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8 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



Mabch 5, 1908. 



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SEASONABLE 



SUGGESTIONS 



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I 



Cannas. 



Although some growers do not start 

 their cannas until April 1, it would be 

 well to give the old roots a thorough over- 

 hauling, preparatory to dividing and 

 placing them in heat. Shake away all 

 the old soil clinging to the clumps; then, 

 with a strong, sharp knife, cut them in 

 pieces, leaving a good eye to eaoh divi- 

 sion. Discard any portions which show 

 signs of decay. They will never do any 

 good. After being divided, the pieces 

 may either be potted separately, placed 

 in flats or stood on the bench. The last 

 method is to be preferred. A covering 

 of moss or cocoanut fiber can be scat- 

 tered over the bench and the roots stood 

 directly on it. Then, if some more broken 

 moss is dropped among the roots, they 

 will be all right until they are growing 

 and rooting and need potting. 



A J}ench over steam or hot water pipes, 

 affording some bottom heat, and a night 

 temperature of 60 degrees will answer 

 well for cannas. Of course they will 

 grow in a cooler house, but the higher 

 temperature will make them start better. 

 Do not water very freely until growth 

 starts. Avoid soakings with the hose, 

 but spray once or twice a day. The 

 more vigorous growing Italian or orchid- 

 flowering section can be started a little 

 later than the so-called French section. 



Bedding Geraniums. 



The little geranium plants are now 

 growing vigorously and will need spread- 

 ing out a little, at least once a week. At- 

 tention to this matter will very mate- 

 rially affect the ultimate condition of 

 your stock. If once badly crowded, the 

 plants will never fully recover, no matter 

 how careful attention they may receive. 

 Let the plants dry out well between 

 waterings. Saturation at the roots pro- 

 duces soft plants, which will grow freely 

 but ''bloom less satisfactorily than is to 

 be wished. Remove the tops from any 

 plants which will yield them. You can 

 still make nice 3-inch pot plants from 

 these, but cuttings inserted later than 

 March 10 cannot be depended upon to 

 develop into as nice plants as your cus- 

 tomers will demand. We advise putting 

 these cuttings singly in small pots, in 

 preference to a sand bench. In our ex- 

 perience the former method has always 

 shown a smaller percentage of loss. Much 

 depends on how the plants are treated. 

 If given full sun, with a gentle bottom 

 heat, and allowed to dry out well before 

 being watered, not over five per cent 

 should damp off. 



In potting along geraniums, avoid 

 using much animal manure, as it pro- 

 duces a rank, soft growth. A sprinkling 

 of fine bone will give nice, stocky little 

 plants, which will flower more freely 

 than those potted with a percentage of 

 decayed horse or cow manure. After pot- 

 ting, if your soil is damp, let watering 

 wait a day. If you can keep a slightly 

 closer atmosphere for a few days, the 

 plants will do all the better. 



Stevia Serrata. 



In the rush of other duties, do not en- 

 tirely forget your stock plants of Stevia 

 serrata. Cut them down quite close and 

 place in a cool, light house. A crop of 

 cuttings will soon appear. It is, of 

 course, somewhat early to propagate 

 these, but if you get in a batch of cut- 

 tings, these in turn will yield tops which 

 wdll give you all the plants you require 

 another season. 



Show Pelargoniums. 



The late date of Easter makes it pos- 

 sible to have a nice lot of show pelargo- 

 niums in flower for that festival. If 

 given their final potting, as suggested a 

 few weeks ago, the roots will now be run- 

 ning freely around the sides of the pots. 

 Do not try any forcing tactics, for pelar- 

 goniums will simply not tolerate it. They 

 love a cool, airy house, with plenty of 

 sunshine until the flowers commence to 

 expand, when a light shading will be 

 found beneficial. No further pinching 



Plan for Formal Design. 



must be done if early flowers are desired. 

 Green aphis must not be allowed any 

 foothold. Spread some fresh tobacco 

 stems once a fortnight among the plants, 

 to keep the aphis in check. 



