966 



The Weekly Florists^ Review^ 



Mabch 1, 1906. 



and other tropical flowers; on the table 

 designated ' * North America, ' ' roses 

 and carnations were prominent. A deli- 

 cate and softening shade of light was 

 shed over all by numerous tinted electric 

 globes. 



WHEN TO PLANT PANSIES. 



"When should 1 plant pansies so as to 

 get them out as soon as warm weather 

 sets in? Would you start them in sand 

 or soil? Also would like to know if there 

 is any other flower of this order, besides 

 -the one mentioned and sweet peas, that 

 I could grow outside during the summer 

 months? Tlvat is to say the flower has 

 to be a pretty fair seller in the commis- 

 sion house, as those mentioned are. 



s. s. s. 



Pansies are generally sown in July and 

 August and transplanted into beds of 

 good, rich soil when large enough to han- 

 dle, 30 that they get well established be- 

 fore severe winter sets in. They can be 

 sown still later if intended to be pro- 

 tected during winter with glass sash. All 

 of the above should be fine flowering 

 plants at the earliest opening of spring 

 and should be lifted from the winter 

 beds and placed where they are to flower 



as soon as the ground is dry. For sum- 

 mer flowering you can raise most satis- 

 factory plants by sowing the seeds 

 at once. Sow in flats two or three 

 inches deep in fine sifted soil, thinly, 

 only just covering the seeds. When the 

 little seedlings are large enough to 

 handle, transplant' into other flats of 

 rich soil two inches apart and when win- 

 ter is over remove the flats to a cold 

 frame and plant out in open ground 

 early in May. These winter-sown pan- 

 sies will not make much show dur- 

 ing the month of May, but from June 

 on they will flower more vigorously and 

 continuously than those raised the pre- 

 vious fall. The best summer beds of 

 pansies we ever grew .were sown in Feb- 

 ruary. Besides pansies and sweet peas 

 there is a long list of annuals and peren- 

 nials that can be raised outside and find 

 a moderate sale in all large cities. A 

 visit to your commission houses would 

 easily enlighten you on what is in de- 

 mand. 



The aster is certainly one of the most 

 profitable, especially if you can get in 

 a good crop very early, and again just 

 before frost comes, as all flowers are 

 scarce at that time. W. S. 



THE VALUE OF RECORDS. 



In all well regulated and up-to-date es- 

 tablishments there should be a system 

 of record-keeping. It is not only essen- 

 tial to know where we stand at the end 

 of the season, but it is of great value 

 in preparing our plan for next season's 

 planting. To know exactly how many 

 blooms each variety produces in a sea- 

 son, and the returns from same when 

 compared with other varieties, and also 

 the superficial area occupied by each va- 

 riety, must of necessity be of important 

 use to every grower. But how useful 

 and important this is, is known only to 

 the grower who year after year makes 

 it a practice to compile such statistics. 



To keep a faithful record of the cut 

 of each variety, a card should be pre- 

 pared each week, with spaces for each 

 day. This should be placed in the house 

 and every bloom cut should be entered 

 on it under its own heading and at the 

 end of each month this should be copied 

 into the journal for future reference. 



In the i^rting room similar cards 

 should be used, which should show the 

 exact number of blooms of each grade. 

 Note should also be made of those va- 

 rieties which are in best demand among 

 the customers. 



By this means we can, at the end of 

 the season, with a little figuring arrive 



at a definite conclusion as to which of 

 the varieties it is mo gfr^ rofitable to 

 plant. By rigidly followiflg- this plan 

 our waete of space will be reduced to a 

 minimum. 



Record-keeping also embraces a sys- 

 tem of recording each day's tempera- 

 ture, with remarks concerning amount of 

 sunshine, moisture, etc., all of which 

 should be carefully noted in the journal. 



The night and day temperature at 

 which each variety was grown should 

 also be recorded, all of which may be of 

 some utility in future. In fact, from 

 the time the cutting or scion is taken 

 from the bush until it has finished its 

 entire season's work nothing concerning 

 its pecuniary value or cultivation should 

 be left unrecorded. 



