18 



The Florists^ Review 



Fbbbdabx 25. 1915. 



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SEASONABLE Jir 

 M SUGGESTIONS 



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Ericas. 



Ericas j always appear at Easter in 

 moderate numbers; the varieties mostly 

 seen are melanthera, Caflfra densa and 

 Mediterranea. These must be retarded 

 in a cold pit to hold them and the glass 

 will require shading to keep them in 

 condition. One good point about ericds 

 is that they have wonderful lasting 

 properties and can easily be kept some 

 weeks in perfect condition in a cool pit. 

 This also is the time to put in cuttings 

 of these plants if it has not yet been 

 done. They take longer to root than 

 genistas, but can be treated much the 

 same. 



Iiilacs. 



The first week in March place lilacs 

 in a temperature of 60 degrees. They 

 now start to grow quickly. Let the 

 flower trusses become well drawn out 

 and showing color; then let them open 

 in a cooler house. This will make 

 them nice and hard and they will not 

 present the wilted appearance so often 

 noticed on overforced plants. 



Miscellaneous Deciduous Shrubs. 



Miscellaneous deciduous shrubs are 

 quite popular at Easter. It is a mistake 

 to start them too early. Usually a 

 month suffices, and plants given 60 de- 

 grees early in March will, in nearly 

 every case, be in time. It should be re- 

 membered that it is best to have only 

 a few flowers open on these when sold. 

 This allows customers to get more pleas- 

 ure from them. They open out quickly 

 in a warm room. In this class are 

 forsythias, prunus, malus, wistarias, 

 laburnums, cerasus, magnolias and dou- 

 ble almonds. Allow Azalea mollis a 

 few more days to develop properly. 



Eoses. 



Roses are among the most valuable 

 of Easter plants and probably come 

 next to lilies and azaleas in importance. 

 It does not pay to start these too late. 

 All plants should now have growths 

 well advanced and, if buds can just be 

 detected on the ramblers, they are not 

 too early. Full light, freedom from 

 drafts, a spraying on clear days and a 

 moving around or elevation of the 

 plants, to give them every chance to 

 come well furnished, are necessary. 

 Tausendschon will come in earlier than 

 the other ramblers and the so-called 

 Baby ramblers need less time than the 

 true ramblers. The hybrid perpetuals 

 need not show any buds before March 

 10 and they will then be on time. 



Primulas. 



Plants of all the various primulas 

 must be kept in a cold house and 

 shaded from bright sun. It is not easy 

 to keep P. Sinensis in decent condition 

 until Easter, but P. obconica eomee in 

 useful, while the newer P. malacoides 

 is easily the most decorative and grace- 

 ful of the whole family. Cyclamens 

 also must be kept cool. By the way, 

 it is time seed of P. obconica and P. 

 Sinensis was sown for flowering next 



winter, but do not sow the beautiful 

 malacoides before June, or the plants 

 will be far too large. 



Dutch Bulbous Plants. 



Keep Dutch bulbous plants as cold 

 as possible until a month before they 

 are wanted. Even a month may prove 

 too long a period if the weather is 

 hot, but it is easy to retard them. 

 The finest and stockiest pans of bulb- 

 ous stock for Easter are grown in 

 coldframes where they are close to the 

 glass. Here, also, it is easy to shade 

 the plants from the sun and they can 

 be darkened and retarded by means 

 of mats and' board shutters. Where 

 frames are not available, give the bulbs 

 a cold but light house. Be sure to 

 lay papers over the tulips as they 

 commence to open. 



Lily of the Valley. 



Lily of the valley is a valuable 

 Easter plant. Allow it four weeks in 

 a temperature of 60 degrees. Do not 

 have the plants too long in the dark. 

 Plants for Easter should be well 

 foliaged and it is far better to give 

 the plants full light the last two weeks 

 of their growth. Protect them, how- 

 ever, from bright sunshine. 



LEMOINE'S NEW BEGONIA. 



