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The Weekly Florists* Review* 



Max 4, 1906. 



I 



is a question I should like answering. 

 I am persuaded that you have here in 

 ' Montreal as fine a plant growing climate 

 as can be desired, with a water which 

 has traversed every strata and holds in 

 solution almost every kind of plant food. 

 There is, perhaps, a danger in these ad- 

 vantages, of a certain disregard of detail 

 which in a less favorable state of things 

 would lead only to a moderate success. 

 To point only one example, everything 

 seems to be grown in one soil and that 

 not always of the best. A more exact 

 scientific method might give the highest 

 possible results. Given a man with 

 capital, capability and courage, there is 

 here a splendid opportunity to show 

 what can be done in the way of pot 

 plants, especially in choice ferns and 

 fine foliage stuff. What a magnificent 

 climate for crotons and other stove sub- 

 jects; how dendrobes would thrive and 

 ripen up in this brilliant sunshine; what 

 splendid vine canes could be produced! 

 I feel certain that even such winter and 

 spring subjects as cinerarias, herbaceous 

 calceolarias, streptocarpus, etc., could be 

 well done in spite of certain obvious dif- 

 ficulties'. Sutton's and Dickson's new 



dwarf star-shaped pink and white cin- 

 erarias would be well worth a trial. 



I should like to put in a plea for more 

 variety. The position of the rose and 

 carnation we may regard as unassailable. 

 But perfection itself may be reproduced 

 to satiety, and I feel sure the people 

 would respond to something that would 

 combine and associate well with the 

 queen of flowers. 



I share with you a growing faith in 

 the boundless possibilities of progress in 

 this great Dominion. In its train ther&'ia 

 sure to come that development of the arts 

 and luxuries of life which is the basis 

 of our business. There will grow up a 

 civilization which will eclipse all the 

 courtly and artistic splendors of the old 

 world. Horticulture will open up a new 

 field by supplying a large private gar- 

 den trade, as in the Old Country. A few 

 years hence, we who are on the ground 

 will be regarded as the pioneers of our 

 profession. It is our duty to keep our 

 eyes on that future and anticipate its 

 needs. The man who can add to the 

 enjoyment of life will not only do a good 

 thing for himself but he will earn the 

 lasting gratitude of his kind. 



MISCELLANEOUS 

 SEASONABLE HINTS. 



The Bedding Season. 



In many favored states there may bo 

 no longer any danger of frost, but in the 

 north the month of May seldom passes 

 without one or two frosty nights and 

 that is why it is not safe to bed out our 

 tender plants, and more particularly the 

 tropical plants we use, until the last days 

 of the! month. That, however, should 

 not prevent us from getting into the 

 ground several things that are about 

 hardy but have been in the greenhouse or 

 frames all winter. Antirrhinums, pent- 

 stemons, hollyhocks and all young her- 

 baceous plants sown last summer and 

 wintered in cold frames should now be 

 in the ground. The majority of flower 

 lovers put off planting the pretty pansies 

 until they plant coleus. A sad mistake, 

 for they are in their glory in May. 



The Pansy. 



Just a word about a pansy bed. They 

 are usually planted with the view that 

 by early June they will be exhausted and 

 flowerless and be succeeded by something 

 more lasting. That makes business for 

 us, yet these universal favorites can be 

 made a most attractive flower bed into 

 August and with the return of coof 

 weather will renew their vigor and be at- 

 tractive till snow flies again. Only ob- 

 serve two rules. Give them a good soak- 

 ing twice a week in dry weather and 

 never fail to pick off the withered flow- 

 ers. Bearing seeds quickly exhausts. 



The Sweet Bays. 



Sweet bays, oleanders, box trees and 

 Hydrangea Otaksa that you have stored 

 for yourself or customers should be stood 

 out where they can get the sun and 

 rain. The sweet bays with us lose the 



splendid glossy green of health and also 

 the perfect trimness of form that they 

 have when first imported. In fact, it 

 is a marvelous feat of gardening to pro- 

 duce such wonderful wealth of growth 

 and leaves in such tubs. I have never 

 seen the Belgians at it, but it must be 

 during the spring growing season that 

 the pinching is done that makes such 

 perfect form. That we can do also. 

