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44 



The Florists^ Review 



May 18, 1922 



George Backus and others answered 

 many questions which liad been put in 

 the question box by various meinbers> 

 After adjournment all the young re- 

 tail florists and some others met at the 

 show room of the Westmoreland Floral 

 Gardens and witnessed a practical dem- 

 onstration in designing by W. II. Knull, 

 of Tampa. Mr. Knull was assisted by 

 Mrs. Warner, of Miami. Several bou- 

 quets, baskets and designs were taste- 

 fully arrjinged. Mr. Knull is an artist 

 in his line. 



The Exhibits. 



The floral exhibits were beautiful and 

 interesting; the flowers and plants were 

 skillfully arranged in the smoking room 

 of the Elks' liotel. The most striking 

 showing of flowers was made by Mrs. 

 George J. Backus, of Stuart, who showed 

 beautiful gladioli in many colors. 

 America and King were especially fine. 

 T. L. Mead exhibited a wonderful col- 

 lection of seedlings of his own hybridiz- 

 ing; one spike of lavender bloom was es- 

 I)ecially attractive. 



T. K. Godl.ey, of Waldo, had a huge 

 vase of calla blooms. In the bulb line 

 he showed hampers of calla bulbs, free- 

 sias, snowflakes, Chinese sacred lilies, 

 grape hyacinths, rainbow freesias, Span- 

 ish irises, Narcissus Paper White and 

 Lilium Ilarrisii. 



F. W. Fletcher showt'd a vase of hy- 

 brid gerberas. They were well grown 

 and most beautiful. 



C. M. Ci rifting & Co., of Jacksonville, 

 had a beautiful exhibit, consisting of 

 Cocos australis in large sizes, Japanese 

 junipers, libocedrus, Cupressus funebris 

 and fifty hydrangeas of French extrac- 

 tion. 



John B. Beach, of the Indian River 

 Nurseries, West Palm Beach, showed 

 some wonderful specimens of crotons in 

 tubs. Several varieties were planted 

 together and they were more than four 

 feet in height. 



Mr. Reasoner, of the Royal Palm 

 Nurseries, Oneeo, had a vase of well 

 grown double white petunias, dahlias in 

 variety, scabiosas, beautiful specimen 

 plants of Nephrolepis Duffii, N. daval- 

 lioides furcans, Phcpnix Roel)elenii, P. 

 reclinata, Livistona chinensis, Cibotium 

 Schiedei, Cycas revoluta, Araucaria Bid- 

 willii, Ficus elastica varieg.ata and Pit- 

 tosporum Tobira. The last-named plant 

 is fine for hedges in Florida, especially 

 near the gulf. 



The Knull Floral Co., of Tampa, 

 staged a beautiful exhibit of potted 



I)lants, consisting of well grown plants 

 of Areca lutescens, crotons, tuberous 

 and fibrous-rooted begonias, handsome 

 ferns in cement urns, fancy caladiums 

 and hydrangeas in variety. 



It is the intention of the association 

 to make the flower exhibits a chief fea- 

 ture of the convention next year. The 

 endless variety of plants that can be 

 grown successfully in the state and the 

 unselfish enthusiasm of the members are 

 an earnest prophecy of a convention 

 next year that will mark a distinct ad- 

 vancement in progress along every line 

 of endeavor. We are not yet conscious 

 of the possibilities of Florida as a flower 

 and bulb-producing section. 



John C. Sims. 



PLANTING BY CALENDAR. 



A Pioneer's Idea. 



Tlie portion, allotted to me in this 

 meeting is to furnish you with our 

 •'I'lanting Calendar for Cut Flowers." 

 As an introduction to those with whom 

 I am not personally acquainted, I should 

 like to say I am one of the pioneers, of 

 the cut flower business in this section of 

 Florida, being the first person, I believe, 

 to depend fully on the cut flower busi- 

 ness alone for a livelihood. 



I opened a retail store in the court 

 of the Court arcade of Tampa, Fla., 

 Saturday, October 8, 1909. This was 

 the si.xteenth week of the big cigar 

 strike, which, I dare say, many of 

 Tampa's business men well remember. 

 A stock of decorative palms and plants 

 suitable for the occasion was purchased 

 from Reasoner Bros., of Oneco, Fla., and 

 about $40 worth of choice cut flowers 

 from the Pennock-Meehan Co., of Phila- 

 delphia. 



After running a fair-sized display ad- 

 vertisement in the local newspapers and 

 ])ers()nally calling on all the most promi- 

 nent business men with "My card. Sir," 

 inviting them to our wonderful display 

 of cut flowers, the finest and largest 

 line ever displayed in the city of Tampa 

 ■ — f:icts, too! — we opened shop at 7 a. m. 

 sharp and closed on the old time 

 schedule, 11 p. m., with a total sale of 

 $4.9.'). Fine, wasn't it? But dozens 

 called in, looked us over, told us what 

 a wonderful display we had; said they 

 had never seen anything like it; assured 



I'lipor pri'sj'titpd by F. .\. KniiH, (if tlio Kiiull 

 Kliiriil Cii., 'rnnipii, Flu., lii'f<irc tlii' iiniiiiiil cim- 

 vciitidii iif tlic Florida St.ilc Fliiri>*ts' Assutia- 

 tiiiii, .It I>;ik<'IaiiiI. Fla., May .">. 



