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1894 



The Weekly Florists^ Review^ 



May 9, 1007. 



bloom, which may be as early as fifteen 

 months, or as long as three years, ac- 

 cording to the treatment received. 



Do not place amaryllises under the 

 benches, but give them a light, sunny lo- 

 cation until growth is completed, then 

 they can be placed in a more out of the 

 way place, if desired, and when the foli- 

 age is decaying they can be stood under 

 a bench until the time for potting again 

 arrives. The best time to sow seed is 

 January or February, but home saved 

 seed is better started as soon as gath- 

 ered. 



Lorraine Beconias. 



Cuttings, with us, are now being pro- 

 duced in abundance on the old Lorraine 

 plants, which were rested for a .time. 

 Early batches are rooted and potted off, 

 but we can get good plants from cut- 

 tings put in for another six weeks yet. 

 As a rule, plants from leaf cuttings are 

 more vigorous in habit and carry larger 

 blooms than those from shoots. The 

 latter have a dense and more bushy habit 

 and, while the flowers are smaller, thpy 

 are much more thickly scattered over 

 the plants. 



This begonia does not make rapid 

 growth during the hot months, but after 

 the end ot August it increases in size 

 rapidly. Give the young plants a warm 



German Iris. 



There are a number of herbaceous per- 

 ennials which are useful to commercial 

 florists. One of these is the well-known 

 and popular German iris. Its culture is 

 simple and it increases in size quite 

 rapidly, being best transplanted every 

 second or third year. T^je best time for 

 planting is in August or early Septem- 

 ber, but it can be moved any time be- 

 fore the ground freezes, as well as in 

 early spring. Some years the flowers are 

 in good season for Memorial day, when 

 they are especially useful in making up 

 large cemetery bouquets. The present 

 spring has been so cold and backward, 

 however, over the greater part of the 

 country that many will not have them 

 in flower by May 30 tiiis year. 



There are now many flue varieties of 

 Iris Germanica, comprising pure white, 

 clear golden yellow, pink, dark blue, 

 pale blue and a variety of other sepa- 

 rate and mixed colors, and even if the 

 flovtcrs cannot be all sold it would pay 

 growers to have a few clumps of them 

 on their place, for, being of such sim- 

 ple culture and withal so popular, many 

 plants can in this way be disposed of to 

 visiting flower buyers. Keep the plants 

 named, if you have an assortment, and 

 you ought to have no trouble in dispos- 

 ing of a good many each year. 



Large-flowering^ White Marguerite. 



(Grown by Wm. Nicholson, Framln^rham, Mass.) 



bench well up to the light, with only a 

 thin coat of shading over the glass. Do 

 not allow any flowers to be produced 

 and pinch out the tops of any needing 

 it. Lorraine begonias seem to succeed 

 best under warm treatment until the 

 flowers start to open, after which time 

 they are best kept in a temperature 

 that will suit carnations. 



Brief Reminders. 



Wliere have you stored your freesia 

 bulbs? They should not be dried right 

 after the flowers are cut, but gradually, 

 until the foliage shows discoloration. 

 Place in a cool, dry shed when quite dry 

 and pick out the bulbs when opportunity 

 offers. 



Turn over your compost piles prepared 



for carnations, roses, chrysanthemums 

 or other stock in benches. Add some 

 bone meal in turning it and chop up the 

 rougher sod. 



Plant out any left-over plants of aza- 

 leas, acacias, ericas and epacris, pick 

 away all loose soil from the balls, remove 

 the drainage ana be sure you plant 

 firmly. Give them a sunny location, 

 where you can readily reach them witl.' 

 the hose. 



Keep all bedding stock freely venti- 

 lated. Don't neglect the watering. Try 

 and get some flowers on as many gera- 

 niums, heliotropes and other pot plants 

 as possible. Customers usually prefer 

 the plant carrying a truss of flowers even 

 if it is of smaller size. 



It is safe now to plant out verbenas, 

 dianthus, pentstemons, antirrhinums, 

 stocks, asters and some other annuals, 

 but do not rjsk petunias, salvias, coleus, 

 heliotropes, alternantheras and othei 

 more tender stock until toward the end 

 of the month, even though a hot wave 

 may tempt you to do so. 



As you sell bedding plants, don 't leave 

 the pots lying around the houses or 

 frames. Kfeep them picked up and 

 stored according to their sizes. Remem- 

 ber that cleanliness, which may be taken 

 as an equivalent of neatness floricul- 

 turally, is next to godliness. 



Cut-worms have made their annual ap- 

 pearance in the east and will soon do 

 much damage unless speedily checked. 

 Lay down a mixture of bran, Paris 

 green and powdered sugar for their ben- 

 efit, and try hand picking at night with 

 a lantern if you have a bad attack of 

 them. It is tedious, but necessary. Keep 

 the ground constantly cultivated. This 

 also helps to discommode them. 



Memorial day will be here in two 

 weeks. Time your crops as closely as 

 possible for this important holiday. It 

 looks now as if there would be but little 

 outdoor material available this year. 



Give peonies a sprinkling of nitrate 

 of soda or some other stimulant. It 

 will materially affect the quality of the 

 blooms. 



Look out for aphis on your hardy 

 roses and dose with a solution of whale 

 oil soap at once. 



DAHLIAS FROM CUTTINGS. 



In the Beviev^' of April 25, under the 

 heading Seasonable Suggestions, I notice 

 some items on dahlias from green cut- 

 tings. As a practical commercial grower 

 I can indorse a portion of the notes, and 

 for the same reason I will have to take 

 issue with you on others. 



That a well grown plant from a cut- 

 ting will give excellent results is scarcely 

 open to question. They make plants of 

 fine form, and flower freely, and if prop- 

 agated and grown intelligently, there 

 should be no serious question of their 

 producing good tubers — not so large, of 

 course, as those grown from tubers, but 

 nevertheless good commercial stock. 



I agree also on the good qualities of 

 the pot roots. These have my hearty 

 indorsement in my recent work, "The 

 Dahlia Manual." 



But when it comes to the question of 

 green plants for a general commercial 

 trade in a country as large as ours, the 

 proposition has in it a lavge element of 

 the impractical. In Europe it is quite 

 practical and, as you say, the universal 

 practice. 



But conditions in Europe cannot be 

 compared with conditions in America. 