Herbaceous Calceolarias. 



It is hardly possible to have herbaceous 

 calceolarias in flower for Easter. May 

 is the month when they are to be seen at 

 their best. The plants should now re- 

 ceive their final potting. A compost of 

 fibrous loam, dried cow manure, a dash 

 of fine bone, some fine charcoal and sand, 

 well mixed, will suit them. Grow them 

 very cool. Anything above freezing will 

 be all right; 40 degrees at night is much 

 better than 50 degrees. The higher tem- 

 perature will cause aphis to spread 

 alarmingly. Fumigate, without fail, once 

 a week, and it will not trouble you. Cal- 

 ceolarias seem to enjoy a light spraying 

 over on bright days. Let it be light, or 

 you may cause leaf decay. 



Dutch Bulbs. 



Answering several queries, we would 

 again say that it is stiH much too early 

 to start hyacinths, tulips or narcissi for 

 Easter. Three weeks should suffice for 

 all but the double tulips, like Couronne 

 d'Or and Murillo, which may be allowed 

 three or four days longer. Remember 

 that your flats and pans of bulbs are full 

 of roots and be sure they do not suffer 

 from-^lack of water. More bulb failures 

 are due to too little water than to all 

 other causes conabined. 



G)eIogyne Gistata. 



Coelogyne cristata is invaluable to com- 

 mercial growers. Its flowering time is 

 February and March, a season when 

 whittf flowers are in strong demand. The 

 culture is of the simplest and certainly 

 anyone possessing a few baskets or pans 

 of coelogyne has a good stock in trade, 

 for the flowers are excellent for funeral, 

 corsage and dinner- table uses. A com- 

 post of chopped fern fiber and sphagnum 

 moss grows fine coelogynes. When well 

 established, the plants delight during the. 

 growing season in occasional waterings 

 of liquid manure. The proper tim© for 

 rebasketing is just after the flowers are 

 gone. Pull off and throw away the old 

 bulbs which have no leaves and which are 

 often seen standing several deep in pans 

 needing attention. Provide the plants 

 with ample drainage in rebasketing them 

 and water very sparingly for the first 

 two or three months, until the growths 

 are well advanced. Coelogyne cristata en- 

 joys sprayings overhead during the warm 

 months and, when properly established, ' 

 loves an abundance of water. It grows, 

 well in a house kept at 50 to 55 degrees 

 at night in winter. Warmer treatment 

 than this does the plants more injury 

 than good. 



Acacias. 



The late Easter makes it difficult to 

 hold back some of the acacias. The one 

 mostly in evidence is A. armata or para- 

 doxa. If these have been kept cold, they 

 may now be brought into a house kept 

 at 45 to 50 degrees at night, in which 

 temperature they will flower in good sea- 

 son for Easter. A. pubescens, A. Rice- 

 ana, A. Drummondii, and other sorts 

 which are less seen than could be wished, 

 must be grown quite cool if it is wished /^ 

 to retard them until April 19. \_ 



Deciduous Flowering Plants. 



For such plants as Azalea mollis, deut- 

 zias, lilacs, prunus, pyrus and others of 

 a deciduous nature, intended for Easter, 

 six weeks should suffice to flower them, 

 if given at the start a temperature of 

 55 to 60 degrees at night. Crataegus 

 would be better if started earlier and 

 cooler. Any of this stock which has 

 been pot grown will flower earlier and 

 more satisfactorily than if lifted from 

 the ground. Syringe freely and keep 

 close until the plants break freely. Al- 

 ways remove to a cooler house as the 

 flowers expand. 



Azaleas. 



All azalea plants intended for Easter \\ / 

 should be started by this time. If house^O^ 

 before Lent, they should be in season. 

 Better do a little forcing now than nearer 

 Easter. Many of the plants will throw 

 shoots in advance of flowers. Rub these 

 all off. As there is but a poor call for 

 azaleas after Easter, it would be well to 

 get all the plants possible in flower by 

 that time. 



