8 



The Weekly Florists' Review* 



September 19, 1907. 



come dry at the root. The soil should 

 always be fairly moist, even iu midwin- 

 ter, for no evergreens will withstand dry- 

 ness at the root and not show after- 

 effects of it. 



If you have no suitable shed or cellar, 



give your plants space in the coldest 

 greenhouse, where they can have an 

 abundance of air. There will be no need 

 to house them before the end of October 

 in any part of the United States. 



C.W. 



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SEASONABLE 



SUGGESTIONS 



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Lilium Philippeiise. 



This lovely lily, reintroduced two or 

 three years ago and now comparatively 

 plentiful and inexpensive, is well worth 

 increased attention. The flowers are 

 larger and longer than those of L. Har- 

 risii or longiflorum, with a delightful 

 odor. The stems are slender but wiry, 

 the foliage grasslike. The whole plant 

 has a peculiar grace, which we can not 

 find in any other lily. As a rule the 

 bulbs, which are quite small, carry one 

 or two flowers to each stem. Occasion- 

 ally more than one stem oomes from a 

 bulb, and a peculiarity of the plant is 

 that after one lot of flowers is cut an- 

 other cut of spikes is often produced. 

 For cutting, this lily is splendid, while 

 in funeral designs it is superb. 



TTie best way to treat L. Philippense 

 is to put several bulbs in each 6-inch pot 

 or pan, place in a frame or cool house 

 for a short time, until growths are three 

 or four inches high, then shift to a 

 bench in a house where a temperature oi 

 60 to 65 degrees at night is kept. Un- 

 der such conditions plants will flower 

 easily in eight to ten weeks after pot- 

 ting. Bulbs must not be left out of the 

 soil a moment after being received, for 

 they start to make roots and shoots with 

 astonishing rapidity. As it flowers in 

 lialf the time required to bloom Harrisii, 

 this lily should prove a valuable com- 

 mercial variety. 



Pentstemons. 



Cuttings of pentstemons should now 

 be taken, for these are very useful bed- 

 ding plants. Select those with the soft- 

 est wood and of such colors as are most 

 pleasing. Plant moderately thick in flats 

 of light, sandy soil and keep shaded in 

 a coldframe until rooted. They may be 

 carried over winter in a coldpit just 

 cleared of freezing, or on the shelf in a 

 cold greenhouse. Give them the fullest 

 sunlight as soon as rooted. These cut- 

 tings, if potted off early in February, 

 will make excellent stock for spring 

 sales, being much earlier in flowering 

 and altogether more satisfactory than 

 spring seedlings. 



Antirrhinums. 



Where a bench is at disposal and can 

 be planted now, a fine cro}) of snapdrag- 

 on spikes may be had for Christmas. 

 Space, however, is so valuable in most 

 establishments until the chrysanthemum 

 season is over that most growers wait 

 until benches are cleared of chrysanthe- 

 mums before planting their stock. Young 

 plants in 2*/4-inch pots which arc becom- 

 ing moderately potbound will be benefit- 

 ed by a shift into 4-inch pots. Keep 

 them in a coldframe for some time vet 



and pinch out all flowering shoots. Cut- 

 tings put in now will give nice plants 

 for late benching. Do not grow a mis- 

 cellaneous mixture of colors, but rather 

 select a good batch each of red, yellow, 

 white and pink, all of which are salable 

 shades. 



Atpaxigui Sprengeri. 



Have you a sufficient stock of that 

 ever-useful plant, Asparagus Sprengeri? 

 Remember that every customer you may 

 have who orders a 25-cent bouquet wants 

 a little greenery, just for good measure, 

 and Sprengeri fills the bill most econom- 

 ically and satisfactorily. There is al- 

 ways a good market call for bunches of 

 this popular asparagus, while none hav- 

 ing design work or the supplying of 

 cemetery bouquets can well afford to be 

 without it. Look over your old plants 

 now, pick off any dead or decaying 

 shoots and, if they have been in the 

 benches a considerable time, give a sur- 

 facing of well-rotted manure. If bench 

 space is scarce you can get a good num- 

 ber of sprays by filling a few large bas- 

 kets and suspending them in any house 

 with a winter temperature of 50 degrees. 

 If you are short of stock for cutting 



from, put some of your best pot plants 

 in a bench containing four or five inches 

 of soil. They will make considerable 

 growth before winter. 



Freetias. 



Your early batch of freesias will now 

 have made considerable growth. If you 

 still have them in frames and want a 

 few for Christmas, move them into a 

 house where a night reading of 50 to 55 

 degrees is kept in winter, place on a 

 shelf well up to the light and see that 

 they are afforded plenty of water. Later 

 batches will be all the better in frames 

 a while longer. Stir the surface soil oc- 

 casionally and remove all weeds. Be 

 careful not to water too freely until the 

 flats or pots are well filled with roots. 

 Another batch of bulbs for succession 

 may now be started. 



Preparations for Housir^. 



We are now past the middle of Sep- 

 tember and, while delightful weather 

 and fairly warm nights have so far been 

 vouchsafed to us, a change to frost may 

 come any night now. We have known a 

 killing frost to come as early as Sep- 

 tember 24, and, on the other hand, have 

 had vegetation unscathed until the mid- 

 dle of October. We are never safe after 

 the middle of September, and it will be 

 unwise to risk any tender plants out- 

 doors after this date unless facilities 

 for protection are at hand. 



Stevias are specially sensitive; a 

 breath of frost blights them. Give them 

 as cold a house as possible. 



Frames containing cyclamens, calceo- 

 larias, primulas, cinerarias and other 

 plants will not need any further cover- 

 ing than the sashes for a while yet, but 

 if ferns, ornamental foliage plants and 

 other more susceptible plants are iu 

 them still, they should be moved where 

 they can soon get the benefit of a little 

 fire heat. 



Geraniums of the bedding type, show 

 pelargoniums, marguerites and similar 



Lilium Philippense. 



