12 



The Florists^ Review 



July 0. 1914. 



(Xm U^Xm^J^ READEHB 



A HABDY CANNA. 



There is now growing against the 

 south wall of my greenhouse a bronze- 

 leaved canna, which has not been out 

 of the ground for at least five years. 

 No care has been taken to protect it 

 dctring the winter, yet it comes up with 

 4^* more abundant foliage each year, ajad 

 the leaves are now taller than the 

 plants grown in the house. It grows 

 fully six feet tall and makes a hand- 

 some bunch of leaves. The flowers I 

 should call a cherry red. They are not 

 much to brag about and as I have had 

 better bloomers, I have never lifted 

 the plant. But it comes up and smiles 

 at me each year, and so I have left it 

 to grow in its own sweet way. I did 

 not know cannas were ever hardy. 



Lou Hardman. 



WHEN TO PLANT THE ISIS. 



A reader of The Review asks, in a 

 recent issue of the paper, when is the 

 best time to plant irises. It may be 

 helpful to state first when not to plant 

 them. When not to plant them is when 

 they are just ready to bloom; to move 

 them then is too severe a shock for 

 them. Some growers wait till late in 

 the spring and then wonder why their 

 plants die. When the ground was in 

 just the right condition, we have plant- 

 ed them immediately after their bloom- 

 ing period, and with good results. This 

 can be done if you can change from one 

 row to another. But they cannot be 

 safely shipped at this stage. 



The best time of all is in August. In 

 that month they have been shipped from 

 the Atlantic to the Pacific in safety, but 

 they must be packed dry. If the roots 

 are extra long, cut them back a little. 

 If packed in wet moss, they will rot. 

 A florist in Aberdeen, S. D., wrote to 

 us saying that he planted in the fall 

 a!nd always lost the plants. We ad- 

 vised him to try planting his next sea- 

 son's stock in August; he did so and 

 was greatly pleased with the outcome. 

 Planted then, if the ground is in good 

 condition, they get well rooted before 

 winter. 



Of course they can be set out any 

 time in the fall if the location is not 

 too far north, or the work can be done 

 early in the spring, but the results will 

 not be so satisfactory as from August 

 planting. C. S. Harrison. 



ONE FOSM OF ADVEBTISING. 



The problem of getting the public to 

 patronize florists more liberally is one 

 of the vital problems we all must try 

 to solve to the best of our ability. Past 

 efforts and their Tesulto might teach us 

 a great deal if only we knew more of 

 what is being done throughout the coun- 

 try along this line. For this reason I 

 wish to state what I have done for the 

 welfare of the trade and my firm espe- 

 cially dating the great rose iestivavl at 

 Portland,, Ore. 



^The aniiual celebration in honor of 

 Portland's roses is taking on greater 

 proportions each year, and this year, in- 



stead of holding the district rose ex- 

 hibits in the Armory, two blocks of 

 Sixth street were reserved for flower 

 exhibits, and the support of profession- 

 als was solicited. While no prizes were 

 offered for florists' exhibits by the fes- 

 tival • management, «4t was suggested 

 that the advertisi^ returns would 

 prove better rewards than prizes could 

 be. Deciding to test the advertising 

 value of a good exhibit, 'we grew small 

 batches of our different petunias and 

 French hydrangeas, as well as a number 

 of more -uncommon plants, such as Ger- 

 bera Jamesoni, ismene, Hoya carnosa, 

 bougainvillea and Aristolochia ele- 

 gans, flowers of which were also ex- 

 hibited and added much interest. 



All the street exhibits were arranged 

 in a natural garden scene closed in on 



all sides by neat fencing. Among trade 

 exhibitors were J. B. Pilkington, H. 

 Weed, of the Beaverton Nursery, Ealm 

 & Herbert Co., Crout & Wilson and the 

 Swiss Floral Co, 



Judging from the interest the erov-ds 

 seemed to take in the newer flowtis, 

 especially the petunias and French 1 y- 

 'drangeas, Mont Rose and Mme. Moiul- 

 lere, the flower growing industry has 

 glowing prospects for the future. The 

 neat souvenir memorandum booklets 

 given out by the Swiss Floral Co. up. 

 peared to make a hit, as nearly 10,000 

 of them were carried home by visitors, 

 not strewn about the streets, as is fre- 

 quently seen done with ordinary adver- 

 tising matter. It is impossible to judge 

 the number of visitors to these flower 

 displays, but 125,000 must be a con- 

 servative estimate for the four days of 

 the rose festival. 



We have booked orders from all over 

 the United States, showing that the 

 rose festival draws visitors from far as 

 well as near. Financially we feel that 

 the expense incurred for this advertis- 

 ing is money well spent, and we hope 

 to see others follow in our steps. 



J. G. Bacher. 



BEAUTIES NEED ^ATEB. 



Our American Beautie» were planted 

 in heavy clay soil, of which one-third 

 was cow manure, in which they made 

 a splendid growth. The second sum- 

 mer, after the plants were rested four 

 weeks and the wood was in a ripe con- 

 dition, I pruned them, after which I 

 removed two inches of soil, and re- 

 placed it with a heavy mulch, consist- 

 ing of two-thirds soil and one-third 

 cow manure, bone meal and lime being 

 added. I then gave them a heavy 

 watering. They started to break with- 

 in two days, but the breaks were soft. 

 We have now lost about seventy-five 

 per cent of our plants. I examined the 

 roots, finding scarcely any root action. 

 Kindly advise me what my trouble is. 

 C. B. 



It is well said that ninety-nine times 

 out of 100 if there is something wrong 

 with roses, it is caused by lack of 

 water, and no doubt this case is one of 

 the ninety-nine. When roses planted 

 in heavy clay soil have been rested 

 four weeks by withholding the water 

 the soil gets hard and dry and it takes 

 steady watering for three or four idays 

 and even longer to get it again in the 

 condition that it should be to dissolve 

 the food that the plants require and 



take from the soil. Unless the soil is 

 brought back to this condition the 

 plants will only make a little water 

 growth and will not make any roots. 

 Consequently they will take no nourish- 

 ment from the soil and in a short while 

 will die. 



In starting up old plants after they 

 have been rested, they should be gone 

 over with water for at least two days, 

 several times a day, before any soil i? 

 taken off the benches, to soften the oU 

 soil. Then, after the old soil is taken 

 off, it is well to water the benches at 

 least once before putting in new soil. 

 The benches should again be gone over 

 for two or three days, until you are 

 positive that every particle of tho oM 

 soil is saturated. After that the plants 

 need a dampening down occasionally t'* 

 induce them to break, but don't iiHo'f 

 the old soil around the plants tc he 

 come dry and hard again after the 

 plants have started to make ne^^ 

 growth, for if you do, they will sirel} 

 die. W. J. K- 



PLANTING GRAFTED ROSES. 



In June of last yqar we planted 15" 

 roses of the varieties Killarney, "W't"^ 

 Killarney, Richmond and Lady Hi'li"^' 

 i don. They produced a fine first.crop ^ 

 • the iall, but didpoiorly all winter, p4 

 haps partly on account of oyerwpfatt^ri"'' 

 Now they are' in fine crop, lliey ^ 

 grafted roses and we set the graft abov« 

 the soil. We have made a mistake, *' \ 



