20 



The Fionsts^ Review 



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 Mr SUGGESTIONS 



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Asters. 



If the ground on which asters are 

 to be planted has, for any reason, not 

 yet been properly prepared, it should 

 be given attention at once. Of course 

 fall plowing is a great asset when it 

 comes to the successful growing of this 

 annual most useful for cutting, but 

 sometimes work which should be done 

 then is postponed until the strenuous 

 spring season arrives. The ground 

 should be liberally enriched with well 

 rotted manure, that from cows being 

 decidedly the best. It should be deeply 

 plowed and thoroughly harrowed both 

 ways; in fact, it scarcely can be too 

 much cultivated in advance of plant- 

 ing. The more thoroughly pulverized 

 the soil is, the better will the astei-s 

 or any other plants .urow. 



The earliest asters should be getting 

 well hardened off. In some sections 

 they can go out with safety the first 

 week in May, but elsewhere it is un- 

 safe to risk them so early. It is time 

 now to sow a generous batch of late 

 asters. These can just as well be sown 

 outdoors as in frames, if the latter 

 are not at disposal. Be sure the soil 

 in the seed bed is thoroughly pulver- 

 ized. Vick's Branching or American 

 Branching are good sorts to sow now. 

 Of course certain varieties can be sown 

 as late as June 1 and will bloom, but 

 the American Branching types require 

 a somewhat longer growing season than 

 most other varieties. 



Scented Bedding Plants. 



Nearly everyone purchasing bedding 

 plants' will ask for three varieties, viz., 

 scented geraniums, lemon verbenas 

 and heliotropes. This trio has a never- 

 failing popularity and every florist 

 should prepare suflScient stock to meet 

 demands for them. The heliotropes can 

 be rooted quickly in a brisk heat and 

 soon grow into nice plants. At this 

 season they will do particularly well if 

 partially plunged in a gentle hotbed, 

 closing the frames about the middle of 

 the afternoon and bottling up a good, 

 moist heat. The scented geraniums do 

 not want this warm treatment, but the 

 lemon verbenas like it and will grow 

 surprisingly fast in a close coldframe. 

 Not only is there a sale for the plants 

 of the scented geraniums and verbenas, 

 but > the> «hoots also are in demand in 

 the summer and fall, giving off, as they 

 do, a most delightful odor, either on a 

 piazza or in a room. 



Evergrecis in Tubs. 



Such evergreens as bays, Irish yews, 

 box, laurels, hollies and others of 

 doubtful hardiness, which have been 

 carried, as boarders in many cases, 

 over winter in a cold greenhouse or 

 pit, can now go outdoors, having pre- 

 viously been overhauled. Some may 

 have needed -new tubs, others merejy 

 a good top-iiressihg: 'Fibrous loam.^d 

 cow manure make a suitable compost 

 for these evergreens. "Where they will 

 need to stay in the tubs for some years, 



some quarter-inch bone can also be 

 added with advantage. After standing 

 the plants outdoors it is an advantage 

 to give partial shade, especially if they 

 have been stored for some months in 

 a rather dark pit, and, no matter where 

 they have been wintered, be sure they 

 are freely sprayed overhead and are 

 given an abundant supply of water at 

 the roots. Plants which are at all 

 starved in appearance should have a 

 mulch of cow manure through the 

 grawing season and, in addition, have 

 occasional applications of liquid ma- 

 nure. 



Hardy Lilies. 



In some cases where hardy lilies 

 could not be planted late in the fall 

 and they have been carried over win- 

 ter in comparatively small pots in a 

 cellar, frame or pit, planting out 

 should be done without delay, for if 

 they get much potbound they will not 

 do so satisfactorily. Be sure to plant 

 quite deeply, covering the bulbs of such 

 varieties as auratum, speciosum and 

 Henryi not less than six inches deep. 

 Do not allow any fresh manure to come 

 in contact with the roots, but a mulch 

 of manure after they are planted will 

 prove beneficial. One reason why these 

 lilies should be planted deeply is that 

 nearly all roots are sent out from the 

 bottoms of the new shoots, which are 

 on the tops of the bulbs, and such 

 lilies, if not well buried, will soon suf- 

 fer from summer drought. 



Hardy Perennials. 



Any hardy perennials wintered in 

 frames or in beds should be planted 

 out in nursery rows now, before they 

 make too much growth. Also, such 

 plants as Canterbury bells, daisies, 



pansies, violas, myosotis, foxgloves, 

 etc., are better planted with as little 

 delay as possible. Of course, there will 

 be a demand for some of these until 

 Memorial day, but any needed for fill- 

 ing beds for customers or for improv- 

 ing the entrance to one's own estab- 

 lishment should go out as soon as pos- 

 sible, while the soil is in good planting 

 condition. 



English Ivies. 



Where a batch of English ivies have 

 been propagated and are now in small 

 pots, plant outdoors a foot apart in 

 good soil. Put a stake in with each 

 plant. These may not appear neces- 

 sary now, but they become so as the 

 plants start to grow in earnest. If the 

 plants are tied up, the shoots will not 

 emit roots at every joint, which they 

 certainly would do toward fall. This 

 field-grown ivy will make nice, heavy 

 stock by fall and there is always a 

 good sale for it. 



MIOHT GBOW PINEAPPLES. 



A number of florists are changing 

 crops this season — trying something 

 new. A suggestion not to be taken too 

 seriously is that some might follow the 

 example of W. M. Tiplady, who grows 

 a small house of pineapples at Elmen- 

 dorf, near Lexington, Ky, 



The illustration shows a house con- 

 taining three beds of Smooth Leaf 

 Cayenne pineapples, photographed June 

 1, 1914. In the beds there are two 

 rows of twenty plants each, 120 plants 

 in all. They were planted September 

 1, 1913, from 5-inch pots, in a compost 

 of turf, leaf-mold and a little sharp 

 sand. No manure was used, but liquid 

 manure was given twice a month dur- 

 ing the summer. Not one plant was 

 lost and all fruited except four. They 

 were planted in twelve inches of the 

 compost, with four 2-inch hot water 

 pipes under each bed. The sides of 

 the beds are of concrete, with 2-inch 

 openings every four feet on a level with 

 the walk. The fruit is fine, and av- 

 erages about five and one-half pounds 

 in weight. Mr. Tiplady now is ready to 

 replant from 5-inch and 6-inch pots, 

 using the same variety, for next season. 



Pineapples at Elmeodorf, Lexiogton, Ky., W. M. Tiplady, Grower. 



