18 



The Florists' Review 



Mabch 9. i019 



"•*': ■ v»yj ;)9j: d^^jj i\v: ikv^ i\9r, i^jj i)9Mi)9/i ivvj i\fjj iv^jj Lvfy,'^v»yj I-vr; 



/ u v»y I : v<»/; I vt;j ! v»>'j ivy,: Lv»y^ l.v»y ; ^VJ 



SEASONABLE 

 ^ SUGGESTIONS 



sg^<i»w»«w^<»ffli> ^^<»^^^ 



mm 



DAKEJAS UNDER GIiASS. 



The number of dahlias from under 

 glass is not great, but from experiments 

 tried on a moderate scale I am positive 

 that there is some money to be had 

 from dahlias started under glass and 

 grown in beds or benches. I prefer 

 plants with a single shoot, which, as it 

 grows, will need secure staking. The 

 soil should not be too rich or the plants 

 will become gn'oss. They like a generous 

 compost outdoors, but not indoors. When 

 they start flowering I find that a mulch 

 of old manure helps them considerably. 

 The night temperature for dahlias 

 should not exceed 50 degrees and they 

 like plenty of ventilation. Started now, 

 they will bloom in May and June and 

 should give a nice lot of flowers for 

 Memorial day. Any varieties can be 

 grown under glass and, where fancy 

 flowers are desired, some disbudding 

 may be necessary. Allow the plants 

 grown to single stems 15x18 inches. Per- 

 haps you have an empty greenhouse and 

 a supply of dahlias. Why not give them 

 a trial f 



SPIRSAS. 



Heat and an abundance of moisture 

 at the roots are what all the spiraeas or 

 astilbes need. Plants for Easter should 

 be started before this time. They can 

 be flowered within eight weeks, but are 

 better if they are kept a little cooler 

 as the flowers open. Pink varieties, like 

 Peach Blossom and Queen Alexandra, 

 need a couple of weeks longer than such 

 whites as Gladstone and astilboides to 

 develop. Spiraeas are not in normal 

 supply this season and those who have 

 stock grown in their fields at home are 

 fortunate indeed. My experience has 

 been that left-over forced clumps, if 

 divided, planted out in moist ground 

 and left a couple of seasons, make splen- 

 did forcing stock, superior to any we 

 import from Holland. 



CANNAS. 



It is still early to start up the cannas, 

 but look over the roots and cut away 

 any decaying portions. You can at any 

 time cut up your stock into single eyes 

 ready for starting. On varieties you 

 may be short of I would advise buying 

 early, as stocks are none too abundant. 

 Cannas and zonale geraniums are our 

 two most valuable flowering plants for 

 bedding purposes, and there is bound to 

 be a largely increased demand for each 

 the coming season. 



SINGLE VIOLETS. 



The weather has been so warm that 

 violets have not flowered so satisfactor- 

 ily as usual and, unless some have been 

 grown in frames, few flowers will be 

 available for the coming Easter. In 

 order to keep the houses cooler, the glass 

 should be shaded and end doors as well 

 as ventilators should be left open both 

 day and night when the weather per- 

 mits. An application of liquid manure 

 will be of material benefit to the plants. 



A good many runners can be easily sepa- 

 rated from the plants and these will root 

 readily either in an ordinary cutting 

 bench, or if placed dijrect in flats in a 

 compost of light, sandy loam. 



YOUNG CYCLAMENS. 



The August and September sown 

 cyclamens should now be well estab- 

 lished in their flats and ready for a 

 shift into 2V^-inch or 3-inch/pots. An 

 equal proportion of fibrous loam and 

 flaky leaf -mold with some sand added 

 makes an excellent compost for the first 

 potting. Leave the little bulbs just 

 showing above the soil when potted. 

