 

 something quite appealing and satisfy- 

 ing about them. All the rhododendrons, 

 )iotably the glorious Pink Pearl; the 

 kalmias or mountain laurels; lilacs; 

 staphylcas; cytisus, better known as 

 laburnums; ornamental malus; dwarf 

 and standard wistarias; deutzias; Prun- 

 us triloba and P. Pissardi, arc a few of 

 the better known and more easily forced 

 kinds. Do not let the plants have too 

 high a temperature just before you need 

 them. Contrive to give the plants mod- 

 crate heat until the flowers start to 

 open, and customers will receive more 

 direct benefit from this kind of plants, 

 esj>ecially the deciduous ones, if only 

 a few blooms are open at buying time. 

 Do not send your forced shrubs into 

 the open unless the atmosphere is mild. 



Marguerites. 



Some day wc may get a good blue 

 or pink marguerite. Of course we have 



steam-heated room all should have two 

 waterings a day to keep them in good 

 shape. 



Genistas. 



Large numbers of genistas are sold 

 yearly at Easter. The bulk are trimmed 

 into a quite close and formal head. 

 Some resemble baskets and others have 

 even more fantastic designs. Natural- 

 grown plants, or those with a little 

 trimming, are the best. Genistas can- 

 not be classed as good house plants. 

 It may have been noticed that even in 

 a flower show lasting three to four 

 days the genistas were dropping their 

 flowers. Ask customers to give genis- 

 tas a cool room, if they possess one, and 

 to be sure that they are amply watered. 

 If kept cool and moist at the roots, 

 genistas will give far more satisfaction. 



Other Flowering Plants. 



The number of miscellaneous Easter 

 plants is quite large. Among them are 

 bougainvilleas, which are good keepers 

 and stand a dry heat uncommonly well. 

 English primroses, forget-me-nots, 

 pansies and double daisies can be found 

 doing well in pans or pots. The poly 



The Pussy Willow Has Come to be an Important Accessory. 



the little Agathsra cfelestis, but it lacks 

 the size necessary to make it an ac- 

 ceptable pot plant. Yellow marguer- 

 ites, while the most popular for cut- 

 ting, do not make shapely jiot plants. 

 The old white Paris daisy still is the 

 best for pot culture, with one or two 

 sports with larger flowers less adaj)t- 

 able. While thinking of it, this is the 

 time to put in cuttings of white mar- 

 guerites. Give them one or two neces- 

 sary shifts until the jiots can lie plunged 

 outdoors for the summer. Marguerites 

 are tliirsty subjects anil in a warm, 



anthus is also more in evidence. Mignon 

 ctte well grown in 4-inch to 6-inch pots 

 is a good seller. Schizantluis is rarely 

 seen at shows after Marcli. At present 

 it is at its best and a well bloomed 

 schizanthus presents a most beautiful 

 picture. le requires a cold greenhouse 

 to keep it in condition. 



Wallflowers in such colors as blood 

 red, golden yellow and brown are fine, 

 and I may say are better if pot-grown 

 than if bench-grown. Geraniums nicely 

 flowered in 4-incli to (i-iiicli pots are 

 popular for Easter. Cinerarias, both of 



the stellata and old grandiflora section, 

 are numerous and somehow seemed to 

 have a particularly good sale a year ago, 

 as did cyclamens. Primula malacoides 

 will be in evidence more than ever, as 

 will our old friend, P. obconica. There 

 are more flowering plants than those I 

 have mentioned. Easter gives us a fine 

 assortment and every year the constant 

 query is for something new, which is 

 not always easy to produce. Lay your 

 plans as soon as Easter passes for what 

 you may need a year hence. It is none 

 too early. 



CYLAMEN SEEDS. 



What special treatment, if any, 

 should be given cyclamens to secure a 

 good supply of seeds? How many seeds 

 may I reasonably expect from a plant 

 in an 8-inch fern pan carrving loO 

 blooms? H. B. R.— la. 



Keep the plant in an open, sunny loca- 

 tion and reduce the water supply a little 

 as the flowers pass. The earliest and 

 strongest flowers produce the best seeds. 

 It is not wise to leave on all the flowers. 

 Leave a couple of dozen, and you will 

 have seeds of better quality. 



Everything will depend on whether 

 or not your flowers were fertilized arti- 

 ficially. If they were not fertilized the 

 crop of seed is uncertain and may be 

 anywhere from fifty to 500 seeds. If 

 you receive 200 good seeds, you should 

 be satisfied. C. W, 



THE FABM PAPER. 



Misleading the Amateurs. 



A couple of weeks ago the laundry- 

 man, who delivers the clothes to our 

 jdace every Saturday, approached me 

 in the greenhouse rather shyly and said 

 in a meek tone: 



"Mister, can I ask you a confidential 

 question?" 



"Sure, Mike," I said, "raus mit." 



"Well," he continued, "I have fif- 

 teen acres of land on Bald Eagle lake 

 and I am living out there with my larg& 

 family. I want to do something with 

 the land and the family." 



"Fine, very fine," I said to the 

 man. "I wish I had fifteen acres of 

 land on Bald Eagle lake and a largfr 

 family to work it. Gee, whiz! I would 

 make things fly out there, growing all 

 kinds of green vegetables for the mar- 

 kets in the Twin Cities." 



Here allow me to explain that Bald 

 Eagle lake is a fine lake about fifteen 

 miles from St. Paul and Minneapolis, 

 with good car service and 'hundreds of 

 cottages, bungalows and near-bunga- 

 lows, farmhouses, shanties and build- 

 ings of all kinds. 



The laundryman looked once more at 

 me and said, without blushing or any 

 other facial expression: 



"I want to raise geraniums on it." 



Almost Fainted. 



Mr. Editor, everyone who knows me 

 knows that I am a little fellow in stat- 

 ure, but strong on nerves and endurance,, 

 but this laundryman pretty near caused 

 me to faint. But I did not show my 

 emotions enough to make the man sus- 

 picious and responded quickly: 



"So, you want to raise geraniums on 

 those fifteen acres? What are you go- 

 ing to do with them in the fall? Make 

 sauerkraut out of them, or pickle them?" 



"No, no," the man said, "I want to 

 grow them for the market, for Decora- 

 tion day, for spring planting and so on. 



