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August 25, 1904. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



461 



An Example of the Dinner Decorations of Hugh Graham, of Philadelphia. 



its o-wn buds. Have all sides interesting, 

 not "made up." 



It is not wise to construct a bouquet 

 of flowers in a vase one by one. Leave 

 every flower to its own natural bent. Let 

 the foliage reverse itself when it will. 

 You will often find a little lesson in col- 

 oring on the under side of the leaf, and 

 you can even read the coloring of the 

 flower and find suggestive combinations 

 for it by the coloring of the under side 

 of the foliage. This is beautifully illus- 

 trated in cinerarias. 



Coloring and Form. 



The coloring in this cluster is rich, 

 reddish brown, with pale straw color 

 and creamy white, with the red predom- 

 inating. Other good dahlia combina- 

 tions are dark crimson purple with crim- 

 son pink, but no white, bronze and 

 white, rose pink and white. 



Not only is it well to choose a recep- 

 tacle the lines of which are similar to 

 the lines of the flower stalk, but the 

 flowers when set in the vase should so 

 coincide with the outline of the vase that 

 their lines grow together. Authority for 

 this is foun'd in the similarity of form 

 between the flower, or its petals, and the 

 leaves or leaflets belonging to the same 

 plant. In this case one can easily trace 

 the resemblance between the outline of 

 the obtusely pointed petals and the 

 leaves, which may be similarly described. 

 In fact botanists claim that the flower, 

 not the floral organs proper, but the 

 floral envelope, is but a modified leaf. 

 So if we want to get at the real design 

 in any flowers which we propose to use, 

 we can best develop this plan of design 

 by choosing the receptacle whose outline 

 and form conform most closely to the 

 combination of lines which is found in 

 the flower. Gertrude Blair. 



TUBEROUS BEGONIAS. 



What beautiful things tuberous be- 



gonias are when they are successfully 

 grown for bedding purposes, and in 

 masses, wlierever they will be in har- 

 mony with surroundings! 



In all large grounds there are posi- 

 tions that are perfectly -proper for dis- 

 playing the numerous showy summer 

 flowering plants and in our experience 

 the tuberous begonias are exceedingly 

 useful for this purpose. They afford 

 an opportunity to depart a little from 

 the stereotyped ornamental bedding dis- 

 plays we so often see. 



The tuberous begonias have been so 

 much improved from the original types 

 during the past twenty years by hybridi- 

 zation, crossing and selection that they 

 have even astonished the plant breeders 

 themselves, in the results they have ac- 

 complished in the improvement of these 

 plants. 



They are free from stiffness in their 

 habit and character, the foliage is am- 

 ple and handsome and the flowers range 

 from white through numerous shades of 

 yellowj pink and red, to deep maroon. 

 Tjast summer many of the blossoms with 

 us were six to seven inches in diameter. 

 For brilliancy of color there is nothing 

 comparable to tuljerous begonias (and 

 all classes of people are enthssiastic in 

 admiration o'f them. 



We grow them in mixed colors and we 

 think that the effect is just as good as 

 when grown in separate color combina- 

 tions. How we treat or grow them may 

 be of interest to some. We pot the bulbs 

 at the end of March or first of April and 

 plunge the pots in hotbeds. They are 

 planted out the end of May or first of 

 June, in beds of light sandy loam, liberally 

 enriched with rotted cow-manure, and 

 preferably in a position shaded from the 

 noon-day sun, although they do very well 

 •with us in the full sun. Careful and 

 strict attention must be given to abund- 

 ance of water. If the weather is dry, no 

 mistake will be made by placing the 

 hose spray on them overy other after- 



noon. The tubers should be lifted at the 

 approach of frost, dried and stored in 

 a dry, cool temperature, through the 

 winter months, not beloAv 45 degrees. — 

 John Dunbar in bulletin of New Eng- 

 land Park Superintendents. 



FROM OUR ENGLISH EXCHANGES. 



The Gardeners' Chronicle. 



M. Aymard, of Montpellier, France, 

 has made experiments in the etherization 

 of plants for forcing which' amply con- 

 firm what has been already stated as 

 to the value of this process. Growers 

 for market will do well to make prepa- 

 rations in view of the demand for forced 

 flowers in winter and early spring. 



Whilst teas and hybrid teas are sup- 

 planting hybrid perpetuals, new blood 

 has been introduced by Lord Penzance's 

 briars and their derivatives, and by the 

 crosses with Wichuraiana. The resources 

 at the disposal of the rosarian are vast 

 and varied. Not the least service that 

 the Hose Society can render is to en- 

 courage their development. 



One branch of experimental work 

 which up to the present time has scarce- 

 ly received the attention it deserves, ia 

 that concerned with the use of insecti- 

 cides, fungicides, and' weed destroyers, 

 together with the appliances best suited 

 for the purpose of distributing the vari- 

 ous substances economically and effec- 

 tually. A few attempts have been made 

 at systematic comparative trials, but 

 these have only been sufficient to prove 

 how much remains to be done, or to 

 demonstrate the benefit which would re- 

 sult from pursuing the work still fur- 

 ther. 



Columbus, O.— The Fifth Avenue 

 noral Company has brought suit against 

 Dr. A. A. Thomas to collect a bill of 

 $84.81 for flowers and plants. 



