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JOLY 19, 1906. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



519 



liable to meet with disaster if on the 

 sheltered side of the leaf. 



Early Buds. 



During the last few days of July those 

 growers who cater to a very early 

 market, or who are endeavoring to be 

 the first in with their flowors, take what 

 buds they can find on tho earliest varie- 

 ties. There are several kinds that will 

 come finely from a late July bud, among 

 them being Monrovia, Montmort, Gas- 

 tellier and Fitzwygram, and it is from 

 these early buds that the flowers come 

 which one sees about the end of Septem- 

 ber. The market is limited so early in 

 the season, but a few dozen flowers can 

 be sold to good advantage, and when we 

 get a killing frost, as we sometimes 

 do, around October 1, they are worth 

 big money. Charles H. Totty. 



PLANTING MUMS. 



Is 6x8 too far apart or too close to 

 plant mums, to grow two blooms to a 

 plant, put in June 30, ready to be topped 

 the same day? I have such varieties as 

 Touset, Chadwick, Dean, Amorita, 

 Jones, Enguehard, Xonin, Ivory and 

 Duckham. II. W. S. 



Plants can be grown 6x8 and two 

 flowers taken from each, but tlie same 

 space is not too much to grow single- 

 stem plants to carry one flower only, if 

 you are wanting to grow only the finest 

 grade. Ivory is possibly the only excep- 

 tion. This variety has small foliage, 

 and can be grown much more closely 

 than the others. 



As I mentioned in the notes a week 

 or two ago, one must be guided by his 

 market in growing a large number of a 

 medium grade, or a few of superior qual- 

 ity. I would say grow as good quality 

 flowers as vou can, and leave the other 

 kind to the other fellow. C. H. T. 



A NEV HYDRANGEA. 



Arborescens alba grandiflora is the 

 name which has been sent for registry 

 to cover a most valuable new hardy 

 American hydrangea, which as soon as 

 thoroughly disseminated will be known 

 as the "snowball hydrangea," from its 

 resemblance to the viburnum flower, so 

 that this synonymn might as well be 

 bracketed w'ith it from the first. 



The original plant was found grow- 

 ing wild in the woods of Ohio, and the 

 variety bids fair to iDecome the most 

 valuable hardy shrub of middle latitudes, 

 its greatest value, aside from its won- 

 derful beauty, being that it comes into 

 bloom just after the flowering time of 

 the lilacs, syringas, viburnunis and 

 spring-flowering spiraeas, and, further, it 

 continues on into August. The panicle 

 is more like hortensia in form than 

 paniculata grandiflora. and is a pure 

 shade of white, the stem and leaf are 

 both refined in form, and the panicle 

 18 of fine size. The bush grows some 

 four feet in height and is about the 

 same in width. 



Tt is a boon to the American .garden, 

 and it is probable that it will rank very 

 high as a florists ' flower. S. A. Hiu,. 



ACHILLEA AND PHLOX. 



"When is the right time to plant Achil- 

 lea The Pearl in a warm climate, and 

 how long does its bloom last? Does it 

 nave to bo renewed every year and 

 ^ill it stand the hot sun ? When should 

 annual phlox be planted in the south? 



Hydrangea Arborescens Alba Grandiflora. 



What is the difference in the bloom of 

 the annual and the hardy white phlox, 

 and what are the best varieties for 

 southern culture? We shall be thank- 

 ful for any information that you can 

 give us about these plants. L. J. S. 



This fine little hardy plant is classed 

 as an alpine, yet a good authority says 

 it is well adapted for a dry, sunny po- 

 sition. We have found it to do well in 

 rockwork gardens, and its .season of 

 flowering extends for several months. 

 It should do well in Alabama unless 

 the winters are too warm and humid. 

 The summer suns will certainly not in- 

 jure it. Plant in a well drained, light 

 or gravelly soil. 



The variety known to florists as The 

 Pearl is a variety of the species A. 

 Ptarmica. It is propagated by cuttings 

 of the young growths put into flats or 

 beds of light soil or sand in early 

 spring, or by divisions of an old bt'd 

 pulled apart and replanted. We had a 

 bed or row which lasted and flowered 

 four or five years; but like many percn 

 nials the centers of the plants heconu' 

 exhausted, and a n»nv planting should 

 occur every three or four years. Its 

 bloom is long lasting and it is a valu- 

 able florists- ' flower, ('specially where 

 there is much demand for white flowers 

 for designs, et<'. 



Phlox Drummondii is an annual found 

 growing in the state of Texas, and on 

 account of its freedom of growth, va- 

 riety and brilliance of color and won- 

 derful propensity to bloom, it is one of 

 our most highly esteemed garden an- 

 nuals. Through crossing and selection 

 there have also been evolved several 

 types of distinct form, the star phlox 

 and several others. I am not able to 

 describe botanically the difference in 

 the floret of P. Drummondii and the 

 hardy P. decussata, and there is little 

 apparent diiTerence, but there is a wide 

 difference in the species. The greatest 

 distinction is that one is an annual and 

 the other a hardy perennial. The hardy 

 phlox has large terminal panicles, while 

 the blooms of the annual Drummondii 

 are described as broad, flat-topped 

 cymes. If you will notice, the panicles 

 of tho hardy phlox resemble Hydran- 



gea paniculata, while the flowers of 

 H. Drummondii are very different. That 

 is the best distinction we can give. 



P. Drummondii, if planted thickly, will 

 flower itself to death by the end of July, 

 while if given plenty of room and nour- 

 ished by water and, more than all, if the 

 flowers are kept cut off if you have use 

 for them, it will continue to flower late 

 in the fall. With many plants an early 

 flowering habit is greatly desired, and 

 this is produced by several transplant- 

 ings. Transplanting is a check to growth 

 and induces an annual to flower, and 

 that's an end of its existence. So the 

 Phlox Drummondii is better sown in the 

 open ground where it is to flower, which 

 ill .\labama would, I should think, be in 

 the month of ^larch, or as soon as the 

 ground is in good order to work and 

 there is no more fear of any frost; I 

 know that although you are in a semi- 

 tropical climate, you still have unseason- 

 able fronts. W. S. 



PLANTS FOR WESTERN BEDDING. 



I A luiinT liy Kdwiird AVIlliiuiis. of Crand Is- 

 liiiid. read befcre the Nebraska State Hortlcul- 

 lm:il S.K-lety at Omaha, July 11', 1!X)6.] 



To begin with, the term bedding plants 

 covers the i)Iants that do well when 

 nlanteil out of doors. Everybody knows 

 what a geranium is, one of our most 

 useful phuits. I have had the best suc- 

 cess with geraniums by potting the cut- 

 tings in the fall in 2-inch pots. The 

 secret is to get your soil firm at the base 

 of the cutting, water thoroughly, and 

 shade for a few days; then the operation 

 is done. It saves handling the plants 

 twice ; besides, your percentage of ])lant3 

 will be greater than if you propagate 

 them in the sand. Geraniums are bad 

 about damping off in the cutting bed. 

 These plants will furnish good cuttings 

 about the middle of February; that gives 

 you your 3-inch and 4-inch stock in bloom 

 by the middle of May, in a temperature 

 of 54 to .56 degrees at night, and 58 to 

 (iO day heat, sun heat 70 degrees. Give 

 l)lenty of air at all times, and it is well 

 to give the plants a handling over, and 

 take off the large leaves; that lets in the 

 light and helps to break out new shoots. 



Now in regard to varieties; they are 

 so numerous that I won 't endeavor to re- 



