.JANUABT 19, 1905. 



.The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



459 



The Re-awakening. • , 



I am still a week or two behind the 

 date with my reminders, but I shall, I 

 trust, soon catch up. The passing of 

 Christmas and New Year's is a trans- 

 formation scene, or it should be. New 

 crops are started up, yet some thought 

 must be ' given to those things that you 

 want for propagating or those worth 

 carrying over for another year. 



The Poinsettia's Popularity* 



It is remarkable to read from almost 

 «very city that the poinsettia was a lead- 

 ing or, in a few cities, the leading plant. 

 Of course, it is the color that has brought 

 it to the front. I consider it one of the 

 most profitable plants we grow, one of 

 the few that there is really a good 

 margin of profit in. For future stock, 

 strong canes in 6-inch pots that you 

 have not cut too low are the best ma- 

 terial. Just lay them down beneath a 

 bench where the ground is dry; let them 

 get perfectly dry and that will ripen 

 ' the wood. Let them rest there until the 

 ■first of May.' Ir you nave only plants 

 that you grew planted out on a bench, 

 then lift them with all the roots, pack 

 them in shallow boxes in moist soil and 

 treat the same way. To pull these up 

 ruthlessly and cover their roots with dry 

 «oil would be too radical a change for 

 them. 



The Useful Old Stevia. 



- The useful old Stevia serrata was just 

 as indispensable this Christmas as ever. 

 One winter we had none, simply because 

 no thought was given to cutting down 

 half a dozen plants to within six inches 

 of the pot and standing them in some 

 light, cool comer. Inat is all there is to 

 do now. In March they wiU give you all 

 the cuttings you want. 



Left-over Azaleas, 



You are sure to have some azaleas left 

 over. They did not all flower freely 

 «nough. Simon Mardner and Deutsche 

 Perle force so finely that they all went 

 freely. We tried a few Van der Cruys- 

 sen but got them in hardly in time, yet 

 they flower so freely that they sell at 

 any time. Any plants of any variety that 

 are unsalable, if they have made lots of 

 young growth, need only the strongest 

 growth pinched back, which will break 

 later and make more growths. Put them 

 in a night temperature of 45 degrees. 

 You don't want active growth yet a 

 while. Be spfe to pick all old flowers 

 off, seed po^'and all. 



We find there is a constant complaint 

 from good customers that their "azalea, 

 so lovely when received, is all wilted." 

 It is nothing but want of sufficient water. 

 So this year we had a small cloth label 

 printed and fastened to every azalea we 

 sent out. It read something like this: 

 ** Azalea. This plant needs a daily and 

 thorough watering." Ten years ago I 

 intended to get up a little label with in- 

 structions for the care of all the leading 



plants that we sell for the dwelling 

 house. It was a real good intention, but, 

 Uke millionB of others, was never ful- 

 filled. They say a certain unspeakable 

 place is paved with them. 



Holdini; Azaleas for Easter. 



Look out for your Easter azaleas, par- 

 ticularly the newly imported stock. April 

 23 is a long way off and now is a better 

 time to do the retarding than in April. 

 Some years ago Easter came on April 

 25 and most of our azaleas were too 

 early by three weeks. When about in 

 full bloom we put a lot of them in the 

 basement of our house. It was not a 

 success. The coloreu varieties lost their 

 bright color and they all lacked fresh- 

 ness of flower and foliage. So keep them 

 -cool now. If you can do it, a few de- 

 grees above the freezing point is all 

 they want. If a few plants show by the 

 size of the bud that they cannot be held 

 back, why, let them flower in a moderate 

 temperature. 



. The Lorraine Begonia* 



There were a great number of Begonia 

 Gloire de Lorraine sold in our city, and 

 in nearly every other city. I cannot 

 believe that any florist can say it is a 

 good house plant, but no matter; it is 

 so beautiful and its attractiveness will 

 last at least three times as long as a 

 bunch of roses or carnations, so there is 

 little danger of the demand decreasing 

 unless some clever hybridizer gives us 

 something better. 



There is a very successful grower of 

 this beautiful plant in our town and I 

 am not above looking at his operations 

 and asking questions. Plants that are 

 left over, or will be past their beauty 

 in a few weeks, can be put on a bench 

 where conditions are on the dry side. 

