14 



The Horists* Review 



Fkbeuart 13, 1919. 



at this time. They must have a generous 

 compost and, while they can be grown of 

 good quality in benches, they come with 

 longer stems and larger flowers in solid 

 beds. The best winter-flowering 

 Spencers should be used, and pink is the 

 most popular color. Next in favor come 

 white and lavender. There is a more 

 limited call for orange, scarlet and pur- 

 ple. Do not plant sweet peas unless 

 you have ample head room. While they 

 are flowering, 48 to 50 degrees at night 

 suits them. 



Asters are another valuable green- 

 house crop. Flowers produced under 

 glass are always clean and realize bet- 

 ter prices than those grown outdoors, 

 Growers who had late asters last fall 

 realized wonderful prices. For an early 

 indoor crop, plant Queen of the Market. 



Hunnemannia fumariffifo.lia, better 

 known as the Mexican poppy, proves an 

 excellent indoor plant. This is not in its 

 native habitat an annual, but it is al- 

 ways treated as such here. Sow the 

 seeds thinly in rows a foot apart. These 

 poppies, wiien cut, remain fresh for sev- 

 eral days, while the Shirley and other 

 poppies are gone in a few hours, beau- 

 tiful though they may be. The Mex- 

 ican poppy ships splendidly, also. Gyp- 

 sophila elegans in flats or benches 

 proves an excellent spring crop. It does 

 well in flats containing five inches of 

 soil and fiftv plants can ,be pricked off 

 in a flat 12x24. On shelves it does re- 

 markably well, but it can also be pricked 

 out in benches. It pays to transplant 

 gypsophilas and several sowings may 

 be made in a season. 



Sowing Annuals Indoors. 



The annual larkspurs will do much 

 better under glass than outdoors. Sow 

 them in flats, pot them off singly and 

 plant them out 10x10 inches apart. The 

 plants will grow a yard or more in 

 height and will yield quantities of cut 

 flowers. The rosy scarlet, pink and lav- 

 ender varieties are the best to grow. 

 Mignonette always does best in a low 

 temperature and the sowings made in 

 late winter will not produce the sturdy 

 spikes we get from late summer or fal 

 sowings. Larkspurs prefer a solid be( 

 and can be sown in little patches lOxlL 

 inches apart, leaving two or three seed- 

 lings in each patch. When these run 

 up to flower, pinch them back lu order 

 to get a nice crop of succulent shoots 

 i^rom near the base. Clarkia Salmon 

 Queen is well worth trying as a forcing 

 annual. It produces large spikes of red- 

 salmon flowers. Sow it in rows a foot 

 apart, thinly. Grow it fairly cool and 

 vou will get splendid spiltes. 



Calendula Orange King is a satisfac- 

 tory annual under glass and one which 

 flowers earlv, being a rampant grower. 

 Allow it twenty-four inches between the 

 rows and set the seedlings a foot apart. 

 To secure fancy flowers, some disbud- 

 ding must be practiced, and the country 

 florist can utilize all the flowers pro- 

 duced. 



The centaureas do well under glass. 

 C. imperialis, the sweet sultan, realizes 

 the highest prices, but will not bloom 

 with the freedom of C. Cyanus, the 

 batchelor's button. Each of these va- 

 rieties can be sown in rows thinly and 

 will do well in any ordinary green- 

 house. There is a good market at all 

 times for centaureas. 



Other Forcing Stock. 



The annual lupines can all be success- 



fully forced and they will produce 

 sjnkes much superior to outdoor plants. 

 Tlu' early i)iiik variety comes first in 

 season. The Hartwegii white and blue 

 sorts com? along later. Still another 

 annual which has done extremely well 

 under glass is the scabiosa commonly 

 called Mourning Bride. The pink, scar- 

 let and light blue colors are especially 

 desirable. 



If you want to try an annual which 

 makes a splendid pot plant and is also 

 good in benches, sow some Nemesia 

 strumosa. This beautiful annual is fine 

 for cutting and the attractive flowers 

 include such colors as yellow, pink, 

 orange, white and scarlet. This would 



who are wondering how best to utilize 

 vacant houses. 



Hydrangea La France. 



jtrove a decided novelty for anyone. 

 Sow in pans, cover lightly with sand, 

 transplant into flats and from them to 

 benches in rows t'.Mi inches apart, allow- 

 ing five to six inches between the plants. 

