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24 



The Florists^ Review 



Junk 1. 1922 



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COMMERCIAL GEBAXrUMS. 



"Will you please give me a list of the 

 best commercial varieties of geraniums 

 to grow? H. D. H. — O. 



Good commercial varieties for you to 

 handle are: Salmon, Beaute Poitevine; 

 red, Alphonse Ricard, S. A. Nutt, Gen- 

 eral Grant and Maryland; white, 

 Comtesse d'Harcourt; pink, Jean 

 Oberle, Berthe de Presilly. Other fine 

 sorts are Helen Michell, Mme. Buch- 

 ner, Jean Viaud, Mrs. Lawrence and 

 Marquis de Montmort. Far the great- 

 est call is for scarlets and probably it 

 would be well to grow from two-thirds 

 to three-fourths of this shade. Salmon 

 and pink come next, and white last. 

 Save good stock for yourself, plant it 

 out not too thickly and do not take cut- 

 tings until late. October gives firmer 

 cuttings than September and a far 

 larger proportion will root. Watch The 

 Review from time to time and you will 

 find seasonable notes on geraniums and 

 other bedding plants. C. W. 



BLIND WOOD ON GERANIUMS. 



This spring I found it necessary to 

 throw out about half of my geranium 

 plants, which seemed to be growing 

 blind shoots. The shoots came out dou- 

 ble and the leaves would often be de- 

 formed. The plants were vigorous, but 

 would throw few blooms. Would this be 

 caused by taking cuttings too closely, 

 or are some varieties inclined to do this 

 under any treatment? What would 

 you advise putting on the benches on 

 which to stand potted geraniums, in or- 

 der to prevent them from drying out so 

 rapidly? This year I had them stand- 

 ing on benches which contained six 

 inches of soil. Some of the plants 

 were partly submerged in the soil and 

 I found that if they w^re not moved 

 quite frequently they rooted down in 

 the soil and then began to make a soft, 

 rank growth. 



What would be the best proportions to 

 use in making a compost for the potted 

 geraniums, and should bone meal be 

 used in the compost at any time? I have 

 one house with solid beds. Would this 

 give satisfactory results if potted ge- 

 raniums were set on this at their final 

 sliift? II. D. H.— O. 



I should say that careless selection of 

 cuttings had been responsible for your 

 plants thro.wing so much blind wood. 

 Some growcM use coal ashes beneath 

 their pots successfully. Others find 

 ashes harmful. Coarse sand is alwavs 

 safe. It is not a good plan to allow 

 stock to remain long in one place and 

 root through. This causes rank growth 

 and such wood is too soft to flower well. 

 Short, stocky wood which is firm will 

 produce flowers. Frequent spacing of 

 bedding geraniums, with picking over 

 for decayed leaves and flowers, is neces- 

 sary to get A-1 stock. Grow cool and 



,;.. * nat? 



well ventilated; 45 to 50 degrees at 

 night in winter is ample. Give them 

 plenty of sunshine, and do not play the 

 hose over your plants. A little bone 

 meal added to the potting soil will be 

 found beneficial. Any manure used 

 should be old and of such a consistency 

 that it will readily crumble in the 

 hands. There is nothing you can stand 

 on the benches to prevent geraniums 

 from drying out so rapidly, but at this 

 season if you chance to have some cold- 

 frame sashes, you can advantageously 

 plunge at least part of your stock in 

 them in ordinary loam; the plants will 

 then dry out much less and will take 

 on an excellent color. Of course, sashes 

 should be kept over them for a few days 

 as a shelter from rain storms. Solid beds 

 should prove all right to set your plants 

 on after their final shift, provided you 

 space them apart and thus prevent too 

 much rooting through. C. W. 



CABBYXNG ROSES OVER. 



How should roses be handled that 

 are to be carried over for a second 



year? What treatment should they re- 

 ceive? A. H. K. — Kan. 



After Memorial day, or at least after 

 June weddings, roses to be carried over 

 should be gradually rested, by being 

 kept drier at the root. The plants should 

 be judiciously pruned before being 

 started up, at which time some of the 

 old surface soil can be removed and a 

 top-dressing of fresh loam given, or 

 the old soil can be retained and a 

 mulch of old cow manure spread over 

 the beds. This is better than fresh 

 cow manure, which will come in useful 

 as growth progresses later in the sea- 

 son. C. W. 



POINSETTIA CUTTINGS. 



When should poinsettia cuttings be 

 taken and under what conditions should 

 they be rooted? A. H. K. — Kan. 



Poinsettia cuttings can be taken ad- 

 vantageously from May 1 to August 1. 

 The latter date is for dwarf plants to 

 be used in making up pans. Short- 

 jointed cuttings rubbed off with a heel 

 are the best. Dip the ends of the cut- 

 tings in powdered charcoal as soon as 

 they are taken off, to stop bleeding. 

 The cuttings will root well in a mixture 

 of fine charcoal and sand in a regular 

 propagating bench or in coarse sand, or 

 they can be put singly in small pots 

 of fine charcoal, coarse sand or even 

 fine coal ashes. The last medium 

 I have found excellent. Careful water- 

 ing, avoidance of sunshine and drafts, 

 and a warm house make for success in 

 rooting poinsettias. C. W. 



WILTING CARNATIONS. 



We are having some trouble with our 

 Belle Washburn blooms and do not 

 know how to remedy the situation. We 

 have been cutting blooms all season 

 and these have been excellent until 

 about two weeks ago. Since then we 

 have cared for the plants in the same 

 manner and tlie blooms remain fine as 

 long as they are on the plants, but as 

 soon as they are cut and placed in wa- 

 ter, they go to sleep, and in a large num- 

 ber of cases turn black around the edges. 

 Twenty-four hours after cutting it is 

 not uncommon for us to throw away 

 the whole cut. What can we do about 

 this trouble? R. G.— N. M. 



take up water properly and this may 

 help. Do not place them in the icebox. 

 A cool cellar is the best place, provid- 

 ed there is proper ventilation. If the 

 blooms keep well on the plants, there is 

 nothing wrong with the watering. This 

 is proved by the way your other va- 

 rieties are keeping. A. F. J. B. 



CARNATIONS OUTDOORS. 



Is it advisable to plant carnations 

 immediately in the benches where they 

 are to bloom, without first putting them 

 out in the fields and then bringing them 

 in sometime during midsummer? Will 

 they be as sturdy if bedded in June, or 

 should they be field-grown? 



A. H. K.— Kan. 



We have not grown Belle Washburn 

 for several years, but never had any 

 such experience with it when we did 

 grow it. This variety has never been 

 famous for long keeping and is usually 

 one of the first to suffer in the exhibi- 

 tions. It is probably not a good warm 

 weather variety. 



Try placing the stems deep in water 

 for an hour after they are cut from the 

 plants. After they have been in the 

 water for an hour, cut the stems again 

 and replace the flowers in water to the 

 usual depth. They evidently do not 



In your state I should prefer to plant 

 the carnations outdoors and house about 

 the end of July. Some growers keep 

 their plants indoors all summer, but 

 the number of these does not seem to 

 increase. Indoor culture should not be 

 attempted unless you have large, roomy, 

 well-ventilated houses. I should cer- 

 tainly plant outdoors for two months at 

 least and, if you have facilities to wa- 

 ter them outdoors and keep the soil well 

 cultivated, your stock should do well 

 and not bo much troubled with red 

 spider. C. W. 



