24 



The Florists' Review 



November 1, 1917. 



TO WINTER BOSTON FERNS. 



How shall I treat large Boston ferns 

 which grew splendidly in pots outdoors 

 during the summer and which I now 

 want to keep in the greenhouse until 

 spring comes around again? 



J. M.— 111. 



Place the ferns in a sunny part ol 

 the greenhouse and give them a night 

 temperature during the winter of not 

 less than 55 degrees. Water the plants 

 freely, and if they have been in the 

 same pots for a considerable time, and 

 are well rooted, they might be given a 

 top-dressing of some well rotted ma- 

 nure; but if the plants were repotted 

 during the summer, they may not need 

 any special feeding. Repot the jilants 

 in the spring, and they ought to give 

 equally good results another season. 



W. II. T. 



MEALY BUG ON FERNS. 



Will you please advise me what is 

 good to get rid of mealy bug and red 

 spider on musl-osa ferns f Can I use 

 kerosene emulsion and in what propor- 

 tions? C. M. F.— Pa. 



Kerosene emulsion is not a safe rem- 

 edy to use on ferns, as the insects can 

 stand more of it than the plants. Mealy 

 bug and red spider form a bad combi- 

 nation on Nephrolepis muscosa and are 

 not easy to dispose of on such plants. 

 Try dipping in a solution of whale oil 

 soap and nicotine, used in the following 

 proportions: 



. One ounce of the soap dissolved by 

 boiling in one gallon of water. After 

 cooling, add two tcaspoonfuls of com- 

 mercial nicotine solution to tlie gallon. 

 One-lialf ounce of sulphur boiled with 

 the soap will add to its effectiveness 

 against the red spider. After dipping 

 the plants, protect them from the sun 

 for a day, else the young tips of the 

 fronds mav suffer. W. 11. T. 



POLYPODIUM FRONDS BROWN. 



What causes the fronds of poly- 

 podiums to turn brown, like tlie samjde 

 I am enclosing? Have tlie ])lants been 

 injured by the full sun, liave they been 

 exposed to cold, or lias manure water 

 I>roduced the damaging effect' The 

 ferns were given manuro water only 

 once this winter. L. C. — Wis. 



It is not probable that exposure to 

 the sun during tlie winter l)rownc(l the 

 fr(»nds of the polypodium, as full sun- 

 siiine at this season has no injurious 

 effect on these ferns. The manure water 

 is more likely to have caused the trouble, 

 especially at the time of year when 

 growth is less active. If fertilizers are 

 required because plants are potbound, 

 it is safer to give them a light sprink- 

 ling nf sheep manure on the surface 



of the soil, instead of watering with 

 liquid manure. It is seldom that such 

 a stimulant is needed in the winter. 



W. n. T. 



NEPHROLEPIS EXALTATA TYPE. 



Please identify the fern from which 

 the enclosed fronds were taken. 



P. T. F.— Ky. 



The fern in question is a furcate form 

 of Nephrolepis exaltata, the tips of the 

 pinna? being divided into three short, 

 blunt lobes. It probably is a sport of 

 the Boston fern, and if the divided pin- 

 na) are now a fixed characteristic of 

 the plant it may become of value com- 

 mercially, but without seeing the en- 

 tire plant one cannot offer an opinion 

 in this respect. W. H. T. 



CATERPILLARS ON FERNS. 



Will you please tell us what will kill 

 green worms that are destroying our 

 ferns? The pests resemble cutworms 

 and they eat the young shoots. 



J. F. C— Tenn. 



The pests in question are probably 

 the Florida fern caterpillars. The best 

 remedy for these is to dust the plants 

 thoroughly with the best pyrethrum 

 powder you can get from a reliable 

 druggist. Apply the powder wnth an 

 ordinary sulphur bellows twice a week 

 until you find the trouble is past, and 

 repeat the dose at any time you find a 

 recurrence of the pests, as the pyreth- 

 rum will not injure the plants and can 

 be readilv washed off the foliage with 

 the hose.' W. H. T. 



GROW FERNS WITH LETTUCE? 



We have a house 55x200 feet, one- 

 half of which is planted to lettuce and 

 the other half to such plants as ferns 

 and geraniums. We have been unable 

 to maintain the ])roper temperature for 

 ferns, 50 degrees in winter, for instance. 

