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Makch 28, 1907. 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



1445 





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SEASONABLE 



SUGGESTIONS 



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Easter Aftermath. 



By the time these notes appear in 

 print benches of Easter plants should bo 

 pretty well cleaned out. We have all 

 been taxed for room for some weeks and 

 the passing of the lilies, azaleas, genistas 

 and other Easter stock will give much 

 room which is badly needed. The 

 geraniums, as the most important bed- 

 ding plants, have no doubt been quite 

 badly crowded of late and should be 

 spread out. Pull oflE any dead leaves and 

 if you still have any remaining in 21/2- 

 inch pots give them a shift at once. It 

 will pay to attend to these details now. 

 It may mean 50 cents or 75 cents a dozen 

 in their value Memorial day. 



If any azaleas are left unsold do not 

 throw them away. After blooming, pick 

 off all seeds, keep them well watered and 

 at the end of May plant outdoors where 

 you can reach them with the hose daily; 

 you will have fine plants for another 

 Easter. 



Genistas can be kept quite cool. Trim 

 off the flowers with a pair of shears as 

 they fade. Plunge them outside rather 

 than plant them out, as they do not lift 

 well from the open ground. 



Any left-over herbaceous spiraeas may 

 be planted out in well manured ground. 

 Leave them there until the fall of 1908. 

 Dig up and force them and you will have 

 clumps treble the size of the imported 

 ones and giving far finer flowers. The 

 clumps you will find need cutting into 

 two or three to get them into 6-inch or 

 7-inch pots. Use your left-over dpirseas 

 in this way and see if returns are not 

 much more satisfactory than from im- 

 ported clumps, which sometimes fail to 

 start at all. 



Cannas will now be starting freely and 

 some of the spare bench space will be 

 needed for them. They always sell well 

 and should have good attention now. 



Do not allow any left-over Easter 

 plants to be dotted here and there over 

 the houses. Get them together in a 

 batch and if any are not worth holding 

 over throw them out and don't waste 

 further energy in watering them. 



Prepare for Memorial Day. 

 We have a longer breathing spell be- 

 tween Easter and Memorial day than 

 in 1906 and this gives us a better chance 

 to get our crops along for the latter 

 holiday. Lilies should now be well above 

 the ground. If six inches high they will 

 be in season. Give them a night tem- 

 perature of 60 degrees, but do not water 

 too freely until satisfied they are well 

 pot-bound. Many lilies are ruined in 

 the early stages of growth by overwater- 

 ing, and we would hear less of diseased 

 stock if greater judgment were exercised 

 with the hose. Spiraea Japonica and its 

 various forms, if potted at once, will be 

 in season for Memorial day. If large 

 quantities are needed use boxes six to 

 eight inches deep, two and one -half feet 

 long and nine inches wide, and place sev- 

 eral clumps in a box. The watering will 

 then be more easily handled. 



Crops of double feverfew and candy- 

 tuft should receive close attention. Avoid 

 a stuffy atmosphere. Plenty of ventila- 

 tion and 50 degrees at night will suit 

 them. 



Planting and Pruning. 



The arrival of spring means that many 

 of our customers will want roses and 

 various shrubs planted or pruned. This 



forsythias, loniceras, spirajas, deutzias, 

 viburnums, weigelias and many others. 

 Any necessary pruning should be done 

 after flowering. On the other hand, that 

 well-known and popular plant. Hydrangea 

 paniculata grandiflora, needs hard prun- 

 ing back to secure fine flower heads. Cut 

 it back to three or four eyes of last sea- 

 son's growth. Desmodium penduliflorum 

 should be cut back now, also any other 

 shrubs flowering on the new growth. How 

 often do we see many of our handsome 

 May and June-flowering shrubs trimmed 

 with a balloon shape every spring by 

 some thoughtless or ignorant workman. 

 The winter has been a rather trying 

 one for hardy roses and but for generous 

 snow protection they would have suffered 

 severely. For the northern and western 

 states pruning before April 1 is not ad- 

 visable. Weak shoots should either be 

 cut out altogether or shortened back to 



A Specimen Easter Offering of the Ernst Wienhoeber Co., Chicago. 



work cannot be left to any handy man, 

 or more harm than good mtfst result. 

 Few men understand how to prune prop- 

 erly. Shrubs which bloom on wood 

 made last year must not be pruned in 

 spring. This applies to syringas, 



six inches. The strongest shoots should 

 not be left over a foot long. This refers 

 to hybrid perpetuals. Hybrid teas need 

 light pruning and the removal of dead 

 wood. For the ramblers removal of dead 

 wood, shortening back the long shoots a 



