62 



The Florists^ Review 



Mahch 30, 1922 



larly j^ooil i):iii. The forvinj^ of soi'iillcd 

 prepared bulbs for Cliristiiias was niiicli 

 of a lottery. He did not believe tlu're 

 ■was any money in foreiiifj; tulips, liy.u- 

 cintlis ;iiid narcissi for Cliristiiias and, 

 flirt lieriiKire, lie li.'id not found tli.it peo 

 ]de \v(>re anxious to buy bulbs ;it that 

 time. Several other flowers ;iii[iealed to 

 tliciii nioi'e. 



From Professional Viewpoint. 



Walter 11. (iolby, speakinj> on bulb 

 forciiifi from the view|ioint of the pro- 

 fessional t^.-irdener, statt'd that he 

 plai'ed liis tlats and jians of bulbs out- 

 doors under trees and watered well un- 

 til housed, whieli was not until .Noveiii- 

 lier. He staidved them up in tiers not 

 so wide apart as Mr. Hartsch. I'aiier 

 Wliites, he said, he started below carna- 

 tion benches, and Trumpet Major and 



liacidius and CJodet I'arfait were all fine. 

 I'.outen d'Or, of the cottage tulip class, 

 was fine for forcin<;, l)e Wet and \'el- 

 \ et Kin^t wore breeders evervone should 

 try. 



.\iiioiig the short truiiijiet narcissi, 

 -Mr. Colby sai<l SeaKnll, Will Hcarlet, 

 Sir Watkin, White Lady, I'-irebr.-uid and 

 H.'irrii Cons])iciius were specially use- 

 ful. To use with these, niyosotis, blue 

 cinerarias of the stellata type, blue 

 centaureas and the Sjianish iris he 

 found to be esiiecially }j;ood and he felt 

 th;it flowers such as these associated 

 with the various short truui])et narcissi 

 h(d])ed to briny out their real beauty. 



Lilies for Forcing. 



W. X. Craifj spoke on liliunis mostly 

 used for forcing, and showed pots of 

 lonyitioruui forniosuni whidi curried 



Peter Pearson Prominent at Chicago's West Side Exhibition. 



Solt.'il d'Or narcissi, and Roman hya- 

 cinths were placed in heat about the 

 middle of November. About the last of 

 Deceinber French (iolden Spurs, Dutch 

 (ioldon Spurs ;in<l L;i Heine tulips were 

 st.-irted. Among the narcissi he gave 

 sjiecial attention to the H.arrii, incom 

 parabilis, Leedsii and poeticus sections, 

 which had more grace tliaii the big 

 trumjiet section. L 'Innocence jiroved 

 to be his most s.atisfactory early liyn 

 cintli. These early tiilii's, Ik- said, 

 pro\'ed fine for forcing: L;i IJeine, 

 Thomas Moore, Prince of .Austria, 

 Couleiir Cardinal, (ioldfincli, Yidlow 

 rrinci\ Schoonoord, Te;i Hose, Pink 

 Heauty, Le Hevo and Le ^latel.'is. 



Among the Darwins, Mr. Colby saiil 

 William Coiieland proved to be the best 

 forcer, coming in as early as .January 

 b"). William Pitt was good. Princess 

 Klizabetli was far the best junk; it car- 

 ried m;iiiy side shoots. Clara Hutt was 

 of a beautiful ]iink color. Mme. Kre- 

 lag<> was a good stand-by. Ceorge A', 

 growing twenty-four to twenty-eight 

 inches high, he thought was a grand va- 

 riety, Viiit was too expensive yet com- 

 mercially. Partigon was good and 

 Princess Mary was fine, ^fore breeders 

 should be grown; there were some beau- 

 tiful \firieties; Moonlight, \'ulcane. 



forty buds and (lowers on two stalks 

 from one bulb in ;i (i-inch pot, as well as 

 a pot of longiflorums carrying three to 

 four flowers per stalk grown from small 

 bulbs r.-iised outdoors by F. W. Fletcher, 

 ;it Orlando, Fla. The latter were clean 

 and vigorous. He also showed seedlings 

 :'> wecdis old of ]j. reg;ile and L. Will- 

 mot t ill'. 