 Do you think it would be a good idea 

 to jiack sand around the 2-incii ferns to 

 keeji them warmer? 



How shall we propagate ferns from 

 runners for next year.' When shall we 

 sow palustris forget-me-nots, English 

 daisies and lobelias for next spring's 

 sales? I. S— la. 



It is not a satisfactory arrangement 

 to grow Boston ferns — this being the 

 variety we understand to be referred to 

 here — in company with lettuce and ge- 

 raniums, as a proper fern temperature 

 would ruin the lettuce, and the temper- 

 ature required for the lettuce crop would 

 keep the ferns at a standstill. Why not 

 devote the entire house to the cool- 

 growing crops in the winter, buy small 

 ferns in the spring or early summer, 

 and grow them on for a summer, or, 

 rather, fall, crop, selling them off in 

 time to get the winter crops housed? 



Plunging the small fern pots in sand 

 for the winter would be likely to result 

 in their getting too wet, unless they 

 were carefully watered. 



Myosotis and English daisies may be 

 sown in September and kept in a pro- 

 tected coldframe for the winter. Lo- 

 belia Erinus should be sown in Feb- 

 ruary or early March, in the greenhouse. 



W. H. T. 



A. R. CLUXTON'S BIRTHDAY. 



A. R. Cluxton, of Willis, Tex., who is 

 credited with having been the first to 

 see the commercial possibilities of the 

 gentian or bluebell, celebrated his 

 eighty-first birthday October 14. About 

 forty friends, among them Mr. and Mrs. 

 Robert Kerr, of Houston, attended the 

 birthday dinner and spent the day at 

 his home. 



Quantities of bluebells grew wild on 

 Mr. Cluxton 's place and several years 

 ago he succeeded in interesting R. C. 

 Kerr, of 'Houston, in theih. Now many 

 gentians are shipped to northern mar- 

 kets. During the last year, it is de- 

 clared, Mr. Cluxton sold enough of 

 the flowers to pay the running expenses 

 of his farm. 



Despite his years, Mr. Cluxton is hale 

 and hearty and was as "young" as any 

 of his guests at the birthday party. 



DENVER, COLO. 



The Flower Show. 



The second annual flower show of the 

 Denver Society of Ornamental Horticul- 

 turists was higlily successful both in 

 number of exhibits and attendance. The 

 show was held October 25 to 27, in the 

 Auditorium, where there was plenty of 

 room to stage the exhibits to the best 

 advantage. There was no charge either 

 for entries or admittance. 



The floral department of the Daniels 

 & Fisher Stores Co. had a novel exhibit. 

 It consisted of a reproduction of the 

 store tower fourteen feet high. 



The Pikes Peak Floral Co., of Colo- 

 rado Springs, had a display of baskets, 

 bouquets and table decorations. The 

 company also showed packing cases for 

 cut flowers and plants. 



Others who had good exhibits were 

 D. S. Grimes & Son, who had some ex- 

 tra good mums; the Alpha Floral Co., 

 W. D. Black, the America Flower Shop, 

 the Cartwright Floral Co., Davison & 

 Western Floral Co., L. A. Kintzele, 

 George Brenkert and T. H. Trimmer & 

 Son. Mr. Brenkert showed a new light 

 pink carnation he originated. He has 

 named it the Denver. The Colorado 

 Seed Co. had a display of florists' sup- 

 plies. 



The Park Floral Co. exhibited some 

 artistic corsage boxes and corsage bou- 

 (juets of orchids. A plant of Cattleya 

 labiata with twelve perfect flowers at- 

 tracted much attention. Large groups 

 of palms, ferns, crotons, ficus, mums, 

 cyclamens and begonias were shown by 

 the Mauff Floral Co., the Park Floral 

 Co. and Ben Boldt. These three also 

 liad displays of roses, carnations, mums, 

 marigolds and liouquets and baskets. 



The New York Floral Co. had a table 

 decoration of yellow pompons and au- 

 tumn foliage. It also showed roses and 

 mums. 



Various Notes. 



Arthur Bishop has returned from his 

 ranch in the mountains and has taken 

 a position with the Park Floral Co. 



