24 



The Florists^ Review 



Apbil 10, 1919. 



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NOTES ON EASTER PLANTS 



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INCREASED DEMAND ASSX7BED. 



Selling Conditions Are Favorable. 



Each year it would seem as though 

 plants had a greater call for Easter. It 

 is certainly true that this year they 

 will have a record-breaking sale, as 

 weeks before the great floral festival the 

 large;growers of plants were practically 

 sold out and it seems improbable that 

 there will be enough stock to fill the 

 demands. Trade in both cut flowers and 

 plants has been remarkably good this 

 season and prices have been quite sat- 

 isfactory to the growers. Of course, 

 there is a smaller area of glass devoted 

 to both cut flowers and plants and sup- 

 plies cannot reach those of former years. 

 That ttte .demand will be much larger 

 than a year ago there can be no ques- 

 tion, and the fact that the government 

 postponed floating the fifth Liberty 

 loan until after Easter is something 

 that florists have cause to be thank- 

 ful for. Had it come before, it would 

 have seriously diminished the volume of 

 sales. 



With an Easter as late as April 20 we 

 should reasonably expect balmy weather, 

 but we cannot be sure on this score. 

 April 13, 1918, New Englanders were 

 running snowplows through the heav- 

 iest fall of the season, and we have had 

 several pre-Easter storms in April of 

 late years which we have abundant 

 cause to remember. March was ab- 

 normally warm, except for two or three 

 days at the close. It is not impossible 

 that we may get our March weather in 

 April and, while April 20 seems late 

 enough to feel secure from bad weather, 

 it is safer to be prepared for sudden 

 changes. 



LUies the Principal Shortage. 



One striking feature about the 1919 

 Easter plant . offerings will be the 

 marked shortage of lilies. There is no 

 need to recount the cause of this. With 

 the exception of a limited number of 

 Bermuda Harrisii, practically the whole 

 available lily supply will be from cold 

 storage bulbs and a surprisingly large 

 number of these will be offered. They 

 will be only a fractional part of what 

 we had in former years. Good growers 

 state that if they get from fifty to sixty- 

 five per cent of their bulbs to flower 

 they will be doing well. Plants are, in 

 most cases, short and the bulk of the 

 stalks carry only two or three buds. 

 To make the growing of these profitable, 

 prices much larger than those of 1918 

 must be asked, and some florists wonder 

 if those who want Easter lilies and 

 have always had nice plants will be 

 willing to pay an enhanced price for 

 an inferior article, but the lily is so es- 

 sentially the flower for this special day 

 that the available supply will probably 

 be cleaned up without trouble. It will 

 be possible to work off some of the in- 

 ferior stalks, carrying only one or two 

 buds each, by planting several bulbs in 

 a pot. The shaking away of loam from 

 the roots will affect them but little if 

 they are given a good soaking of water 

 and are kept damp. 



Such lilies as we have can only be 

 handled at florists' stores. Dry goods 

 and department stores will find them 

 far beyond their means and they must 

 needs purchase some less expensive ma- 

 terial, and, with pans of bulbous stock 

 far dearer than in former years, many 

 of them will need to substitute "arti- 

 ficials" or leave flowers alone. 



Boses Are Excellent. 



With so marked a scarcity of Easter's 

 most popular flower, there will be a 

 largely increased call for other plants, 

 and of these roses promise to be the 

 most important. A grand assortment 

 of these is ready and the later date of 

 Easter makes it possible to have these 

 splendidly flowered. The winter has 

 been so warm that many batches are 

 too early and need considerable retard- 

 ing to hold them. With all roses, how- 

 ever, we must use great care when re- 

 ducing temperatures. If the plants have 

 been grown in a temperature of 60 de- 

 grees at night and, when they start to 

 open their flowers, are moved to an airy 

 house quite suitable for violet culture, 

 we can look with confidence for a bad 

 attack of mildew. Temperatures must 

 be reduced gradually and, above every- 

 thing, avoid drafts, as these will start 

 mildew quickly and plants thus attacked 

 are soon rendered unsalable. 



I never saw a grander assortment of 

 roses than are now offered. In addition 

 to such grand ramblers as Hiawatha, 

 Excelsa, Tausendschoen, Dorothy Per- 

 kins and Lady Gay, there are the poly- 

 anthas or baby ramblers, splendid hy- 

 brid perpetuals, like Magna Charta, 

 Druschki and Ulrich Brunner, and some 

 excellent hybrid teas in many glorious 

 colors. We can safely recommend roses 

 to our customers, as they keep satis- 

 factorily and, when the flowering sea- 

 son has passed, they can be planted out 

 in the garden. 



French Hydrangeas. 



For a good many weeks hydrangeas 

 have been in evidence at the retail stores 

 and this season thej' are of magnificent 



The Calm After the Storm; the Store of J. Breitmeyer's Sons, Detroit^ Easter Morning, 1918. 



