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1244 



The Weekly Florists^ Review^ 



Mabch 14, 1007. 



sellers at Easter. You can fill all sorts 

 of bark receptacles with all sorts of 

 plants and make a pleasing combination 

 in every case, but don't overdo the birch- 

 bark feature. Provide styles, sizes, colors 

 and kinds of boxes, baskets, hampers, 

 etc. The twig basket is no longer a nov- 

 elty, but it is a good seller. If you have 

 not provided these things, lose no time 

 in sending an order to your supply house. 

 If you don't know just what you want, 

 leave the selection to the house, simply 

 indicating how many pieces you want, the 

 amount you want to invest, or the price 

 per piece you want to pay. Of course 

 you want a few big pieces, but most of 

 them should fit an average purse among 

 your customers. 



It is the same with pot covers, crepe 

 papers and the staples, but mats, etc., 

 should be on hand to add variety. Rib- 

 bons, too, are necessary in large assort- 

 ment of styles and colors. Order now 

 what you will need. 



TROUBLE WITH SWEET PEAS. 



Will you tell me what is the matter 

 with the branch and leaf of the sweet 

 pea enclosed? You will notice the double 

 branch is grown from the same stalk 

 below and I cannot understand why one 

 branch is grown from the same stalk 

 as healthy as it can be. It is the same 

 with the leaf I am enclosing. Occa- 

 sionally through the house there is a 

 whole stalk affected this way, while the 

 ones all around are healthy. The sweet 

 peas are growing in some old fern soil 

 with some horse manure mixed into it. 

 Most of the plants are now looking fine 

 with the exception of a few that are 

 affected as you can see by the enclosed 

 leaves. The house was run for a while 

 at 60 degrees at night and 70 degrees 

 during the day. Now it is run 44 de- 

 grees to 50 degrees at night and 60 

 degrees days. Do you think the disease 

 is caused by having run the house too 

 warm, or by ammonia rising from the 

 horse manure in the soil, or do you think 

 it is an insect invisible to the naked 

 eyef J* -A-. J. 



Undoubtedly the high temperature 

 maintained during the early stages of 

 growth must have been harmful to the 

 sweet peas, which naturally love a cool 

 and moist atmosphere. The temperature 

 you are now keeping is much more to 

 the liking of the plants. We do not 

 think the soil can have been of the best 

 nature. Old fern soil, even when mixed 

 with manure, is hardly what we would 

 want to plant sweet peas in for best 

 results. They like a good loam in which 

 a liberal supply of well decomposed cow 

 manure has been incorporated. If you 

 used horse manure and it was rather 

 new, some ammonia would undoubtedly 

 arise, but nothing but thoroughly de- 

 cayed manure should be used in the 

 soil for any crops. 



It is difficult to tell what has caused 

 the dying of the shoots. It may have 

 been partially due to the causes you 

 have suggested, or again, the trouble 

 may be the work of minute bacteria 

 which work inside the stems and no 

 spraying solution can reach them. Cut- 

 ting off or pulling up and burning af- 

 fected stems is 5l that can be done 

 to mitigate the evil. C W. 



CAMPANULAS. 



Campanulas, which are also known as 

 bluebells, harebells and Canterbury bells, 

 are among the most beautiful of our 



hardy flowers. Some of the dwarf spe- 

 cies are not over six inches high, while 

 the tallest reach five feet and over. There 

 are many species in cultivation, of which 

 the following six, according to the Na- 

 tional Council of Horticulture, are most 

 deserving of mention: 



Campanula persicifolia in the northern 

 states is an almost continuous bloomer, 

 is a perennial, will grow in any soil, and 

 is, perhaps, the most beautiful species 

 cultivated. The type has blue flowers, 

 but there is a white variety. . There is a 

 semi-double variety which is beautiful, 

 growing two to two and one-half feet 

 high, and is best adapted to a hardy bor- 

 der or old-fashioned garden. It should 

 be planted in irregular masses, mixing 

 colors. 



Campanula Medium, the common Can- 

 terbury bells, is the showiest species. 

 When in bloom it is often such a solid 

 mass of flowers that no leaves can be 

 seen. It varies from darkest to lightest 

 blue, pink and white. It is biennial and 



will die immediately after the seeds have 

 ripened. There is a distinct variety 

 called cup and saucer, and several that 

 are decidedly double. The young plants 

 should be set out not later than June. 



