J572 



The Weekly Florists' Review* 



Mav is. 1005. 



the (loatl. l)iit tlic gciHMally pleasing ap- 



jK^nancc ot' llio wluili' ;^roiiiul.-;. 



Mixed Plants. 



]f the iiii\('(l \;i-'(' i-^ >lill ])iX'fi>iro<l, 

 llici'c i- (•(in-idcrabK' dinirr ot iiialeiial. 

 For a cctilcv ])lant there is iiotiiiiiLr e(nial 

 to 1 luit ea.-l-ii()ii plant. Diaca'iia iiulivi>a. 

 ]t not only exists Inil it jjrows ami in- 

 jures the lieree sun ami drying wind-. 

 Then thcj-e ai>' tlic /(inal ueraninins. eel- 

 eus, a(h\ raiilhes, \iii iciiated geraniiiius, 

 13egoiiia \'ernnn. acalsjiha. ISostmi lerii, 

 centaurea, fiulisias (in the .shade), jie- 

 tiiiiias, fte. Ahoiit the only [lalni that 

 wonhl he irood for a eeiiler jilaiit in 

 plaee (if the draejeiia \\(nild he the plioe- 

 iiix. 'J'liey will slantl tlie .-uii and the 

 wind. 



Jt i.s neillicr fair nor wise to jnit in 

 jilant> that will make a fine show for a 

 week or two and then 1m> out of bloom 

 for the whole summer. Such jilants as 

 the white feverfew or show pelai goniuni 

 will not do. or any jihnil whose season of 

 flowering is short. Nearly every ceme- 

 tery has .situations wiiere any j)lants will 

 thrive and other ideak. wifely ])osition.s 

 where only tin' hardiest jdaiits will jire- 

 scivc a (ieeeiit a]>pearance. Thi- must 

 be sludii'd. 



Drooping Plants. 



All these mi.xed vases will want an 

 assortment of droo|nng plants and there 

 arc very few i-eally good ones. Some 

 that may thrive and llower in a shel- 

 tered, jiartly shaded plaee will look like 

 rats' tails in .a few weeks if exposed to 

 the winds and starved for root room. 

 The Knglish ivy will remain just where 

 yon j)ut it. but in a vase is not grace- 

 ful. 1"hc vineas arc truly the best of all. 

 Then there is the ivy geranium, Aiiutilon 

 vexillariuni, double sweet alyssmn, 

 money vine, senecio (often called Ger- 

 man, ivy), lobelias, maurandia. nastur- 

 tium, ete. There are two splendid climb- 

 ing j)Iants, both excellent for tiiLs i)ur- 

 posp. but seldom seen because they are 

 nenlctteil in the winter, in fact, often 

 lost, viz., ]i)oma'a Mortonii and I'ilogync 

 suavis. 



Don't Crowd the Plants. 



Xow, if you are a beginner at the la- 

 borious vase busi!iess, remember that 

 you crowd into a space of two feet in 

 dianieter or le.s.s, as many plants as 

 woidd about ]>roj)erly fill a G-foot bed. 

 Therefore the soil should be of the best. 

 In addition to nianiue, use a G-inch pot 

 of lK)ne tloiir to every wheelbarrow of 

 fioil and he sure to get the soil firmly 

 and (oiiijKutly down between the balls of 

 the plants. Let each j)lant be well lirmcil 

 in its place. We cover the surface of the 

 soil with green moss. It keeps the soil 

 from wa.sliing ofT, prevents .some drying 

 out of the soil and when the roots reach 

 it they thiive in it. 



One thing more. When you start a 

 young man tilling these va-e^. your stock 

 is ahiindant ami lie wants to make a nice 

 looking job and crowds in your fine 

 geraniums. Ni;w. with these early filhvl 

 vases there is no need to crowd, for they 

 will soon fill up and be all the better 

 for a little room to s])read. Save your 

 plants, f(ir there are lots of belated or- 

 ders coming along until July 4. Then 

 you would I)e glad of the plant.s you so 

 lavishly used when they were plentiful, 

 anil it is the late filled vases that need 

 crowding, if any. 



We like to water the vases we fill 



and if you water several liimdred at fyi 

 or .s;-2..")(( each l'<ir the sea-on it does not 

 se<'ni a hn Lie (haiize for the individual, 

 but it. will lie tumid a belter paying o])- 

 eiatiiiti man thi' (harge for hllini; ami 

 \ oil liiixe tin- '.ippiirt unity to care fur 

 \ iiur o\\ II work. 



