14 



The Florists' Review 



JuLV 23, 1914. 



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* SEASONABLE j^ 1 

 i s^ SUGGESTIONS j 



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Freesias. 



The bulbs of freesias will soon be 

 procurable; iu fact, those florists who 

 make a point of not cutting back their 

 flower stalks too hard, and save their 

 own bulbs, will have ripened off and 

 sorted them some time ago. It is not 

 a good plan to replant these bulbs as 

 soon as harvested; indeed, nearly all 

 bulbs after maturation should have 

 some rest, and, if this is not afforded, 

 they will start erraticall\'. Varieties 

 in mind are tulijts, narcissi, hyacinths, 

 gladioli and nmny others. Of course 

 scale bulbs, such as lilies, are injured 

 by being kept out of the soil. But re- 

 verting to freesias, the finest variety 

 of all is Purity. Older sorts, such as 

 refracta alba and Iveichtlinii, are de- 

 cidedly inferior, although some grow- 

 ers who keej) their own bulbs over 

 from 3'ear to year have line strains of 

 refracta alba. 



The time when freesias are va' liable 

 as cut flowers is at Christmas and Xew 

 Year's, but there is a goo<l sale for 

 them three months later. For early 

 flowering use .S-inch or 1(1 inch pans. 

 Plant twenty-live and fifty bulbs, re- 

 spectiveh', in these. Flats four inches 

 deep may also be used, but for the 

 earliest batch and for the production 

 of fine spikes I ])refer ])ans every time. 

 A fibrous loam containing one-fourth 

 olJ screened manure and m j^enerous 

 dash of sand will suit freesias. I like, 

 if {)ossible, to grow them without fee<l 

 ing with lujuid manure, as the latter 

 invariably causes the tips of the leavi's 

 to turn brown. Place the freesias, 

 after planting, in a coldfranu' or jiit 

 and protect them from the sun. To 

 prevent the soil from drying out, a 

 mulch of dry spliagiium moss or cocoa- 

 nut fiber will be found useful. 



Genistas. 



(lenistas which are jdunged outdoors 

 will now be making rapid growth, and 

 to keep them shapely a shearing will 

 be needed once a month. Do not trim 

 hem in too closely, however, as many 

 customers prefer tlie plants more loose- 

 ly and naturally grown. Young plants 

 propagated last winter will need pot- 

 ting now and probably again before 

 fall. Keep them ]»lunged in a cold- 

 frame or in some location where water 

 can he easily applied to them, and do 

 not forget an occasional pinching. 



Gardenias. 



Gardenias which were benched in 

 June will have nmde considerable 

 growth and the roots will have pene- 

 trated through a good portion of the 

 benches. Guard against overwatering. 

 If once you get fhe benches in any- 

 thing like a soggy state, pale foliage, 

 that bane of gardenia cultivators, will 

 appear. It always is safer to under- 

 water than the reverse. If your com- 

 post is as it ought to be, quite porous, 

 there will be ie.ss danger, of course, 

 of its becoming sour. Give the plants 

 a spraying over daily and at hast 



twice a week a thorough syringing, 

 using the spray nozzle on the hose, to 

 keep mealy bug within bounds. Air 

 can be given quite freely at this sea- 

 son, but a night minimum of (io de- 

 grees should be maintained. 



Transplanting Biennials. 



Advantage should be. taken of spells 

 of moist, clouily weather to transplant 

 such plants as digitalis, rockets, Can- 

 terbury bells, sweet-williams, etc.; 

 also any herbaceous perennials which 

 may be of sufficient size. Set these out 

 iu nursery rows, six to fifteen inches 

 apart, according to variety, and keep 

 them well cultivated. They will make 

 splendid plants before fall. It is not 

 yet too late to sow some seeds of these, 

 but sowing must not be delayed after 

 this date. The jjresent is a suitable 

 time to sow hollyhocks. The attacks 

 of rust caused these one-time favorites 

 to ]iass almost out of culture, but it is 

 pleasing now to see that more are 

 l>eing grown each year, ('hater's and 

 Alleghenys are good strains. Some 

 growers see no beautj' in hollyhocks 

 unless they are double. Personally, I 

 consider the singles far more beau- 

 tiful. 



