18 



The Florists^ Review 



Mat £7, 1916. 



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SEASONABLE xt 

 M SUGGESTIONS 



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Bedding Out Time. 



The work of selling and planting 

 bedding plants will occupy a lot of our 

 time for some weeks; in fact, some call 

 will be had for them even as late as 

 the middle of July. It is always an 

 advantage to have a goodly percentage 

 of the plants in flower or nearly so, as 

 customers who come to make a selec- 

 tion always pick plants with a bloom 

 on, no matter how many others there 

 may be of double the size not in bloom. 

 Some varieties, such as heliotropes, are 

 easily pushed a little, but it does not 

 pay to run geraniums hot for the mere 

 sake of getting a few blooms open. 

 Be sure the plants are kept well 

 watered, especially when bedding out 

 is being done. Careless workmen will 

 plant them with dry balls and the 

 plants will then remain dry probably 

 for weeks and never develop as others 

 do, which had moist balls. A bedding 

 plant with a damp ball, if well firmed 

 and the soil left loose on the surface, 

 will withstand a lot of drought and too 

 much care cannot be taken to see that 

 roots and soil are really damp when 

 bedded out. 



Select Stock for the Field. 



Now is the time to plant an ample 

 supply of stock plants, especially of 

 geraniums, in the field. Year after 

 year growers sell out all their stock 

 of some sorts and must then buy from 

 some more or less distant source. The 

 wonder is, therefore, that growers do 

 not reserve an ample supply of strong 

 stock plants before the real selling 

 season is under way, and make attrac- 

 tive beds of them near the approach 

 to the house or greenhouses, or use 

 them in nursery rows. If this is done 

 there is a certainty of an ample supply 

 of strong cuttings in fall. 



Asters. 



The earliest batch of asters is now 

 getting well established outside and 

 later sowings can go out at any time. 

 Be sure the ground has been well 

 manured and thoroughly pulverized 

 and asters are then sure to thrive. The 

 latest sowings should be made now. 

 They will do just as well outdoors as 

 under glass and there is then far less 

 probability of the plants developing 

 the yellows or stem-rot. Vick's 

 Branching, American Branching, Vic- 

 toria and Semple's can all be sown 

 now. Such sorts as Queen of the 

 Earlies and Dwarf Chrysanthemum 

 may be sown as late as the middle of 

 June, however. 



Sweet Peas. 



Sweet peas set out from pots in 

 April will now be making rapid head- 

 way and will soon be in fiower. Now 

 is a suitable time to give the plants a 

 mulch of old, decayed manure, hotbed 

 pioavTB, grass, partly decayed leaves, 

 ' ppent hops or any similar material. 

 This benefits the plants wonderfully 

 and helps to keep the roots cool and 



moist. In hot weather it will be found 

 a decided advantage to spray the plants 

 over each evening. In order to secure 

 the best flowers on outside sown plants, 

 do not leave them too thick in the 

 rows. The general tendency is to have 

 the seedlings touching one another. If 

 allowed to remain thus, good stems and 

 flowers cannot be expected. 



Hardy Annuals for Cutting. 



The present is a suitable time to 

 make a liberal sowing of such useful 

 hardy annuals as hunnemannia, lark- 

 spurs, lupines, candytuft, mignonette, 

 Shirley poppies, clarkias, Gypsophila 

 elegans, chrysanthemums of the Bur- 

 ridgeanum type, nigellas and others. 

 These will give an abundant supply of 

 useful flowers from late summer until 

 frost, and not a few of them are valu 

 able for use in design work. 



Canterbury Bells and Foxgloves. 



If the seeds o'" Canterbury bells and 

 foxgloves are not yet sown, get the 

 seeds into a coldframe without delay. 

 You can postpone the sowing for some 

 time and still get flowers, but if you 

 want strong plants do not delay seed 

 sowing much beyond June 1. The 

 seedlings can go jnto nursery rows 

 later, selecting a place where they will 

 have dry feet in winter and yet not be 

 too exposed. Outdoor plants wintered 

 with a mulch of leaves or straw are 

 vastly better than lifted ones stored 

 in frames. 



