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The Weekly Rorists^ Review. 



January 17, 1907. 



SEEDING OF LORRAINE. 



In the issue of the Gardeners' Chron- 

 icle for December 15 there was a note 

 on Begonia Gloire de Lorraine, by B. 

 Cromwell as follows: "The stock was 

 raised by leaf propagation from cuttings, 

 and from seed, the latter germinating 

 on the surface of the pans, which last 

 year were suspended in the corridor, 

 thus showing clearly that B. Gloire de 

 Lorraine will reproduce itself from seed 

 providing tnte atmospheric surroundings 

 are suitable." 



There are many growers who have yet 

 to learn that Begonia Gloire de Lorraine 

 does produce seed. We shall be much 

 surprised if the note by Mr. Cromwell 

 does not fall as a bombshell on the ears 

 of many professional men. The theory 

 that hybrids are not capable of repro- 

 ducing themselves by seed is, we know. 



gradually being broken down; but that 

 B. Gloire de Lorraine is assisting in up- 

 setting this theory is somewhat surpris- 

 ing. The number of articles that have 

 been published during the past fifteen 

 years, in reference to the propagation 

 and cultivation of this plant are enor- 

 mous; but we do not recollect reading 

 of anyone being successful in the saving 

 of seed, at least with one exception. A 

 note appeared in the Gardeners' Chron- 

 icle about six years ago. It had been 

 inserted by a leading firm of nursery- 

 men, and stated that they had been suc- 

 cessful in the raising (not saving) of 

 seed, and that they hoped at a future 

 date to be in a position to exhibit the 

 plants at a meeting of the Eoyal Horti- 

 cultural Society. Whether they had the 

 "honor" of doing this we trow not. — 

 Gardeners' Chronicle. 



BougainvlUeas. 



If you have any bougainvilleas that 

 have been resting it is time to get them 

 into a warmer house and freely water 

 and syringe them. They will break 

 from the ripened wood and the breaks 

 will be flowers. 



Gardenias. 



You can put in cuttings of gardenias 

 now. The very tender, young growths 

 are not suitable for cuttings. What 

 florists call the half-ripened wood of 

 last fall is more suitable for cuttings. 

 Put them in sand where the bottom 

 heat is 70 degrees and they will soon 

 root. We lately saw a lot of gardenias 

 from which we thought something might 

 be learned. These were a lot in 6-inch 

 pots that had been lifted from a bed 

 where they had been planted out. The 

 foliage was yellow, as it had been on 

 the plants before lifting, while half a 

 dozen large plants in 9-inch pots were 

 as green as bay trees and covered with 

 buds. Possibly while planted out the 

 smaller plants were overwatered, and, 

 it being a rather cool house for gar- 

 denias, the plants could not use all the 

 material given them; while the larger 

 plants were a mass of roots and did ab- 

 sorb all the moisture provided them. 



Dutch Hyacinths. 



You can bring into the greenhouse 

 now at any time a few hundred pots 

 of ' Dutch hyacinth. They are always 

 welcome. Give them, after the first few 

 days inside, a temperature of 60 de- 

 grees to 65 degrees and they soon will 

 be in flower. The first batch will take 

 two weeks longer to come into flower 

 than do succeeding crops. 



Fuchsias. 



You should put in all the vigorous 

 fuchsia cuttings this month. Fuchsias 

 put in the sand this month will make 

 quick growing, vigorous plants that will 

 he in flower in May. After the end of 

 this mouth you can no longer get good 

 fuchsia cuttings. The old plants are 

 so anxious to grow the cuttings will 



want to flower instead of grow and 

 will not make healthy plants. 



Zonal Geraniums. 



It is really remarkable how many com- 

 plaints we get from people who say 

 that their geraniums do not flower We 

 have had quite a different experience. 

 Our zonal geraniums would, from May 1, 

 flower themselves to death if we did 

 not pick off many of the full blown 

 trusses. This is by no design of ours. 

 Perhaps it is merely the soil. For the 

 first two or three weeks of January we 

 are busy shifting the geraniums from 

 2-inch to 3-inch pots. This is a small 

 shift, but you can always so reduce the 

 ball that it will make it a substantial 

 shift. Some growers will say this is 

 too great an expense. If you want fine 

 4-inch geraniums in May it will pay. In 

 shifting use a heavy loam, with little, 

 if any, animal manure. The only ma- 

 nure of that kind that you should use 

 would be the remains of an old hotbed, 

 which could only be of mechanical bene- 

 fit to the soil. 