Double Daisies and Myosotis. 



Double daisies and myosotis are 

 (juite ])0|)ular in spring, selling well 

 in small baskets or boxes, jtut up in 

 the same way as pansies. Hoth forget- 

 nie iiots and daisies can be sown at the 

 same time as the i)ansies. For bed- 

 ding ]iurposes and spring sales, the 



alpestris varieties are the best. Wiiip 

 blue is and always will be the favo ite 

 color, pink and white are procurabli in 

 separate packets. In the way of 

 stronger growing and more persist int 

 blooming sorts M. sylvatica and pa' us, 

 tris semperflorens should be tnod. 

 The double daisies should not be sfwu! 

 mixed. Some fine named sorts are ].io-| 

 curable and I have found Giant Wlnte 

 Giant Bose, Longfellow, double pink'j 

 and The Bride, double white, a first] 

 class quartette to grow. j 



CINEBABIAS FBOM SEED. 



Will you please tell me when I shoaltl 

 sow cineraria seed for winter blooming;, 

 also what kind of soil to use and how 

 to care for the plants? Will they A^ 

 well in pots? W. M. P. ; 



Sow the cineraria seed at once in a 

 pan or pans of light compost; one <onl 

 sisting largely of leaf -mold, with some! 

 fine sand added, will be ideal. Make the 

 surface smooth, and, after sowing, cover 

 the seeds quite lightly. Protect with a; 

 sheet of glass and cover this again with 

 l)aper. Keep well shaded until the seeds 

 germinate. If you have a lean-to house 

 facing north, it would be just the place 

 for the seed pans. When the seedlings 

 are of sufficient size, transplant them 

 into flats, using equal parts of loam and 

 leaf-mold. Later pot off singly and at 

 each successive potting use less leaf- 

 mold but add some old dried cow ma- 

 nure. Flower the plants in 6-inch or 

 S-inch pots, according to how large 

 specimens are desired. A coldfranie 

 shaded during bright sun makes a splen- 

 did place for cinerarias until October, 

 or even later. Never allow the plants 

 to become potbound between shifts. 

 Fumigate or spray regularly, as green 

 aphis is partial to them. Cinerarias 

 succeed best in a low temperature and 

 the winter minimum should not exceeil 

 45 degrees, while the plants will be at 

 home if it is even 5 degrees cooler. 



C. W. 



CABNATIONS TO FOLLOW MUMS. 



We have a bench of mid-season mums 

 and would like to grow carnations in 

 it when the chrysanthemums come off. 

 Would it be practicable to put field- 

 grown plants in 5-inch or 6-inch pots 

 and transplant them to the bench! We 

 would want the blooms from .Tanuary 

 1 on during the winter. We could 

 spare a bench in a light lean-to hous^ 

 if it Avould be practicable to plant them 

 there and then later replant to the 

 mum bench. If you advise either course, 

 when shoCld we plant from the field,- 

 early or late? W. S. G. 



that time of the year growth is at low 

 ebb, and it would take the plants a 

 considerable while to become reestab- 

 lished in the new soil. The best yo" 

 could expect from them would be a uooil 

 Easter crop even when carried aloiu' i" 

 pots. If planted on the bench an! re- 

 planted, the results are not likely 1' ^® 

 satisfactory at all. If you had a "I'l"' 

 ber of glass boxes, you could plant into 

 them about August 20 and keep tl'^ 

 plants topped back until shortly bi fore 

 they are carried onto the bloo nn? 

 bench. These would be established an'' 

 would come right into crop, as •'i^'''' 

 would be no disturbance of the rDots. 



A. F. J. Ba r. 



Carnation plants handled in the man- 

 ner you suggest could not be depended 

 on to begin blooming in January. Your 

 bench would not be ready for them be- 

 fore November 20 to December 1. At 



HABDENINO OF THE STEMS. 



Do carnation cuttings taken froii y'^ 

 flower stem make good stock pl.i"i*'- 

 T find many young plants with har«' 

 ened stems, when' benched. The -t**'" 

 gradually dies off below the top ^l'""^*' 