 They will need little water; just enough 

 to keep them from shriveling. In May 

 these plants can be cut down and will 

 shortly send up a number of young shoots 

 that have no inclination to flower. These 

 vigorous young shoots will root readily 

 and, if kept growing and given careful 

 watering (a great point in their culture), 

 will make nice plants in 5-inch or even 

 6-inch pots the following winter. 



The largest number of these begonias 

 are, however, grown from leaf cuttings, 

 which are put into the sand in Septem- 

 ber and October and are now in 2-inch 

 pots. If they are showing three or four 

 little growths above the soil you are 

 all solid for fine plants next Christmas. 

 These little plants can be kept decidedly 

 on the dry side until May or June, when, 

 with increased heat and a little more 

 moisture, they begin to start into growth 

 nnd from then on it is a matter of shift- 

 ing and careful watering. They do not 

 want wet foliage at any time. When 

 growing fast, say in September and Oc- 

 tober, you might manage to water them 

 with the hose, but no plants pay better 

 for careful watering with the can, for 



one may need it and the next plant may 

 not, and it takes an artist to do that 

 with a hose. If you have none of these 

 little 2-inch plants now is the time to 

 buy. 



Crimson Ramblers. 



It may be a little late for starting 

 the Crimson Ramblers that were lifted 

 from the ground lajst November, but it 

 is a good time now to start those grown 

 in pots last minuner. Just a word about 

 those lifted plants. The forcing must 

 be very slow for the first three or four 

 weeks and the heat given them slowly 

 and carefully increased. They will not 

 have any working roots and to put 

 them into a strong heat would ruin them. 

 Root growth and leaf growth, or rather 

 the swelling of the eyes, would go on 

 together. Spraying at least two or 

 three times & day is most essential. 



The plants grown in pots all summer, 

 the care of which was attended to last 

 summer, need no such skillful manage- 

 ment. These might be forced into flower 

 easily in less than eleven or twelve 

 weeks, hut a Rambler that has never 

 been subjected to a night temperature 

 of over 55 degrees is' much superior to 

 one that you had to hurry in 65 dejfrees. 

 If you have three good canes six or 

 seven feet Icmg you have the material 

 for making a most attractive plant, and 

 even two such canes will do. If started 

 in 45 degrees that will do until they are 

 in leaf, and then raise them to 55 de- 

 grees. 



They should at once, when brought 

 into the houses, be tied down. Put three 

 or four neat bamboo canes firmly into 

 the soil around the edge of the pot and 

 of a length of thirty inches or three 

 feet above the pot. Tie the growths 

 spirally around the stakes. You will 

 have an even break of all the eyes and 

 flowers and foliage from bottom to top 

 of plant. 



A week or two after starting, scrape 

 off an inch of the surface of the soil and 

 mulch heavily with rather fresh cow ma- 

 nure. We never found anything more 

 necessary, yet liqui<1 manure, after the 

 clusters of buds were showing, would 

 doubtless be of benefit, as the pots are 

 crowded with roots. 



We have never grown these roses fn 

 larger than 7-inch pots and that will 

 grow a plant as large as our trade de- 

 mands. 



Hybrid Perpetual Roses. 



The hybrid perpetual roses are seldom 

 forced except from plants that are lifted 

 from' the ground in November, Some 

 growers lift them and heel them in 

 ^vithout potting, deferring that until 

 they start them. Others pot at once 

 when lifting. I think the latter much 

 the better plan, although it may not be 

 the cheapest. Either way they will have 

 made no roots and root and top growth 

 will go on together. Start cool and 

 gradually increase the heat. If they 

 can be flowered in 55 degrees the flow- 

 ers will be perfect. It should be need- 

 less to say that spraying should be fre- 

 quent from the day they are brought in 

 until the blossoms are expanded. All 

 deciduous shrubs enjoy a spraying when 

 their buds are feeling the influence of 

 heat and the rising sap. Look at our 

 deciduous trees and shrubs. If spring 

 starts in dry, if even warm, the foli- 

 age is slow to appear; then notice the 

 transformation scene after a heavy 

 shower. 