To derive full value from past ex- 

 perience a full description of the soils 

 used, the nature of the compost, ferti- 

 lizers and the amount and quality of the 

 liquid food applied with a note of the re- 

 sults should also be recorded. 



All this work requires a certain 

 amount of time, but it is time well 

 spent and will amply repay us by leaving 

 no doubt in our minds as to the merits 

 and demerits of each and every variety 

 under our care, besides enlightening us 

 as to whether our soil is suitable and our 

 culture right or wrong." EmES. 



ROSE UNCLE JOHN. 



The growers in the vicinity of Chicago 

 are steadily displacing the Golden Gate 

 rose with its sport. Uncle John. The 

 deeper color is the principal reason for 



the change, but the productive quality 

 of the stock of Uncle John seems with 

 some growers to be bettwr than with their 

 Golden Gate. It is a rose which can 

 be grown cheaper than Bride and Maid 

 and still brings more money. The ac- 

 companying illustration is from a photo- 

 graph made at the Peter Reinberg estab- 

 lishment on December 20 and show^ the 

 crop in ^ight for Christmas. The sport 

 originated here several years ago and 

 the plantings have been steadily in- 

 creased season after season. 



HARDY FLOWERS. 



There was a good audience present at 

 the regular Saturday meeting of the 

 Massachusetts Horticultural Society on 

 February 17, to hear E. O. Orpet speak 

 on ' ' Hardy Flowers. ' ' He spoke of the 

 gradual advance of hardy flowering 

 plants into popular favor in place of 

 the overdone and tiresome carpet bed- 

 ding, which for some time was the 

 craze. More credit is due William Rob- 

 inson, late editor of the London Gar- 

 den, for bringing hardy plants into 

 favor than any man living. His efforts 

 have completely revolutionized flower 

 gardening and have made available a 

 wealth of excellent material which is 

 more satisfying, more varied and more 

 easily cared for than the beds of ten- 

 der plants once almost exclusively de- 

 pended upon for floral effects. 



The proper preparation of the soil is 

 necessary to grow hardy perennials suc- 

 cessfully. The ground should be turned 

 over eighteen inches deep and plenty 

 of well rotted manure worked in. A 

 continuous effective display of peren- 

 nials in flower borders is diflicult, but 

 by the use of annuals to fill up gaps 

 caused by plants dying down after flow- 

 ering this may be easily overcome. For 

 winter protection nothing is better than 

 leaves. The speaker objected to the 

 spreading of manure on the borders in 

 the fall, owing to its unsightly appear- 

 ance. 



In aquilegias the North American 

 sorts are best and the three best in his 

 estimation are chrysantha, Canadensis 

 and cserulea. For tiie disease attacking 

 delphiniums and blasting the flower 

 stems he recommends spraying with 

 Ivory soap. He thinks the trouble real- 

 ly is caused by a mite. Delphinium 

 grandiflorum treated as an annual is 

 extremely useful, the blue being espe- 

 cially valuable. He likes some of the 

 thalictrums and has found their foliage 

 excellent to use with sweet peas for 

 aecorative purposes. The demand for 

 peonies is remarkable. Growers in Hol- 

 land and England are keenly alive to 

 the demand here. 



Perennial phloxes need rich ground. 

 If the flower heads are cut off just be- 

 fore the last flowers fade the stems 

 will branch out and give a nice new 

 crop in October. Lupinus polyphyllus 

 and variety albus are perennial and in- 

 dispensable. By saving some of the an- 

 nual sorts among them, a continuous 

 crop of flowers may be had during the 

 season. Liliums dislike soil in which 

 manure is incorporated. They like to 

 have the roots cool and moist. Except 

 for the small-bulbed sorts, he recom- 

 mends planting them twelve inches 

 deep. An ideal place for lilies is in 

 rhododendron beds. The shade, leaf 

 mulching and moist root conditions are 

 ideal for them. The best lilies which 

 may be depended upon not to run out 

 are: L. auratum platyphyllum (this 