About the first part of February you 

 should move and go over all your 3- 

 inch geraniums. Most of them will give 

 you a cutting. Don't ruin or stunt a 

 plant for the sake of a cutting. If 

 the growth is not sufficiently long to 

 give you a cutting, then just nip out 

 the center of growth and you will have 

 an extra fine branching plant, but the 

 majority will give you a cutting and 

 still leave you enough stem to branch 

 and make a good plant. Firm, hard 

 potting at this time is of great conse- 

 quence, but not so important as the later 

 shift from 3-inch to 4-inch pots. 



The cuttings you take off the young 

 plants should not be put into the sand. 

 Put them into 2-inch pots, making sure 

 the soil is firm and compact around 

 the base of each cutting and place the 

 pots on a bench in a house where the 

 temperature is 50 degrees. Water once 

 thoroughly and then give no more water 

 until the plants are decidedly dry. You 

 should not lose ten per cent of them. 

 Plants rooted in the pots are much bet- 

 ter than those rooted in sand. These 



winter-struck plants will not be as large 

 or early as those you are shifting into 

 3-inch, but they will come in for late 

 beds in June. This class of geraniums 

 is largely succulent and will do with 

 less water than is generally given them. 

 Let them be decidedly dry before you 

 water. Up to the first part of Aprii 

 you do not want them to grow and maki 

 leaves; you only want them to mako 

 good roots in the 3-inch pots. 



There is one advantage in an early 

 Easter; you have a chance to attend to 

 your bedding plants, so this year you 

 will be able, early in April, to givi- 

 your zonal geraniums their 4-inch pots. 

 Avoid any rich manure, which will pro 

 duce loaves and not flowers. At thi? 

 shifting pot firmly, using a fresh loan, 

 with the addition of a 4-inch pot o. 

 bone flour to a bushel of soil. Poi 

 firmly and give geraniums at all timej^ 

 the fullest light and plenty of venti 

 lation. 



Do this and I do not see how you 

 can complain that your geraniums do 

 not flower. We have often seen geran 

 iums, tall, leafy things, grown in par- 

 tial shade, but always found such plants 

 were grown in soil that was half rotten 

 manure or leaf -mold and they had gone 

 to leaf instead of flower. 



Begonia Semperflorens. 



Sow seeds of Begonia semperflorens 

 this month. The seed is very minute 

 and needs no covering. Scatter the 

 seeds very thinly over the freshly- 

 watered surface of the soil and place 

 the pots or flats where no ray of sun 

 will reach them. This class of begonias 

 is very useful. They make a most ac- 

 ceptable pot plant. They are fine for 

 filling vases and window-boxes and some 

 of the varieties make splendid fiower 

 beds. You cannot sow the small seeds 



too thinly. WILLIAM SCOTT. 



NEV YORK- 



The Market. 



Brothers Scott, the beavers, the deer 

 and the wild birds were all false 

 prophets this year and the long, cold 

 winter is now an impossibility. Before 

 we know it the equinoctial storms and 

 Easter will be here. Last week was one 

 of rains, fogs and high temperatures 

 and this week opens just as depress- 

 ingly, vdth little prospect of clear, cold, 

 seasonable weather. The result of it all 

 is seen in the color of the fiowers and 

 the scarcity of fine roses, while the in- 

 fluence of clouds and wind is felt in 

 every department of the florists* trade. 

 All prices have naturally fallen. The 

 best Beauties seldom go above $50 per 

 hundred and Bride, Maid, Killarney 

 and the red roses especially, have all 

 declined in values. The same may be 

 said of carnations, valley and even cat- 

 tleyas, while of hyacinths and narcissi 

 there is enough and to spare. With a 

 change to winter weather will come a 

 brisk demand, better quality of stock 

 and a revival in the general business 

 that has already been too long delayed. 



President's Dinner. 



President C. H. Totty, of the New 

 York Florists' Club, entertained at din- 

 ner on Saturday evening, at the Hotel 

 Earlington, the following gentlemen 

 whom he constituted his cabinet, and in 

 addition the secretary of the S. A. F., 

 P. J. Hauswirth, of Chicago: John Bir- 

 nie, Wm. Duckham, A. J. Manda, J. B. 



