20 



TTic Florists' Review 



Jdnb 4, 1914. 



1 

 i 



* SEASONABLE j»^ 1 

 i ^ SUGGESTIONS l 



• 



Bay Trees. 



Bay trees will all have been placed 

 outdoors some time ago. This note 

 therefore merely is a reminder that 

 plants whieh have been recently tubbed 

 will need careful watering for some 

 time, but can be freely syringed twice 

 ia day. Plants which have a veritable 

 network of roots in the tubs will need 

 a good deal of feeding and cow manure 

 water has no superior for this purpose. 

 Unless the bay is standing in a promi- 

 nent place, where the manure would be 

 objectionalale, an excellent plan is to 

 place a solid ring of cow manure around 

 the outer edge of the tub to keep the 

 water in, with a thinner layer on the 

 surface of the soil in the tub. It will 

 be found that a mulch of this kind, and 

 plenty of water, will, in a season, trans- 

 form half starved plants into quite 

 luxuriant ones. Any badly starved 

 plants can be much improved by knock- 

 ing them out of the tubs, loosening the 

 balls somewhat, and planting them out- 

 doors in good soil where they can be 

 sprayed and watered occasionally. Such 

 plants can be retubbed in the fall and 

 by that time will be in much better 

 condition. 



Hardy Boses. 



As the growing and flowering season 

 for hardy roses advances, pests . must 

 be fought persistently. Rose slugs are 

 best destroyed by sprayings of helle- 

 bore. It is a mistake to use arsenate of 

 lead, as this disfigures the foliage. For 

 thrips and spider there is nothing bet- 

 ter than a good pressure of water from 

 the hose each evening, and this also will 

 help to keep green aphis in check. To 

 <'lean out the latter use whale oil soap, 

 kerosene emulsion, Ivory soap, Aphine, 

 or any of the nicotine sprays. 



Last winter proved unusually de 

 structive to hardy roses, the hybrid 

 teas, and such hybrid perpetuals as 

 Frau Karl Druschki, Clio, Baroness 

 Rothschild, Prince Camille de Rohan, 

 and others dying back badly. The sup- 

 posedly ironclad ramblers also were cut 

 to the ground in many cases, showing 

 that it is a good policy, where winter 

 temperatures go much below zero, to 

 lay this class of roses down before the 

 ground freezes up solid. 



The hybrid teas and hybrid per- 

 petuals should be disbudded before the 

 buds become large. Beds of hybrid 

 teas, which, as a rule, succeeded better 

 on light rather than heavy soil, will 

 make a stronger growth if given a 

 mulch of cow manure and an occasional 

 soaking with a sprinkler. 



Asters. 



The present is a suitable time to 

 make a good sowing of asters for a 

 late crop. Such varieties as Victoria, 

 Vick's Branching and American 

 Branching all are good. Of course 

 there are some varieties, like Queen of 

 the Market, Mignon and some others, 

 which can be sown until June 20 and 

 which will flower before frost. 



Keep the earliest asters well culti- 



vated. If the soil is good they will 

 stand quite a severe drought without 

 injury. Take advantage of cool, moist 

 spells of weather to set out succession 

 batches of plants and be sure they have 

 nice, moist balls of earth. This applies, 

 of course, to all plants, both flowers and 

 vegetables, particularly at this season 

 of the year. 



Primulas. 



Now, when Memorial day and the 

 rush of the bedding-out trade are over, 

 it is possible to give a little extra time 

 to primulas. They are growing quite 

 rapidly and need an occasional spacing 

 apart. See, also, that they do not be- 

 come potbound before being shifted 

 along. Primulas all like a light soil, 

 one which contains fifty per cent flaky 

 leaf-mold being excellent for them in 

 the early stages of growth, giving a 

 little heavier compost for the flowering 

 pots. To keep the plants stocky there 

 can be no better place than a cold- 

 frame in which to grow them through 

 t,he summer. Partially plunge the pots 

 in fine coal ashes. Tilt the sashes back 

 and front, leaving them open all the 

 time. Do not shade the glass; this will 



make the growth lanky, but use lath 

 shadings to exclude the sun. 



If you have not time to pot on your 

 plants, try the plan of planting them 

 out in frames containing a mixture of 

 loam, loal-mold and sand with some 

 well decayed and screened manure 

 added. A sash 3x6 feet should not hold 

 over twenty-four plants. Keep the 

 gashes and shading as suggested for 

 those in pots. These plants will make 

 a spleudid growth and can be lifted 

 and pott'^d early in September. The 

 growth will far exceed that made by 

 plants in pots and, with careful lifting, 

 potting and shading, few plants will be 

 lost. 



Cinerarias. 



While there is ample time in which 

 to sow cineraria seed for flowering 

 next spring, it is time to make a sow- 

 ing for early blooming. Some of these 

 plants will flower for -Christmas and 

 others through January and early Feb- 

 ruary. Sow the seeds in pans of leaf- 

 mold and fine sand. To prevent pans 

 drying out, it is a good plan to plunge 

 the pans inside some of larger size. 

 Cover the seed lightly. Cover with 

 glass and shade with paper. Cinerarias 

 dislike heat and, if perchance we get 

 an extremely hot wave, germination 

 will not be so good as later in the sea- 

 son. Keep the pans in a house where 

 the shade is good and the temperature 

 as low as possible. Expose the little 

 seedlings to light as soon as they ger- 

 minate, but do not let it be direct sun- 

 light. 



-;,-;^--" -"^^r 



IH 



SUMMER TEEATMENT OF FERNS. 



Will you please tell us what is the 

 best treatment for a general stock of 

 ferns and for plumosus and Sprengeri 

 during the summer? Will they make 

 a better growth and have a better, 

 fresher and greener appearance in the 

 early fall if taken out of the green- 

 house, placed under the shade of our 

 large maple trees in the yard and hosed 

 over every day, or is the greenhouse 

 better for them all through the sum- 

 mer! If so, should the house have a 

 coat of whitening to exclude the bright 

 sunshine, and when should the shade 

 be applied? The ferns are Nephrolepis 

 elegantissima, Boston, Roosevelt, etc. 

 We are located in Delaware. 



L. M. S. & C. 



and free ventilation should be given 

 at all times, in accordance with the 

 weather. W. H. T. 



TO MAKE FERN FRONDS DARK. 



What can be used in the soil to make 

 ferns a dark green? C. L. H. 



Use one-fifth well decayed and pul- 

 verized cow manure, adding a 6-inch 

 pot of soot to every bushel of compost. 

 In watering, use weak cow manure and 

 soot combined, which has been previ- 

 ously placed in a bag and strained into 

 a tub or barrel of water. C. W. 



While the ferns and asparagus would 

 grow nicely outdoors during the sum- 

 mer, and would retain their color when 

 grown under the shade of trees, yet 

 they would be more under control of 

 the grower if kept in the greenhouse, 

 and would be less exposed to the at- 

 tacks of caterpillars and other pests. 

 The greenhouse will require shading 

 from May to September, in order to 

 keep the temperature within bounds. 



SCAIiE ON ADIANTUM 



Can you tell nu* what to use for the 

 scale on the fern of which leaves are 

 enclosed, which is kept in a dwelling 

 house? E. B. H. & C. 



Spraying is the only sure way to 

 clean the scale from your ferns, and 

 this is so much of a task that it is 

 rarely attempted, as it is less trouble 

 to cut ofif and destroy affected fronds, 

 and let the plants produce new ones. 

 Aphine sprayed on the foliage will kill 

 and loosen up a large part of the 

 scales. . C. W. 



