J292 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



March 29, 1909. 



ence. However, this natural trait counts 

 for little unless there comes with it 

 knowledge and understanding of plants 

 and flowers. Your high school course in 

 botany should prove a good foundation 

 for intelligent reading and investigation 

 along the line of commercial plants. Es- 

 pecially should you be informed as to 

 the care of palms and ferns and all house 

 and bedding plants, in order to answer 

 the daily queries of your customers. 

 Make it your aim not only to give defi- 

 nite and practical suggestions regarding 

 their keeping but leave the impression 

 that you are entrusting to their care a 

 cherished plant, a spark of sacred life, 

 not to be neglected and starved for want 

 of water and sunshine and a shower 

 bath. A dying plant discourages the 

 buyer and reflects upon the florist. 



Be a constant reader of the trade pa- 

 pers that you may keep in touch with 

 the supply and demand, may anticipate 

 each flower in its season and be able to 

 suggest it to the perplexed customer 

 trying to plan for a coming decoration. 

 "Why, we shall have pond lilies for you 

 by next week and they would do finely 

 arranged in the hanging vases with 

 Sprengeri sprays. Yes? How many 

 dozen, please?" 



Another point with your customer — by 

 all means be resourceful. Pardon a 

 personal reference, but I recall an in- 

 stance when, in hopeless February, by 

 scurrying around under benches and in 

 neglected corners, I found some clover 

 blossoms and a dandelion for an artist 

 which secured for my employer a new 

 and very profitable customer. 



Again, if they know not what they 

 want, suggest that which you need to 

 sell — for we handle perishable goods. If 

 they know what they want, and you are 

 out, be convincing that you have some- 

 thing better, a prettier shade, a stronger 

 stem, less common, or more lasting. 



In taking orders for funeral flowers, 

 you will try to find out about the price 

 the party had in mind and work up from 

 that with the assurance that the higher 

 the price the better pleased they wiU be 

 with your efforts. Break away from the 

 ordinary, by novel touches — try the soft 

 green of a Mme. Salleroi plant in the 

 base of a wreath of pink roses; or a 

 groundwork of Alternanthera aurea for 

 a blending background for white roses; 

 use a cluster of wolf-berries in season. 

 Large bouquets of red cannas and white 

 roses with leaves of cypress and with a 

 few Piersoni fronds, are striking and 

 showy. Suggest as a gift to a young 

 mother and babe, a basket of the Baby 

 Eambler rose with maidenhair ferns and 

 full clusters of baby ribbon caught on 

 the handle and among the ferns. 



A tasteful and attractive window is one 

 of the everyday requisites; it should 

 be the herald to every passerby of each 

 flower and plant in its season. Espe- 

 cially for all holidays should your win- 

 dow be in its unique glory. In house 

 and dinner decorations you have large 

 opportunity to exert your wits and in- 

 genuity. Strive to be as original and 

 clever in executing your decoration as 

 is McCutcheon in his drawings. Keep a 

 note book and add hints and ideas to it 

 daily, from your reading and observa- 

 tion, and it will be found very suggestive 

 when the call comes. Search the woods 

 for their native greens and flowers and 

 make use of their wild beauty, which too 

 often fades unseen. 



Keep in as close touch as possible 

 with all customers and many of them 

 will become your friends and feel from 

 past experience that they are unable to 

 carry out the "function" without your 

 timely assistance. On the subject of 

 flowers you have a right to be an enthusi- 

 ast; it is your hobby — no one has a bet- 

 ter. 



CARNATION NOTES.-WEST. 



Care of Young Stock. 



During the past few weeks we have 

 had ideal weather for propagating, cold 

 and cloudy, and those cuttings you put 

 in late last month ought to have rooted 

 fine, or at least be past the dangerous 

 point. They will make fine stock and if 

 handled properly until they have taken 

 hold in the pots they will in many cases 

 prove more satisfactory than the earlier 

 ones. When potting them be sure you 

 shade them close for a few days, espe- 

 cially if the sun is shining. The sun is 

 getting quite strong now and a few 

 hours of it on a cutting that has no 

 root hold will wilt it beyond recupera- 

 tion. I have also repeatedly cautioned 

 you against draughts, and I want to 

 reiterate that nothing will ruin a young 

 cutting quicker. So be sure to drop your 

 curtain and cover them as soon as you 

 open the ventilators. This covering will 

 be found much more effective than 

 spraying. 



