44 



The Florists^ Review 



March 29, 1917. 





I 

 49 



i 



ac=c 



a^^c 



a^c 



a^^c 



a^^c 



SEASONABLE j^ 

 Mr SUGGESTIONS 



ac^c 



ac=ac 



acac 



a^^c 



ac=ic 



I 



Winter-Flowering Begonias. 



It is hoped that everyone has put in 

 an ample supply of leaves of Cincinnati, 

 Lorraine and other winter-flowering be- 

 gonias. If not, lose no time in getting 

 in more leaves. During winter, while 

 there is a steady bottom heat and a lack 

 of top heat, these begonias root more 

 easily. The earliest batch of plants, 

 potted some time ago, will be sending \i\) 

 a good number of shoots and will be 

 ready for a shift from 2^/4 -inch to 3-inch 

 pots. Avoid large shifts at this time, 

 and be sure to use a light compost. Oni! 

 containing plenty of flaky leaf-mold, 

 with some sharp sand and a little old 

 manure, will suit the plants to a nicety. 

 Give them a night temperature of 60 to 

 65 degrees and moderate shade. If the 

 plants can stand on a bench where there 

 is a little bottom heat, they will make 

 all the better headway. 



Gladioli. 



Gladioli wanted for a Memorial day 

 crop should be planted in benches now. 

 It should be remembered that pinks and 

 reds sell much better than whites at 

 that season. Perhaps you want some 

 gladioli to come along in good season 

 outdoors, but have not facilities for 

 benching these in your greenhouses. In 

 such cases it will pay to start a few 

 dozens or hundreds, according to your 

 needs, in 3-inch pots. Either earthen- 

 ware or paper pots may be used. If 

 you cannot spare greenhouse space, they 

 will do well in a gentle hotbed. A foot 

 of fresh manure, well tramped, a layer 

 of fine coal ashes over this, just suf- 

 ficiently deep to half plunge the pots, 

 will give them an ideal start. They can 

 be gradually hardened and planted out- 

 doors early in May. They will flower 

 two or three weeks ahead of tlie out- 

 door-planted dormant tubers. 



Marguerites for Bedding Out. 



The white niarguoiite, Mrs. F. Sander, 

 is not sufficiently i)lanted out for sum- 

 mer blooming. The ordinary single 

 white and yellow varieties are flowcrlc'ss 

 about all summer, Ijut l)loom a little lie- 

 fore the frost kills them. Mrs. Sander, 

 on the other hand, will flower right 

 through the hot weather, and, while 

 under glass the bulk of these are single 

 or semi-double, practically all are double 

 outdoors. It i>roves extremely useful 

 for funeral work, in addition to being a 

 good bedder. Put in a good batch of 

 this marguerite now, in order to have 

 good 4-inch pots for sale in May. Gi.e 

 the plants outdoors good soil, and water 

 if they are droughty. They will well 

 repay you for the little extra labor in- 

 curred. 



Allamandas. 



Allamandas are among our most vain 

 able summer-flowering plants. While 

 usually classed as stove or tropical sub- 

 jects, they will succeed splendidly in an 

 ordinary greenhouse. Plants which were 

 rested in winter will now have well ma- 

 tured wood and should be pruned back 



and later shaken out and repotted, using 

 a compost of two-thirds fibrous loam and 

 one-third old cow manure. If in large 

 pots or tuba or planted out, the removal 

 of some of the old surface soil and a 

 liberal top-dressing will suffice for them. 

 Allamanda Hendersoni is one of our fin- 

 est climbers. A. Williamsi, with smaller 

 flowers, is the best to use for a pot 

 plant. At Newport, K. I., and other 

 summer resorts these allamandas are 

 largely used both in pots and for cut- 

 ting, and delightful they are for table 

 decorations. 



Fancy-Leaved Caladiums. 



.V fine selection of fancy-leaved cala- 

 diunis nowadays can be purchased at 

 (|uite low prices. Some people object 

 to colored-leaved plants, and they ara 

 at present under something of a cloud, 

 but they will agdin have their innings. 

 These caladiums should be started in 

 shallow flats of clear sand and when 

 well starter! they can be potted off in 

 a compost of fibrous loam old cow ma- 

 nure, leaf-mold and sand. They like a 

 little brisk heat, and under glass should 

 have some shade, but not a heavy shade, 

 or it will dull the b(>autiful and natural 

 colorings of the leaves. Caladiums are 

 useful as piazza plants in hot weather. 

