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Jui.y 13, 1922 



The Rorists^ Review 



29 



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SEASONABLE SUGGESTIONS 



A PAGE OF TIMELY AID 

 AND ADVICE TO GROWERS 



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CAIiLAS. 



Are your callas resting now? Of 

 course, they will flower more or less all 

 summer, even in pots, if kept fed and 

 watered, but there is no great call for 

 their blooms in summer, and they should 

 now have a rest. Lay the pots on their 

 sides outdoors and dig up the plants 

 which may be growing in beds or 

 benches; pack these in fiats of loam and 

 stand them where they can have a good 

 drying out. You can plant some of the 

 small ofTsets in the field, if you want to 

 increase your stock. These can be dug 

 up and potted or benched in September. 

 You will find Godfrey by far the most 

 fioriferous variety. 



TRACHELIUM C^RULEUM. 



Trachelium caTuleum, native to the 

 Mediterranean regions of Europe, 

 jtroves hardy in many parts of England 

 and should thrive well in our warmer 

 states. It makes a fine pot plant. Its 

 uiii))els of lovely, soft l)lue flowers are 

 ]M-o<hiced in great ])rofusion from early 

 .June until late July under glass. The 

 l)lant will continue to flower until fall 

 if planted outdoors. Weeds sown in late 

 July and carried over in a frost-proof 

 frame or cold greenhouse will ])roduce 

 I)lants which can be grown large enough, 

 if necessary, to fill 12-inch tui)s. Ordi- 

 narily, however, 7-inch or 8-inch pots 

 jirove more serviceable. The cloud- 

 like terminal heads of flowers, and the 

 aliundant side shoots opening a little 

 later, have fine keeping and remarkable 

 sliipping (jualities. If you want some- 

 thing not grown by everyone, try a 

 few of the throatwort, as this plant is 

 commonly called. It belongs to the 

 (•ani])anula family, but does not in any 

 way look like a campanula. 



CYCLAMENS. 



It hardly pays the average small 

 grower, who handles but a small number 

 of such winter-flowering plants as cycla- 

 mens and fibrous-rooted begonias, to 

 grow them from seeds or cuttings. It 

 is far better to secure stock to grow 

 on from one of tlie many specialists 

 wlio handle such plants in large quanti- 

 ties. Now is a good time to buy some 

 cyclamens in 3-inch or 4-ini'li pots and 

 grow them along for Thanksgiving or 

 Christmas trade. Remember that the 

 red and pink shades of cyclamens are 

 the best sellers at holidays. 



In repotting the plants use a com- 

 IKist of fil)rous loam, if you have it, to 

 which add one-fifth each of well de- 

 cayed cow manure passed through a 

 V-j-inch screen and some flaky leaf-mold 

 not too much decayed, also a good dash 

 of sharp sand. Give the plants good 

 drainage, pot firmly, leave sufficient 

 space in the top of the pot for water, 

 ajid be careful not to cover the corm, 

 or bulb, with soil. 



Cyclamens are mainly grown in green- 

 houses during the summer, where they 



are moderately shaded during bright 

 weather. It is a decided advantage to 

 use clear glass and shade with eheese- 

 cloth or some other light cloth. Avoid, 

 at all events, a heavy shade on the 

 glass, as this would make the plants 

 leggy. Water the plants carefully and 

 spray them lightly several times a day 

 in clear, warm weather. 



The bane of cyclamens is the mite, 

 which annually destroys many thou- 

 sands of plants by deforming and dis- 

 torting the flowers and foliage. Spray- 

 ing with nicotine of a good standard 

 brand once a week should be done, di- 

 recting it not only over the foliage, but 

 well into the center of the bulbs. Cold- 

 frames are good for cyclamen culture 

 during the hot months; keep the sashes 

 tilted at top and bottom all the time. 

 I'se lath or some other kind of remov- 

 al)le shades on the frames, but don 't 

 keep them on in sunless weather and 

 do not i)ut them on too early in bright 

 weather. 



CLEMATIS RECTA. 



