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Mauch 4, 1920 



The Florists^ Review 



25 



GET READY FOR BIG DAY 



mem 



PBEPABINa EASTES PLANTS. 



Weather a Hindrance. 



The weather has been abnormally 

 cold in the eastern half of the country 

 since Christmas, with a record-break- 

 ing fall of snow. In addition there 

 have been more cloudy days than usual 

 and even on those that are clear many 

 roofs have carried an accumulation of 

 snow which, with the low temperature, 

 has melted slowly. Then, with fuel none 

 too abundant, the average grpwer has, 

 in spite of high prices for cut flowers, 

 been up against it in many ways. In 

 the forcing of Easter crops the climatic 

 eccentricities cut a big figure and care- 

 ful calculating is needed to get the 

 various plants in bloom on time. The 

 skilled cultivator understands how to 

 hit the holiday date to a nicety and 

 these notos are rather intended for the 

 great numbers of small growers who 

 lack tho facilities of the large plant 

 growers, but who want to get a nice 

 assortment of pot plants for the great 

 floral festival. 



LiUes. 



A year ago there was a paucity of 

 lilies, practically none but cold storage 

 bulbs being available, and plants were 

 naturally of poor quality. The coming 

 Easter will see a good supply of lilies 

 from newly imported bulbs and the qual- 

 ity seems to be unusually good. The 

 formosums, which come in ahead of 

 longiflorum giganteum, have been flow- 

 ering for some time. They grow much 

 taller than tho other forms of longi- 

 florum and therefore do not appeal so 

 well to growers and buyers. For church 

 decorations, either cut or in pots, they 

 have no superior. They are variable in 

 height and in the number of flowers 

 carried per stalk. We have some with 

 qnite stout stalks only showing two or 

 three buds. Others of similar strength 

 show a dozen or more. Little forcing 

 will be necessary to have these formo- 

 sums in on time. 



With giganteums it is different. The 

 bulbs arrive late and for so early an 

 Easter as the coming one they will need 

 about all the heat at our command. 

 Generally speaking, if we can see buds 

 so as to count them on Ash Wednesday 

 we feel safe, provided the plants are 

 given an average minimum of 60 degrees. 

 Plants which are not yet showing buds 

 are decidedly late and, if wanted for 

 April 4, must have a night temperature 

 of 70 degrees or the warmest house at 

 command, and be frequently sprayed. 

 A little nitrate of soda once a week 

 will help advance the laggards. Use a 

 pound in thirty gallons of water. If 

 a. small house is at command, where 

 lilies can be placed which are late and 

 which can be closed early in the after- 

 noon, by all means use it. Keep the 

 atmosphere constantly moist and, if the 

 plants are a little too dwarf, shade the 

 gla.ss a little to help lengthen their 

 stems. With your early lilies use care 

 not to move the plants from a high to 

 a low temperature, or the buds may re- 

 fuse to open at all. Wait until the 



flowers start to open and then lower 

 the temperature gradually. 



Boses. 



There will be a large supply of roses 

 this season, but a good many small 

 growers will be a little late. The ram- 

 bler varieties, like Tausendschoen, still 

 the most popular of all, will be all right 

 if you can now see the small buds on 

 the sprays. The polyantha, or baby 

 rambler class, like Mrs. Cutbush, Or- 

 leans, etc., if in the same stage, will 

 jilso be all right. Do not force them 

 too hard; 55 to 60 degrees is ample at 

 I'.ight, and be careful how you venti- 

 late. A cold draft will start mildew 

 and it will speedily disfigure the foliage 

 and render the plants unsalable. Also, 

 when syringing, do it in the morning 

 of clear days, so that the foliage is dry 



The Editor is pleased when 

 a Reader presents his Ideas 

 on any subject treated In 



As experience is the best 

 teacher, so do we learn 

 fastest by an exchange of 

 experiences. Many valuable 

 points are brought out by 

 discussion. 



Oood penmanship, spellins and 

 srammar, though desirable, are not 

 necessary. Writeasyou would talk 

 when doing your best. 



