16 



The Florists^ Review 



AAil 1, 1915. 



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Preparing Land for Ajsters. 



Fall is the time par excellence to 

 manure and deeply plow the land on 

 which asters are to be planted, leaving 

 the^ ground rough over winter. If, per- 

 chance, the land was limed and plowed 

 in the fall, the manuring can be done 

 now. We do not use half enough lime 

 in America. There would be fewer 

 ground pests, such as cutworms, if we 

 used more of it. Lime is a wonderful 

 sweetener of the soil and florists should 

 use more of it. We would then hear 

 less of cutworms, stem-rot, aster yel- 

 lows and other plant affections. Plow 

 the aster land thoroughly now, where 

 this work was not done in the fall, 

 and harrow it thoroughly. The better 

 pulverized it is, the finer growth the 

 asters will make. 



Hardy Herbaceous Plants. 



If the hardy herbaceous plants were 

 given a good mulch of well decayed 

 manure in late fall, as suggested, this 

 same manure should be broken up with 

 a rake or fork and left for a summer 

 mulch. Do not attempt to dig or hoe 

 among the perennials at this early 

 date, or you are liable to do consider- 

 able damage. All herbaceous peren- 

 nials can be planted in spring. This 

 does not mean that spring is the best 

 planting season for all, as many do 

 much better if fall-planted, but while 

 a few sorts cannot safely be planted in 

 fall, all can be set out with perfect 

 safety now. In planting new borders 

 or plantations it is well to remember 

 that practically all herbaceous plants 

 enjoy ground which has been liberally 

 manured and deeply plowed or spaded. 



Pruning Trees and Shrubs. 



Spring is not the proper season for 

 the pruning of deciduous shrubs. There 

 are a few varieties, such as Hydrangea 

 paniculata grandiflora and H. arbores- 

 cens, which should be cut back quite 

 hard before spring, but the proper time 

 to prune nearly all flowering shrubs is 

 after they have bloomed. At that sea- 

 son any dead, dying or weak wood 

 should be cut out and the plants should 

 be given any heading back that is 

 necessary to make them more shapely. 

 The trouble is that many of us are so 

 busy at that season that pruning is 

 never attended to; as a consequence, a 

 eertain amount of topiary shearing is 

 done in winter, S«rhile work is less 

 strenuous, but it is well to bear in 

 mind that winter is not the proper 

 time to prune such shrubs as deutzias, 



{)hiladelphus, lilacs, weigelas, spiraeas, 

 oniceras, viburnums, prunus, forsythias 

 and other beautiful flowering shrubs. 



Hardy Roses. 



Every florist has 



in 



some demand 

 spring for hardy roses, and to be pre- 

 pared for these customers it is an ex- 

 eellent plan to purchase some dormant 

 plants of hybrid teas, hybrid perpetuals 

 or polyanthas and put them in 5-inch 

 or 6-inch pots, standing them in a cold- 



frame or pit and soaking well with 

 water after potting. Purchase strong 

 field-grown stock for this purpose, bud- 

 ded stock being generally considered 

 more vigorous and winter-hardy than 

 plants on their own roots. This stock 

 from pots can be planted out with 

 safety until the early part of June, 

 which is not possible with heeled-in 

 stock. . • 



Do not try too many yarieties. Half 

 a dozen varieties each of hybrid te'as, 

 hybrid perpetuals and polyanthas is suf- 

 ficient. The hybrid teas are less hardy 

 than the other two types, but they are 

 coming more rapidly to the front each 

 year, the reason being that they are 

 continuously in bloom from June to 

 November, while the hybrid perpetuals, 

 with few exceptions, last only two or 

 three weeks. Do not overlook the ram- 

 blers. Everyone with a garden wants a 

 plant of some such variety as Hia- 

 watha, Tausendschon, Lady Gay, Doro- 

 thy Perkins, Excelsior or some other of 

 this beautiful class of climbers. 



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SEASONABLE NOTES. 



Phalsenopsis. 



Phalsenopsis have not yet reached 

 the great popularity in the east that 

 they enjoy on the Pacific coast, not- 

 ably near San Francisco, but more are 

 appearing each year and the time is not 

 far distant when only cattleyas will 

 surpass them in popularity among 

 eastern orchid growers. Coming, as 

 they do, from some of the warmest 

 parts of the world, they need more 

 heat than almost any other orchids and 

 are more readily susceptible to injury 

 from drafts. I have seen good 

 phalsenopsis grown in a cattleya house, 

 but far better in an old, stuffy plant 

 house. 



They succeed well on blocks and in 

 pans, but better still in deep and some- 

 what narrow baskets in a compost of 

 fern fiber and sphagnum. The plants, 

 somehow, always seem happier when the 

 sphagnum is growing on the surface of 

 the baskets, but this will need an oc- 

 casional clipping, for it is not wise to 



Bambler Boses for 1916. 



Now is the time to purchase strong 

 field-grown stock of the best selling 

 rambler roses to flower in pots next 

 winter and spring. Those pot-grown 

 through the summer flower the earliest, 

 but such as are planted out and have 

 their canes tied up to insure better 

 matured wood can be potted in the fall 

 and will give splendid results. No mat- 

 ter whether the plants are potted or 

 planted out, the best plan is to cut 

 them down close to the ground. This 

 will cause the plants to send up a num- 

 ber of strong shoots from the base. In 

 some cases it will be better to reduce 

 the number of these, leaving three to 

 five on each. Select only such varie- 

 ties as are of pleasing colors and known 

 to be goo^ sellers in tke market, the 

 best trio undoubtedly being Tausend- 

 schon, Dorothy Perkins and Hiawatha. 



Sowing Hardy Annuals. 



In addition to sweet peas, there are 

 a few annuals which do particularly 

 well if sown as soon as possible after 

 frost has left the ground and it has 

 dried. Important among these to the 

 florist are bachelor's buttons, the dou- 

 ble blue being the best seller; mignon- 

 ette, of which the improved Machet is 

 a flne outdoor variety; candytuft, an- 

 nual larkspur and lupines. All these 

 are tolerably hardy and can be sown 

 with perfect safety now. 



let it grow too strongly. All phalsenop- 

 sis should be suspended near the roof. 

 No direct sunshine must strike them, 

 or their handsome leaves will soon be- 

 come discolored. Occasional sponging 

 of the leaves will keep red spider and 

 thrips in check. The best commercial 

 sorts are P. grandiflora, P. amabilis 

 and P. Eimestadtiana, which is a fine 

 form. All these are pure white; P. 

 Schilleriana is a good pink. 



Vanda Coemlea. 



Vanda coerulea is really the only 

 true blue orchid we have and it is one 

 of the best sellers. The dark green 

 plants will disappoint growers, as fre- 

 quently they will not flower at all, 

 while those of a more yellowish hue 

 will bloom splendidly. To flower this 

 fine vanda well, it must not be cod- 

 dled. Give it the cool end of the cat- 

 tleya house and just enough shade 

 through the hot months to prevent the 

 leaves from burning. Keep some fresh 

 sphagnum on the surface of the pots 

 and elevate the plants ^here the roots 

 may be lying on the bench. It is not 

 possible to keep all the roots of V. 

 coerulea confined in pots; they are too 

 stout to be bent toward the pots and 



