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28 



The Florists^ Review 



May 11. 1922 



but that is about the extent of the old 

 familiar faces. Pittosporum Tobira 

 from Japan, ilex from South America, 

 banana shrub from China, Surinam 

 cherry from Australia, and our native 

 Carolina laurel cherry are only a few 

 of the hedge shrubs grown at Oneco. 

 Nearly all of the hedge-making shrubs 

 produce flowers, varying from white to 

 yellow and carmine. 



Twenty years or so ago a tubbed 

 oleander was a common sight in north- 

 ern gardens; in fact, a garden without 

 one was not up to the minute. Thou- 

 sands of the plants are propagated at 

 Oneco for informal hedges, as the ole- 

 ander does not stand shearing. Dur- 

 ing the spring an oleander hedge is a 

 mass of color — pink, crimson, rose, lilac, 

 white, according to variety used. 



The "decorative group," so called 

 by Reasoner Bros., is somewhat of a 

 misnomer, as all their products are deco- 

 rative. This particular group embraces 

 the oagaes in variety; nolina, a plant 

 with a bulbous base and a tall, slender 

 stem; pandanue, upicca and poinsettia. 

 By the way, there is novelty in the lat- 

 ter family, a variety with white bracts, 

 instead of the familiar flaming scarlet. 

 This new variety promises to be as use- 

 ful as the older sort and certainly tends 

 to tone down the brilliancy of its sister. 

 Mr. Cook freely admits that his firm 

 faced a big task when it began the ef- 

 forts to create interest in landscape 

 development, but the hard work is over 

 and the reward is at hand. So, too, it 

 was a long road to travel in selecting, 

 propagating and testing plants before 

 advising their use in Florida. There 

 were no blazed trails to be followed, 

 and almost every problem that came up 

 was solved by experiment. The records 

 of these tests, in the form of helpful 

 suggestions, are given freely to the peo- 

 ple of the state. Some of these records 

 are not available elsewhere, and the 

 various experiments carried on at Oneco 

 have been, and are, of such value that 

 the United States Department of Agri- 

 culture keeps in close touch with the 

 work. E. F. R. 



CBINUMS FOR THE SOUTH. 



For a floriferous and exceedingly 

 handsome ornamental foliage plant the 

 crinum is indeed an example of excel- 

 lence. Its flowers are gorgeous and the 

 tropical effect obtained wherever it is 

 planted is truly satisfying. Some vari- 

 eties flower for only a comparatively 

 short time. There is, however, a distinc- 

 tion between the northern and the south- 

 ern varieties and in America the south- 

 ern varieties are best, because their 

 needs are abundantly met in a climate 

 such as that of Florida and other south- 

 ern states. The only native species is Cri- 

 num americanum, called the swamp 

 lily of Florida. Most of the bulbs are 

 grown in Holland and Florida. The seeds 

 from the northorn-grown plants do not 

 germinate readily. 



This plant is essentially an outdoor 

 plant and for this reason it thrives in 

 the warm climates of our south. It re- 

 quires little attention. The southern vn- 

 rieties will do their best in a rich and 

 somewhat moist soil. The same plants 

 do equally well in high lands, liowever, 

 where the lands are well fertilized, 

 drained and cultivated. It is not neces- 

 sary in growing them for groenhouse 

 work to keep the evergreen species grow- 

 ing after tlio flowers have been pro- 

 dur^cd, as the plants can bo transplanted 

 I'roni jiots or tubs into a latli liouse for 



five or six months. Applications of wa- 

 ter saturated with manure will aid their 

 growth materially. For porch ornaments 

 they are planted in pots or tubs. 



These plants can be carried over dur- 

 ing the winter by placing them in a tem- 

 perate location, such as under a green- 

 house bench, in somewhat the same man- 

 ner as any of the other bulbous plants 

 are cared for. During April and May 

 they will require a little water, off and 

 on, in order to resuscitate them and to 

 encourage root growth for the spring 

 planting. 



A few of the southern species are 

 Crinum erubescens, Crinum zeylanicum 

 and Crinum Sanderianum. Crinum zey- 

 lanicum is a, deep crimson when still in 

 the bud, but as it becomes fully ex- 

 panded it turns to white with a red 

 stripe. The stems are long and have a 

 purplish hue. Crinum erubescens has a 

 stem two to three feet in length, with 

 long, thin leaves. It carries approxi- 

 mately six flowers, has a purplish green 

 stem and the flowers are white, with a 

 purplish red outside. This flower does 

 not bear seeds. It is also useless for 

 cross-breeding purposes. Crinum San- 

 derianum, the so-called milk-and-wine 

 lily, bears no seeds, has about five flow- 

 ers and its stem length is about three 

 feet. It is closely allied to Crinum sca- 

 brum and blooms at intervals. The 

 blooms are white, keeled with red. 