There is more than one clematis of 

 shrub habit. C. recta, sometimes 

 called erccta, is pure white in color, 

 and its sweet-scented flowers are abun- 

 danth- produced on stems three to four 

 feet high in June. The flowers are simi- 

 lar to those of the popular climber, 

 C. paniculata. Splendid for cutting, 

 fine in design work and of excellent 

 keeping qualities, this is one of the 

 most valuable of pure white herbaceous 

 perennials for the florist to grow. It 

 is a native of Europe and luis stood 2n 

 to 25 degrees below zero without jiro- 

 tection for some years; so it may fairly 

 be classed as hardy. 



There is another shrub clematis, with 

 heavier foliage, named Davidiana. This 

 is a native of China and produces erect 

 panicles of large blue flowers in July 

 and August. The foliage is similar to 

 that of the Japanese anemone. Each 

 of these plants is of value to the flo- 

 rist. 



There is a double form of C. recta, in- 

 troduce(l by Lemoine some years ago. 

 also a form somewhat taller and carry- 

 ing larger pure white flowers, intro- 

 duced from China, named C. recta 

 mandshurica. These slirul) clematis can 

 be propagated an<l replanted in fall, by 

 means of root divisions. 



PRUNING FLOWERING SHRUBS. 



Too many so-called "experts," when 

 called upon to prune deciduous flower 

 ing shrubs, use the shears on them in 

 winter or early spring. This is utterly 

 wrong. With the exception of hydran- 

 geas like paniculata and arborescens. 

 practieally all shrubs, including syrin 

 gas, viburnums, spira-as, forsythias, 

 loniceras and exochord.as, should be 

 pruned after flowering. Then any weak 

 or dead wood can be removed and the 

 plants shaped up a little if necessary. 



This will give them time ^o make new 

 wood, which will flower the following 

 spring or summer. When pruning is 

 done to dormant shrubs, it simply 

 means tlie cutting of their flowering 

 wood. The appearance of many topiary 

 plants seen on home grounds show the 

 results. 



GLOXINIAS. 



Tile number of summer-flowering pot 

 jilants is not great. Among them glox- 

 inias are Worthy of sjiecial note. These 

 are not ])lants which will stand long 

 sliiiiment, as foliage and stems are 

 quite brittle and easily broken, but for 

 home trade or nearby markets they 

 have considerable value. There has 

 been a wonderful improvement in these 

 ])lants within the last twenty-five years. 

 A sensation was created by the first 

 erect-flowered plants. Until that time 

 all plants produced flowers which prac- 

 tically lay over the pots unless sup- 

 ]iorted. There is no reason why any 

 florist should not grow his own gloxin- 

 ias. The 'seeds germinate readily in a 

 warm, moist house. The seedlings can 

 be pricked off into flats and later pot- 

 ted singly. They bloom well the same 

 season. 



The way to get large bulbs, however, 

 is to plant gloxinias out over an old 

 liotbed; shade the glass, and tilt up the 

 sashes at top and bottom a little. The 

 compost should be light, but fairly rich 

 and sandy. The ])lants should be fumi- 

 gated once a fortnight for thrips, which 

 .are sometimes exceedingly destructive, 

 (iloxinias jilanted out make wonderful 

 leaves and flowers and will produce 

 si)len<lid bulbs for use the following sea- 

 son. The handsome flowers are most 

 useful for table decorations and other 

 ]iurposes. Winter is the time to sow 

 gloxinias. Those who do not want the 

 trouble of growing them from seed can 

 always jnirchase l)ulbs. (iloxinias must 

 not be exposed to strong sunshine, and 

 water must be ke]>t ofT the foliage, 

 which would otherwise soon have a rusty 

 a])i)earance. 



PENTSTEMONS. 



The forms of peiitstemon hybrids are 

 handsome as bedding jilants. There 

 are a number of charming hardy va- 

 rieties, without some of wliicli no her- 

 baceous border is com])lete. All are ex- 

 cellent for cutting aiul can be arranged 

 most gracefully in v.ases. Probably tlie 

 flnest of the family is P. b;irb;itus Tor 

 i-eyi, which is also sometimes classed 

 with the chelones. Of graceful, willowy 

 habit, this variety carries bright scar- 

 let flowers, which are effective in the 

 hardy border. It attains a height of 

 three or four feet. A ]iretty variety now 

 in bloom is P. digitalis, with "white 

 flowers, spotted with violet. Other good 

 hardy penstemons are CH>ruleus, dark 

 blue; i)ubeseens, rosy purple, and spccfa- 

 bilis, blue and red. 



