r 



JOLX 29, 1915. 



The Florists' Review 



13 



ing baskets, and how they got there is 

 beyond us. If you can give us any 

 iulormation on how to exterminate this 

 j>est, we shall more than appreciate it, 

 tor they surely have us bested. 



T. N. C. 



This seems to be a serious attack of 

 caterpillars and is evidently not easily 

 .lisposed of. The remedies already tried 

 ;ire all good when used on plants with 

 tough foliage, but are quite likely to 

 injure the ferns. Powdered hellebore 

 is almost a specific for the currant 

 worm, and I would try it on the ferns, 

 i;iving them a thorough dusting with 

 it, but the hellebore must be fresh, as 

 it loses its virtue when kept in stock 

 too long. W. H. T. 



FBEESIA BXTLBS ABE BEADY. 



The freesia bulbs have come to hand 

 .>arly this season and are of splendid 

 quality. While the old refracta alba 

 is still grown to a considerable extent. 

 Purity has largely displaced it. Some 

 superior strains of this fine variety 

 now are offered. Some seem to be a 

 decided improvement on Purity. I 

 have found that bulbs produced in 

 lienches, or even in flats under glass, 

 prove more satisfactory than field- 

 grown ones. This is hardly to be won- 

 dered at, as they make a more even 

 growth, not being exposed to the vari- 

 able climatic conditions of the outside 

 ones. Furthermore, I find that these 

 bulbs will fiower some days earlier, if 

 given precisely th^ same treatment as 

 outdoor-grown bulbs. 



An early batch of freesia flowers is 

 ai .rays appreciated, and, as these bring 

 fancy prices for the Christmas holidays, 

 it pays to go to a little extra trouble to 

 secure them. "While fine freesias can 

 be had in benches, I doubt if it pays 

 as well to grow them in this way as 

 in flats or pans, for it means that they 

 must occupy a bench for half the year, 

 or lonjeer if bulbs are to be kept over. 

 Pans in sizes from 8-inch to 12-inch are 

 really better than flats for freesias. 

 Plant twenty, thirty-flve and fifty bulbs 

 per pan. Keep in a coldframe for a 

 time, cover with board shutters until 

 they start and water only moderately. 

 As they come above ground, give full 

 light. Keep in frames until September; 

 then give them a sunny bench or shelf 

 in a temperature of 52 to 55 degrees 

 at night and a large proportion will 

 flower for Christmas, but get the bulbs 

 in right away or they will be too late. 



AT THE FBISCO FAIB. 



Plants at the New Zealand PavUion. 



Visitors at the Panama-Pacific inter- 

 national exposition will find it interest- 

 ing to visit the New Zealand pavilion, 

 where they will see a collection of 

 shrubs, plants, etc., that are natives of 

 New Zealand. This collection was ob- 

 tained through the efforts of E. Clifton, 

 commissioner for New Zealand. Some, 

 of course, are small yet, and do not 

 show their true character. Nearly all 

 are plants suitable for the Pacific coast. 

 There are already a number of them 

 to be found on the coast. There are 

 some New Zealand shrubs in Golden 

 Oate park, but they do not seem to 

 have been commercialized yet. 



In the collection, the plant that has 

 ftttracted most attention is Leptosper- 

 mum Nicholii. With its crimson flow- 



Leptocpefmum NichoUi and L. BuUatum. 



ers, it makes an exceedingly showy 

 plant, and I think that in the near 

 future it will be grown by florists, as 

 it is easy of culture and free-flowering. 

 It will stand anything except a heavy 

 frost. Leptospermum bullatum, which 

 has white flowers, also makes a good 

 flowering plant. Both of these plants 

 are shown in the accompanying illus- 

 tration. 



The Evergreens. 



Among the tall evergreen trees is 

 Agathis australis, the Kauri pine, which 

 grows to an immense size in New Zea- 

 land. Alectryon excelsum, the New 

 Zealand ash, makes a handsome tree 

 and is quite ornamental, with its jet 

 black «eeds, half hidden in their bright 

 scarlet, fleshy cups. Dacrydium cupres- 

 sinum, when young, makes an admirable 

 pot plant for decorative purposes. 

 Knightia excelsa is a showy tree, with 

 its dull crimson flowers. There are 

 metrosideros in variety, ^nd several 

 varieties of nothofagus, known as 

 southern beech. Phyllocladus tricho- 

 manoides, with its fern-like foliage, 

 makes a pretty tree. There are several 

 varieties of podocarpus, which vary so 

 much in habit and color that one would 

 scarcely recognize them as belonging to 

 the same family. Vitex lucens has dark 

 green foliage and produces abundant 

 pink blossoms. Weinmannia racemosa 

 is pretty in or out of bloom. 



Among the smaller evergreens are 

 species of brachyglottis, coprosma, 

 cordyline, corynocarpus, dodonsea, draco- 

 phyllum, Entelea arborescens, with its 

 large, handsome leaves; griselinia and 

 melicope. Meryta Sinclairii, with its 

 immense shining, oblong leaves, is a 

 handsome shrub. The species is one of 

 the rarest in the world, since it is 

 found only on one or two small outlying 

 islands of New Zealand. 



Myoporum leetum is well known. 

 Nothopanax arboreum is a handsome 

 shrub, having dark green foliage. There 

 are several species of olearia, or tree 

 aster, all of which are worthy of culti- 

 vation; Pomaderris apetala; two species 

 of pseudopanax, which is remarkable in 

 that the juvenile and adult forms are 

 altogether distinct; Bapanea Urvillei, 



senecio, aristotelia, plagianthus, so- 

 phora, clianthus, myrtus and carmi- 

 chselia, which has leafless stems, but 

 is covered with small flowers. 



Herbaceous Plants and Ferns. 



Among the herbaceous plants are 

 Arthropodium cirratum, known as 

 Mable Island lily, which has pleasing 

 white flowers, and Myosotidium nobile, 

 a splendid giant forget-me-not, which 

 is not in flower as yet, but we hope 

 to see it so before the summer is over. 

 There are several varieties of phormium. 



The ferns, I must say, are a fine 

 collection in themselves, although the 

 tree ferns suffered a little from the 

 storm we had a short time ago. But 

 they are beginning to recover. The 

 collection includes dicksonias, cyatheas, 

 etc. In the fernery in the rear of the 

 pavilion are a fine lot of pot ferns, 

 dryopteris, blechnums, aspleniums, adi- 

 antums, polystichums, polypodiums, 

 nephrolepis, hymenophyllums and marat- 

 tias, but the most striking is Todea 

 superba, the New Zealand palm. The 

 fern that will no doubt make a good 

 commercial plant is Asplenium lucidum; 

 it has bright, shining foliage and grace- 

 ful habit, is a quick grower, and is in 

 every respect a desirable plant. 



H. Warburton, Gardener, 



New England Pavilion, P. P. I. E. 



MAY BE PYBETHBUM BOSEUM. 



If you can, please tell me the name 

 of a daisy of the following description: 

 It blooms in May. It has fine-cut 

 foliage and looks as if it might be one 

 of the Shastas. The flowers are usually 

 single, but once in a while there is a 

 double one. I have the Shasta daisies, 

 Alaska and Edward VII, but these do 

 not bloom until about the middle of 

 June for me. V. R. F. — Ind. 



I' think you must refer flv^yrethrum 

 roseum, which comes in TS'^lriety of 

 colors, usually sin^e, but sometimes 

 semi-double or double. These are easily 

 raised from seed. If sown now, good 

 blooming plants can be had for next 

 season. C. Vf. 