Campanula Carpatica is the prettiest 

 of the dwarf species. It is perennial, of 

 easy culture, producing flowers in great 

 abundance the second year from seed. 

 Campanula turbinata is another dwarf 

 species suited for open rockeries or small 

 borders. For rockeries, Campanula ro- 

 tundifolia, the English harebell, is best. 

 One of the tallest varieties is Campanula 

 pyramidalis, which sometimes reaches five 

 feet. Its numerous spikes are covered 

 with blue and white flowers. 



Springfield, Mo. — The Summerfield 

 Floral Co. has placed in its store win- 

 dow a glass aquarium twelve feet long 

 and stocked it with goldfish. Among 

 them are some fine American and Jap- 

 anese fantails, and it serves to keep a 

 crowd in front of the window all day. 



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SEASONABLE 



SUGGESTIONS 



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Salvia Splendens. 



That brilliant and ever popular fiow- 

 ering plant. Salvia splendens, grows very 

 rapidly, either from cuttings or seed, 

 and a mistake is often made by start- 

 ing it too early, with the result that the 

 plants become too tall and, if in pots, 

 so matted with roots that they never 

 sufficiently recover from it. Where stock 

 plants have been carried over they 

 should now be producing an adundance 

 of cuttings, which should be placed in 

 sand at once. Keep the cuttings shaded, 

 well watered daily and they will soon 

 root. We consider seedlings, however, 

 preferable to plants raised from cut- 

 tings, as they possess vigor. Seedlings 

 should be transferred to flats or be 

 potted off as soon as they produce a 

 second pair of leaves. They grow very 

 fast and even if seed is not sown be- 

 fore April 1, excellent plants will be pro- 

 duced. 



Sweet Peas, 



It may seem a little out of place to 

 discuss the sowing of sweet peas in the 

 open when the snow lies deep and frost 

 is two or three feet in the ground, as 

 it still does in some sections, but we can- 

 not tell how soon a change may come. 

 It arrives with cyclonic force sometimes. 

 Sweet peas are annuals which love a 

 cool, moist climate and the outdoor crop 

 should be gotten in as soon as the frost 

 leaves the ground and it is sufficiently 

 dry to work. Points to remember in 

 sweet pea culture are: Liberal enrich- 

 ment of the soil. Burying the seeds at 

 least three inches deep, being careful 

 not to sow thickly, and if you have 

 done so, thin in good season. Give them 

 brush and other supports before they 

 start to climb. Eemove all seed-pOds as 

 soon as formed. Water, if possible, 

 during dry weather and mulch the plants 

 to assist in keeping them cool and moist 

 at the roots. 



A few good varieties of sweet peas 



are: Dorothy Eckford, white; Hon. 

 .Mrs. Kenyon, primrose; King Edward 

 VII., scarlet; Lady Grisel Hamilton, 

 lavender; Prince of Wales, rose; Miss 

 Wilmott and Helen Lewis, orange; 

 Gladys Unwin, pink; America, varie- 

 gated; Black Knight, maroon. For 

 early flowers sow some of Earliest of 

 All and Mont Blanc. 



Poinsettias. 



Stock plants of poinsettias will have 

 been resting under the benches for the 

 last ten weeks. While there is no imme- 

 diate hurry about starting them, if you 

 desire to bench some of the rooted cut- 

 tings and desire long, strong stems, they 

 should be overhauled some time during 

 the present month. Shake the soil away 

 from the roots, cut the tops back well 

 and place in as small a pot as the roots 

 can be comfortably squeezed in. Place 

 on a sunny bench over steam or hot 

 water pipes, give a good soaking of 

 water and then keep rather on the dry 

 side until the plants start to break. Cut- 

 tings rubbed off with a heel, or cut 

 below a joint, root readily in bottom 

 heat, care of course being taken to allow 

 no sun to strike them and to water well 

 daily. Sand of a moderately coarse 

 nature from which water passes away at 

 once is preferable to the finer sort, which 

 is more liable to scum over. As soon as 

 roots are an inch long, pot up. Care 

 must be taken not to break the roots and 

 it is a great mistake to allow them to 

 make long roots before removing them 

 from the cutting bench. It always re- 

 sults in a loss of foliage. 



Smilax. 



Seedlings of smilax are much more 

 profitable for planting than are divided 

 roots. If seed was sown last month the 

 little plants will now be ready for 2%- 

 inch pots. A further shift, may be given 

 them about the end of Apnl, and in 

 these latter pots they can remain until 



