



14 



The Florists' Review 



NOTBHBEB 23, 1916. 



They lack the gorgeousness of the cat- 

 tleyas and the grace of the oncidiums, 

 phalaenopsis and odontoglossums, and 

 do not carry such masses of flowers as 

 many of the dendrobiums, but they are 

 both charming and interesting, and 

 when it comes to keeping qualities no 

 other orchids at all approach them, with 

 the possible exception of lycastes and 

 cymbidiums. 



Oypripedlum Insigne. 



Cypripedium insigne, now coming 

 into season, still is the greatest of the 

 family commercially. The yellow sports, 

 like Sanderae, Laura Kimball, Sanderi- 

 anum, Ernestii, etc., are yearly becom- 

 ing more plentiful and will soon be- 

 come fairly common in the markets. 

 They bring at present, and probably al- 

 ways will bring, a considerably higher 

 price than the old type. Any florist 

 with a house which he can keep shaded, 

 moist and fairly close in winter can 

 grow most of the cypripediums well. 

 The old C, insigne is not at all a fussy 

 subject and will grow in any ordinary 

 greenhouse, succeeding finely outdoors 

 under trees through the summer. C. 

 Leeanum, villosum, Sallieri, aureum, 

 Lawrenceanum, Harrisianum superbum 

 and Spicerianum are all good commer- 

 cial cyps, obtainable at low prices. The 

 number of hybrids is legion, but their 

 prices in most cases are beyond the 

 average commercial purse. 



Dendrobiums. 



The nodes are now well advanced on 

 some of the earliest ripened plants of 

 Dendrobium nobile and D. Wardianum. 

 These have been kept for some time in 

 a sunny house, with a temperature of 

 50 degrees at night, and kept quite dry 

 at the root. Water is given sparingly 

 until it is seen that the nodes will pro- 

 duce flowers and not growths. All 

 dendrobiums of this type and many 

 hybrids should have a good resting 

 period to insure their flowering well. 

 Some hybrids, like Juno, will not bloom 

 at all unless thoroughly baked. 



Odontoglossum Crispum. 



Last summer, with a lack of strong 

 heat, proved favorable for Odontoglos- 

 sum crispum and it has come through 

 in good condition. It should now be 

 given a bench in a sunny house with 

 a carnation temperature, where the 

 leaves will soon take on a bronzy hue. 

 Such plants are harder and will stand 

 the hot summers much better than 

 those carrying green leaves, the result 

 of being kept in the shade all the time. 



TO ECONOMIZE ON PAPER. 



There is a movement on foot at 

 Washington, D. C, looking to the con- 

 servation of wrapping paper and mer- 

 chants in all lines of business are be- 

 ing urged to send out packages wher- 

 ever possible without doing them up 

 unnecessarily. It is pointed out that 

 boxes of flowers can easily be sent out 

 without being covered with paper, as 

 they are in themselves neat and attrac- 

 tive. It is said that custom has caused 

 the members of the trade to expend 

 large sums of money annually in wrap- 

 ping paper of the Kraft type, tissue 

 and wax paper, and that there is no 

 need for the use of such large quanti- 

 ties as are being consumed. The price 

 has advanced close to 200 per cent with- 

 in the last year. C. L. L. 



SEASONABLE SUGGESTIONS 

 FOR SOUTHERN FLORISTS 



CATCH CROPS IN SOUTH. 



CaJendulas. 



There is a good demand nowadays 

 for flowers — other than roses and car- 

 nations — that are dainty and suitable 

 for table decorations. Calendulas,, mi- 

 gnonette, candytuft and snapdragons 

 are favorites and are easily grown in 

 most sections of the south. They will 

 all grow under practically the same 

 conditions, with a night temperature of 

 not over 50 degrees. 



Calendulas will flower in twelve to 

 fourteen weeks from date of sowing 

 the seeds. These grow quite bushy and 

 should not be planted any closer than 

 12x12 inches. The cabbage worm, 

 the larva of the small white butterfly, 

 seems to be the only pest to bother it. 



