12 



The Florists^ Review 



Jancaey 9, 1919. 



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SEASONABLE 



SUGGESTIONS 



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CINERAEIAS. 



Most of the growers have sold cin- 

 erarias for Christmas, but this plant 

 is not seen at its best until later in the 

 winter, the finest specimens usually ap- 

 pearing at the large spring exhibitions, 

 which, due to various causes, will not 

 be held the coming season. If you want 

 good cinerarias, it is necessary to grow 

 them cool. They must never be forced, 

 or they will soon present a drawn ap- 

 pearance and, furthermore, will be an 

 easier prey to green aphis. If you can 

 grow your plants in a night temperature 

 of 40 to 45 degrees, better the lower 

 than the higher figure, you will have 

 heavy, leathery leaves, which should al- 

 most hide the pots, provided you ele- 

 vate some of the larger plants and give 

 each the necessary room. Scarlet was 

 formerly unknown as a color among cin- 

 erarias, but for a couple of years now 

 we have grown a large-flowered scarlet 

 variety, originated, I think, with Sut- 

 ton & Sons, in England, which makes a 

 splendid holiday plant and its color is 

 80 striking as at once to attract atten- 

 tion. Feed the plants liberally until 

 the flowers are expanding. Cinerarias 

 are strong feeders and are greatly bene- 

 fited by judicious stimulants, among 

 which liquid cow or sheep manure is 

 hard to beat. 



PROPAGATION. 



Keep the cutting bench filled. Plants 

 of all kinds root better now than at 

 any other season of the year, as the 

 sand has a nice, steady heat and there 

 are no extremes in atmospheric read- 

 ings. Such plants as coleus, verbenas, 

 heliotropes, fuchsias, ageratums, etc., 

 propagate with a trifling loss at this 

 season and big stocks of all these will 

 be needed for the bedding out season 

 in 1919. Small growers should root all 

 they possibly can at home. Stock prop- 

 agated at home is bound to give great- 

 er satisfaction than when purchased 

 hundreds, or maybe thousands, of miles 

 away. Parcel post special delivery is 

 the safest means of shipping cuttings 

 at this season. Express service is un- 

 certain and far from satisfactory. 



IBIS AND GLADIOU. 



The Spanish iris must be grown cool 

 at all times, or you will never get nice, 

 stocky spikes. Whether it is grown in 

 flats, benches or beds, April is as early 

 as this iris can be satisfactorily flowered 

 and efforts to bloom it ahead of your 

 neighbors will mean a lot of blind 

 shoots. Iris tingitana and filifolia are 

 naturally much earlier-blooming and 

 can be flowered as early as January. 

 These beautiful sorts cost much more 

 than I. hispanica and, to be profitable, 

 should realize treble the price of the 

 latter variety. The small-flowered gla- 

 dioli of the nanus section, such as Blush- 

 ing Bride, The Bride and Peach Blossom, 

 can be hurried a little more than the 

 Spanish iris, but are also better if grown 

 cool and I would not advise the grower 



to give any of them over 50 degrees at 

 night. A batch of each should be com- 

 ing along now and will prove exceed- 

 ingly useful when they come in season. 



Chrysanthemum frutescefts, but is a 

 most satisfactory spring bloomer. While 

 most of the flowers will come single, a 

 fair proportion will come semi-double 

 or doubled The single on^s are the more 

 pleasing. Outdoors, C. frutescens makes 

 a good bedder, and as the weather be- 

 comes warm all the flowers are double 

 and come in useful for funeral work. 

 Any of the marguerites, propagated now, 

 can be grown into nice, bushy plants in 

 4-inch and 5-inch pots for spring sales. 

 Why not put in a batch of them? 



ENGLISH IVIES. 



Some time ago I mentioned the popu- 

 lar evergreen climber, English ivy, now 

 used in so many ways commercially as 

 well as on private estates, and advised 

 getting in a good batch of cuttings. If 

 you failed to do so at that time, January 

 is a good month to put them in the sand. 

 Keep them well watered and it will not 

 take long for every cutting to root. 

