24 



The Florists^ Review 



May 17, 1917. 



cult to trace the origin df the insect 

 pests affecting florists' stock, for this 

 material is shipped rather freely from 

 greenhouse to greenhouse in other states 

 and other counfries. We do hai)pen to 

 know tlie origin of the two orcliid-iu- 

 festing insects, Cholus cattleya; and 

 Isosoma orchidearum, both of which 

 were introduced by florists from South 

 America. As the white fly is also a 

 greenhouse insect which was known for 

 years in Europe before being found in 

 the United States, it is believed to have 

 been introduced by florists. While tliere 

 is no ])roof, the florists certainly do not 

 have an ''alibi" in regard to it. 



If Restrictions Were Eemoved. 



The editorial concerned is, however, 

 more important in its implication than 

 in its actual statement. One could easily 

 draw the apparent conclusion of the 

 gentleman who called tlie editorial to 

 my attention, that since nurserymen 

 and florists are not ' ' in any way re- 

 sponsible for any of our present 

 troubles," the free introduction of 

 plant material from outside the United 

 States is permissible and would not re- 

 sult in injury. Tliat this conclusion is 



far from the facts in the case is shown 

 by the published lists of insects and 

 diseases being intercepted each season 

 on nursery stock and other plants. 

 These lists show the introduction of 

 the gypsy moth and the brown-tail moth 

 in large numbers, the appearance of the 

 larva of the narcissus fly in bulbs from 

 England, citrus canker on citrus from 

 .lava and the Philippine Islands, the 

 European pine shoot moth on many 

 shipments from Holland, and hundreds 

 of insects whose powers of injury in 

 this country are as yet unknown. In 

 most cases these insects are being 

 Inought into this country in sufficient 

 numbers to ma^ce their establisliment al- 

 most certain if they were not inter- 

 cepted, and there is every probability 

 that a single importation of any new 

 disease of the rank of tlie wliite pine 

 blister or citrus canker or chestnut 

 blight or the new poplar disease, which 

 has just arrived, would result in an out- 

 break in this country, becoming dis- 

 astrous in time if not checked. 



S. B. Fracker, 

 Assistant Entomologist, Wisconsin De- 

 j)artnu'nt of Agriculture. 



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Memorial Day Crops. 



The coming Memorial day will un- 

 questionably be the greatest we ever 

 have had, on account of the martial 

 spirit that is now prevailing. People 

 may talk economy and will no doubt 

 practice it in many ways, but I make 

 the prediction that sales of flowers for 

 Memorial day will break all records. 

 The great question is whether we shall 

 have the flowers necessary for our cus- 

 tomers at anything like reasonable 

 prices. Over a large part of the United 

 States the season is and has been cold, 

 sunless and late, and outdoor crops 

 which can ordinarily be depended upon 

 will be unobtainable. Such greenhouse 

 crops as gypsophila, feverfew, stocks, 

 candytuft, lilies, spirteas, irises, gladioli, 

 etc., are necessarily late and every ef- 

 fort should be made at once to hurry 

 these laggards. Most of them will 

 stand a brisk heat for a few days, pro- 

 vided they can have a little cooling off 

 before the crops are cut. Candytuft, 

 for instance, if given some shade, can 

 be forced hard and not damaged. Of 

 course bulbous plants, such as gladioli 

 and irises, in addition to spiraeas, will 

 stand a lot of heat. Kemember that 

 flowers such as those named are valua- 

 ble for Memorial day, but have poor 

 sales later. 



Dutch bulbous flowers that are still 

 in cellars or pits can be held in good 

 condition unless hot weather intervenes. 

 Darwin tulips promise to be specially 

 useful this season. In the more north- 

 erly states these latter bulbs will hardly 

 be in season, but farther south, where 

 ordinarily they have passed as an out- 

 door crop, they will be in season. Flow- 

 ers cut before being too much expanded 

 will keep for several days in a cold 



cellar. Home trade with retailers is 

 strong for Memorial day and every ef- 

 fort should be made to get as large a 

 stock of flowers as possible at home, for 

 wholesale prices will undoubtedly be 



high. 



Aquatic Plants. 



