Mav 16, 1007. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review^ 



J977 



The Horticultural Establishment of a Prairie Factory Site. 



it is advisable to lift the roots and store 

 them thickly, either on a cellar floor or 

 in a coldframe covered with earth, plant- 

 ing them out as soon as the ground can 

 be worked. " Propagation is extremely 

 simple. Pieces of roots cut from one- 

 fourth to half an inch long, laid on a 

 sand bed and covered, will speedily start 

 to grow and make roots. They should be 

 potted, gradually hardened off and 

 planted outside in April. A good time 

 to propagate is in November or Decem- 

 ber. These young plants will not bloom 

 quite so early as the older clumps, but 

 will give handsome flowers toward the 

 end of September. A few may be planted 

 together in boxes or large pots and 

 placed under glass when sharp frost 

 threatens. Whether for cutting for vase 

 work or for using in designs they are 

 unexcelled in their season. 



There are many forms of A. Japonica. 

 The ordinary form has rosy-purple flow- 

 ers. The variety alba carries pure white 

 blooms with y^low stamens. A. Queen 

 Charlotte has lovely, rose-colored, semi- 

 double flowers, while A. Whirlwind bears 

 white, semi-double flowers with a whirl 

 of green bracts around the base of the 

 petals. There are many other excellent 

 named forms of these anemones. All at- 

 tain a height of two to three and one- 

 half feet. They have stems sufficiently 

 strong to make staking unnecessajy and 

 merit extended culture by both commer- 

 cial and private growers. 



Astilbes. 



The astilbes, or spiraeas, as they are 

 more commonly known, are all of easy 

 culture and of considerable value to flo- 

 rists. As pot plants we do not now pro- 

 pose to discuss them, as they are suffi- 

 ciently known to render this needless. 

 When planting a herbaceous border for 

 anyone it is always well to include some 

 of them, for in addition to making an 

 excellent showing there, they are well 

 adapted for cutting. The old A. Japon- 

 ica has now to a considerable extent 

 been displaced by such forms as A. com- 

 pacta multiflora and the hybrids, hke 

 Gladstone, Washington and Queen of 

 Holland. All these make splendid border 

 plants and rapidly increase in size and 

 value. If given rich land they will, in a 



couple of years after forcing, make 

 splendid plants for potting again, al- 

 though it may be necessary to chop them 

 in several pieces before doing this. 



The well-known, robust-growing vari- 

 ety, aruncus, or Aaron's beard, makes a 

 noble individual plant on a lawn and is 

 fine in shrubberies. Its long, feathery 

 panicles are open early in July. A. pal- 

 mata, with rosy-crimson flowers, makes a 

 good border plant and is also well 

 adapted for pot culture when not sub- 

 jected to hard forcing. A. astilboides is 

 well known as a forcer. Outdoors its 

 beautiful, dense plumes of feathery, 

 white flowers are borne in profusion. A. 

 venusta and A. lobata each carry spikes 

 four to five feet in height, of feathery, 

 soft-rose flowers, one of the most beauti- 

 ful shades imaginable. A. Filipendula, 

 with white flowers tinged with rose, and 

 A. Ulmaria fl. pi., the double white form 

 of the Queen of the Meadows, are both 

 excellent herbaceous border varieties. 



All the astilbes prefer rich and mod- 

 erately damp soil to give the best re- 

 sults. Land where no water will stand 

 in' winter, however, should be chosen. 

 A. Davidii, one of Veitch's introductions 

 from western China, growing five to six 

 feet in height, has not proved hardy in 

 some places, but is well worth a trial if 

 only for its color, which is rather new 

 in this genus, being a deep, rosy-pink 

 color. 



Brief Reminders. 



The bedding out season promises to be 

 a late and dragging one. There is little 

 to be gained by planting out tender stock 

 while the weather remains so extremely 

 cold. Geraniums, if well hardened, 

 should be all right to plant out and, of 

 course, Dracaena indivisa, a popular 

 plant for the center of vases, does not 

 mind a little cold. 



Be careful not to overwater poinsettia 

 cuttings or they will speedily damp off. 

 Get additional batches of cuttings in as 

 fast as they are produced. Those rubbed 

 off with a heel root the quickest. Give 

 the little plants a warm house for some 

 time yet. 



Do not neglect ficus, cr'i^^ns and other 

 plants. You may be propagating by the 

 mossing method. Be sure to always keep 

 the moss damp and few will ^'ail to root. 



Stevia serrata must be shifted into 

 flats or larger pots before it becomes too 

 matted. Keep it well pinched and as 

 cool as possible without freezing it. 



Salvia splendens may still be sown for 

 late use in borders. Successive sowings 

 of asters and stocks can be made. Do 

 not forget a row of Shirley poppies; 

 these fleeting but beautiful annuals are 

 admired by everyone. 



Do not allow bedding stock to get dry 

 at the roots, and above all things never 

 plant out any with dry balls, or failure 

 will result. 



Give the little cyclamens more room 

 as they grow and do not allow thrips or 

 aphis to get a foothold among them. 



Continue to put in chrysanthemum cut- 

 tings. They will still give you good, 

 serviceable flowers. 



Try to get caught up on your other 

 work so that you can devote more of your 

 energies to bedding out and Memorial 

 day business, but of this more another 

 week. 



FACTORY SITE IMPROVEMENT. 



It is becoming the fashion for the 

 large manufacturing concerns to leave 

 the big cities, with their congestion and 

 high costs, for the roomy cleanliness of 

 the open country, where horticulture 

 usually finds a place in their field of 

 operations. If a site is chosen outside 

 a city, a new town quickly springs into 

 being and, following the example set by 

 the company, the people of the town 

 take to gardening as naturally as 

 ducklings take to water. Hence the 

 trade has a direct interest in every such 

 large concern, and every encouragement 

 should be given the management in the 

 matter of beautifying its factory site. 



The accompanying illustration is re- 

 produced from a photograph showing 

 how the work has been started at the 

 plant of the Bradley Mfg. Co., at Brad- 

 ley, 111., near Kankakee. The planting 

 of trees and shrubs was done bj the 

 Peterson Nursery and the bedding by 

 the company gardener, who is charged 

 with the care and development of the 

 floricultural features. As time goes on 

 not only will the whole town become im- 

 bued with the gardening spirit, to the 

 betterment of the character of the com- 

 munity, but other large manufacturers 



