14 



The Rorists' Review 



June 17, 1915. 



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I SEASONABLE SUGGESTIONS I 

 I FOR SOUTHERN FLORISTS | 



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/- LILIES IN THE SOUTH. 



In growing cold storage Lilium gigan- 

 teum in the south, the important point 

 is to keep them clear of aphis. Let 

 this pest get just a slight foothold, and 

 in a few days the crop of buds is 

 ruined. The damage is done just at 

 the time or just before the buds emerge 

 from the crown of leaves. Spray with 

 nicotine extract and be particular that 

 the crown of each plant gets satu- 

 rated. L. 



PALMS IN THE SOUTH. 



Areca Lutescens. 



The kentia of late years seems to 

 have crowded most of the palm family 

 to the wall. There are two other spe- 

 cies, however, which make remarkably 

 quick growth in the south and can be 

 profitably grown by anyone who will 

 make a specialty of them. These are 

 Areca lutescens and Latania Borbonica. 

 Both are easily raised from seed. 



When the arecas are well established 

 in their first pots they do best if 

 planted outside. In the moist southern 

 sections they can be put out in the full 

 sun, when they will require a great 

 deal of water to prevent their getting 

 too yellow. They will look a little 

 yellow even under the best treatment, 

 but will make a rapid, heavy growth, 

 and two weeks in a shaded house after 

 they are potted will restore their 

 natural color. A plant set out in May 

 from a 2i4-inch pot will make a strong 

 5-inch specimen by September, and one 

 from a 4-inch pot will nicely fill a 7- 

 inch pot in the same time if planted in 

 rich ground. The ground will require 

 a little weeding at the start, but the 

 plants soon spread and choke the weeds 

 out. 



In the drier northern sections of the 

 south, the plants do better if planted 

 out in a lath house, getting identical 

 treatment otherwise. 



Old specimens that have had rough 

 handling in winter decorations can be 

 shaken out, divided, trimmed at the 

 roots a little and repotted in a suitable 

 size of pots. A lath house is the place 

 for them then. It is really astonishing 

 how big plants of this palm can be 

 divided and still go on flourishing 

 without the least check. 



Latania Borbonica. 



Latania Borbonica requires a little 

 different treatment from Areca lutes- 

 cens. While it will do well planted 

 out in the open, it is more difficult to 

 handle properly in the fall, on account 

 of its strong root action. It does best 

 if grown wholly in pots or planted out 

 on a table in a lath house. 



This palm requires plenty of room to 

 make a nice specimen, such as the best 

 trade requires. A 6-inch specimen 

 ought to be short and squatty, with a 

 good spread, and should still retain its 

 seed leaves in good shape. If over- 

 crowded, the plants get entirely too 

 leggy, lose their seed leaves and are 

 altogether undesirable. The trouble 



with most growers of this palm is that 

 they try to grow 1,000 plants where 

 there is only room for 300 or 400. 



On lifting either the arecas or 

 latanias, they should be placed in a 

 well shaded house and kept rather 

 close, with a moist atmosphere, until 

 they establish themselves. Once estab- 

 lished, they are not hard to suit. A 

 night temperature anywhere from 55 

 to 65 degrees will carry them through 

 the winter in good shape. At the 

 lower temperature they will need con- 

 siderably less water. They are less 

 liable to attacks from mealy bugs and 

 scale if kept growing briskly and prop- 

 erly syringed. L. 



BACKWARD BEDDING PLANTS. 



I have planted two large carpet 

 beds, using 2,800 plants, also two let- 

 ter beds 5x30 feet. The cold season and 

 so much rain have retarded the plants 

 and caused the foliage to drop from the 



alternantheras. I wish to force the 

 plants a little by the use of nitrate of 

 soda. Will about two tablespoonfuls to 

 a bucket of water be too strong to use 

 about twice a week until the plants 

 start growing freely? What quantity 

 can I use with safety and not burn the 

 foliage, and can the same amount be 

 used on plants such as coleus? I would 

 also like to use soda on a privet hedge 

 which was frozen to the ground. 

 Would this be advisable? 



W. H.— Pa. 



The cool season is responsible in a 

 large measure for the backward and 

 starved appearance of your plants. I 

 would most certainly not advise the 

 use of nitrate of soda, as it would, at 

 this stage, only aggravate the trouble. 

 This is a powerful nitrogenous food for 

 forcing well established plants, but 

 would be harmful if applied now. Keep 

 the soil stirred, water when necessary 

 and let the warm weather, which must 

 soon come, do the rest. 



A little well rotted manure will be 

 much better for the privet hedge than 

 the nitrate of soda. Cut it back hard 

 and it will make a stronger growth 

 then. If you are growing the tender 

 and unreliable California privet, plan 

 to replace it with the Japanese privet, 

 Ligustrum Ibota, which will never die 

 back in your latitude. C. W. 



MILLEBS ON MUMS. 



Will you kindly tell us how to get 

 rid of small millers, which are getting 

 rather numerous in our greenhouses? 

 We have heard that they are harmful 

 to chrysanthemums. What damage do 

 they do, if any? We have noticed 

 small striped worms on some chrys- 

 anthemum plants. What can we do to 

 clear these out? S. B. 



The small millers are bad pests on 

 mums in some sections. It is not so 

 much the millers that do the damage 

 as the striped worms that you speak of 

 as being on the plants. These worms, 

 like all other caterpillars, are voracious 

 eaters and do considerable harm to the 

 foliage. The best remedy for all cater- 

 pillars, where they are so numerous as 

 to become a pest, is to spray the foliage 

 with a light solution of Paris green; 

 then when the caterpillar eats the leaf 

 it eats enough of the poison to end its 

 career. C. H. Totty. 



UNUSUALLY TALL CUTTINGS. 



A few days ago we ordered several 

 hundred chrysanthemum cuttings. 

 When these were received, about one- 

 half of them were about eighteen inches 

 high. We intended to grow them to 

 two buds. Would this be possible? 

 Please tell us how to handle them. 



M. & M.— Ohio. 



they will be exceptionally tall before 

 the flowers develop. I would suggest 

 that these plants be pinched back as 

 far as possible without getting into 

 the hard wood. Then, when they be- 

 gin growing again, two or three shoots 

 can be taken off from each plant, giv- 

 ing a chance to get two shoots per 

 plant, as desired. Where the plants 

 have been growing too long and have 

 become extremely hard, as is some- 

 times the case, it would be better to 

 cut the plants back hard and await 

 the suckers which invariably come up 

 from the base of the plants, but if 

 there is head room, it will be better to 

 take two or more shoots after pinching 

 back. Chas. H, Totty. 



NOT FIBST-CLASS POT PLANTS. 



Will you kindly let me know whether 

 Smith's Advance chrysanthemums 

 could be used for potting up? I grew 

 these plants in the field last year and 

 they proved a great success, being in 

 full bloom after the asters were done. 

 Each plant bore from fifty to seventy- 

 five blooms. The plants have been 

 stored in a coldframe and are now in 

 good condition. T. K. D. — N. J. 



The tall plants, if they are soft and 

 in good condition, will come along. 

 The only trouble is, that if they are 

 tall varieties and have grown to a 

 height of eighteen inches by June 1, 



Smith's Advance could be used as 

 a pot plant, though it is not so well 

 adapted to this purpose as some other 

 varieties, since it is inclined to be 

 ^^SSJ- -A- better type to grow as pot 

 plants would be the Caprice mums, or 

 early-flowering varieties, which remain 

 quite dwarf. Among the varieties of 

 these which could be successfully 

 grown as pot plants are White Caprice^ 