SEEDS 



Variety Sown riaiitw Itpililed Out Flowers Cut 



Aster .Ian. and Feb Mar. an<l .\|ir May and .lime 



.^ntirrliiniiin Ovi. to Deo Deo. and .liin Feb. 15 to May l.T 



Calendula Sept. to Dei' Oot. to Jan De<'. to May 



Matrioaria Oot. to Dor .Ian. to Apr May to July 



Pansy Sept. to Nov Nov. to Feb Deo. to .Apr. 



Stooks Sept. to Nov De«'. to Fob Feb. to Apr. 



AlysHum .All the > ear In 8 or 10 weeks 



Zinnia Feb. tp Auk Mar. 15 to Sept. 15. . Apr. to Oot. 15 



A'uriety 



HI I.ltS AND BOOTS 

 Planted 



Flowers Cut 



Calla Sept. to Dec Deo. 15 to .Inly 



Dahlia In open ground Jan. I Mar. 15 to -Apr. 



Dahlia I'nder slats Apr. to Jul.* Sept. to Deo. 



(;la<lioliiK Sept. to .Apr. 1 I>e<'. 15 to July 



Freesia Sept. and Oot Ian. to Mar. 



Tuberose Mar. and Apr luly 1 to Deo. 



Easter I.ily I'nder iclass all the time In 90 to 120 liays 



Narolssus Any time obtainable 



I 

 15 



15 



CCTTINGS OR DIAISION8 



Variety Cuttines Taken PlantH Bedi!e<l Fbavers Cut 



.AKoratuPii Deo. to Feb 30 days later .SO days later 



Buddleia lar. max Nov. to Jan Feb. to .Apr May and Julv 



Mums Maroh to May May to July Oot. to Deo. 



Violets, sinxle Oct. to Jan Nov. to .Apr. 



US we were filling a long-felt want. 

 This alone was encouragement. We be- 

 lieved them; we stayed, filling their 

 wants later, and we are still filling their 

 wants from the calendar here given, 

 which I have divided into three classes; 

 namely, seeds, bulbs and cuttings or 

 divisions. The planting calendar is 

 shown on this page. In regard to ager- 

 atum cuttings, it should be added that 

 the beds pay out in sixty or ninety days. 

 In regard to the violet cuttings, old 

 clumps should be divided and potted in 

 3-inch pots about July 20. Judgment 

 must always be used with this calendar, 

 as the conditions of weather naturally 

 make many changes in the maturing of 

 the flowers, as well as the length of the 

 season. 



I hardly deem mums a success out- 

 doors, but do believe that if provision 

 for shelter with cloth be provided at the 

 time buds begin to show color, it would 

 be possible to produce good stock in the 

 field, since all trouble has developed 

 with us on and after that time. We are, 

 ourselves, trying out this method this 

 vcar. 



NEW YORK. 



Planting Calendar for Cut Flowers in Florida. 



The Market. 



The week just passed in the New 

 York cut flower market was important 

 in that it reflected the business of what 

 has become one of the greatest flower 

 days of the year — Mothers ' day. To- 

 ward Thursday of last week the whole- 

 salers were busy endeavoring to book 

 orders for the festival. Carnations, of 

 course, were the principal item, and it 

 soon became apparent that $10 per hun- 

 dred was to be the price for carnations 

 of white varieties, and it may be said 

 that most of the business was booked at 

 that figure. Later, the price on whites 

 was boosted to $20, but more with the 

 idea of taking on business not consid- 

 ered regular, or, in other words, that 

 kind of business that comes under the 

 head of transitory or the shopping kind. 

 On Saturday afternoon of last week car- 

 nation prices broke to as low as $6 per 

 hundred, whites included: then came 

 a little reaction on Sunday morning, 

 with whites moving at $12 top. It can 

 hardly be said that carnation conditions 

 approached the sensational. In all other 

 staple lines, prices did not go beyond 

 normal for the time of year, but stock 

 was in heavy supply and clearances 

 were an important factor in the market. 

 Roses ranged from $4 to $20 per hun- 

 dred, according to grade, from No. 2 

 upward. American Beauty sold poorly 

 and much stock was unsold, even at 

 what might be considered low prices, 

 $30 to $00. A few rose growers missed 

 the market by making late shipments, 

 Saturday evening arrivals hanging fire 

 and creating a hold-over of no mean 

 proportions. Both in roses and carna- 

 tions growers lost out by encleavoring 

 to time the market to their own peculiar 

 ideas, earlier shipments being assured 

 of more remunerative ]irices. Last year 

 the buying was light in the early hours 

 of Mothers' day buying, but this year 

 it was the reverse, and late shipments 

 fared badly. 



Easter lilies were plentiful and moved 

 fairly well within a price range of $10 

 to $13 per hundred. Valley got little 

 more than a look in, sales being slow 

 and more or less forced. Rarely has so 

 much herbaceous stock been seen at this 

 season, and s:iles of it dragged consider- 



