14 



The Florists' Review 



Dkcbmbkr 26, 1918. 



SEASONABLE ^ 

 i^ SUGGESTIONS 



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ULACS. 



It hardly pays to start many decidu- 

 ous flowering shrubs before the middle 

 or end of January, but with lilacs it is 

 different. A few plants can be started 

 now at any time in a warm, moist house. 

 Spray the plants two or three times 

 daily. You will soon see the buds swell- 

 ing. It is best to cease spraying as the 

 flower heads show. Plants can be 

 forced successfully in complete dark- 

 ness, but, of course, only the flowers 

 in a cut state are of any value, and 

 these are much lacking in substance 

 and odor in comparison with those pro- 

 duced in the light. There is no better 

 early-forcing white lilac than Marie 

 Legraye, with Mme. Lemoine as a 

 double white. Charles X, Michel Buch- 

 ner and L. Spaeth are finely colored 

 sorts for early forcing. 



BUIiBOUS PIiAlTTS. 



Dutch bulbs were so late in arriving 

 last fall that none were available at 

 Christmas this year and it will be late 

 January before any considerable num- 

 ber are on the market. It is poor policy 

 to start forcing any which are not suf- 

 ficiently rooted or have not made a 

 couple of inches of growth. Tulips, in 

 order to give them good stems, should 

 be grown and flowered practically in 

 the dark. Narcissi can have the light 

 all the time, but it is necessary to see 

 that hyacinths get a good start. House 

 a batch of bulbous plants weekly. They 

 can stand below one of your benches for 

 a time, but do not leave them there 

 long enough to become drawn. It will 

 be necessary to advance sharply the 

 wholesale prices of bulbous flowers in 

 order that growers of them may break 

 even. 



SHOW PEIiABGONIUMS. 



Now that we are having settled cold 

 weather, the show pelargoniums make 

 excellent growth. They enjoy a cool 

 house as much as schizanthus, calceo- 

 larias and cinerarias. Pinch the tops 

 out of the stronger shoots and, if you 

 are short of stock, these tops can go 

 into the propagating bench. Give re- 

 pottings before the roots become matted. 

 Pelargoniums enjoy a compost contain- 

 ing three parts of fibrous loam and one 

 part of well rooted cow manure. If the 

 loam is retentive, some sharp sand will 

 give it porosity. The earlier flowering 

 pelargoniums of the Easter Greeting 

 type should be in fine condition next 

 Easter, while a few of the older varie- 

 ties, if not pinched too late, should be 

 available also. Do not let green aphis 

 ruin your plants. Aphis loves show 

 pelargoniums and to insure perfect im- 

 munity from their attack, fumigate 

 cnce a week. 



date. If you are fortunate enough to 

 have grown some of your plants in pots 

 right through the summer and rested 

 them in the fall, you will find them 

 decidedly superior to the field-grown 

 plants and to fall-potted plants for 

 early crops. Tausendschoen makes a 

 splendid early forcer and all the poly- 

 antha or baby rambler family can be 

 depended upon. Cut out dead or weak 

 wood and bend over strong shoots. 

 Start the roses cool and later raise the 

 temperature to 58 to 60 degrees at 

 night, cooling off somewhat when the 

 flowers start to show color. 



little sturdy plants to line out in the 

 field or nursery next spring. Aquilegias, 

 dianthus, Shasta daisies, delphiniums, 

 lupines, lychnis, stokesia and many 

 other useful perennials can be started 

 now. Use a light soil, cover the seeds 

 sparingly, water carefully, and you are 

 bound to get an abundance of seedlings, 

 and do not forget that if you are short 

 on pansies, violas and forget-me-nots, 

 they also can be sown now and will 

 flower a little later than the August 

 sown seedlings. 



PERENNIAL SEEDS. 



Everything points to an immense in- 

 crease in the sale of trees, shrubs, roses 

 and hardy perennials next season, and 

 country florists should be prepared to 

 handle at least some of the demand 

 which is surely coming. Perhaps you 

 omitted saving the perennial seeds last 

 summer which you ought to have 

 started by this time, thinking, naturally, 

 that the war might last for years and 

 that sales would be problematical. The 

 ending of the war has put an entirely 

 different complexion on the outlook for 

 the hardy plant trade. These notes are 

 to remind you that you can sow many 

 seeds now under glass and have nice 



CANTEBBUBY BELLS. 



Plants of Canterbury bells potted up 

 in the fall which have been stored since 

 the coming of cold weather in a cold 

 frame or cellar, can now be started in 

 a cool house to flower them for Easter. 

 Ordinarily these plants are of inferior 

 quality so early in the season as Easter, 

 but coming, as Easter does, unusually 

 late next year, it will not be difficult to 

 have well flowered plants for that great 

 floral festival. "We shall have practic- 

 ally no lilies at that time and the few 

 azaleas available will have been sold. 

 Canterbury bells therefore should prove 

 a desirable acquisition. Always grow 

 these plants cool; a maximum of 50 de- 

 grees should not be exceeded. They 

 will not tolerate hard forcing, but en- 

 joy a greenhouse where they can get 

 plenty of fresh air. Use great care in 

 watering during dark weather and do 

 not water over the crowns. I always 

 like to keep the plants on the dry side 

 until the flower spikes are a few inches 

 high. After that plenty of moisture at 

 the roots and occasional applications of 

 liquid manure can be afforded. 



LATE QLADIOLL 



I would like to know the names of 

 some good late blooming gladioli. 



J. P. H.— Mo. 



Almost any of the large-flowering 

 gladioli will bloom late if planted late. 

 Plant from May 20 to June 30 for late 

 spikes, covering the bulbs flve to six 

 inches deep, and water the trenches 

 after laying in the bulbs, if the soil is 

 dry. A few good varieties to plant 

 would be America, Mrs. Francis King, 

 Halley, Augusta, Baron Hulot, brench- 

 leyensis, Panama, Prophetesse. All of 

 these are of moderate price. C. W. 



the singular and the plural. Gladiolus 

 is one; gladioli are many. Gladioli 

 have become extremely popular with the 

 public and the demand for gladiolus 

 bulbs will be heavy right after the holi- 

 days. There are many millions of 

 gladiolus bulbs of American production 

 this year, but the gladiolus growers in 

 Holland will not ship the usual quanti- 

 ties of bulbs this season. 



When in doubt as to a choice of the 

 words, gladiolus or gladioli, try the sen- 

 tence substituting rose or roses; it is a 

 test which enables most florists to be 

 sure they are right. 



ONE OB MANY? 



STABT SOICE EABLY BOSES. 



It is not necessary to start the pot 

 roses for Easter just yet, but there is 

 sale for them some weeks ahead of that 



There is no word in general use in the 

 trade to which more frequent violence is 

 done than is perpetrated on "gladio- 

 lus." The penultimate "o" in this 

 word is short and the accent, therefore, 

 as Latin, properly falls on the ante- 

 penultimate, in spite of the fact that 

 the use of the long "o" accented is 

 common in colloquial usage. 



But the greatest violence is done by 

 those who do not distinguish between 



FEBTILIZEB FOB GLADIOLI. 



Please advise us as to the best fer- 

 tilizer for gladioli. J. G. B. — Mass. 



Avoid using any fresh stable or cow 

 manure for them. Any animal manure 

 should be thoroughly rotted. They suc- 

 ceed well on land which has been well 

 manured a year previoiu for other crops, 

 without any further enrichment. If 

 manures are hard to obtain, use any good 

 complete vegetable fertilizer at the rate 

 of 750 pounds per acre. C. W. 