Cutting the Blooms. 



Your blooming plants, too, will call 

 for a little extra attention on account 

 of the stronger sunlight. During the 

 winter months you can cut your blooms 

 at your convenience or as they are 

 needed, allowing them to develop on the 

 plants to the stage at which you want 

 to use them. Now, however, you can 

 not do this. Not only must they be cut 

 early in the morning or late in the after- 

 noon, but most varieties should not be 

 exposed to a day's hot sun after they 

 have unfolded their petals. The white 

 varieties, of course, are excepted, as they 

 will only get whiter, but Mrs. Lawson 

 bleaches badly and should be picked in 

 the morning and every bloom that has 

 its petals unfolded should be picked. 

 Enchantress, too, should be kept picked 

 close and should be picked in the morn- 

 ing. If you pick them close in the morn- 

 ing there will be no need of picking 

 any in the evening. The morning is the 

 best time to gather them, anyway, be- 

 cause most of the unfolding is done in 

 the early morning hours and at that time 

 the blooms are crisp and fresh and will 



begin drawing water as soon as placed 

 in water. 



Put in Deep Vases. 



Both of the above varieties will de- 

 velop fine in water even if picked when 

 only half open. Most varieties will do 

 the same, but a few will not, so be on 

 the safe side and pick when the petals 

 are unfolded. Place them in vases that 

 are deep enough to hold them up straight. 

 If the stems are strong they need not 

 be very deep, but if the stems are not 

 strong enough to hold the blooms up 

 straight you can use a contrivance we 

 sometimes use here to good advantage. 

 Make a wire ring just large enough to 

 fit into the bottom of your vase and 

 another one about eighteen inches across. 

 Run three tolerably heavy and strong 

 wires about eighteen to twenty-one 

 inches long from the one to the other. 

 Set this in your vase and let the blooms 

 rest against the upper wire. Your stems 

 should be strong enough not to need 

 this, but that does not say that they 

 always are, and occasionally we do find 

 it necessary to use this contrivance. 



Shading. 



Some growers put a light shade on 

 the glass to prevent this bleaching on 

 bright days. While it accomplishes the 

 result desired, yet I do not approve of it 

 for other reasons. During March and 

 April the plants make what we usually 

 term their spring growth, which is very 

 rank when the soil has not been allowed 

 to become exhausted. Unless the plants 

 have plenty of sunlight, and, in fact, 

 the full sun, this growth is very apt to 

 be soft, and when hot weather comes 

 the plants become exhausted much 

 quicker than they will if given the full 

 sun and the growth is more matured. 

 Of course if you are ready to throw your 

 plants out in May it will make Uttle 

 difference whether they are exhausted or 

 not, and if a little shade will help your 

 crop now, by all means apply it. Many 

 of us, however, cut a good crop through 

 June and early July at a good profit, 

 and it pays, us to keep up our carna- 

 tions until asters arrive. 



If you apply any shade, be sure it is 

 light; just enough to break the strength 

 of the sun is all you want and it will 

 not take much for that. There will 

 come days at a time when you will wish 

 you did not have any on at all. 



Mr. Osborn covered the subject of 

 topping the young plants well in a re- 

 cent article, and I need not add any- 

 thing to it, except that I never consid- 

 ered it necessary to use a knife iiv the 

 operation. If you want to use a knife^ 

 well and good; it will do no harm, but 

 I have always held that when the stem 

 will snap off as easily and as clean as 

 carnations do a knife is not necessary. 

 It should be a clean break, however, 

 without leaving any bruise or tear and 

 the best time to do it is on a cloudy day. 



Time to Repot. 



I will say, too, that if you potted up 

 early cuttings in small pots in January 

 or early February now is the time to 

 repot them into 2Vi>-inch or 3-inch pots, 

 according to what they are in now. 

 Don't let appearances deceive you. They 

 may look fine and thrifty now and that 

 is all the more reason why you want 

 to keep them so. If you dump one 

 out of the pot you will find the ball 

 a mass of roots. Next month when warm 

 weather sets in they will dry out rapidly 

 and the plants will become stunted if 