 The health and vigor is kept up by con- 

 stant feeding with the strongest liquid 

 manure, particularly in early summer. 

 We stand them out in the blazing sun 

 and the roots become parched. After the 

 middle of June the tubs should be sunk 

 in the ground up to the rim. This will 

 help greatly to keep the foliage green. 

 We are not all fortunate enough to buy 

 a dozen pair and dispose of them all and 

 frequently have to winter a few dozen 

 for customers who are well worth it in 

 some other way. 



Hydrangeas. 



The hydrangeas are not so easy to 

 manage as the others. If kept in a shed 

 where, it has been only a degree or two 

 above freezing they will have made a 

 start and that young, tender growth is 

 easily hurt by a very few degrees of frost. 

 If you leave them in the storage house 

 every day will add to the spindling 

 <;rowth, so get them out and make pro- 

 vision to, in case you can sniff a frosty 

 night ahead, lay them down and cover 

 with a mat or blanket for the night. We 

 are often asked about pruning these 

 hydrangeas. Spring is not the time to 

 prune unless it be to cut out weak or 

 decayed wood. If you shorten back the 

 strong growths made last summer you 

 will lose most of the flowering buds. 

 Prune, if necessary, as soon as the flower 



loses its color, but that must be early 

 enough in the summer to allow the stems 

 to break and make a good growth. 



Lillttm Lancifolium. 



These Japan lilies, properly L. specio- 

 Bum, are usually received and potted 

 with us in December or January. They 

 are now fifteen or eighteen inches high 

 and should be staked before they fall 

 over, for they go three or four feet in 

 height. We consider these beautiful 

 lilies indispensable for designs in July, 

 August and September. It is true we 

 have the cold storage longiflorum with 

 us all the time, but the speciosum is a 

 welcome change, less . formal, in fact 

 more truly Japanese!, and that surely is 

 enough to make it admired. The writer 

 can well remember large pots of these 

 lilies decorating a cool conservatory over 

 half a century ago and it has lost none 

 of its beauty or sweet odor since then. 

 All lilies are natives of temperate climes 

 and the speciosum does not like our hot 

 summers under glass. They like plenty 

 of water, providing it passes; quickly 

 through the soil, a cool temperature and 

 constant fumigation of some kind to 

 keep down aphis. From the middle of 

 May on, some shade and lots of ventila- 

 tion should be given. We think the 

 flowers of Lilium album or L. roseum, 

 either in a design or as a spray or bunch, 

 are far prettier than the much used 

 longiflorum. 



Cyclamens. 



This is the time, just coming, when 

 these winter favoriiJes are too often neg- 

 lected. We do not pretend to know much 

 about that small insect, or mite, that 

 later on causes the leaves to pucker and 

 curl and the flowers to be useless, for 

 wc have never had a serious attack of it. 

 Whether in 2 or 3-inch pots, or later 

 batches still in flats, they should be well 

 surrounded with tobacco stems fre- 

 quently renewed. This may not kill 

 aphides that are already at work, but it 

 will go a long way to keep them clean, 

 as it does with any plant. Never let 

 cyclamens get a severe drying. It is a 

 bad check for them, and every bright 

 morning a light spraying is most bene- 

 ficial. 



I have seen good cyclamens grown in 

 several different ways during summer. 

 One way is a mild hotbed, where the 

 roots could have a little heat and the 

 tops perfect ventilation. They are 

 often plunged in a cold frame after the 

 first of June. We think, however, that 

 for the general florist a south bench in 

 a greenhouse where you can give plenty 

 of ventilation and can shade during the 

 hot sun only, is the safest place. Here 

 you can spray easily and frequently re- 

 new the tobacco. But do not forget to 

 unroll your shadef at 10 a. m. and roll it 

 up at 3 p. m. and on cloudy days do no 

 shading at all. A permanent shading, 

 like whitewashing the glass, is not the 

 thing for cyclamens. 



Asters. 



You will soon be planting out your 

 earliest asters. If in flats they can be 

 stood in cold frames, with sash off, on 

 fine days. It will harden them to the 

 sun and wind. It may be worth men- 

 tioning that if your soil is as rich as it 

 should be, asters are often planted too 

 close to do them justice or to keep them 

 clear of weeds. Boston Market and the 



