Decembeb 7, 1905. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



139 



MISCELLANEOUS 

 SEASONABLE HINTS. 



Christmas Crops. 



There will not be much propagating 

 or' seed gowing from now until New 

 Year's. Your attention and energy will 

 be devoted to having your Christmas 

 stock in good shape. Kunning briefly 

 ■over the principal crops we might men- 

 tion a few hints for their care. 



Lilies that are well out can be re- 

 moved from the high temperature and 

 put in a cool house and it will improve 

 their keeping qualities when cut, but 

 don't move them until the buds are 

 expanded. 



Azaleas. 



Some of our Deutsche Perle and Simon 

 Mardner azaleas are already in full 

 flower, while others in the same house are 

 backward. It seems for this Christmas 

 flowering we should request, or insist, 

 that the plants should have well ripened 

 wood and well set with buds. Like, the 

 camellia, which I had occasion to com- 

 ment on recently, the time to prepare 

 for early forcing is in the spring, when 

 they are making their new growth. If 

 the growth is matured early and the buds 

 set, then they are ready to flower early. 

 Although the camellia and azalea are 

 allied, there is a wide difference in their 

 submission to forcing. The camellia will 

 stand none of it, while the azalea will 

 open its buds in a strong heat. Don't 

 fail when selling an azalea to tell your 

 customers to keep them well watered. 

 There is frequent complaint that the 

 azalea wilts and it is most often attri- 

 buted to a chill in delivering. It is 

 simply want of water. A cupful of water 

 is administered every twenty-four hours, 

 and this scarcely touches the original ball 

 of earth and roots that we imported and 

 with the dry atmosphere of a living- 

 room soon produces a collapse of petals 

 and buds. 



Poiosettias. 



Poinsettias are now fast extending 

 their showy bracts, often mistaken for 

 petals. It is just now that the greatest 

 care must be given to keep their hand- 

 some foliage fresh and green, for with- 

 out foliage to contrast with the scarlet 

 flower the poinsettia is a sorry sight. 

 A low temperature and exhaustion of 

 soil are the two causes of the leaves 

 turning yellow. Starvation at the root 

 is the most prevalent cause, because a 

 bench of poinsettias planted out where 

 there is abundance of room for the roots 

 to spread and feed will flourish like the 

 green bay tree in 10 degrees lower tem- 

 perature than in pots. They should not, 

 if in pots, be in a lower temperature 

 than 65 degrees. Planted out they will 

 do very well in 5 or 10 degrees lower. 



Begonias. 



There is no advantage in putting the 

 begonias in less heat. They should be 

 jvell developed in flower and they will 

 la^ all the longer. There is a great 

 difference of opinion on the keeping 

 qualities of this beautiful plant, Cloire 

 ae Lorraine. With some it quieklv drops 

 ail Its leaves. With others there is ro 



complaint. It will last longer than a 

 bunch of roses and, therefore, there is 

 no kick coming. 



Cyclamen. 



A very different plant is the cyclamen. 

 They should not be subjected to a high 

 temperature or they will easily wilt and 

 should have a good lot of flowers out to 

 make them attractive. About 55 degrees 

 at night will do this and keep them 

 stout and strong. 



There are many other Christmas plants 

 of less importance. The above are the 

 leading plants and you should be well 

 supplied with a desirable stock. It won 't 

 do to be minus any favorite plant with 

 the excuse that you did not grow any 

 this year. Your customers want no such 

 excuses and don't understand them. 



The Ferns. 



There is one plant that keeps up its 

 unrivaled popularity, viz., the Boston 

 fern and its varieties, and if you have 

 missed growing a good lot they are 

 readily procured. They are indispensa- 

 ble and fill the bill as a present better 

 than any plant you can mention. ' ' I 



way, but the old Boston suits the mil- 

 lion. 



Tulips and Hyacinths. 



Don't try to force tulips or Dutch 

 hyacinths into bloom for Christmas. We 

 used to get the Uuc Van Thol varieties 

 in by that date ten years ago, but then 

 we did not have the flowers we have 

 today. Who would look at a dozen dried 

 up Due Van Thol when Lawson or En- 

 chantress carnations are in sight? And 

 the good tulipp, such as Yellow Prince 

 or Vermilion Brilliant, cannot be forced 

 in without a great effort and it is not 

 worth while. Romans and Paper White 

 narcissi should be in abundance. I hope 

 you started your Paper Whites in plenty 

 of time so that in a cool temperature 

 thoy will be well out. It is much su- 

 perior in quality when grown cool. Ro- 

 mans want a little more heat than the 

 narcissi, but are all the better if finished 

 off cool. 



Lily of the Valley. 



Speaking of Roman hyacinths tempts 

 me to remark that in our opinion they 

 are not nearly as economical a flower to 

 grow as is the lily of the valley. The 

 bulb of the hyacinth costs double the 

 price of the valley pips. It is much more 

 labor to force and surely it is no more 

 desirable for any purpose than the deli- 

 cate and beautiful so-called lily. When 

 once you have the apparatus rightly 

 fixed there is nothing more simple or 

 less risky than forcing the valley pips. 



Do not attempt to force any newly 

 imported pips for Christmas, but you 

 can have a batch for New Year's. This 



A Specimen Plant of Nephrolepis Whitmani. 



promised my wife a nice fern," or " 1 

 want to send mother a pretty fern ' ' 

 is constantly heard. The varieties are 

 now so numerous it will soon be a ques- 

 tion which is the favorite with the pub- 

 lic, but it has seemed to us this fall 

 that the original Boston variety, or the 

 first variation of the species, exaltata, 

 is not yet superseded. The droojjing 

 habit of Bostoniensis, even in plants of 

 moderate size, is what pleases. This is 

 saying nothing against the extraordinary 

 beauty of elegantissima or the more 

 compact and thicker specimen of Scottii 

 and Barrowsii, for all are fine in their 



I know because wo have done it and 

 cut soventy-five per cent good spikes and 

 leaves. To get these results it is possible 

 that I was blessed with a very strong 

 lot of pips, for those were the days 

 when comparatively few were imported 

 compared with the ])rcsent. The execu- 

 tive committee of the S. A. F. met here 

 in February, 1899, and it was the prev- 

 ious New Year's I had been so success- 

 ful and in relating tiiis to the much be- 

 loved Peter Ilendorson, President John 

 May and others, they gave me such a 

 witliering look of incredulity that I would 

 have been glad to slide under the tableu 



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