He said Harrisii. the one-time favor- 

 ite Faster lily, was now almost a back 

 ntiinlper. It cirrieil the finest flowers 

 <if all the lon^ilbiium types, but, un- 

 fortunately, little healthy stock was 

 now obtainable. He s;iid tj. longitlorum 

 lOrmosiim \v;is ;i fine torm which c;inie 

 in iniicli e.arlier than gigaiiteiim, grew 

 t:iller. carried far more flowers per 

 --t.iik ;iiid w.is luuili superior for cut- 

 ting. It also proved (dean. He had 

 •^ood success, he said, with this by jiot- 

 ting and ])lacing in coldframes covered 

 with leaves and board shutters until 

 w(dl rooteil ;ind st.arted. Tt then could 

 be forced h;ird if wanted (>iirlv, but 

 w.is seen at its best in a tenifier.ature 

 of about '((I degrees at ni^ht. 



1,. longifloriim giganteum, Mr. Craig 

 siiid, w;is the variety mostly grown for 

 Faster. The plant was a dwarf 

 grower, too dw.arf with many growers 

 this se.'ison and the reverse of healthv. 



This lily arrivetl much later than for- 

 niosuni and enjoyed u good heat from 

 start until finisli. A point to remember 

 ill the culture of all lilies in pots was 

 to use caution in watering after potting. 

 He did not water any lilies after pot- 

 ting if the soil was fairly moist, and 

 he said he jireferred to allow soil to dry 

 out well before soaking, and had always 

 found it a safe plan to go lightly 

 with watering until pots were well filled 

 with roots. Too much water in the early 

 st.ages of growth ruined many lilies. 



Mr. Craig said a suit.-ible soil for lilies 

 consisted of three-fourths good rotted 

 sod and one-fourth old mushroom ma- 

 nure or well decayed cow manure. Some 

 sand could be added and was specially 

 necessary in heavy soil. Old rose soil 

 jiroved to be a good lily compost. 



The various forms of L. speciosum, 

 ill bum, roseuni, Melpomene, magnificum, 

 Mr. Craig said, were all good for pot 

 culture. lie said that bulbs of those 

 usually arrived in November, sometimes 

 as late as December. These lilies and 

 auratnm seemed to do bettor in large 

 ]iots cont.-iining several bulbs, rather 

 tli;in single bulbs in 6-inch pots. While 

 cold storage bulbs of auratum and spe- 

 ciosum cm be flowered for Thanksgiv- 

 ing or Cliristmas, the spikes entirely 

 la<dv the vigor and the flowers the size 

 of those carried on bulbs grown in the 

 n;itural way. Pots should be placed in 

 !i cold ccdlar or frost proof sliod, or un- 

 der the benches of houses where they 

 M-ill be free from driji, and both lilies 

 much dislike hard forcing and are seen 

 at their best from .Tunc until Septcm- 

 lier in a cool greenhouse where the 

 plants are protected from direct sun- 

 shine. 



In closing his remarks, Mr. Craig 

 said: "Other lilies useful for jiot cul- 

 ture are L. Ilenryi and L. regale. The 

 last named is a magnificent g.arden lily 

 and makes a Iteautiful jiot plant. As it 

 is easily grown from seed here, it should 

 soon be clieaj) enough for anyone to 

 buy. 



"I have left reference to L. can- 

 didum, the well known pure white 

 hardy garden lily, to the last. This is 

 far the most stately and immaculate of 

 the white forcing lilies. The bulbs ar- 

 rive from the north of France early 

 in September and, as they start to make 

 a rosette of leaves at once, should be 

 |>otted without delay. Here again I 

 find that in large jiots or tubs these 

 lilies do their best. After potting, place 

 outdoors and protect merely from soak- 

 ing rains. They are left out until No- 

 vember, by which time they have had 

 several freezings. They force much 

 better when this is done. They are kept 

 in a cold pit until wanted for forcing. 

 For Faster plants they are jdaced in a 

 temjierature of .lO degrees about Decem- 

 ber I.J and in order to have flowers in 

 good size and substance the plants must 

 be grown rather cool. L. candidum 

 jiroves speci.'illy valu:ible in June for 

 weddings, and to flower at that time the 

 plants should not be pl.aced in the green- 

 house until early in March. I find all 

 lilies when well rooted are benefited by 

 occasion.'il soakings of licpiid manure, 

 and Cliiy's fertilizer on candidums and 

 loiigiilorums has given most excellent 

 results. I entirely disapprove, however, 

 of using anything like fresh manure in 

 the soil or chemical fertilizers of any 

 kind." 



