3C 



The Florists^ Review 



Decimbbr 11, 1919. 



conditions of the home vastly better 

 than the small-flowered varieties now 

 in common culture. So nly advice would 

 be to watch these begonias and stock up 

 with them in even a small way if you 

 possibly can. 



Folnsettias Have Real Ohilstmas Color. 



Coming down to the real Christmas 

 color in flowers, we cannot well dis- 

 pense Mrith poinsettias. They are finicky 

 subjects and many fail with them, espe- 

 cially when it somes to holding foliage 

 on them. They are also extremely 

 tender, and when we get a Christmas 

 cold wave, as occasionally occurs, they 

 suffer badly. There is, nevertheless, 

 nothing to equal them in brilliancy of 

 coloring. A good many Eastern grow- 

 ers are this year trying the California 

 poinsettia, which seems to be a better 

 grower, branches more freely and makes 

 a better pan than the form of puleher- 

 rima we have been growing. Planted 

 out in beds or benches, the plants will 

 hold their foliage beautifully, and 

 bracts up to twenty-four inches across 

 can be grown. These, if cooled off some- 

 what before being cut and the ends of 



or asparagus planted in to hide the soil 

 and bare stems. Be sure to wrap 

 poinsettias up warmly when sending 

 them out, remembering that they are 

 more easily injured by cold than any 

 other Christmas plants. 



Oranges and Ardlsias Not Abundant. 



There appear to be rather fewer 

 oranges and ardisias than usual. These 

 two plants are of slow growth compared 

 with solanums and must therefore com- 

 mand a much stiffer price. Both are 

 splendid plants for the store windows 

 and last a long time in fine condition in 

 the home. The clusters of scarlet ber- 

 ries on the ardisias will stay on the 

 plants for a year or more, something we 

 cannot hope for from the more every- 

 day solanums and peppers. 



Cleveland Cherry Making a Hit. 



Fruiting plants are numerous this 

 season, and the new Cleveland cherry 

 is making a great hit. This is the finest 

 form of Solanum capsicastrum yet in- 

 troduced, and many thousands will be 

 sold this month. You cannot afford to 

 grow this plant through the summer in 



The Cyclamen is Among the Bijjgest Sellers in Christmas Plants. 



the stalks seared or scalded as soon as 

 they are cut, will stand up well if 

 plunged in deep jars or vases of water 

 and held in a temperature of about 45 

 degrees. 



Poinsettia plants cannot be kept cold 

 or the foliage will become yellow and 

 the bracts wilt. Neither can they be 

 carelessly watered; let someone water 

 them who understands this important 

 operation and not extra holiday help- 

 ers, whose knowledge of plants and their 

 needs is generally quite elementary. I 

 do not think there is any finer Christ- 

 mas plant than a well-grown pan of this 

 brilliant flower, with some ferns, cyperus 



pots. Plant it out in good soil about 

 May 20, pot up about September 1, and 

 you will have plants which will be big, 

 heavily fruited and will need pots from 

 six to eight inches in diameter, accord- 

 ing to whether you sow seeds early in 

 February or late in March. The yellow- 

 fruited solanum sent out by Carl Hagen- 

 burger also is good, but will not sell 

 as a holiday plant as well as the scarlet 

 sort. 



Hard-Wooded Plants Gain Favor. 



Hard-wooded plants are rapidly com- 

 ing back into favor, and a number of 

 these may be had at Christmas. The 



most prominent of these is Erica melan- 

 thera. A few other varieties may be- 

 seen, but melanthera is the holiday 

 heath par excellence. All the erica» 

 need cool culture, but I do not know of 

 any plant which, if carefully watered,, 

 will hold its flowers as long as E. 

 melanthera in a steam-heated home. As- 

 all the heaths have fine, hair-like roots,, 

 it must be remembered that once the- 

 roots get dust-dry the plants are as good 

 as dead. 



Camellias are already flowering well. 

 and, while their numbers are few com- 

 pared with those of the ericas and their 

 flowers are liable to drop, they appeal 

 to critical buyers. Be sure to keep 

 both camellias and ericas cool while 

 awaiting sales, and ask purchasers to- 

 give them a cool location if they want 

 to enjoy them long. 



Primulaa Sell Well. 



The finest Primula obconica I have 

 seen this season were grown in benches- 

 in a cool greenhouse and lifted and 

 potted late in October. The plants far 

 exceeded in size and vigor any pot- 

 grown ones, and seeing them three- 

 weeks after potting, one would never 

 know that they had not been pot-grown 

 all summer. There are now some grand,, 

 large-flowered obconicas and, while some 

 prejudice exists on account of their 

 poisonous properties, they sell well each 

 season, much better than P. sinensis. The 

 newer P. malacoides, the most graceful 

 and decorative of the family, is not 

 seen at its best for Christmas. It is 

 far better from the end of January on- 

 ward, and with Easter coming early next 

 season, a good many vrtll be held until 

 that date. 



Other Attractive Plants. 



Many miscellaneous plants seen in 

 smaller batches than the plants already 

 named are worthy of note. ' ' What have 

 you new this Christmas ?"«is a constant 

 refrain. While I have seen little new,, 

 here are some interesting and useful va- 

 rieties which are being offered: Helio- 

 tropes in standard form and nicejy flow- 

 ered; pans of the brilliant Euphorbia 

 jacquiniaeflora, an old friend and an ex- 

 cellent holiday plant, excellent for cut- 

 ting; Nemesia strumosa Suttonii in pans, 

 from seeds sown early in August, in some 

 charming colors, which I have not seen 

 before for Christmas; Freesia Purity,, 

 plants in pots and pans of this sweet 

 and pretty bulbous subject should com- 

 mand a good sale; chrysanthemums, a. 

 few nice pots of late pompons, especially 

 of bronze shades, are pleasing, but peo- 

 ple are getting tired of mums at this 

 date; cypripediums, the old insigne and 

 the golden yellow sport Sanderse will 

 appeal to "classy" buyers and certainly 

 the flowers of these plants have re- 

 markable lasting qualities. Where a tall,, 

 graceful and deliciously fragrant plant 

 with white flowers is wanted, nothing 

 can equal Buddleia asiatica. Eacemea 

 of this beautiful flower were open a» 

 early as December 1 this year in a tem- 

 perature of 50 degrees at night. In more 

 every-day plants there are some good 

 zonale geraniums and cinerarias and the 

 dwarf stevia makes a really nice pot 

 plant. 



There are other flowering plants than 

 those named and, of course, in crotons,. 

 dracffinas, pandanus, ficus, palms, ferns,, 

 selaginellas and other foliage subject* 

 a wide variety is available. Taken aJl 



