8 



The Weekly Florists^ Review^ 



Mat 23, 1907. 



well and we have seen splendid adian- 

 tums, cyrtomiums and other varieties in 

 Bome places. We have not named 

 fuchsias, which flower well for a time. 

 Our hot summers make it an impossibil- 

 ity to flower these as they are seen in 

 Europe, and for the same reason it is 

 useless to put in Lady Washington 

 geraniums, for although they will make 

 a bravo show at the outset, they will at 

 best last but a few weeks. Blue lobelia, 

 also so beautiful across the peean, does 

 but indifferently here, and the golden 

 calceolarias seen all over Britain are im- 

 possibilities here. 



Tor scented flowers, use some helio- 

 tropes and don't forget a plant or two 

 ' of scented geranium or lemon verbena. 



Hydrangea hortensis, especially the 



blue and pink forms of Otaksa, are 



— eften-used in Hwg rases and make a fine 



immediate show, but they are too heavy 

 for boxes of any kind. For piazza use, 

 in tubs or boxes, and sunk in the lawn? 

 at intervals, they are, however, very 

 effective, especially when they reach a 

 large size and carry several hundred 

 heads each. 



Stock PlanU. 



While catering to the wants of your 

 customers, do not for one moment forget 

 the necessity of reserving ample stock 

 of the various plants for yourselves an- 

 other season. Nothing adds more to a 

 floral establishment than a few well 

 * planted flower beds and a well trimmed 

 ^ lawn. It is a living and telling adver- 

 tisement and may mean many additional 

 orders ^or you another year. 



Do not throw pots all over the place. 



firmly around the plants and leave the 

 surface soil loose. Plants set out with 

 dust dry balls are going to be aick-look- 

 ing objects for many a day. 



Brief Remindcn. 



Keep the cultivator or lioe constantly 

 flying among all growing crops. The 

 more persistently you stir the ground, 

 the less will insects harass them and the 

 faster the plants will grow. 



It will pay to cut many of the late 

 tulips, narcissi, valley, iris, peonies and 

 other outdoor flowers and place in a cold 

 room a few days before Memorial day. 

 A hot wave or thunder rains may spoil 

 them on the plants. 



Another sowing of asters is now sea- 

 sonable. Prick out earlier batches be- 

 fore they become crowded. 



Gladioli will now Hoe "several inches 

 high. Where planted early, later plant- 

 ings made now will prove useful in Sep- 

 tember. 



■ Plant out your single»-stemmed mums 

 before they become potbound. You can 

 still propagate and secure nice blooms, 

 but cuttings wilt quickly now, under the 

 hot sun, and need more watering than 

 earlier in the season. Try a coldframe 

 facing north for them. 



Keep gardenia cuttings well soaked 

 with water and, after potting, syringe 

 several times a day until well estab- 

 lished. 



Give cypripediums of the insigne sec- 

 tion a frame or north house. They dis- 

 like coddling and want an airy situa- 

 tion. 



Utilize any spare coldframes to grow 

 young ferns, such as nephrolepis and 



A Lon£ Bed of Geraniums Plaoted by Ed. Kamt at ^Tashington Park, Chicago. 



Hire a boy to wheel them away, where 

 they are to be stored. 



The weather is now getting much 

 warmer and plants in small pots will 

 need lots of water. Where you have 

 sold large quantities out of the various 

 batches, stand the remainder closer to- 

 gether to economize in watering. Above 

 all things, never plant out anything, 

 either for customers or yourself, unless 

 the balls are wet. Always press the soil 



adiantums. Place them on a bed of 

 ashes, sprinkle lime around to kill any 

 snails, shade the sashes well and you 

 will find they do much better there than 

 in the greenhouses. 



Do not plant out bouvardias until 

 well hardened. The last of the month 

 is as early as it is safe to plant out- 

 doors. 



Make a careful note of whatever flow- 

 ers prove specially valuable for Memorial 



day and plan to iiicrease your stock of 

 them another year. 



Keep gloxinias well shaded. Do not 

 syringe overhead. Feed when flower 

 buds are showing. 



Pot off Primula Sinensis and P. ob- 

 conica and keep well shaded in a cool, 

 light house. 



It is now a good time to propagate 

 snapdragons to plant in benches for 

 blooming at Christmas. Select the best 

 colors and the most vigorous plants for 

 cuttings. 



BEDDING PLANTS. 



[A- paper by Thomas H. Westwood, read be- 

 fore the Gardeners' and Flcnrists' Club of Bos- 

 ton, May 21. 1907.] 



Burns, in his epistle to a young friend, 



begins by saying: ^ — — 



I lang hae thought, my youthful friend, 



A something to have sent you, 

 Tho' it should serve nae Ither end 



Than Just a kind memento. ' ^ 



But bow the subject-theme may gang, 



Let time and chance determine. 

 Perhaps it may turn out a sang. 



Perhaps turn out a sermon. 



Bedding plants are the plants of the 

 masses. They are widely distributed. 

 They are to be seen in the palace and 

 they adorn the hovel. They bring light 

 with their cheerful coloring. They fill 

 the air with their sweet fragrance. Their 

 reasonable cost brings them within the 

 reach of all who love the beautiful. They 

 do not seem to resent the ill trea'tment 

 that is so often given them, but show 

 forth their glory under great diflScul- 

 ties. 



Growing an Art. " ' ' 



We are not to enter into a discus- 

 sion on growing bedding plants, but will 

 say in passing, to grow this class of 

 plants successfully is just as much a 

 fine art as it is to grow many of the 

 more costly plants that receive such 

 skilful treatment from the skilled artist. 

 "Anybody can grow a geranium," is 

 an old saying, as well as a false one. 

 The great height that some of them at- 

 tain shows us that "anybody" is still 

 around growing them. 



There most surely is a place for the 

 extensive use of these plants, grown in 

 such abundance that they really come 

 within the reach of all mankind. We 

 commend the work that has been done 

 by Mrs. Jack Gardner in interesting the 

 people in a certain part of our city to 

 grow this class of plants in window- 

 boxes. We congratulate the people of 

 North Easton for the work being done 

 there. The children's garden work ought 

 to be encouraged. The care which the 

 child gives to the garden is well spent, 

 both from a moral and mental stand- 

 point, and the development of plant life 

 teaches precious lessons to the observant 

 child. Here is an avenue of usefulness 

 opening to our club and we hope that 

 something will be done along the line 

 of cleaning up the front yards and back 

 yards of our city and suburbs. Perhaps 

 by offering prizes for the best kept 

 yards, or furnishing plants to those who 

 are not able to pay for them, but who 

 wish to improve their environment, we 

 can further the work. 



G>txunendable Arran£ements. 



The arrangement of bedding plants is 

 a subject about which a great deal may 

 be said and this seems to be an oppor- 

 tune time to discuss this great question. 

 Strange to say, bur amateur friends 

 come in for a great deal less criticism 

 than do our professional friends. The 



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