■7*'; ■- *i ■* ■■ TSTTTTX^T^pj ' .J'^^W'.^. 



->v-<:r'fv«:- 



July 20, 1922 



The Florists' Review 



31 



SEASONABLE SUGGESTIONS 



A PAGE OF TIMELY AID 

 AND ADVICE TO GROWERS 



■ ■■■■■■■■.■■-I---..- ■■■--■■ -»■■■-■ ■fw=w 



VIOLETS IN THE FIELD. 



As a rule, violets in the field are 

 looking well this season. It is too soon 

 to whistle, however, as we are by no 

 means clear of the woods. July and 

 August, months of intense heat and 

 often of drought, are hard on violets, 

 and the dreaded red spider often gets 

 in its work then. Keep the soil con- 

 stantly stirred. Maintain a sharp 

 watch for spider; reddening or yellow- 

 ing of the leaves must be taken as a bad 

 symptom, and as soon as the pest is 

 discovered, it must be fought if the 

 plants are to be saved. If you have hose 

 connections, use a fine nozzle with an 

 upward spray and give the plants a 

 thorough watering. If you have not 

 hose connections, use a force pump or 

 barrel sprayer, and instead of clear 

 water alone, add a little nicotine sul- 

 phate — one part to 600 of water will 

 answer — and add some soap to make 

 the spray more adhesive. This spray 

 will be found equally effective for 

 green or black aphis, lacewing fly, or 

 any of the aphides family. 



WINTEE-FLOWERING BEGONIAS, 



One or two varieties of the winter- 

 flowering begonias are of such easy 

 propagation and simple culture that no 

 novice in the greenhouse business need 

 be afraid to handle them. Chatelaine and 

 Mrs. M. A. Patten, among the fibrous- 

 rooted section of begonias, are most 

 useful to the small grower, for not only 

 are they excellent winter bloomers, but 

 they are equally good used as summer 

 bedding plants. They succeed in a 

 lower temperature than Melior, Cincin- 

 nati, Peerless or Mrs. Peterson and 

 need little shade even in the hot- 

 test weather. Nicely flowered plants 

 in 5-inch or 6-inch pots or deep pans 

 will sell for nearly as much as Melior 

 and they stand the dry atmosphere of 

 a home better than even that excellent 

 variety. If you have not tried Chate- 

 laine or Patten, buy some young stock 

 now and grow them on for holiday 

 plants. 



They enjoy a light but fiiirly rich soil. 

 Leaf-mold is especially good, and if 

 your loam is heavy, there is all the more 

 need for it. Some sand, also, should 

 always be added. A bench in any 

 greenhouse with just a light shade will 

 suit these useful plants. 



Melior has risen far above Glory 

 of Cincinnati as a Thanksgiving and 

 Christmas plant, and, wliilo there is 

 still a moderate call for Cincinnati, 

 Lorraine, Mrs. Peterson and the newer 

 Peerless, it is as nothing compared with 

 the sales of Melior. It is not practica- 

 ble for small growers to propagate 

 these plants from leaf cuttings. It is 

 far better to buy some young stock to 

 grow on and now is the time to get it 

 under way. Plants do not grow quite so 

 rapidly during the moist, torrid part of 

 the year, but they put on an accelerated 

 rate of development as the nights grow 



longer and cooler. Plants in 2l^-inch 

 pots are offered by a number of begonia 

 specialists, and, if bought now and well 

 cared for, they will give excellent stock 

 for the holiday sales. Do not shade 

 these begonias too heavily. You may 

 get a deeper color on the leaves by so 

 doing, but the growths will be softer. 

 Do not majte a practice of spraying 

 them overhead, or they will soon re- 

 sent it. 



NEPHROLEPIS. 



The calls for ferns grow stronger each 

 year, and the varieties of nephrolepis 

 prove to be such satisfactory house 

 plants that but a limited number of 

 other species are grown nowadays. If 

 you want to increase your stock and you 

 have a spare bench, plant it with run- 

 ners at once. An old house in which 

 carnations, mums or roses would lan- 

 guish will grow fine ferns, and, contrary 

 to general opinion, these ferns do best 

 with but little shade. Adiantums and 

 other species are darker and better in 

 every way with considerable shade, but 

 it is otherwise with nephrolepis. These 

 ferns will grow in ordinary loam, but 

 if you can add a little leaf -mold or old 

 rotted manure, so much the better. 

