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12 



The Florists' Review 



August 7, 1913. 



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# SEASONABLE ^ If 

 jl ^ SUGGESTIONS I 



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Paper White Narcissi. 



Paper White narcissi are now coming 

 to band, and though they were often in 

 oversupply in the wholesale flower mar- 

 kets, they are inexpensive, easy of cul- 

 ture, can be flowered over a long period, 

 and are all in all among the most useful 

 late fall and winter flowers for the aver- 

 age country florist. Any grower with- 

 out stevias and Paper White narcissi 

 lacks two sorts of flowers which are 

 hard to get along without. Some there 

 are who dislike the odor of the Paper 

 Whites, and it is a general cry that 

 "there is no money in them." Never- 

 theless, we find the demand for them 

 shows no falling off, but rather the re- 

 verse. 



It will not pay to place too large a 

 batch of bulbs in flats at once. They 

 are not much in demand while mums 

 are in season, but sell well later. But 

 if the flowers are all for home consump- 

 tion it will be well to have a few flats 

 started each week, allowing large 

 batches, of course, for such occasions 

 as Thanksgiving and Christmas. Paper 

 Whites do not require to be kept in the 

 dark or covered with ashes, as the bulk 

 of bulbs do. They start to root and 

 grow quickly and can, if necessary, be 

 had in flower before November 1. 



Roman Hyacinths. 



It is doubtful whether as many Roman 

 hyacinths will be grown commercially 

 this year as usual, on account of the 

 extremely high price of the bulbs. They 

 are useful flowers in design work, and 

 no other bulb will really take their 

 place. Where there is any sale for flow- 

 ering plants, a few pans of these will 

 sell well, but it is in flats containing 

 four to five inches of light, sandy and 

 moderately rich soil that they succeed 

 best. They take a little longer than the 

 Paper Whites to come into flower, and 

 do better if kept dark or covered with 

 coal ashes, soil or some other material 

 until they are sprouted a couple of 

 inches, when they can go into warm 

 houses. They should be placed in cooler 

 quarters later, to retard them and give 

 them more substance, 



Lilium Harrisii. 



Lilium Harrisii are now at hand. 

 They are not grown in any great quan- 

 tity, as they once were, on account of 

 their susceptibility to disease, but for 

 the last year or two they have been 

 coming much cleaner, owing to more 

 careful culture in Bermuda, and a much 

 larger percentage may now be expected 

 to be clean than a few years ago. 

 Started now, the bulbs will easMy flower 

 for Christmas. Last year I saw quite a 

 few for Thanksgiving, but the demand 

 is best at Christmas. For home trade, 

 also, a few spikes of lilies always come 

 in useful, and L. Harrisii will be found 

 to have much greater vigor and throw 

 more flowers per stalk than cold storage 

 longiflorums. As a rule, 5-inch pots 

 suffice for Harrisii. Some prefer to 

 place the bulb fairly deep in the pot, 



just cover with soil and later fill the 

 balance of the pot. The best feeding 

 roots from the bulb are then below, and 

 not above the soil. 



Cold Storage Speciosum Lilies. 



Cold storage speciosum lilies are use- 

 ful at both Thanksgiving and Christ- 

 mas, being preferred by some of the 

 best floral artists to the stiffer and 

 heavier longiflorum or Harrisii. The 

 cold storage bulbs potted early in July 

 will now have "made considerable 

 growth, and, whether they are growing 

 in pots or deep flats, will need some 

 spacing apart from time to time. Green 

 aphis is also liable to attack them, A 

 spraying with nicotine, Aphine or some 

 other good remedy will easily care for 

 them. Be careful not to overwater; it 

 will cause the roots to decay and after- 

 ward the stems will commence to die 

 away. Stems on which the ends of 

 leaves are brown from the start may as 

 well be cut away. They have had too 

 much cold, and, even if allowed to grow 

 their full length, the flower buds will 

 be found to be dead. 



Lilium Candidum. 



The bulbs of Lilium candidum arrive 

 from the middle to the end of August. 

 North-of-France bulbs only are worth 

 growing. The big, handsome south-of- 

 France bulbs are bought heavily year 

 after year and people are disgusteil 



with candidums, as well they may be. In- 

 sist on northern-grown bulbs, or le^ive 

 candidums alone altogether. This lily 

 must be unpacked at once on arrival, 

 and potted just as soon as possible, for 

 it will be found that many have made 

 leafy growths and that nearly all are 

 pushing out roots. Do not use small 

 pots. Single bulbs in a pot are ungainly 

 and do not grow nearly so well as when 

 several are placed in larger pots. As a 

 rule, 8-inch and 10-inch pots are the 

 most serviceable sizes. These will con- 

 tain three to six bulbs each, according 

 to their size. Use a good fibrous loam, 

 such as would grow good mums or roses. 

 After potting, do not stand them in a 

 cellar or under a greenhouse bench. 

 Stand them outdoors, in a position 

 where heavy rains Can be kept off them. 

 Do not water at all until growth'starts 

 freely; then soak well; after that let 

 them dry out well again, and always 

 avoid soakings from the skies in the 

 early stages of growth. 



Leave the pots outdoors until they 

 have had several moderate freezings; 

 then stand them in a coldframe until 

 wanted for forcing. If candidums are 

 wanted for outdoor planting and the 

 ground is not yet in readiness, put them 

 singly in 5-inch pots and keep in a 

 coldframe until wanted. Candidums 

 outdoors are more subject to disease 

 than many other lilies, the trouble gen- 

 erally appearing just when the flowers 

 are ready to expand. It helps consider- 

 ably to lay the bulbs in flowers of sul- 

 phur a few days before planting. Set 

 them four inches deep, with a bed of 

 sand below and above them. Also lay 

 the bulbs on their sides, instead of 

 standing them erect, and it will be 

 found that the percentage of disease 

 will be appreciably reduced. Use no 

 fresh manure near the bulbs of these 

 or any other lilies. 



WINTER SWEET PEAS. 



Progress in Their Culture, 

 An increasing number of growers are 

 now trying winter-flowering sweet peas. 

 A much larger number are also planting 

 them as a succession crop to chrysanthe- 

 mums, but quite a few are growing crops 

 of tomatoes and cucumbers and follow- 

 ing with sweet peas. The importance 

 of these flowers commercially is yearly 

 increasing, as their wants are better 

 known and better varieties are intro- 

 duced. It is but a few years since Zvo- 

 lanek gave us his first true winter sweet 

 peas. At thati time 6-inch to 8-inch 

 stems were considered good. Now with 

 big, roomy, up-to-date houses, 18-inch 

 ones are often cut. Until now the 

 grandiflora varieties alone have been 

 grown. It was thought that Spencer va- 

 rieties under glass would be of no value 

 until late spring, but now a whole host 



of true winter Spencers have been 

 evolved by Zvolanek and Burpee, and 

 within a year or two only the waved 

 type will be seen under glass. 



Best in Solid Beds, 



The finest sweet peas under glass are 

 grown in solid beds, as in these they 

 have a deeper root run and the roots 

 hre cooler and moister than is possible 

 in raised benches. Any florist, however, 

 who cares to plant sweet peas in benches 

 can get good flowers for a long period 

 if they are kept well fed and watered. 

 It is, however, in solid beds that the 

 really fine long-stemmed flowers are to 

 be had. The soil must be thoroughly 

 prepared. For best results trench the 

 beds twelve to eighteen inches deep, 

 working in plenty of well decayed cow 

 manure. Be sure that the drainage is 

 good. Sow the seed thinly; let individ- 

 ual plants stand four to six inches apart 



