DCCKMBKK 14, 1916. 



The Florists' Review 



88 



Poinsettlas. 



Poinsettias are among the most pro- 

 nouncedly Christmas flowers we have 

 and always meet with a large sale. Be- 

 ing grown warm, they naturally suffer 

 severely if we chance to have a cold 

 wave at the holiday season' and need 

 special care in wrapping. They are 

 more easily chilled than any other 

 Christmas plant and should have a posi- 

 tion jn the store free from drafts. All 

 growers are not equally successful in 

 keeping dark green foliage on their 

 plants. Ill considered feeding, careless 

 ventilation and slipshod watering are 

 responsible for lack of leaves at bloom- 

 ing time. By the judicious use of small 

 ferns or asparagus it is possible to cover 

 up some of the nakedness of defoliated 

 stems. All making up should be done 

 forthwith. If the foliage holds green 

 until your customers receive them they 

 will not kick. In a few days the leaves 

 will take on a golden hue, but the bracts 

 will hold for a long time. 



Begonias. 



This has been a fine season for be- 

 gonias and I do not remember seeing 

 (hem more beautifully flowered. Glory 

 of Cincinnati easily is the Christmas 

 leader among the begonias. Good points 

 in its favor are that it withstands the 

 trying conditions of the average steam 

 lieated home much better than Gloire de 

 Lorraine, which, however, still has 

 many uses and for basket purposes far 

 outclasses Cincinnati. Mrs. J. A. Peter- 

 son is to be seen in considerable num- 

 bers this season. The contrast between 

 the bronzy leaves and reddish flowers 

 makes a various appeal. Gloire de 

 Chatelaine is a variety anyone can 

 grow. It blooms the year around and 

 makes a fine Christmas plant. The 

 English winter-blooming hybrids are 

 seen more than a year ago. In size, bril- 

 liance and effect such varieties as Mrs. 

 Heal and Optima are far ahead of the 

 Lorraine type. 



All these begonias will be better if 

 kept moderately cool. 



Cyclamens. 



Christmas is the season when the bulk 

 of the cyclamens can be sold, providing 

 they have been kept warm during the 

 last two or three months and have a 

 nice lot of flowers and good foliage. A 

 well leaved cyclamen has beauty with- 

 out flowers, but customers will rarely 

 buy any flowering plant until it is in 

 bloom. Scarlet, deep pink and crimson 

 varieties sell well at the holidays; 

 white plants hang fire until spring, but 

 it is pretty hard for a lover of nice 

 blooming plants to refuse to purchase 

 < yclamens, even though the best may 

 leither be scarlet nor crimson in color. 



Tell your customers to keep their 



yclamens somewhat cool and to water 



'hem with care; then there is no other 



''inter-blooming plant which will flower 



^0 long as the cyclamen. 



Azaleas. 



It looked two or three months ago as 

 'hough we would have no azaleas ex- 

 cept the left-overs from last year, but 

 :t turned out that arrivals have been 

 More numerous than for several years, 

 -■^^ong delays on the docks have dis- 

 "ouraged some importers and caused 

 onsiderable loss of foliage, while many 

 were frozen on the railroad. It is 

 'lecessary this season to force hard to 

 ;ret blooming plants open for the holi- 

 days. Charles Enke, Mme. Petrick and 



Basket Display in the Store of the Slebrecht Floral Co., W^inona, Minn. 



Deutsche Perle are a reliable trio for 

 early blooming. Backward plants 

 should have vigorous heat and free 

 syringing, discontinuing it when the 

 first flowers have opened. 



Berried Plants. 



Anything carrying red berries sells 

 well now and there is a fair variety of 

 material available, including ardisias, 

 solanums, Christmas peppers, hollies, 

 aucubas, skimmias, etc. Ardisias, if 

 well ripened, sell rapidly. It is not pos- 

 sible to sell these for a low price, as 

 they are slow growers. On the other 

 hand, the Jerusalem cherries are easily 

 and quickly grown and can be sold 

 quite cheaply. Christmas peppers as 

 pot plants are less desirable than ar- 

 disias or aolanums. Their chief value 

 is for cutting and use in berried ar- 

 rangements. Imported hollies in tubs, 



if well foliaged, in addition to being 

 well berried, are more attractive than 

 any other berried plants, but cannot, as 

 a rule, be sold at retail for less than 

 $15 to $20 per pair. If they are kept 

 cool and well watered they will hold 

 foliage and fruit all winter. 



Colored-Leaved Plants. 



Colored-leaved plants do not move as 

 quickly as flowering plants, but in some 

 respects they give more satisfaction 

 than the former, for, whereas the bulk 

 of flowering plants in a steam heated 

 house are about valueless in eight or 

 ten days, such colored-leaved plants as 

 crotons, dracaenas, pandanus, etc., will 

 keep fresh all winter with reasonable 

 care. These plants make up nicely in 

 hampers and baskets. Your customers 

 should be told to give them a warm 

 room. 



Bentonville, Ark. — After a successful 

 season as agents of a Springfield, Ark., 

 florist, Mrs. Mary Eastman and Miss 

 Mary Berry have started a greenhouse 

 on their own account. 



Klnston, N. C— After a "flattering 

 success" as amateur growers, Mrs. D. 

 S. Barrus says that she and a friend 

 hereafter will grow flowers for proflt. 

 Decorative and funeral work will be 

 specialized in. 



Columbia, S. C. — A. F. Becker and 

 Ames Haltiwanger have organized and 

 incorporated a florists' business under 

 the title of Columbia Floral Co. Mr. 

 Becker, who is president and manager, 

 is a graduate floriculturist of Germany. 



Eoanoke, Va.— Wertz the Florist has 

 removed his retail establishment from 

 6 East Campbell avenue to 213 South 

 Jefferson street. 



Osprey, Fla.— Victor Janson, who has 

 charge of the Mrs. Potter Palmer es- 

 tate here, is adding another greenhouse 

 for propagating purposes. 



Brunswick, Ga.— C. S. Tait has estab- 

 lished a large business here in amaryllis 

 calla, freesia, gladiolus and narcissus 

 bulbs, m addition to a strawberry plant 

 and fruit tree business at Bladenboro, 

 N. C, under the trade name of Vertland 

 brand, E. S. MacLean being the Vert- 

 land superintendent. He also has some 

 Rladioh on the Vertland nursery and 

 had an extra fine crop there in 1916 