 Many of us are unable to do much vdth 

 ivy outdoors, but we have many other 

 uses for it and there is little danger of 

 propagating it too extensively. 



MASGUEBITES. 



For the coming Easter, when lilies will 

 be scarce, there should be a good call for 

 well-flowered marguerites. Some of 

 these we had in fine shape for Christmas, 

 but for Easter blooming a pinch should 

 be given until the end of January, after 

 which let the plants have plenty of 

 space, water and feed, with a tempera- 

 ture of 48 to 50 degrees at night, and 

 they should be a mass of flowers before 

 April 20. The variety Mrs, Sander 

 makes a less shapely plant than the old 



PBIMUI.A MALACOIDES. 



Primula malacoides needs careful 

 treatment at this season, especially 

 where the plants are at all large. When 

 it was first introduced we all made the 

 natural blunder of sowing the seeds at 

 the same time as those of chinensis, 

 kewensis and obconiea, and by fall we 

 had plants large enough for tubs. As a 

 consequence, no matter how carefully 

 we watered them, more or less of the 

 foliage rotted. We learned by experi- 

 ence that July 1 is early enough to sow 

 this primula and we have at the present 

 time excellent 6-inch and 8-inch pans 

 in which the sowing was done at that 

 time. In order to have malacoides at 

 its best, give it, if possible, a shelf in 

 full sun at this season. Water with 

 great care and pour the water around 

 the sides of the pot, never over the 

 crown. It takes but little dampness to 

 destroy a lot of foliage when we have 

 several successive sunless days. Keep 

 the plants a little on the dry side, have 

 them well elevated and they will come 

 through all right. Also, grow them in a 

 cool temperature, not over 45 degrees 

 at night; then you 'will have stockiness 

 as well as color. 



A GOOD CATCH CROP. 



If you have not bought and started 

 a batch of the large-flowered gladioli 

 yet, it will pay you to do so without 

 delay. Almost any colors can be dis- 

 posed of if you are growing for the re- 

 tail trade, but at the wholesale markets 

 such sorts as America, Mrs. Francis 

 King, Panama, Augusta, Schwaben and 

 Pink Beauty are in demand. Probably 

 America and Mrs. King have a larger 

 sale than any other two varieties. There 

 are other desirable sorts of moderate 

 price, such as Halley, Peace, Empress of 

 India, the old brenchleyensis, still hard 

 to beat as a scarlet, LUy Lehman and 

 Niagara, well worthy of culture. Bulbs 

 can be planted in beds from which late 

 mums have been taken, giving the com- 

 post a good forking over first, but be- 

 ing careful not to use any fresh manure 

 for them. Plantings for Memorial day 

 must not go in for some weeks yet. 



Perhaps you have no spare bench just 

 at present and are anxious to start some 

 bulbs. In such a case, pot them singly 

 in 3-inch or S^/^-inch pots and later 

 transfer them to the beds or benches. 

 Do not overlook the beautiful primu- 



linus varieties. These reproduce so 

 abundantly from both seed and bulblets 

 that they are now within the reach of 

 everyone. They will flower earlier than 

 the gandavensis type, are much more 

 graceful for any kind of floral work 

 and come in a number of taking colors. 



MRS. FRANK PENDLETON. 



Under the caption, "Late Gladioli," 

 in The Review of December 26, C. W., 

 in reply to an inquiry from J. P. H. — 

 Mo., gives a list of late-flowering gla- 

 dioli which does not include the variety 

 Mrs. Frank Pendleton. As this is one 

 of the most magnificent gladioli ever 

 introduced, no up-to-date grower can 

 afford to overlook it. It is a late-bloom- 

 ing kind, later than some of those men- 

 tioned, and a splendid forcer, as well 

 as a ready grower out of doors. It 

 is a profuse multiplier and now gen- 

 erally available at a moderate price. 

 The variety is of such gorgeous appear- 

 ance that it is a center of attraction at 

 all leading gladiolus shows. Growers 

 who appreciate high-class stock cannot 

 afford to overlook this popular type. 



A. E. Kunderd. 



