Dkceubeb 9, 1920 



The Florists^ Review 



37 



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PLANTS FOK THE HOLIDAY. 



Advising Customers. 



We are again approaching the holiday 

 when pot plants are sold in great num- 

 bers and in wide variety. The selec- 

 tion may not be so large as at Easter, 

 but will closely approach it. Since this 

 holiday cornea, however, when the days 

 are short and the cold likely to be more 

 or less severe, much greater care is 

 needed in the handling of stock, particu- 

 larly in regard to watering, packing 

 and keeping the plants free from chills 

 and drafts while in the store. It is 

 unfortunate that so few store men 

 know anything about practical flori- 

 culture. The writer has often thought, 

 when listening to inquiries from cus- 

 tomers regarding the care of various 

 plants and hearing the replies from 

 men who know practicaly nothing but 

 how to handle cut flowers or make up 

 designs, that it would pay reputable 

 stores to have at least one man who 

 could furnish reliable information. 

 When this idea was suggested to one 

 prominent retailer, he answered that it 

 would hurt his business to do this, be- 

 cause people would then care for their 

 plants better, retain them longer and 

 buy fewer. This reasoning is not con- 

 vincing. On the contrary, the misinfor- 

 mation too often given, with the speedy 

 demise of so many plants, acts as a 

 deterrent rather than a stimulus for 

 future purchases. 



Beware of Frost. 



In 1919 we had fairly open weather 

 for Christmas. This is a wonderful ad- 

 vantage, because the plants are far less 

 liable to suffer chills while being deliv- 

 ered. Where deliveries can be made 

 promptly in automobile trucks, many of 



which are heated, there is not so much 

 danger of loss, but the results are quite 

 .different when packages, no matter how 

 warmly wrapped, are turned over to ex- 

 press companies, which, tto doubt, do 

 their best, but are overwhelmed with 

 business for Christmas. It is always 

 safe to wrap the plants heavily, no 

 matter what the weather is, as climatic 

 changes often come without warning. 

 Be sure that the pots or pans are cov- 

 ered just as warmly as the plants them- 

 selves, for a chilling of the soil, with 

 some varieties, will do almost as much 

 harm .as the actual freezing of the 

 plants. Paper is expensive-^tJiese days, 

 but it is best to stock up ofl"^ heavily. 

 It will not take many frozen plants 

 to equal the cost of a ton of old news- 

 papers. (', 

 Few Novelties. 



There will not be much in the way 

 of novelties for the coming holiday 

 season among foliage and flowering 

 plants. Perhaps a year hence, with a 

 probable modification of Quarantine 37, 

 Europe may be able to send us some 

 fine new azaleas for Christmas, hydran- 

 geas for Easter, and other desirable 

 novelties, but meantime we must worry 

 along with what we have and it is 

 really surprising what a lot of fine ma- 

 terial we can produce at home. We 

 shall miss the azaleas, skimmias, 

 aucubas, hollies and other imported 

 stock, but cyclamens, begonias, poin- 

 settias and other plants grown at home 

 are abundant, of sterling quality and 

 likely to give every satisfaction. 



Last year Christmas trade broke all 

 records; business then was booming, 

 few were unemployed and wages were 

 high. Present industrial conditions are 

 less bright, securities of all kinds are 

 low and a semi-pessimistic feeling is 

 met far too frequently. Can we, under 



such conditions, surpass or even equal 

 last year's business for the holidays? 

 At this writing, this scarcely seems 

 possible, and the fancy prices obtained 

 for some plants and flowers a year ago 

 will hardly be equaled now. Still, 

 overhead charges have not yet been 

 reduced in a noticeable degree and 

 florists are justified in asking as much 

 as they did a year ago, although some, 

 no doubt, who do not consider all the 

 circumstances, will tell you that there 

 is no reason why flowers do not drop in 

 the same ratio as wheat, flour, oats, 

 sugar, potatoes and onions. They ig- 

 nore the fact that florists still pay at 

 least as much for labor, fuel, twine, 

 glass and other such items as a year 

 ago. 



Cyclamen Leads Plants. 



Among flowering plants, cyclamens 

 .jvill once more be the leaders. These 

 are to be found this season in greater 

 numbers and of finer quality than ever 

 before. When the yard-across speci- 

 mens in 10-inch pots or small tubs are 

 compared with such plants as we had 

 at Christmas a decade ago, the advance 

 in their culture and popularity is evi- 

 dent and the prices paid today at 

 wholesale would have made growers 

 ten years ago gasp. The big specimens 

 offered are usually 15 to 16 months old, 

 while not a few good plants are no 

 more than 8 or 9 months old. Entirely 

 apart from their flowers, cyclamens are 

 exceptionally attractive. The varie- 

 gated foliage suggests peperomia leaves 

 facing upward and there is great 

 variety in their marbling. Cyclamens 

 make splendid house plants and can be 

 depended upon to give satisfaction for 

 several weeks in even a warm room if 

 carefully tended. In the store they are 

 less harmed by sharp drops in tempera- 

 ture and drafts than other plants. If 



Here Are Three Ways to Present that Excellent, Though not Common, Christmas Plant, the Ardisia. 



