March 26, 1908. 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



J7 



The Florists' Club of G>Iumbus, Ohio, in Session at E. Metzmaier's, March 10. 



it thoroughly and let the cutting bench 

 dry out well between waterings. 



Growers are temptecl to leave the flow- 

 ers on Lorraine begonias too long. 

 An idea has always been that the 

 foliage from heavily flowered plants 

 is soft and lacks the vigor of 

 that grown on similar plants which 

 have had the flowers removed all 

 winter and leaf growth encouraged. The 

 foliage and shoots on these latter be- 

 gonias are much better for propagating 

 purposes than you can obtain from any 

 of the same produced on plants which 

 have been allowed to simply flower them- 

 selves to death. Is there not a danger in 

 the deterioration of this fine begonia 

 unless more care is taken in selecting 

 propagating stock? 



Easter Lilies. 



March, as usual, has favored us with 

 many vagaries of climate and the prog- 

 ress of lilies has hardly been what might 

 have been hoped for. Unless your buds 

 now have a pronounced droop, they will 

 be too late unless hard forcing is re- 

 sorted to. If your plants are late and 

 you feel you should make an effort to 

 get them along in season, give them a 

 night temperature of 70 degrees. Spray 

 several times a day with warm water, 

 and you may still be able to flower them 

 when wanted. Spread the plants out 

 well, to prevent loss of foliage, and, as 

 the pots are full of roots and need lots 

 of moisture, see that it is supplied. 

 The plants having buds showing color 

 should be placed in a cold house. Later, 

 as the flowers become expanded, they 

 may be held a fortnight in a cold pit 

 or cellar, 



Dutch Bulbous Stock. 



Double tulips, like Murillo, La Can- 

 deur and Crown of Gold, should now be 

 brought into a cool house. If the 

 house is not at liberty, use a cold- 

 frame. Do not place the pots or pans 



under the benches, as they will become 

 too much drawn. At this season you 

 cannot have them any too stocky. 



The single early tulips, such as Pros- 

 erpine, Kaiserskroon, Yellow Prince, Pink 

 Beauty, Thomas Moore, Duchess de 

 Parma and others, will come in bloom 

 inside of three weeks, but it is well to 

 have them a day or two ahead of time, 

 as it is easy to retard them in cold 

 storage. 



Hyacinths and narcissi at this season 

 can be forced rapidly and not over three 

 weeks' time is necessary to bloom them. 



Tritonias, ixias and sparaxis require a 

 cool, airy house at all stages of their 

 growth. If they are now just showing 

 flower spikes they will be seasonable. 

 The same applies to Gladiolus Colvillei 

 The Bride and Spanish iris, both of 

 which are useful for cutting at Easter, 



Hardy Roses. 



The passing of winter reminds us 

 that many of our customers will be call- 

 ing for hardy roses and shrubbery in 

 variety. Nothing is to be gained by put- 

 ting off the planting of these. The ear- 

 lier the hybrid perpetual and rambler 

 roses can be gotten into the ground, the 

 better they will do. With the rambler 

 class we have found it makes little dif- 

 ference whether the plants are grafted 

 or on their own roots, but with the hy- 

 brid perpetuals grafted stock is much 

 to be preferred, proving hardier, more 

 vigorous and having greater longevity. 



Care should always be taken to avoid 

 letting the roots dry out before plant- 

 ing, A good plan is to dip them in clay 

 and water. This is preferable to water- 

 ing them. Plant so as to bury the graft 

 two or three inches, spread the roots out 

 well and tramp firmly. Do not allow any 

 manure to come in direct contact with 

 the roots. 



Let the pruning wait until the plants 

 start to break freely, no matter if you 



wait until the beginning of May. In 

 pruning do not merely snip off the tops, 

 but cut back to three or four eyes of the , 

 past season's wood on vigorous shoots, 

 and one or two on weaker ones. This will 

 ensure strong breaks. 



For the colder states there are a few 

 hybrid perpetuals which can be classed 

 as reliable. The following we have 

 found to be a good dozen : Ulrich Brun- 

 ner, Frau Karl Druschki, Mrs, John 

 Laing, Mme, Gabriel Luizet, Magna 

 Charta, General Jacqueminot, Clio, Paul 

 Neyron, Marchioness of Londonderry, 

 John Hopper, Mrs, R, G. Sharman- 

 Crawford and Prince Camille de Rohan, 



There are now a good variety of ram- 

 blers to choose from in addition to the 

 omnipresent and popular Crimson Ram- 

 bler. There are such fine double pinks 

 as Dorothy Perkins, Lady Gay and Far- 

 quhar, Baltimore Belle, the crimson sin- 

 gle Hiawatha, one of the best ; The Daw- 

 son, Carmine Pillar, bright rosy carmine 

 in color, and Sweetheart, a lovely, sweet- 

 scented double white variety. These are 

 but a few which are hardy and such rais- 

 ers as M. H. Walsh, of Woods Hole, 

 Mass., are constantly adding to our store 

 of treasures in this delightful class, 



FROZEN FICUS. 



Will you please let me know what is 

 the matter with the enclosed leaf from 

 a rubber plant? The plant is affected 

 like this on all the leaves. I was asked 

 by one of my customers to examine it, 

 but I am not posted on rubber plants 

 and have to call on you. C. H, W, 



A single leaf of a rubber plant, with- 

 out any particulars as to the conditions 

 under which it has been grown, makes 

 any diagnosis of such a case largely a 

 matter of guesswork, but the leaf in 

 question gives every indication of having 

 been frozen, and this is most likely the 

 cause of the whole trouble. W, H. T. 