Aquatic gardening shows a steady 

 increase. People are appreciating more 

 and more the value and beauty of water 

 plants. In the smallest of home grounds 

 it is easily possible to make a small con- 

 crete pond or sink half barrels in the 

 ground. On some grounds natural ponds 

 may exist. In such the nelumbiums, or 

 nymphffas, can be planted out in rich 

 mud. In concrete tanks or ponds, boxes 

 or tubs can be sunk, containing a mix- 

 ture of good fibrous loam and cow 

 manure. I have used boxes made of 

 'J-inch plank, fourteen inches deep and 

 three feet square, in tanks to good ad- 

 vantage. If the pools are smaller and 

 more shallow, smaller boxes can be 

 used, but the water should cover them 

 to a depth of two or three inches. After 

 ])lanting the nympha^as, give the sur- 

 faces of the boxes a coating of coarse 

 sand. This will help to prevent the 

 compost from discoloring the water. 

 Such nymphaeas as odorata; odorata 

 rosea, the Cape Cod pink pond lily; 

 odorata sulphurea, and all the Marliacea 

 hybrids, especially chromatella, albida 

 and rosea, are good; so are the varieties 

 of N. Laydekeri. For little pools, 

 aquariums or tubs try N. pygmeea, which 

 carries great numbers of flowers, two to 

 two and one-half inches in diameter. 



Nelumbium speciosum, the Egyptian 

 lotus, is the hardiest and most easily 

 grown of the lotus family. It can be 

 grown in half barrels, but to be seen at 

 its best should be planted out in rich 

 mud. In such compost it will make 



surprisingly strong growth. Keep some 

 fish in all aquatic pools, to keep the 

 larvae of mosquitoes and other insects in 

 subjection. 



A few desirable miscellaneous aquat- 

 ics to use are: Cyperus alternifolius; 

 Limnanthemum indicum, or water snow- 

 flake; Eichhornia aurea, or water hya- 

 cinth; Aponogeton distachyus, or cape 

 pond weed; Pontederia cordata, or 

 l)ickerel weed; Limnocharis Humboldtii, 

 or water poppy; Myriophyllum proser- 

 pinacoides, or parrot's feather; Pel- 

 tandra virginica, or water arum; Pistia 

 Stratiotes, or water lettuce, and Zizania 

 aquatica, or wild rice. 



Water gardening is one of the pleas- 

 ing forms of gardening, and nothing 

 gives greater satisfaction during the 

 hot months. The florist who has a small 

 pond or tank near his home, in which 

 some of the nymphseas and miscella- 

 neous aquatics can be grown, will find 

 this is a splendid way to advertise this 

 branch of floriculture, which has won- 

 derful possibilities before it. 



Winter-Flowering Begonias. 



If you carried over any Lorraine, Cin- 

 cinnati, Melior or Mrs. Peterson be- 

 gonias, they will now be sending up a 

 good crop of cuttings from the base, if 

 they were headed back and rested as 

 advised some time ago. These cuttings 

 are succulent and will root readily now. 

 They never make big, bushy plants, 

 like those raised from leaf cuttings, but 

 will be fine for small pots and the de- 

 mand for these invariably exceeds the 

 supply. Keep the earlier begonias 

 potted along before they can become 

 ])otbound. Use plenty of flaky leaf- 

 mold in their compost and give them a 

 night temperature of 55 to 60 degrees, 

 with only a moderate amount of shade. 

 The plants will persist in flowering. 

 Keep the flowers picked off, to relieve 

 the plants. 



Stevias. 



Are you sure you have an adequate 

 stock of stevias for next season? If not, 

 you still can root some cuttings and 

 have nice stock before fall. The plan 

 generally adopted with stevias is to 

 ])lant outdoors, dig up and pot in the 

 fall. For the country florist who plans 

 to grow a few dozen plants a good plan 

 is to grow them in pots right through the 

 season, plunging the pots to their brims 

 in a bed of coal ashes. This means 

 some additional watering, but insures 

 splendid plants in the fall, and the 

 work of digging up, potting, shading 

 and getting the plants established is 

 entirely saved. 



Bouvardias. 



About the end of May is a safe time 

 to ]»lant out bouvardias in an open, 

 sunny spot where there is a light but 

 rich soil. In the case of B. Humboldtii, 

 plants of which usually are carried over 

 for several years, I find it best to keep 

 this stock tolerably dry for several 

 months after blooming and shake out 

 and jirune back the plants before set- 

 ting them out. The shoots are also re- 

 duced in number when a few inches 

 long; then there are few blind growths. 

 There will be many flowerless shoots if 

 disbudding is not practiced. I only 

 figure on leaving bouvardias outdoors 

 about nine or ten weeks. In that time 

 they make a surprising growth and they 

 can be either potted or benched when 

 lifted. 