Mignonette. 



Mignonette is a difficult subject to 

 transplant, so it is better to sow the 

 seeds in the bed where they have to 

 grow. Lay off the bed in cross lines 

 six by eight inches apart, and at each 

 intersection sow a few seeds and cover 

 them lightly. When the growths are 

 large enough, thin out to one plant. 

 Pinch this once and allow only two 

 shoots to develop, to get good spikes. 

 The plants must be kept trained as they 

 grow, in order to keep the stems 

 straight, and all side growths must be 

 cut out. Mignonette likes rather good 

 soil and semiweekly doses of strong 



ipppill |IH|lllllll| ||l|||F 



manure water as soon as the embryo 

 flower appears. The cabbage worm is 

 fond of this plant and the early crop 

 especially must be carefully looked 

 over every day to catch the pests. 

 Hand-picking is the surest remedy. 



Candytuft. 



Candytuft may be sown thinly in 

 shallow drills. To get good heads, thin 

 out to four to six inches and pinch 

 once, allowing two or three shoots to 

 develop. In the more southerly states 

 candytuft will do well in a coldframe 

 or outdoors. Where this flower is well 

 grown, it is an exceedingly ready seller. 

 If only wanted for designs, a few rows 

 sowed thinly outdoors will give many 

 blooms. 



Snapdragons. 



Snapdragons already are great favor- 

 ites with the flower buyers. Seedling 

 plants of these set outdoors during 

 early spring will give a succession of 

 blooms until frost. Plants that have 

 been grown outdoors during summer 

 may be lifted just before frost and,, 

 when severely cut back, planted on a 

 bed or table in the greenhouse. Treated 

 thus they will not flower indoors until 

 early spring. The best way is to plant 

 young plants from seed in June or 

 July. Seedlings set out in July ought 

 to be flowering freely now. These 

 plants require considerable water and 

 must at all times be kept nicely tied 

 up, otherwise the stems will be crooked 

 and unsalable. L, 



STOCK PLANTS. 



As soon as the chrysanthemums are 

 cut, the disposition of stock plants, 

 too often much neglected, should re- 

 ceive proper attention. If space will 

 permit, there can be no better place 

 for stock plants than a bench well up 

 to the light in a violet house tempera- 

 ture. The plants can be set in rows 

 ten to twelve inches apart and given 

 a good watering. In a night tempera- 

 ture of 40 to 42 degrees they will pro- 

 duce quantities of nice, stocky cut- 

 tings. If bench space is not at dis- 

 posal, flats four to five inches deep can 

 be used to good advantage. 



An excellent plan, which I have fol- 

 lowed for years, is to plant the stock 

 in coldframes over an old hotbed, cover 

 with perfectly dry leaves, place sashes 

 over these, and later protect with mats 

 and match-board shutters. If well pro- 

 tected around the sides, mum stock 

 plants can be safely carried through 

 minimums of 10 to 15 degrees below 

 zero in coldframes. When uncovered 



in early spring they will quickly give 

 a crop of grand, succulent cuttings. 

 Do not, on any consideration, tuck 

 your stock plants below benches and 

 hunt them up about the time you want 

 to start propagating. Such cuttings as 

 you get will be mighty poor and you 

 will wish you had taken more intelli- 

 gent care of the plants. 



EARLY YELLOW POMPONS. 



What is the earliest outdoor-flower- 

 ing pompon chrysanthemum in yelloWT 

 My experience with outdoor pompons is 

 that they do far better and flower much 

 earlier when in the lee of buildings or 

 windbreaks than when grown in the 

 open field. R. M. C— Mich. 



I have found Seven Oaks, with large, 

 double yellow flowers, the earliest of 

 the golden yellow pompon mums, flow- 

 ering profusely. To follow it. Excel- 

 sior, rich golden yellow, is good. You 

 are correct in saying that sheltered posi- 

 tions near buildings or between green- 



