540 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



Januabt 10, 1907. 



place, and in connection therewith shrub- 

 bery, eannas, bedding and decorative 

 plants, flower seeds and bulbs. 



In 1893, when Mr. Wintzer started 

 business on his own account, he com- 

 menced a careful, methodical line of 

 work to improve the canna. In this line 

 he has been successful beyond his most 

 sanguine expectation, but most de- 

 servedly so, for no one who has not fol- 

 lowed him in it can imagine the amount 

 of work or the time required to develop 

 a shade of color when there is no parent 

 of that shade to work with. It takes 

 exceptionally good judgment on the part 

 of the hybridizer to improve each suc- 

 ceeding year the feature in the plant or 

 flower that he is trying to develop. Mr. 

 Wintzer has shown that he has this abil- 

 ity in a marked degree, and Mont Blanc, 

 Buttercup, Betsy Ross, "West Grove, 

 Maiden's Blush, and other varieties that 

 he has raised place him in the first rank, 

 if not at the head of canna producing 

 experts. 



Mr. Wintzer at the age of 59 years is 

 still as hard a worker as ever, his health 

 is good and we look forward to many 

 more years of successful work from his 



hands and brain. Above all else Mr. 

 Wintzer wants it to be understood that 

 rose growing is his specialty; he wants 

 the company of which he has been vice- 

 president and manager since its start to 

 be recognized as second to none in pro- 

 ducing roses of the best quality, on their 

 own roots, and he wants to live long 

 enough to establish the fact that his 

 method of propagating roses is the best 

 method that has yet been devised. 



PETUNIA THE QUEEN. 



The accompanying illustration is from 

 a photograph of a new seedling petunia 

 named The Queen. This originated with 

 the Yates Floral Co., at Canajoharie, 

 N. Y., and the seed is to be distributed 

 jointly by the Yates Floral Co. and the 

 Scranton Florists' Supply Co., Scran- 

 ton, Pa. The illustration shows a most 

 attractive plant, the large flowers being 

 remarkably doulale and the general habit 

 of the plant excellent. The double pe- 

 tunia is in high favor, through recent 

 improvements, and this sort is sure to be 

 widely tested as soon as the originator 

 is ready to offer seeds. 



Astilbe. 



It is time to start astilbe, because, as 

 will be often said, Easter is so early. 

 We can scarcely call astilbe a profitable 

 plant. It takes up lots of room, and 

 yet we don't like to be without a batch 

 of it. It does not occupy the benches 

 long and can be entirely cleaned out 

 after Easter. The first two weeks in the 

 greenhouse it is just as well off beneath 

 a bench, or until the foliage starts, when 

 it should be given light. The plants 

 usually are rammed into 6-inch pots, 

 sometimes 7-inch or 8-inch. Whatever 

 size it is, the pot is filled with a mass 

 of roots by flowering time and it is 

 almost impossible to give the roots water 

 enough. A month before they are in 

 flower stand every plant in a saucer in 

 which keep constantly some weak liquid 

 manure. You will soon notice a marked 

 difference between these plants and those 

 that are permitted to dry out several 

 times daily. 



Propagating Beddiog Plants. 



How is your propagating bed doing? 

 From now on for two months the most 

 favorable conditions prevail for rooting 

 the great majority of soft-wooded bed- 

 ding plants. Such quick rooting plants 

 as coleus, ageraturas, etc., can wait a 

 few weeks, but there are others that 

 should now receive attention. That use- 

 ful little variegated geranium, Mme. Sal- 

 leroi, that we recommended you to lift 

 in the fall, now can be pulled to pieces. 

 Every shoot will root and make a good 

 bedding plant for the month of May. 

 Lemon verbenas and lantanas that have 

 been resting beneath a bench since they 

 were brought in should be shaken out, 

 repotted, the green tips of the wood cut 

 back, frequently syringed, and they will 

 soon give you an abundance of cuttings 



which ropt easily if never allowed to wilt 

 in the sand. ';' " ' 



When you start your hydrangeas they 

 will be sure to provide you a few cut- 

 tings that will spring from the base of 

 the plant. These are the best of cut- 

 tings and if they go into the sand you 

 will have a good start to make fine 

 plants for growing in pots this summer. 



Acalypha is another plant that should 

 be propagated now. 



It is difficult to get satisfactory plants 

 of lobelias from seed for baskets and 

 vases and it is better to pot a few 

 plants in the fall, cutting back the long 

 growths. Cuttings of these should be 

 put in, also that useful little plant, the 

 double sweet alyssum, of which we sel- 

 dom have too many when bedding time 

 comes. 



Seeds to Sow. 



There are not many seeds to be sown 

 now. If your business calls for the 

 filling of vases and window-boxes, then 

 you should sow some Dracaena indivisa, 

 which is unequaled as a plant to stand 

 all weathers. It takes two years from 

 seed to make a plant of useful size, but 

 it is well to sow some every year and 

 then you will not run out of this hardy 

 plant. Another useful plant is Grevillea 

 robusta. It is called the silk oak and 

 its fern-like foliage is very useful, es- 

 pecially in window-boxes. 



Although many consider it early to sow 

 verbenas, they should be sown by the 

 end of the month. They do not always 

 germinate successfully and if sown this 

 month you will be able to get a cutting 

 from each seedling. Procure seeds of 

 the best strain you hear of. Some seed 

 houses catalogue verbena seed in sep- 

 arate colors, red, blue, white, etc., but a 

 good mixture will generally fill the bill. 

 The advantage of seedling verbenas over 

 plants from cuttings is that they are 

 free from mildew, rust and other dis- 

 eases which nearly always aMct plants 

 carried over winter 'in a greenhouse. The 

 seedlings are sure to grow and flower 

 freely. 



Verbena Venosa. 



Don 't forget at the end of the month 

 or early in February, to sow a packet 

 of Verbena venosa. This is a distinct 

 species from our common verbenas and 

 is always raised from seed, a strong, 

 vigorous grower, free flowering, of a 

 bright purple color and when in combi- 



Seedling Petunia The Queen. 