 Place the pots on a warm bench where 

 a little bottom heat comes up and the 

 temperature of the house should be 55 

 degrees at night. Some advise placing 

 in a cold house after the first potting, 

 but far better results will be had when 

 a fairly warm house is allotted them. 



secure suitable cuttings, aa they become 

 harder and are practically all olustered 

 with budflh^ 



Tellow ipltrguerites, whether in beds, 

 boxes or 'fSfde, will from this iime on re- 

 quire mol|^lant food. Ttiis can be fur- 

 nished iff the form of top-dressings of 

 fine boidl or liquid manure. Flowers 

 develop lapidly now and the plants will 

 need going over every day.- 



There is a tremendous variation in the 

 types of yellow marguerites. Some 

 make rank growth and hardly bloom at 

 all. Of the others a striking difference 

 will be noted in the habits and form and 

 color of the flower. Select stock for 

 another year from the best types you 

 have and these will realize much higher 

 prices in the market. It was at one time 

 thought that it was absolutely necessary 

 to cramp the roots of yellow marguerites 

 if winter flowers were wanted, but it 

 has been clearly proved that plants in 

 benches and beds planted early will far 

 outbloom stock in pots and carry flowers 

 vastly superior in quality. 



MAIIGUERITES. 



The marguerites, both yellow and 

 white, will furnish an ample supply of 

 nice, succulent cuttings now. These 

 will soon throw some flowers, which must 

 be pinched out as they appear. If you 

 wait much longer it will be difficult to 



SALVIA SFLENDENS. 



Seedlings of Salvia splendens germi- 

 nate quickly and cuttings are easily 

 rooted. While it seems early still to 

 start propagation, if nice 4-inch stock 

 is desired toward the end of April, sow 

 the seeds or insert the cuttings now. 

 These early cuttings or seedlings can go 

 into 2%-inch pots when ready, get one 

 pinch and later be transferred into 4- 

 inch pots. Of course, propagation is 

 possible as late as the end of April, but 

 an earlier start will give heavier and 

 better plants. 



fc; iMi^iiLL<i»i^ty}i^it^iiyjiiyj|iyiiiymj^^ 



COMPETING WITH JAPAN 



HOME-GROWN ULY BULBS. 



Experiments with Seed. 



In early July the U. S. Department 

 of Agriculture sent out some prelimi- 

 nary notices regarding Easter lily work, 

 witii suggestions regarding how the flo- 

 rist might produce his own bulbs of 

 superior merit in one year's time from 

 seed. 



It seems desirable again to call the 

 attention of florists, some of whom may 

 have an opportunity to visit Washing- 

 ton between now and Easter, to the in- 

 vestigations being conducted in the 

 greenhouses at Arlington Farm, near 

 Washington. 



The stocks that are now of interest 

 are as follows: 



I. A lot of .^00 bulbs which were 

 grown outdoors last season arc being 

 forced. They went through the win- 

 ter of 1917-18 outdoors and had no 

 artificial irrigation during the sum- 

 mer. These bulbs are the smallest of 

 the seedling bulbs, germinated in the 

 summer of 1916. They were small when 

 potted, all being under florists' sizes 

 and ranging from 9 to 15 centimeters 

 (3% to 6 inches) in circumference. 



II. A few seedlings forced last year 

 produced a crop of seed and are being 

 forced again this year. 



III. Seed sown the middle of July 



is now in 3-inch pots and twenty to 

 forty per cent of it will blossom in June. 



IV. Seed sown in December is now 

 in thumjj pots. 



V. A-^few plants of two lots of the 

 Creole lily of the south are being forced 

 also. Ojtte lot had been growing undis- 

 turbed for the last forty-five years, 

 until last autumn. 



VI. A few seedlings produced with 

 candidum pollen are in 3-inch pots. 



Time to Plant Now. 



Attention should be called again to 

 the desirability, for those who have 

 facilities and an opportunity, of starting 

 seedling generations of Easter lilies 

 this spring. The seed thus produced, if 

 well handled, can be sown in July and 

 by the following June a few blossoms 

 will appear, but not in commercial 

 quantity. In September, 1920, if well 

 handled, sixty per cent will be large 

 enough to force for the following Eas- 

 ter. 



For seed production, the florist should 

 select the best plants he can find and 

 probably should cross plants which have 

 the greatest degree of similarity, in or- 

 der to arrive at as large a degree of 

 uniformity as possible in the progeny. 

 There will be, in any event, diversity 

 enough, but no more diversity than is 

 found in any similar batch of imported 

 stocks. 