Veranda Boxes. 



'Ilieie is a good deal being said of late 

 about window boxes. We iiotieecl just 

 twiMity years ajro the eeming summer, in 

 Ihielaiid. that the window box was great- 

 ly in vogue in tlie windows of houses of 

 Mioderate )ireten>ions. and eoiispieiious 

 in all those boxes were two gay colors 

 that we in this country are deprived of. 

 the shrubby yellow ealceolaria ami the 

 blue lobelia. 'J'he loriiier is abs(dutely 

 useless here and the latter goes out of 

 Iknver in a short time. 



Ilie window bo.x has been Us<'d in this 

 country in the modest homes for many 

 years, but never in jiretty defaeheil resi- 

 ('ences. 'J'heir gardening eiiibellishmeiit 

 has been the \eranda box. and fifteen 

 to twenty years ago it was in the height 

 of its favor. I feel sure I am within 

 bounds by stating that no other eity in 

 the I'nion iiseil sf) many thousand feet 

 of these nrn.iuuntal arrangements as tin! 

 city of Ihill'alo. It Ixgaii some thirty 

 years ago. We have lived through its 

 birth, its days nf glnry and. I am sony 

 to say. almost its ■"deeiiiie and fall." al- 

 though it has by no means ipiite fallen.' 

 There are ]ierha])s not 11)0 feet tilled 

 now to 1.001) feet ten years ago. 



Nearly all the houses on residence 

 streets stand back from the jirojierty line 

 from twenty-five lo fifty feet and are all 

 detached and seldom a fence of any 

 kind. This hitter fact wonderfully sur- 

 jirised Mr. (ioldring.of the London (!ar- 

 den. on a visit here, lie was sur|)rised 

 that there was not all kinds of trespas- 

 sing and vandalism going on. There is 

 nothing of the kind. I'erbaps if there 

 were a big fence and a luill dog insid(> 

 there might be .some attemjit at tres- 

 jiassing. These residents oliject to the 

 little sticteh of lawn being cut up fir 



flower beds, preferiing to view the restful 

 green sward and a clump of tloweiing 

 shiiibs (ir a few small growing trees. 



So on the \eraiidas they jilaeiMl boxes 

 tilled with llowering and ornamental 

 plants, with droo|)ing vines. Some houses 

 on front and sidi; verandas had as much 

 as lUO lineal feet of boxes and fifty feet 

 was eommoii. Jt was not your own eni- 

 billishmetil you enjoyed as you sat on 

 your M'landa, for you looked over that 

 and admireil the beauty of your neigh- 

 bor's aiross the street. And for the 

 ]iasseriy on the shaded avenue it was 

 iieauty the whole way along. 



1 know of no good reason why many 

 have given up their veranda boxes, except 

 that they desired a chang(\ got a little 

 tired and in many cases for the trivial 

 leason lh.it the wooden boxes lotted out 

 and tiny tlid not tremble to g<'t new ones. 

 There is no style of gardening which will 

 make a street more beautiful and we' 

 trust the taste for it will a^ain come 

 around. 



A Good Style of Box. 



If we were asked to supply the boxes, 

 as we have thousands of feet in thei 

 past, we should have them made of cy- 

 press and ]iaiiited deep green, or the 

 eolor of the veranda. A good size is nine! 

 inches wide at the toj) and eight inches 

 at the liotloin and six inches diH'p. Let 

 the front splay an inch outward. This 

 is all inside measure. As these boxes 

 are iniieb better filled at the greenhouses, 

 tlu'V ^luuild not be too long. A box of 

 the >\n' mentioned and si.x feet long is a 

 good lift for two men. Doift forget a 

 few holes in the bottom for drainage. 



'J'he beauty of these veranda boxes is 

 that invariably they flourish and grow. 

 'I'hey .can \k' watered faithfully and are 

 -ehbiii .-xposed to hard winds. The 

 droopiii'j vines are a most important 

 part. 'I'lu^ boxes themselves should never 

 lie V i~ilih . After a few weeks" growth 

 they should be covered with a drooping 

 (Urtaiii of green vines. The soil should 

 lie rich, but rank growth of such plants 

 as coleus should be kept in check or they 

 -mother the LTcraniums. 



An Easter Plant Receptacle Originated by C. H. Fox, Philadelphia. 