WE SHALL BE GLAD 

 TO HEAR FROM YOU 



before sundown. Hybrid perpetual and 

 hybrid tea roses come along fast. If 

 the buds are merely showing March 10 

 they are all right in a temperature of 

 50 degrees at night. These latter are 

 harder to time than the ramblers. They 

 are not wanted with wide-open flowers, 

 but in the bud stage, just showing color. 

 Some moving around of the plants will 

 be necessary if we get a few warm days 

 just before Easter, but carefully avoid 

 cold drafts on every consideration. Give 

 the plants plenty of water and liquid 

 manure twice a week until the buds 

 show color. 



French Hydrangeas. 



Few of the old otaksa hydrangeas are 

 now used for Easter. The French 

 types, with their fine range of colors, 

 force much more easily and bloom with 

 a freedom which is surprising. On 5- 

 inch pots I have counted twelve to fif- 

 teen heads and on 8-inch pots one or 

 two of my plants carry thirty to forty- 

 two heads each. So abundantly, in 

 fact, do these French hydrangeas flower 

 that we have trouble in securing blind 

 shoots for propagating purposes. Plants 



started early in January and given 50 

 to 55 degrees at night now have heads 

 two to four inches in diameter and will 

 be on time without having recourse to 

 forcing. This is advantageous, as plants 

 grown thus cool are much more stocky. 

 Where flower heads are as yet merely 

 peeping, they are late and should have 

 60 degrees at night. Hydrangeas are 

 thirsty subjects and need an'*abundant 

 water supply and liquid manure twice 

 a week until the heads are well devel- 

 oped. Avoid syringing them, as they 

 are more susceptible to mildew than 

 the old otaksa. 



Astilbes. 



Astilbes, or, more popularly, spireeas, 

 have to be home-produced now and will 

 figure less at Easter and Memorial day 

 than in former years. Give them as 

 much heat as you like and you cannot 

 overwater them. They are among the 

 few plants below which you can place 

 saucers and keep them filled with water 

 without the foliage showing ill effects 

 from it. Be careful to fumigate lightly 

 v/hcre the spirseas are, as their foliage 

 is easily scorched. In the case of pink 

 varieties, like Queen Alexandra and 

 Peach Blossom, the plants must be kept 

 shaded as soon as the flower heads start 

 to open, or they will speedily lose much 

 of their beautiful color. 



Deciduous Shrubs. 



Some deciduous shrubs are available 

 for the coming Easter. Unsold plants, 

 cut back, planted outside and carried 

 over until the second season, make 

 splendid stock for forcing. There is a 

 wide variation in the time needed to 

 flower deciduous shrubs. Lilacs will 

 come in within six to eight weeks in a 

 temperature of 50 degrees; so will 

 Deutzia Lemoinei and gracilis. Azalea 

 Kaempferi, a grand Easter plant, needs 

 not more than six weeks. Prunus tril- 

 oba, with its beautiful peach-pink 

 double flowers, and ornamental malus 

 require but a month. Laburnums must 

 have a longer period. I prefer to grow 

 them fairly cool and allow eight to ten 

 weeks. Wistarias flower within six 

 weeks. These periods can be reduced 

 by giving the plants strong heat and 

 keeping the atmosphere reeking with 

 moisture, but plants grown under such 

 conditions arc not fit to send out to 

 anyone, as they lack substance and will 

 wilt badly. It is not well to have more 

 than a small number of flowers open on 

 any of these shrubs at Easter. If fully 

 opened they will drop to pieces before 

 they can reach your customers; so yon 

 should plan to deliver them in the bud 

 stage. 



Btilbous Plants. 



Bulbous plants form a not inconsider- 

 able part of the Easter stock in trade 

 of many country florists, as numerous 

 inquiries sent to The Review indicate. 

 Hyacinths, grown singly or in pans, 

 tulips and daffodils in pans constitute 

 the bulk of this bulbous material. It 

 takes but a short time to force these 

 plants into flower. Really they should 

 not be forced at all, but brought along 

 in a cold greenhouse, kept well up to 