Hard-wooded Plants. 



Plant out any left-over azaleas, 

 camellia^, ericas and other hard- 

 wooded stock. Pick away some of the 

 soil, so as to reduce the balls, and be 

 sure to plant firmly. If the soil where 

 they are to be planted can have some 

 leaf -mold spaded in, the plants will ap- 

 preciate it. All these hard-wooded 

 plants do well out in the full sun, but 

 let it be within reach of the hose^ so 

 that they can have liberal sprayings 

 overhead and in extremely hot weather 

 an occasional soaking at the root. Care 

 for these left-overs well; the outlook is 

 more uncertain for Belgian importa- 

 tions than it was in 1914. 



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I SEASONABLE SUGGESTIONS I 

 I FOR SOUTHERN FLORISTS | 



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MUMS IN THE SOUTH. 



The Early Varieties. 



In the south the early varieties of 

 chrysanthemums ought to be planted 

 in their permanent quarters by this 

 time. From the middle to the end of 

 June is early enough to plant the mid- 

 season and later varieties. 



Add a 3-gallon bucket of bone meal 

 or commercial guano to every 500 feet 

 of bench surface and work it in with 

 a rake before planting. • I prefer the 

 guano, with a guaranteed analysis of 

 eight per cent of ammonia, five per cent 

 of potash and five per cent of phos- 

 phoric acid, rather than the bone meal, 

 as the guano is a more complete fer- 

 tilizer and I have had better results 

 with it. 



To get three good flowers from each 

 plant, the rows should be twelve inches 

 apart and the plants ten inches apart 

 in the row. Some of the smaller-leaved 

 varieties can be set more closely. It 

 is always well to keep the varieties of 

 equal growth together, planting the 

 dwarfer ones at the south end of the 

 house, the medium tall ones in the mid- 

 dle and the tallest ones at the north 

 end. Each variety then gets an equal 

 share of light. 



Syringing and Other Attentions. 



In the south the plants are likely 

 to require water twice on every bright 

 day. Keep the weeds down and work 

 over the surface of the beds every week 

 for the first month. Then a mulch of 

 any old, strawy manure will keep the 

 beds cool and do away with cultivating 

 the surface for some time. 



Start to tie up the plants before they 



get bent over and keep them tied up 

 straight during their whole period of 

 growth. 



The most important part of the sum- 

 mer cultivation in the south, and one 

 that cannot be neglected even slightly, 

 is the syringing and spraying. Each 

 bed should be well syringed every clear 

 morning, and during hot days should 

 also be sprayed over at least three 

 times. Do this thoroughly from each 

 side of the bed. If you spray only 

 from one side, the foliage on the other 

 side will be weak and the flowers de- 

 ficient, and spider will be almost sure 

 to develop. Aphis, spider and thrips 

 are the most troublesome pests, but 

 weekly sprayings with one of the to- 

 bacco extracts will keep the plants 

 clean. 



The Fight with Thrips. 



Thrips are the most dangerous of all 

 these pests and are sure to show up 

 in the fall unless great precautions are 

 taken. From the time the bud is taken 

 until it shows color, keep spraying with 

 nicotine twice a week; also have to- 

 bacco stems in the walks and hanging 

 here and there on the wires. Keep a 

 pungent tobacco odor in the house, to 

 be safe from the ravages of this pest. 



The end of July or the beginning of 

 August is a good time to give another 

 top-dressing of guano, a sprinkling of 

 lime and a heavy mulch of fairly fresh 

 cow manure. This will carry the plants 

 until the bud is taken. 



Many growers in the south complain 

 of the old standby. Major Bonnaffon, 

 doing poorly, having yellow foliage, etc. 

 It is usually a plain case of indiges- 

 tion caused by too much water. If 

 the water is withheld, the. plants > will 



