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18 



The Florists' Review 



Fbbbdabz 4, 1016. 



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f SEASONABLE 



i ^ SUGGESTIONS j 





Hydrangeas. 



While Easter has not been a spe- 

 cially good holiday for the sale of 

 hydrangeas, the sale of these being de- 

 cidedly better at Memorial day, the 

 advent of the new French hydrangeas 

 has completely changed these condi- 

 tions. The French sorts, coming in 

 such a variety of pleasing shades, in- 

 cluding pure white, pale pink, deep 

 pink, lavender blue and deep blue, have 

 taken their place among the most sat- 

 isfactory of (Easter plants. They will 

 never displace the old Otaksa for out- 

 door uses, as they are more delicate, but 

 they lack the coarseness of that va- 

 riety, and, flowering with such won- 

 derful freedom from even the weakest 

 shoots, they are now among the most 

 popular plants of the present day. 



Plants intended for Easter flowering 

 should have their flower heads now 

 w^ell exposed to view, and, if they are 

 a couple of inches across, hard forcing 

 will not be necessary. It is better to 

 bring them along in a temperature of 

 55 degrees at nignt rather than warmer. 

 Bemember that hydrangeas want lots 

 of water and generous feeding. If 

 any are showing pale foliage, a pinch 

 of nitrate of soda in the water or some 

 soot water will soon color them up. 

 A few specially fine varieties of H. 

 hortensis for florists are: Bouque^ 

 Bose, bright pink; Mme. E. Mouillere, 

 pure white; Radiant, rosy carmine, a 

 splendid color; General de "Vibraye, 

 bright rose; Mile, de Tremault, large 

 pure white; Souv. de Mme. Chautard, 

 bright rose. 



This is a good season to take cut- 

 ings of non-flowering wood from any 

 of the hydrangeas. If these are 

 planted out in May where they can get 

 an occasional watering, they will maJie 

 heavy plants fit for 8-inch pots in 

 September. 



Hardy Perennials from Seed. 



If it is desired to work up a good 

 stock of any of the more popular 

 hardy herbaceous perennials and an 

 adequate number were not raised last 

 summer or fall, there is no better time 

 than the present to make sowings of 

 any desired varieties. Started now, 

 they can be transplanted into flats, 

 moved into coldframes by the early 

 part of April and planted out in nur- 

 sery rows a month later. Some of the 

 more useful varieties to sow at this 

 time are: Delphiniums, lychnis, aqui- 

 legias, Shasta daisies, lupines, penste- 

 mons, primulas, pyrethrums and 

 Oenotheras. Sow in shallow flats of 

 finely screened compost; one mostly 

 leaf-mold with fine sand added is the 

 best. 



Canterbury BeUs. 



For an early Easter it is not possible 

 to force Canterbury bells and have 

 them in really presentable condition. 

 It is far more satisfactory to bring 

 them along cool and flower them from 

 the last of April onward. Plants which 

 were potted m the fall and have been 



carried over winter in coldframes or 

 pits can be housed now. Strip off all 

 the yellow or decaying leaves, give the 

 surface soil a stirring and place in a 

 cool house for a start. A temperature 

 of 40 to 45 degrees at night is ample 

 for a start. You can treat the plants 

 to high temperatures, but they will not 

 make nearly as satisfactory plants as 

 when grown cooler. Apart from green 

 aphis, Canterbury bells are remarkably 

 free from pests. Occasionally thrips 

 will attack them, but only if they are 

 in an arid atmosphere or standing too 

 near the heating pipes. Canterbury 

 bells make magnificent pot plants and 

 the flowers last far better than when 

 grown outdoors. 



Cyclamens. 



With the lengthening days, the little 

 cyclamen plants are starting to grow 

 away nicely. During midwinter there 

 is not much apparent activity among 

 the plants, but from now on the rate 

 of growth will become accelerated. 

 Perhaps your plants are potted off; if 

 so, look over them once a week and 

 give the surface soil a stir, also pull- 

 ing out any weeds. If in flats, do 



the same. Keep the surface soil open 

 and free from scum, and, provided you 

 have them in suitable compost, one \ 

 containing plenty of flaky leaf-mold, 

 they are sure to make good headway. 

 On clear days give them a spraying 

 overhead, but keep them dry while it 

 is murky overhead. A temperature of 

 52 to 55 degrees will suit young plants, 

 but 10 degrees lower is best for any 

 flowering plants you still have on hand. 



(Genistas. 



Genista plants for Easter must never 

 have any real forcing, or they wUl 

 not amount to much. This is a plant 

 which must be grown cool all the 

 time. A cold house can now receive 

 the plants intended for Easter; any- 

 thing a few degrees clear of freezing 

 will suit them. Discontinue any clip- 

 ping or pinching. This close cropping 

 gives compact, formal looking, well 

 flowered plants, but the racemes are 

 smaller than those carried on more 

 naturally grown plants and it is a 

 question whether it is good policy for 

 florists to continue heading in their 

 genistas so late. Critical buyers will 

 not take these chopped-in genistas at ' 

 any price. They turn to the more 

 naturally grown plants, which are 

 vastly more beautiful and have a grace 

 which is entirely lacking in the others. 



Boot cuttings of genistas now in a 

 fairly cool propagating bench; one 

 which suits carnations and chrysanthe- 

 mums will prove ideal for genistas. 

 From cuttings rooted now, nice plants 

 in 5-inch pots can be had a year from 

 nowii 



CABNATION SOIL FOB PEAS. 



Will carnation soil be all right for 

 sweet peasf E. C. 



New carnation compost will suit 

 sweet peas well. Sweet peas do best 

 in a solid bed where they , can have 

 eighteen inches of well manured soil. 

 I would not advise using the old car- 

 nation soil for the sweet peas. C. W. 



SWEET PEA AND VIOLET SOIL. 



What is the best soil for growing 

 sweet peas under glass; also, for sin- 

 gle violets? We have been using black 

 hill ground mixed with pasture loam, 

 with about one-third of well rotted 

 stable manure. By mistake this year 

 we included too much heavy clay soil, 

 which seems to pack too much and 

 prevents drainage. How can we rem- 

 edy this for the present season? Will 

 frequent cultivation help anyt E, S. 



Pasture loam with one-third stable 

 manure added makes an excellent com- 

 post for both violets and sweet peas. 

 Cow manure is particularly good for 

 the sweet peas. The inclusion of some 



clayey soil should not prove particu- 

 larly harmful. About all you can do 

 is to keep the surface soil well stirred, 

 as suggested. To improve the texture 

 of retentive soil, road scrapings, coarse 

 sand, fine coal ashes, etc., can be used, 

 but since your beds are planted, of 

 course nothing of this kind can be 

 added. C. W. 



SWEET PEAS NOT FLOWEJEUNO. 



The last week in August I planted, 

 in ground beds, some Spencer sweet 

 peas of the following varieties: Kin& 

 White, Hercules, Elfrida Pearson ana* 

 Florence Nightingale. They are now 

 five to six feet high and are doing 

 well, but show no sign of any flowers. 

 We give them a night temperature of 

 50 to 54 degrees, with a rise of 12 to 

 15 degrees during the day. I would 

 like to know when these varieties 

 should begin flowering under the con- 

 ditions mentioned. A. B. 



The sweet peas named are splendid 

 outdoor varieties, but are entirely un- 

 suited to greenhouse culture, except 

 for a spring or early summer crop. The 