E. Lemoine thus describes Begonia 



Nancy, which would have been dissemi- 

 nated in the trade this season had not 

 the Germans invaded France, closing 

 transportation out of Nancy: 



"Like Begonia Gloire de Lorraine, 

 raised by my father more than twenty 

 years ago, B. Nancy is a hybrid of B. 

 Socotrana, but while B. Dregei was the 

 male parent of the Gloire de Lorraine, 

 Begonia Baumannii, a tuberous sort 

 with large, pink, sweet-scented flowers, 

 was the pollen parent of the present 

 novelty. Therefore, this, being unlike 

 the numerous sports of Lorraine, is 

 easily distinguished by its different 

 habit, although it retains the superior 

 qualities of floriferousness of this most 

 useful plant. 



"The short stems, of a bronzy pin^ 

 are erect, and well furnished with a 

 good foliage, the leaves being round or 

 kidney-shaped, sometimes peltate, of a 

 dark green. The inflorescences are 

 borniB by upright- and stout flowering 

 stalks, springing from every axil and 

 standing well above the foliage. They 

 are in iform of regular dichotomous 

 cymes, carrying a quantity of flowers, 

 nearly all male, with four petals, the 

 lateral ones being longer. These vary 

 in quantity, in size and in color, accord- 

 ing to the age of the plants and the 

 manner in wtich they are grown. They 

 are generally about two inches wide, 

 but flowers of three and three and one- 

 half inches are frequently to be found, 

 principally on younger plants. The 

 color is a rich, rosy carmine with ap- 

 parent nerves and chrome-yellow sta- 

 mens. The female flowers, with flve 

 petals, are produced in small number at 

 the end of the clusters, which are 

 slightly sweet-scented. Though com- 

 mencing to bloom in the middle of Octo- 

 ber, December, January and February 

 are the best flowering times of this 

 beautiful plant. ' ' 



Andover, Mass. — J. Harry Playdon is 

 slowly recovering from an attack of 

 the grip. 



Cromwell, Conn. — A. N. Pierson, Inc., 

 each year roots close to 600,000 carna- 

 tion cuttings. 



Newburyport, Mass. — Otis L. Kent 

 fell and broke one of his legs on the 

 morning of February 13. 



Aubumdale, Mass. — F, W. Fletcher 

 & Co. have recently had their green- 

 houses open Sunday for the inspection 

 of the public and have been rewarded 

 by a large attendance. 



Brookline, Mass. — F. E. Palmer finds 

 his services as a lecturer in much re- 

 quest. "House Plants and Home Gar- 

 dens" is the favorite topic of the or- 

 ganizations that send him invitations 

 to speak. 



Nantucket, Mass. — H. H. Voorne- 

 veld, proprietor of the Floralia Flower 

 Store, finds business a little slow at 

 present, but he has great faith in the 

 future. Lord & Burnham Co. will 

 build another house for him in the com- 

 ing summer. 



Oreat Barrington, Mass. — William 

 Hall Walker has made arrangements 

 for large additions to the greenhouses 

 at Brookside this year. 



Lawrence, Mass. — ^Thornton Bros, re- 

 port a big St. Valentine's day business. 

 This day is becoming more and more 

 important as a flower day in this town. 

 General business is pretty steady. 



Lynn, Mass. — F. J. Dolansky, Gibba 

 Bros., Wm. Miller & Sons and the Swan- 

 avelt Flower Store, of Lynn, and Wm. 

 Sim, of Cliftondale, used a page adver- 

 tisement in the Lynn Telegram of Feb- 

 ruary 12 to recommend the use of flow- 

 ers as valentines. 



Stoughton, Mass. — The partnership of 

 F. E. Swett & Son has been dissolved 

 by mutual consent, to enable Raymond 

 W. Swett to take care of the large busi- 

 ness in gladiolus bulbs which he has de- 

 veloped. Since he started advertising' 

 and exhibiting, that part of the business 

 has so outgrown the other that it now 

 demands larger and better facilities. To 

 this end, Raymond W. Swett has se- 

 cured forty acres, which, he says, is 

 ideal bulb soil. His postoffice remains 

 Stoughton. 