 When they are growing in good shape, 

 a mulch of fine old manure conserves 

 moisture and improves the plants. The 

 old Boston remains head and shoulders 

 over all others today. The dwarf Bos- 

 ton grows in favor, and Verona, Ma- 

 cawii, Norwood, Whitmanii, Roosevelt, 

 Teddy, Jr., Scottii and some others all 

 have their admirers. Do not grow too 

 many of the densely plumose varieties; 

 they are softer and harder to handle, 

 and a damp atmosphere affects them 

 more quickly. 



If they are benched at once, you will 

 get nice plants to pot up for ifall sales. 

 You will find that pot-grown plants are 

 much more work and do not make any- 

 thing like the growth of those in the 

 benches. 



FBEESIAS. 



Frcesia bulbs come to hand in July. 

 They are somewhat sparse in crop this 

 season, owing to frosts and unfavorable 

 weather in California, where they arc 

 mainly produced. For that reason larger 

 sizes are not abundant. Do not insist 

 on a large, fat bulb when buying; thin 

 l)ull)s are, on the whole, much better. 

 While July seems early to start bulbs, 

 if you want a batch for Christmas 

 they must be started as soon as possible. 

 Deep pans, sometimes called half pots, 

 are good to use; 8-inch and Kl-inch are 

 good sizes. After the bulbs have been 

 placed in soil, a good position for them 

 is in a coldframe. After watering, lay 

 some leaves or hay over them to pre- 

 vent the soil from drying out and over 

 this covering stand match-board shut- 

 ters. Look at them occasionally and, 

 as the spikes start to push their way 

 out, remove the mulch and shutters in 



order to give the plants light. Later in 

 the season these freesias should have a 

 temperature of 50 degrees to 55 degrees 

 at night. A shelf is an ideal place for 

 them. Put saucers below them unless 

 you have feand or coal ashes to stand' 

 them on. Purity is much the best free- 

 sia. The colored varieties are interest- 

 ing and varied, but the retailers find 

 the call for them limited as yet; so do 

 not plunge on them too heavily. 



JAPANESE AND GERMAN IBIS. 



While the bulk of herbaceous peren- 

 nials succeed best when planted in the 

 early spring or fall, the showy Japanese 

 iris, I. Kaempferi and I. germanica, can 

 be successfully divided and replanted 

 now and from these divisions a satis- 

 factory lot of flowers may be had next 

 season. While the Japanese irises are 

 ordinarily believed to be semi-aquatic 

 in their needs — and it is true that they 

 succeed remarkably well if kept soaked 

 until the flowering period — they make 

 good border plants and give excellent 

 results if planted in nursery rows in 

 good soil. Do not give them a low, wet 

 location; it may be all right in summer, 

 but unless they have comparatively dry 

 "feet" in winter, they will rot out. 



The German irises must have well 

 drained soil, and if it is somewhat 

 sandy they will be far less troubled with 

 the rot which destroys so many each 

 j'ear. It is a good plan to lime the land , 

 for irises in advance of the planting. 

 Wood ashes are good, as also is burnt 

 earth. These two important sections of 

 the great iris family are showy as gar- 

 den plants and both are good for cut- 

 ting. Their ease of culture should rec- 

 ommend them to everyone handling gar- 

 den plants. Another iris, one of the 

 best for cutting and pure white in color, 

 is I. orientalis Snow Queen; this also 

 can be planted now. 



CALCEOLABIAS. 



A considerable number of the large, 

 showy, spotted, herbaceous calceolarias 

 are now grown for spring sales. They 

 are not plants for the warmer states, but 

 make an acceptable subject for spring 

 sales, especially for a late Easter. Late 

 July or early August is a suitable time 

 to sow a j)inch of i?oed in a pan in. a well- 

 shaded greenhouse. The seed is small 

 and should not have any soil placed over 

 it. A little fine sand may, however, be 

 dusted over it. Careful watering is nec- 

 essary in the early stages of growth. A 

 plan sometimes adopted is to prepare a 

 pan in the regulation manner and then 

 scatter a little fine, dry sphagnum moss 

 over the surface. Water this with a fine 

 rose and then carefully sow the tiny 

 seeds. Herbaceous calceolarias grow 

 slowfy in hot weather, but move apace 

 when the cool nights come. They thrive 

 best in a cool greenhouse in winter; a 

 violet temperature is ample and some 

 shade is necessarv. 