OERANITTMS AFFECTED. 



I have sent under separate cover some 

 leaves off our geraniums. We had nice, 

 healthy stock until about six weeks ago, 

 when we bought geraniums, some of 

 which were affected like the specimens 

 sent. Our plants have had a tempera- 

 ture of 50 degrees all through their 

 growing season. "We have held them 

 rather on the dry side. Will you advise 

 as to what the trouble isf F. G. — Ind. 



The foliage was almost completely de- 

 cayed on receipt, and it is not easy to 

 determine what your trouble is. Prob- 

 ably your stock stayed too long in the 

 propagating bed before being potted 

 and shipped, and the plants may have 

 been grown too crowded, not allowing 

 sun and air to dry them out properly; 

 the consequence would be weakened 

 plants, soft in foliage and an easy prey 

 to fungoid troubles. 



All you can do is to clean off the dis- 

 eased foliage and isolate such stock; if 

 the plants are quite sickly, throw them 

 away and give the others a couple of 

 sprayings of Bordeaux mixture or some 

 other fungicide at intervals of a week. 

 Give the plants plenty of sun and air 

 and dry atmospheric conditions, and 

 they should soon show an improvement. 



C. W. 



e HardvGarden 



PERENNIALS FOR GARDEN. 



I have mailed you a sketch of my 

 garden, which has been planted with 

 annuals. Now I wish to plant it with 

 hardy perennials. Will you kindly tell 

 me what to plant for cutting and deco- 

 rative purposes. R. L. — Pa. 



Herbaceous perennials are not in all 

 cases good for cutting and I have in- 

 cluded only such as are adaptable for 

 this purpose. I have also excluded all 

 helianthus and some other extremely 

 robust-growing and rapid-spreading va- 

 rieties as being inadmissible. Herbaceous 

 plants in themselves will not make as 

 continually an attractive garden as do 

 annuals. It needs the addition of an- 

 nuals to fill up the blanks, to keep the 

 beds really attractive. Some perennials 

 die away more or less after blooming, 

 and I should suggest the planting of 

 some annuals to help keep the beds at- 

 tractive. You might also use such lilies 

 as speciosum, speciosum album, Henryi, 

 tigrinum and candidum, dotted here 

 and there. Clumps of Spanish irises, 

 gladioli and montbretias would help 

 out the floral display and prove valu- 

 able for cutting; even a few dahlias 

 might be permissible, if the beds are 

 of ample width. 



Some of the perennials named, such 

 as larkspurs, aquilegias, lupines, 

 pyrethrunis and Shasta daisies, can be 

 raised froiii seed, which could be started 

 at once, preferably in a coldframe. Of 

 the otlifTs it wcmld be best to purchase 

 plants. Such a garden is better planted 



in the fall than in the spring, but could 

 be planted now, if done at once. You 

 would be able to get pot-grown plants 

 probably, or good-sized clumps grown 

 in some local nursery. 



You do not state the width or length 

 of your beds, so I cannot state the num- 

 ber of plants needed to fill the space 

 properly. The following are suggested 

 as good for cutting and also for making 

 an effective display: Low, early-bloom- 

 ing plants, like pansies, daisies, myoso- 

 tis and violas, and taller sorts, such as 

 Canterbury bells and foxgloves — the lat- 

 ter two being good for cutting — will help 

 your display; Delphiniums formosum, 

 Belladonna and Bellamosum; peonies; 

 Shasta daisies, of which King Edward 

 VII is a fine variety; asters, such as St. 

 Egwin, Climax, Robert Parker, Perry's 

 Pink and Dainty; Anemone japonica, 

 particularly the variety alba; Artemisia 

 lactiflora; digitalis and Canterbury 

 bells; hardy pompon mums; Clematis 

 recta; Gypsophila paniculata flore- 

 pleno; Hemerocallis luteola, fulva and 

 Thunbergii; Iris pallida dalmatica, 

 Madame Chereau, Mrs. H. Darwin, flo- 

 rentina alba, Queen of May and I. ori- 

 entalis Snow Queen; phloxes, to in- 

 clude Miss Lingard, Elizabeth Camp- 

 bell, Pantheon, Mrs. Jenkins or other 

 good varieties; Pyretlirum roseum; 

 Rudbeckia Newmanii; Veronica spicata 

 and longifolia subsessilis; Camjianula 

 persicifolia; aquilcgia, long-spurred hy- 

 brids; Lupinus polyphyllus in white, 

 Vilue and pink; Physostegia virginiana 

 and Thalictrum adiantifolium. C. W. 



