.'. 'i-'. .jr/r , 



JvhTC 11, 1907. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review^ 



and several other good colors. In these 

 three benches I have about four feet 

 six inches headroom. Would the mum 

 soil do for the planting? These benches 

 are about two feet six inches wide. I 

 would like to grow something in the 

 form of the sweet pea that would be 

 good for cutting. Subscriber. 



I would not recommend growing sweet 

 peas to bloom so early as October 1. 

 Chrysanthemums, even if you grow only 

 early varieties, like Pacific and Polly 

 Bose, will not be out of the way before 

 the end of the month and if a general as- 

 sortment is grown it will be a month 

 later. There is but a poor call for 

 other flowers during the mum season and 

 I think if you would time them to bloom 

 about Thanksgiving they would pay you 

 much better. To bloom them at that 

 date will take about fourteen weeks. The 

 seed does not germinate so well in hot 

 weather, as a rule. You can sow in 

 flats or small pots and later transfer to 

 boxes if you wish, keeping the plants 

 outdoors as long as the weather permits. 

 You will find it rather difficult to take 

 your boxes apart and not disturb the 

 balls of earth. Better make the boxes 

 eight inches deep and twelve inches wide, 

 and grow the plants in them instead of 

 the benches. 



Your headroom is too little for sweet 

 peas, unless you. run them up on strings 

 and can continue to lower them as they 

 reach the glass. If you prefer to plant 

 in the benches, give the chrysanthemum 

 soil a dressing of well-rotted manure and 

 turn it over before planting the peas. 



Only a few varieties succeed well un- 

 der glass in winter. The best are Ear- 

 liest of All, pijui- and white; Mont Blanc, 

 pure white, and Sunbeam, pale prim- 

 rose. A. C. Zvolanek has, however, sev- 

 eral other colors which succeed well in 

 winter. 



Along the edges of the benches you 

 might plant forget-me-not or sweet alys- 

 sum. We think you would find antir- 

 rhinums a good crop with which to follow 

 the mums. Boot cuttings now and pot 

 along as needed, or sow seeds of separ- 

 ate colors, using the best selection of 

 the tall varieties. C. W. 



RocKFORD, III. — Max Sadwater, who 

 will go into the greenhouse business here, 

 has let the contract to build two houses 

 to J. W. Lyon, of Belvidere. 



MigaoUa. Stellala* 



MAGNOLIA STELLATA. 



One of the hardiest of the magnolias, 

 which are among the most ornamental of 

 our trees and shrubs, is M. stellata, 

 which makes a beautiful shrub or small 

 tree. Its flowering season is usually in 

 April, but in mild seasons its blooms ap- 

 pear even earlier. It precedes the well- 

 known forsythias and a well-grown bush 

 makes a most striking object in early 

 spring. Like all magnolias, it does not 

 take kindly to transplanting and the 

 best success is attained by moving it 

 with a good ball just before growth com- 

 mences. A rich, well-drained and mod- 

 erately moist location suits it best, al- 

 though it succeeds in less favored places. 

 The plants commence to flower when 

 quite small, little bushes two feet high 

 being often white with flowers. Propa- 

 gation is by seed and grafting. 



The excellent specimen illustrated was 

 grown Dy Thomas Howden on the Whitin 

 estate, Whitinsville, Mass., where there 

 is a fine collection of choice trees and 

 shrubs. W. N. Craig. 



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SEASONABLE 



SUGGESTIONS f 



Hollyhockf. 



That popular hardy herbaceous plant, 

 the hollyhock, has come back into favor 

 in the last few years. It is to be re- 

 gretted that the ravages of the disease, 

 which has limited it more or less for 

 the last half century, should have so re- 

 stricted its culture, for c^tainly no oth- 

 er summer-blooming plant can compare 

 with it for stately beauty. The present 

 season our plants are immune from dis- 

 ease and are just coming into flower. 

 The cool, moist weather in May and the 



first half of June suited them to a nice- 

 ty. The stems will now need staking, or 

 they are liable to be broken in heavy 

 storms of wind and rain. 



Seed may now be sown to secure 

 strong flowering plants another summer. 

 There is usually a good call for such 

 plants in the spring and the average re- 

 tail florist can sell a good many if he 

 will but flower a few nice plants him- 

 self and tell his customers to place or- 

 ders for stock for another season. Seed 

 may be sown either in the open or, bet- 

 ter still, in a eoldframe over which some 



plant-bed cloths can be spread to pre- 

 vent drying out of the soil until the little 

 plants are well above ground. 



Seeds may be procured, either mixed 

 or in separate colors. Collection pack- 

 ets of six or twelve colors are purchas- 

 able and invariably give fine flowers, be- 

 ing carefully selected seeds. The strain 

 known as Chater's has a world-wide 

 celebrity and is of superior quality. 

 While double hollyhocks are most in de- 

 mand, the single ones are pretty and well 

 worth a place in any garden. There is a 

 strain of single annual hollyhocks intro- 

 duced by a New York firm some years 

 ago. Seeds of these sown in February 

 and March will bloom the same year. 

 Mixed assortments only are procurable 

 of this variety. We think that eventu- 

 ally an annual race with desirable color- 

 ings will be evolved. 



The seedlings, when large enough to 

 handle, should be transplanted into good 

 garden soil a foot apart and the ground 

 be kept well cultivated. In some loca- 

 tions the plants can be planted out in 

 fall and will come through with a light 

 coating of leaves or straw, but it is 

 safer to place them moderately thick in 

 coldframes and plant out in April. 



The hollyhock fungus, which has 

 proved so destructive, usually shows it- 

 self in the form of raised spots, red- 

 dish brown at first, becoming darker 

 later, on the under sides of the leaves. 

 Affected leaves should be picked off and 

 burned and the plants sprayed either 

 with Bordeaux mixture or some other 

 fungicide. The disease has been much 

 less rife of late years and we all are 

 glad to see these popular plants once 

 more coming to the fore. In favorable 

 locations the plants will stand for sev- 

 eral years and give a fine crop of spikes 

 each season. 



Coreopiii Grandiflora. 



For cutting at this season few plants 

 are superior to that popular yellow com- 

 positsB, Coreopsis grandiflora. If the 

 seed pods are picked off, a crop of 

 flowers may be had until fall. In order 

 to have strong plants for next year, sow 

 now. Probably you can find some pods 