 (Jladioli make a good crop for a va- 

 cant house and can be planted at once, 

 especially such desirable sorts as 

 Panama, Mrs. Francis King, America, 

 Tendleton, Halley, Niagara, A>igusta 

 and Peace. You can plant pansies, 

 daisies, polyanthus and forget-me-nots 

 in a cool house and these will not be 

 long in netting you returns. If you 

 chance to have any hardy perennials on 

 hand, such as larksjiurs, columbines, 

 Shasta daisies, day lilies, Pyrethrum 

 roseum and Coreopsis grandiflora, plant 

 them in benches and they will bring 

 good returns. Foxgloves, Canterbury 

 bells and rockets can be treated in a 

 similar manner. There is no lack of 

 material for untenanted houses. In 

 some cases it will pay best to grow one 

 or two varieties only, but in many in- 

 stances a wide assortment may be used 

 to provide available material. Perhaps 

 these hints may prove useful to those 



FRENCH HYDBANOEAS IN SPRING. 



Belgian azaleas are a thing of the 

 past 80 far as the average American 

 florist is concerned, but French hydran- 

 geas are only on the threshold of their 

 popularity. At least that is the opinion 

 of M. C. Eeeser, of the Urbana Floral 

 Co., Urbana, O. The point is that, 

 whereas no one has yet succeeded in 

 growing Belgian azaleas in America in 

 commercial quantities, French hydran- 

 geas may be grown here as one of the 

 easiest subjects for an ordinarily skill- 

 ful florist to handle. The accompanying 

 illustration shows a plant of La France, 

 one of the newer French hydrangeas, 

 started in a 2l^-inch pot, shifted to a 

 4-inch pot and flowered April 15. Mr. 

 Eeeser says that his concern has grown 

 large quantities of these in previous sea- 

 sons and has found such ready sale for 

 them he expects the production to in- 

 crease many fold what it has been. Al- 

 though almost as easy to grow as a gera- 

 nium, the 4-inch hydrangea easily brings 

 three times the price 4-inch geraniums 

 have brought. 



SEEDLINGS DAMPING OFF. 



Will you please tell us what to do to 

 prevent vegetable seedlings from damp- 

 ing off? They start to damp off as soon 

 as thej' come up and this condition keeps 

 up until several dozen are missing from 

 each box after they are transplanted. 

 We plant them in new soil and ventilate 

 as often as we can. If Bordeaux mix- 

 ture in liquid or dry form will stop it, 

 how strong a solution is required for 

 tomato, cabbage, pepper and eggplant 

 seedlings? 



All vegetable seeds started under 

 glass should have a light soil. If your 

 soil is at all retentive, add some light 

 material like leaf-mold to open it up. 

 Old, well decayed manure, such as will 

 crumble in your hand, also is suitable. 

 For such seeds as lettuce, cabbage, cauli- 

 flower, eggplant, pepper, tomato and 

 celery, prepare a smooth surface, then 

 sow your seeds evenly and not too 

 thickly. Thick sowing causes over- 

 crowded seedlings, which damp off 

 badly unless carefully tended. Water 

 the seeds, using a rose can for the pur- 

 jiose, and then, instead of covering with 

 loam, simply dust a little fine coal ashes 

 over them, and you will have excellent 

 germination. The coal ashes act as a 

 sjionge to suck up all superfluous mois- 

 ture and prevent damping off. 



Keep all seedlings well up to the 

 light in order to prevent them from be- 

 coming leggy, and traiis]ilant them as 

 soon as they make tlioir second pair of 

 leaves. If you allow them to become 

 drawn when transplanting, you will need 

 to bury a considerable part of the stem 

 to keep them firm, and such plants are 

 liable to damp off. Use light soil for all 

 seedlings, and be sure the compost is 

 warm. Water carefully and shade a lit- 

 tle for a day or two. Do not use the 

 hose on any pricked off seedlings. 

 Dampen as little as possible on dark 

 days. Select clear mornings for water- 

 ing. Neither Bordeaux mixture nor any 

 other spray will prevent seedlings damp- 

 ing off. Such seedlings as tomatoes and 

 peppers must have a warm house. Let- 

 tuce and cabbage should be in a house 

 10 degrees cooler. These lines may not 



