APBIL e, 1922 



The Florists' Review 



43 



READY FOR THE HOLIDAY 



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AMONG THIS EASTEB'S PLANTS. 



Sufflcient, with Some Lacking. 



To the overwhelming majority of flo- 

 rists Easter is the great holiday of the 

 year. To plant growers the day means 

 more than any other two holidays com- 

 bined. While the cut flower men usually 

 have an excellent business, it becomes 

 more and more a plant holiday yearly 

 and the end is not yet. Purchasers per- 

 ceive that plant purchases please more 

 and last longer than cut flowers, al- 

 though there will always be a demand 

 for both. 



It will be a late Easter and the aver- 

 age grower would much prefer to have 

 the date a fortnight earlier. Sometime, 

 maybe, there will be a fixed date for 

 Easter and the first Sunday in April 

 would probably suit most florists. This 

 would give a longer breathing and 

 growing spell between Easter and Me- 

 morial day. 



While probabilities would seem to fa- 

 vor a balmy Easter, it would be unwise 

 to bank too much on this. We have an 

 erratic climate and the unexpected 

 often happens; many of us have sad 

 memories of past Easter snow storms, 

 and even as late as mid-April we are 

 liable to get cold and disagreeable 

 weather. That means we must be pre- 

 pared for such eventualities. 



Sometbing Unusual. 



Each year we are asked what there 

 is new among pot plants. Not much 

 this Easter, but there are a few things 

 a little out of the common which will 

 be mentioned in these notes. It is al- 

 ways well to have something a little 

 out of the ordinary, as an increasing 

 number of purchasers want novelties. 

 Some of them are not adapted to long 

 shipments, but are splendid for local 

 trade. How many beautiful subjects 



have been thrown down because "they 

 will not ship"! Plants and cut flowers 

 receive rough treatment at the hands 

 of wholesalers and commission sales- 

 men, and if a plant will not stand a 

 hard shaking at the hands of the aver- 

 age retailer, it is at once placed in 

 the down-and-out class. Too often are 

 cut flowers treated like cordwood, and 

 plants to be popular must stand much 

 banging about. 



Lilies Good and Bad. 



The leading plant, as psual, will be 

 the lily. There are conflicting reports 

 as to the Condition of the plants. I 

 have seen some nice, healthy plants, 

 but many thousands, on the other hand, 

 are so dwarf as to be almost unsalable, 

 and disease has been unusually rife. 

 Premature digging and the desire to 

 get the bulbs in the hands of growers 

 here and in Europe at as early a date as 

 possible is, no doubt, the main cause 

 of so much disease, but, of course, an 

 oversupply of water in the early stages 

 of growth will greatly aggravate it. 

 Some shade and frequent spraying has 

 helped to lengthen the stems on dwarf 

 lilies of the giganteum type. One suc- 

 cessful grower says he hoses his plants 

 several times a day and applies little 

 water to the pots, finding that he has 

 healthier stock with this treatment. 



Formosums seem to be unusually good 

 this season, with little disease, and 

 spikes carry a surprising number of 

 buds. Giganteums, on the other hand, 

 are a distinct disappointment with not 

 a few skillful growers. I have been 

 privileged to grow some bulbs produced 

 in Florida, and quite fine they have 

 been. There is no sign of disease and 

 comparatively tiny bulbs have carried 

 three to four flowers each and attain 

 about twice the height of giganteums, 

 with flowers of equal size. There would 

 seem to be a future for bulb growers 



in the warmer states who can furnish 

 dormant lily bulbs to the growers. The 

 plan of growing from seeds and digging 

 up plants in the field while in bud, and 

 potting them is one which will not ap- 

 peal to many growers. 



Late lilies should be given all pos- 

 sible heat and be sprayed frequently, 

 being removed to cooler quarters aa 

 soon as the first flowers open. Plants 

 with several flowers open should be held 

 in a cool cellar, or in a shed where the 

 temperature is low. Keep the pollen 

 masses picked off daily and be sure the 

 plants do not suffer from lack of water, 

 although a drying out will not harm 

 them so seriously as many other plants. 



There are some Lilium candidum in 

 fine condition this season. Some nice 

 7-inch pots carrying an average of four 

 spikes each are ideal for chancel deco- 

 ration. For this purpose the Madonna 

 lily is far superior to the larger Easter- 

 flowering lilies and its fragrant flowers 

 are far more immaculate. Keep your 

 candidums fairly cool all the time; 

 they will not stand hard forcing. 



Boses Triumphant. 



Roses will this year be more abun- 

 dant and in finer condition than ever 

 before. The rambler and baby ram- 

 bler classes are most in evidence. Harm- 

 ing back twenty-five years, we find that 

 Crimson Bambler was the sensation 

 among pot roses, it being at that time 

 comparatively new. What a tremen- 

 dous advance there has been in roses 

 in that period! There are compara- 

 tively few Crimson Bamblers today. 

 The new Paul's Scarlet Climber will be 

 much in evidence this year and is the 

 best of its color. Hiawatha remains 

 good as a single scarlet. Probably far 

 more Tausendschoen will be sold than 

 any other variety. This fine rose, in 

 both the climbing and dwarf forms, re- 

 mains as popular as ever; the white 



Pots and Pans of Bulbous Plants Attract Customers of Limited Means at Easter. 



