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SeptbubeR 21, 1906. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review^ 



979 



Beware Early Frost 



Not so many days ago a chill went 

 over the country, at least over the east- 

 ern states, cool enough tj remind us 

 what we must soon expect. In this par- 

 ticular locality we have seldom seen the 

 most tender plants hurt by frost during 

 September, yet twenty-five miles east and 

 away from the influence of Lake Erie we 

 have seen dahlias, gladioli, asters and all 

 garden flowers cut down on September 

 19, I only quote this that you can de- 

 pend on no date for our flrst killing 

 frost. It may hang off until early No- 

 vember or swoop down with a withering 

 blast the first of October. 



To be reminiscent a moment, some 

 twenty years ago the weather up to Oc- 

 tober 9 had been so warm and balmy 

 every one around here was off his guard. 

 It had not been below 50 degrees, night 

 or day, since the previous May. On that 

 fatal day down came a cutting black 

 frost of 6 degrees — and what havoc there 

 was! Far better had we gone by dates 

 and been properly prepared. 



Fire Heat. 



This is a time of the year when there 

 is plenty of scope for the exercise of 

 judgment in forcing. Rose growers have, 

 of course, had steam on for weeks, to 

 dispel the dampness and chill that we get 

 toward daylight, and a little heat in the 

 pipes would be of great benefit to many 

 of our choicest plants. Poinscttias and 

 begonias will soon show the effects of 

 several chilly, damp nights. A little air 

 and a little heat are the ideal conditions 

 that suit most of our tender soft wooded 

 plants. 



Shading. 



Another reminder is to get the perma- 

 nent shading off your houees. Very few 

 plants need any more shading and the 

 few that do can be shaded for a few 

 hours if necessary. Plants do not burn 

 or Buffer by the direct sun in the fall as 

 they do after months of dark winter, 

 (iet your glass clean, for you will soon 

 need all the light you can get. 



Lift the Stock Plants. 



There should be no delay in lifting 

 and potting any plants you need for 

 Ktock or flowering, such as a few acal- 

 ypha, Salvia splendens, stevia, etc. It 

 is all very well to think you can run 

 with a spade and do all this when you 



' feel Jack Frost approaching. There is 

 too much to do that afternoon. Get 



f them potted and standing outdoors and 

 yon can hustle a lot of potted stuff un- 

 der shelter in a hurry. 



Early Harrisii. 

 Lilium Harrisii that were potted in 

 July and have been in a cold frame since 

 are mostly well rooted and can be put 

 into a warm, light house and you should 

 have the earliest in flower in November, 

 These lily bulbs by no means all start 

 together and the average florist does not 

 want them ail to flower together, so se- 

 lect the strongest and most forward 



weekly. Their time of flowering will ex- 

 tend over two months, but they will all 

 get there in time. 



Once more let me remind you not to 

 neglect to thoroughly water your flats 

 of Romans, Paper Whites and other 

 French bulbs. This is oxten a dry month 

 and it takes a heavy rain to penetrate 

 the covering of the flats and down to 

 the roots. 



Poinsettias. 



Let me remind you that this month is 

 late enough to make up your pans of 

 poinsettias or shift any plants that you 

 intend to grow singly. When growing, 

 with large green foliage, the poinsettia 

 is very impatient of its roots being dis- 

 turbed, so plants-in .4-inch pots should 

 go into the flowering pot, a 6-inch, and 

 little plants in 2^ -inch or 3-inch should 

 be selected for pans of various sizes, 



Lorraine Begonias. 



Gloire de Lorraine begonias are now 

 making, a wonderful growth. They will 

 natursSly take plenty of water when 

 growing so vigorously but should always 

 be watered with care. Take the water- 

 ing pot and look at each plant. There 

 are very few experts with the hose and 

 this plant wants no water on the foli- 

 age. 



Occasionally plants of this gem will 

 make shoots of extra strength, a little 

 out of proportion to the plant. The two 

 or three top joints of these strong shoots 



can be taken off and root readily in flats 

 or pans of sand and will make very fine 

 plants for next year, fully as good as the 

 best leaf cuttings. 



Hydrangeas. 



Those who have suitable soil plant out 

 their hydrangeas. Fine plants can be 

 produced this way, but not as surely as 

 by growing them in pots. Do not delay 

 in lifting and potting them at once. 

 They will be all the better for being es- 

 tablished in the pots. Do not let them 

 suffer for want of water when first lift- 

 ed. You can ripen their wood and buds 

 later, when you bring them in the houses, 

 -Expert growers of hydrangeas do not 

 want any frost on their buds. One de- 

 gree of frost may do no harm, but two 

 or three will. Let the ripening be done 

 by gradually withholding water and not 

 by frost. 



Gypsophila. 



Every florist of artistic taste should 

 grow GypsophUa paniculata and plenty 

 of it. it is true it will grow in any gar- 

 den, but we do not see enough of it. 

 Here is the difference. In a hotel lately 

 the dinner tables were decorated with 

 poor, liver-colored asters, which would 

 produce the blues if you did not already 

 possess them; stiff, formal, hideous, and 

 you turned to the faces of the old maids 

 who waited table for relief. In Wash- 

 ington, during the convention, we 

 noticed in some restaurants vases of gol- 

 den rod very loosely arranged, but scat- 

 tered through them and above them this 

 beautiful gypsophila. Baby's Breath, It 

 may have been very inexpensive but an 

 object of art and beauty. You can buy 

 and plant it now, or wait until spring 

 and buy a packet of seed now and win- 

 ter the plants in a cold frame. It is the 

 same refined taste that would admire 

 and want gypsophila that demands our 

 sweet stevia at Christmas. 



. f..<\i . William Scott. 



EARLY VARIETIES. 



The first mums of the season are be- 

 ginning to be heard from. I saw last 

 week a fine flower of Elsie Fulton, and 

 Monrovia and other kinds are nearly 

 ready. Almost before we know it we shall 

 be once more in the old-time rush. 



It cannot be said that there is much 

 money in the extra early flowers. In 

 September the market has not yet begun 

 to move to any great extent and, in ad- 

 dition to this, asters and dahlias are flne 

 and come into direct competition with the 

 chrysanthemum, so that while an odd 

 dozen flowers are all right as a novelty, 

 there is no real market for them at this 

 early date. 



For the past two years a sharp frost 

 has occurred around October 1 with us 

 and this, by killing everything outside, 

 has created a fine market for early flower- 

 ing varieties. With an open fall these 

 favorable conditions do not occur and I 

 recall that some four or five years ago 

 the price of early flowers was so absurdly 

 low, owing to the fact that the market 



was filled with dahlias, cosmos and other 

 flowers, that many growers temporarily 

 abandoned the growing of early varie- 

 ties. Last year on October 1 Monrovia 

 was selling for $5 a dozen in New York 

 and the same grade of flowers a few days 

 later was not worth half that sum. 



Ventilation. 



We can only hope for a killing frost 

 again this year. Already the thermometer 

 has registered 36 degrees with us and 

 this is a strong reminder that from now 

 on we must pay attention to the ventila- 

 tion. The days are still warm^t when 

 the night temperature gets near the 

 freezing point the ventilation must be 

 reduced and the houses run at from 45 to 

 50 degrees. Never close the ventilators 

 tight in houses where the buds are show- 

 ing color. Leave on an inch or so of air 

 to prevent the condensation of moisture 

 on the petals or much damping of the 

 flowers will result. It is far better to 

 leave on a little air and run enough heat 

 through the pipes to maintain the tem- 

 perature at the proper point. 



