1636 



The Weekly Florists^ Review^ 



AmiL 26, 11)06. 



Bays and Box. 



There are several plants that endure 

 a few .lej^rees of frost and are, perhaps, 

 occupying space in tlie greenhouse 

 which you sorely need. Among these 

 could lie nu'utioned large pots or tubs of 

 agapantiuis, .sweet bays, tree box and 

 hydrang.^as. It is not only a relief to 

 get tiieni outdoors, but it is far l)etter 

 for them. The agapanthus is not hurt 

 by a few degrees of frost, and unless 

 my memory misleads me, it is hardy in 

 the south of England. The tree ' box 

 is almost hardy in our state, if planteil 

 out. There will be no frost after this 

 to hurt a bay tree. 



When these are making their growth 

 in the spring is the time to pinch the 

 young shoots lo keep them in the ideal 

 form they reach us from Europe. Few 

 of US can keep these ornamental ever- 

 greens in the splendid form and deep 

 green color that they possess when first 

 imported. Form is maintained by pinch- 

 ing in their growing season and health 

 and vigor sustained by protecting their 

 roots from continual drying out, and 

 from starvation by copious applications 

 of the strongest liquid manure. 



For six weeks there is no need of sink- 

 ing the tubs in the ground, but by the 

 middle of June this should be done. 

 They ha\e a much better appearance, ap- 

 pearing to be naturally growing, which 

 the sight of the tubs dis^pels, and it saves 

 the roots from a daily drying out. 



Hydrangeas. 



Hydrangeas, even if kept all winter at 

 about the freezing point, will, under the 

 influence of the warm days Of .March, 

 start to grow, and more "care imist be 

 taken with them, for the young siioots 

 are as tender as bleached j."ea-kale. Yet 

 the sooner they can get the open air and 

 light the better. We have had many 

 iiydrangeas ba.uy injured by a few de- 

 grees of frost, even in May, but that 

 tvas tiiroiigh carelessness, for any even- 

 ing when there are forebodings of frost 

 it would take but a few minutes to lav 

 these j)lants on their sides and tlirow 

 over the:n some -sheets or blankets. 



Aquatics. 



There are few features more attractive 

 than a pool of aquatics in a pretty gar- 

 <len, and yet how seldom tiiey are seen. 

 .\ tank built of masonry and" lined with 

 '•ement is expensive and is never so at- 

 tractive or natural as an excavation with 

 the water a few inches below the level 

 of the surroun<!ing lawn. The facility 

 for constructing such a pool that will 

 hohl water fairly well will <lei»end on the 

 nature()f the subsoil. If the subsoil is 

 day. little nore is needed than to exca- 

 vate two feet and quite thinly "puddle" 

 the Imttom and si<les of the excavation. 

 Hut if the subsoil is gravel, then the 

 whole face of the excavation will need 

 three or four inches of puddled clav, 

 then eight or nine inches of heavy clay 

 loam, with a third of manure. There is 

 nothing better than cow manure, and lots 

 of it will grow ;;ny of the nympliivas to 



perfection. They are the queens of the 

 is j)lenty of room and a suitable soil, in 

 When you lie on the bank of a 

 nympha'a pool, accompanied by a "two- 

 for-a-quarter " and watch the golden 

 caip darting among the placid leaves, 

 and the frogs jumping at gnats and 

 ilragonflies and otner prey, you will for- 

 get your debts an<l forgive your debtors. 

 You will bowl 210, beat Mr. Smith, of 

 Richmond, Va., at clay targets, think of 

 sweet ones far away, and do all sor<:s 

 of beautiful things in your miad. Such 

 is the influence of the water garden on 

 an imaginative ufture. 



Plants and Profit. 



If good, strong plants of nympha^as 

 are procured and planted by the middle 

 of May. you will get flowers in abun- 

 dance by July and on until frost, or 

 until nature says it is ti:ne to hibernate. 



If you do jiot have tiin^^^in busy 

 spring to make^tiie-4iool, tlien it can be 

 made during iidmmer anti^lanted at any 

 time from May to September. What 1 

 know of the Vijltivation of water plants 

 in America wa^^-4aught me by Wm. 

 Tricker, author of the "Water Garden." 



I have often thought that, where there 

 is plenty of room and a suitable soil, in 

 many cases it would pay the commercial 

 florist to make so:ne ponds for the culti- 

 vation of the nympha'B. [f the flowers 

 cut and sohl did not yield 100 per cent 

 profit, tliey would be a great attraction 



to bring visitors to his place. The so- 

 called hardy nymphaias must have no 

 frost touch their roots. The water above 

 them may be solid ice for eighteen 

 inches, but if there is three inches of 

 water between the ice and the crowns of 

 the plants they are all right. The tender 

 or exotic species do splendidly in our 

 warm summers, but must be taken up 

 and the roots kept warm but moist dur- 

 ing winter. 



At the Pan-American, 



In the several acres we had at the 

 Pan-American Exposition they were 

 planted at many different times during 

 tlie previous summer. When fall came, 

 word was sent me that the canals would 

 be drainetl to make further improve- 

 ments. Thi.s was sad news to nie, as I 

 thought of the fate of Henry A. Dreer's 

 expensive exhibit and the great expense 

 of making the pools; but we took cour- 

 age and bought many wagon-loads of 

 leaves and put on the soil at least a foot 

 of dry leaves, and on those another foot 

 of evergreen boughs. It was great ex- 

 pense removing all this stuff in the 

 spring, but when the canals were again 

 filled with water and our little bays and 

 inlets containing the nympha?as were 

 covered with a foot of water there soon 

 appeare<l the green and bronze leaves 

 and by midsunmcr they were a solid 

 mass. 



The great essential to grow nympha?as 

 is nearly a foot of rich, heavy loam or 

 clay. Plant at the start three to four 

 feet apart, and during the summer let 

 there be eighteen inches of water. The 

 bays and quiet nooks of the rushing 

 Niagara river are full of the common 

 white nympha'a, N. tuberosa. and per- 

 haps our people do not appreciate these 

 lovely flowers as would the people of 

 Colorado and other western states tu\ 

 from the grand sweep of majestic rivers. 



Abraham Lincoln said the two most 



Unique Recep'acle for a Flowering Plant. 



(Designed by C. H. Fox, Philadelphia.) 