 They can also be used in living rooms 



and will succeed when well bedded out, 

 if some taller plants are grown which 

 cast a little shade over them. 



Spiraeas £or Easter. 



While not a spCJttally valuable plant 

 as compared with'l&ie lily, hydrangea, 

 rambler or azalea ftw Easter, the spiraea 

 is an easily grown ftnd serviceable plant 

 which can be sold at a moderate price. 

 The plants can hardly be overwatered. 

 Elevate some of your best plants on 

 pots and place saucers below them. 

 Never mind if the saucers are full of 

 water; it will not cause any loss of foli- 

 age, as it would in the case of hydran- 

 geas or even marguerites. They stand 

 much heat while forcing, but be sure 

 to give them an abundance of water. 

 Do not fumigate them with ordinary 

 tobacco stems and be sure to remove 

 the fine new pink and lavender varieties 

 to a shaded position as the flowers open, 

 or they will fade out badly. 



Vegetable Plants. 



Many country florists do a consider- 

 able business in vegetable plants in 

 spring and early summer. Now is the 

 time to start a number of these. For 

 an early cabbage use Copenhagen Mar- 

 ket or Early Jersey Wakefield. For 

 an early tomato. Chalk's Early Jewel 

 or Sparks ' Earliana. ^jJTor main crop 

 varieties Stone or DwSarf Stone cannot 

 be surpassed. For i^ early celery 

 Golden Self -blanching 4b the best, with 

 later sowings of Winter Queen and 

 Boston Market for wilfeter use. Snow- 

 ball cauliflower, Ma^JKing and Big 

 Boston lettuces can al*o be sown now. 

 If you cannot sell all the plants you 

 raise, be sure to plant some of them out 

 for yourself, and thus help to combat 

 the increasing cost of living. 



B M I iilU lll l lllin iaiillll l l ll l l llil l l l llB liil l l illl lllM H 



SEASONABLE SUGGESTIONS 

 FOR SOUTHERN FLORISTS 



FERNS IN THE SOUTH. 



The summer culture of ferns, especially 

 of the nephrolepis family, varies much 

 in the south according to latitude. In 

 the sections where rain storms are fre- 

 quent, the plants do much better planted 

 out in a frame, with no ])rotection from 

 the sun, than when planted in a slat 

 house. In those sections too much dam- 

 age is caused to the young fronds by 

 the larva' of a night-prowling moth. 

 The month of August seems to be fa- 

 vored as a time for destruction. Various 

 remedies are used with more or less suc- 

 cess, particularly spraying with Slug 

 Shot or fir tree oil. Setting the plants 

 out in tlie full sun, however, seems to 

 be the best insurance against the pest, 

 and in the drier sections of the south 

 this jtest has never given any trouble. 

 There the jilants require some sun pro- 

 tection, such as a lath house affords. 

 In planting always leave room for the 

 plants to develop without undue crowd- 

 ing. They will require much water, but 

 should not be deluged by a strong press- 

 ure from the hose. August in the north- 

 ern and September in the southern sec- 

 tions are the best months in which to 

 transfer the plants from frames to pots. 

 Needless to say, the weeds and grass 

 must be kept down at all times. L. 



CYCLAMENS IN THE SOUTH. 



The first batch of cyclamens that were 

 pricked off ten or twelve weeks ago 

 will ]»rob!ibly need handling again. In 

 stead of putting them into 2^4 or 2% 

 inch pots, try them in boxes or in a 

 shallow bed. They seem to grow more 

 quickly when handled in this way and 

 are easier to water and cultivate. They 

 can be potted when ready for 3-inch 

 pots. The soil at this stage should be 

 at least half leaf -mold, with a little de- 

 cayed manure. The red clay soil in 

 most sections in the south requires much 

 leaf -mold to make it suitable for cycla 

 mens. The glass over the plants should 

 now have a little shade, to break the 

 sun 's rays. In potting cyclamens see 

 that drainage is thoroughly provided 

 for and you will find the danger from 

 overwatering reduced to a minimum. 



As soon as the cold weather is gone 

 the young plants should be placed in a 

 coldframe, using lath shades as a pro 

 tection from the sun. To keep thrips 

 away use tobacco stems between the 

 rows of plants, and renew this treat- 

 ment every third week. Use glass 

 sashes to protect the plants from rain 

 storms. Remove all shading at night, to 

 give plants the benefit of the dew. 



During the hottest months the plants 



