540 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



Januauy 10, 1007. 



[ilafo, and in ciuinct'tioii thoicuitli shnib- 

 hery, (•.•iiin:is, bo(](liii<^ ami docorative 

 plants, llowcr seeds and bulbs. 



Ill LSi».'!, wlieu Mr. Winfzcr started 

 business on Ids own act-onnt, lie eoni- 

 iiieiieed a caici'ul, nietliodical lino oi" 

 work to inipiove tlie canna. Jn tliia line 

 lie has liecii siu-ressrnl beyond his most 

 saiimiine expert at ion, but most de- 

 servedly so, I'nr no one \\lio lias not fol- 

 lowed him in it can imagine the amount 

 of work or the time recjuired to develop 

 a shade of color when there is no parent 

 of that shade to work with. It takes 

 exceptionally good jndf;meiit on the part 

 of the hybridizcM' to imjirovcj eacii sue 

 ceedino- yeai' 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 lUanc, 

 l^uttercup, Betsy IJoss, West Orove, 

 ;\laiden's Blush, and other \arieties that 

 he has raised place him in the first rank, 

 if not at tin; head of canna producing 

 experts. 



]\Ir. AVint/cr at tiie age of .'Ji) years is 

 still as hard a worker as ever, his health 

 i.s good and we look forward to nmny 

 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 conijiany of which he has been vice- 

 president and manager since its start to 

 lie recognized as second to none in pro- 

 ducing roses of the best quality, on their 

 own roots, and he wants to live long 

 eiuuigh to estalilisii the fact that his 

 inetliod of jirojiagal ing roses is the best 

 method tliat has yet been devised. 



PETUNIA THE QUEEN. 



'I'lie accompanying illustration is from 

 a piiotograjih of a new seedling petunia 

 named The (^ueen. This originated witii 

 the ^■ates I'loral Co., at Canajoliarie, 

 i\. Y., and the seed is to be distributed 

 jointly by the Yates Floral Co. and the 

 Scianloii I'hH'ists' 8u|>ply Co., Scran- 

 ton, I'a. The illustration shows a most 

 attractive plant, the large flowers being 

 ifinarkably double and the general liabit 

 of the plant excellent. The double pe- 

 tunia is in high favor, tlirough recent 

 improNoments, and tiiis 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. 

 \\e can scarcely call astilbe a i)rofitable 

 plant. It takes up lots of nuun, 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 Kaster. The first two weeks in the 

 greenhouse it is just as well off beiu^ath 

 a bench, or until the foliage starts, when 

 it should be given light. The ]dants 

 usually arc rainnicd into (iincli pots, 

 somctinii's 7-iiiih or ^iiich. Wiiatever 

 size it is, the pot is (illrd \\i!li ;i mass 

 of ritots by How (M ing time and it is 

 almost inipossilile to gi\c the roots water 

 enough. .\ inoiilli liefoie they are in 

 flower stand every plant in :i saucer in 

 which keep constantly some weak liquid 

 manure, ^'oll will socm notice a inai'keil 

 difference between these plants .and those 

 that are jieiniitted to dry out se\t>r;d 

 times daily. 



Propagating Bedding Plants. 



TIuw is your piop;ii;;iling bed doing.' 

 From now on for two months the most 

 favoralile conditions prevail lor rooting 

 the great majnrity dl' vcf) wdndcd bed- 

 ding plants. SimIi .|iiick rmiting plants 

 as cok'us. ageratums. etc., c.-iii w.-iit a 



few V,(M'ks, but there a|e iitliels that 



shoulil now leceixe .a 1 1 eiit i( 01. Tiiat use- 

 ful little variegated geranium. Mmc. Sal- 

 leroi, that we recoaiiiiendid vou t.> lift 

 in the fall, now can be pulled \<< pieces. 

 Fvery shoot will root and make :i good 

 bedding jilant I'm tlie month of Mav. 

 Lemon verben.as andlantanas that have 

 been i-estiiig bene;ii|i a heinh sinc<! they 

 were brought in should lie sh.aken 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 yon start your iiytlrangeas they 

 will be sure to provide yon a few cut- 

 tings that will spring from the base of 

 the plant. Tlu^se are the best of cut- 

 tings and if they go into the sand yon 

 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 dillicult to get satisfactory plants 

 of lolxdias 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 tli(>se should be 

 ])ut in, also that useful little ]ilant, the 

 iloiible sweet alyssum, of which wo sel- 

 dom have too many when bedding time 

 comes. 



Seeds to Sow. 



There are not numy 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 stan<l 

 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 j)lant is Orevillea 

 robusta. It is called the silk oak and 

 its fern-like foliage is very useful, es- 

 [iccially in window-lioxes. 



Although ni.aiiy consider it early to sow 

 \erbenas. the\- 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. 

 'J'lie ad\antage of seedling verbenas over 

 plants from cuttings is that they are 

 free from mildew, lust and other dis- 

 eases which nearly always afflict plants 

 carried oxer winterin a greenhous(\ The 

 seedlings are sure to giow and flower 

 free I V. 



Verbena Venosa. 



hon't forget at the end (jf the month 

 or early in February, to sow a packet 

 of A'erbena venosa. This is a distinct 

 species fi'oni our common verbenas and 

 is always r.ai'^ed from seed, a strong, 

 vigorous flower, free (lowering, of a 

 liriglil purple cidm and when in combi- 



Seedling Petunia The Queen. 



