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The Wcddy Florists' Review. 



May 21, 1908. 



J 



upward. They will, be later-, however, 

 than those properly planted. Both foliage 

 and flowers will have a longer journey to 

 reach the surface and can hardly be 

 expected to bloom so early and evenly, 

 or to be of as fine a quality as if set 

 in the regulation manner. I would cer- 

 tainly not try the potato planting plan. 

 Dropping by hand will take longer, but 

 will give you much more satisfaction in 

 the end. _W. N. C, 



SOOT AS FERTILIZER. 



I note the answer to A. L. & S.,. on 

 page 79 of the Eeview for April 9, ou 

 soot and other fertilizers. Now, I want 

 to know the value of carbon as a fer- 

 "tilizer, that which is found in the bot- 

 tom of large chimneys where there is 



a large range of boilers using soft 

 coal. Would you call this soot? 



G. B. B. 



What you call carbon is usually known 

 as soot. . That of a black color com- 

 ing from soft coal is of the greatest 

 value. The light-colored substance is 

 less valuable as a fertilizer, but should 

 not be thrown away. Spread it on any 

 of your land. If cutworms or wireworms 

 bother you, it makes a valuable preven- 

 tive if dusted over and around the plants. 

 It is helpful if spread on lawns and you 

 cannot go far wrong in spreading it 

 broadcast among any of your crops. 

 Good black soot is an excellent fertil- 

 izer for greenhouse plants, making the 

 foliage of a dark, lustrous green color. 



C. W. 



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SUGGESTIONS 



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Memorial Day Preparations. 



With many florists the volume of busi- 

 ness done at Memorial day far exceeds 

 the sales at Easter. This is not at all 

 surprising. On May 30 practically every 

 family remembers to decorate in some 

 way the graves of those whom they have 

 loved and lost. Started with the object 

 of decorating in a moderate way the last 

 resting places of that noble army who 

 saved the Union, the fast diminishing re- 

 mainder of which must soon pass to the 

 great beyond, it has far outgrown the 

 idea of those who gave the movement 

 birth. It would seem that every year 

 the volume of business is heavier and, in 

 spite of depressed conditions, we fully 

 anticipate a heavier call this year than 

 ever before. 



The wide temperature fluctuations 

 which are usually characteristic of May 

 will make it necessary for growers to 

 exercise considerable care in order to 

 time their crops correctly. Such useful 

 staples as Spiraea Japonica, ten weeks' 

 stocks, snapdragons, candytuft, feverfew, 

 marguerites, gladioli, Spanish iris and 

 lilies, all of which will be under glass, 

 come on rapidly now and, as the blooms 

 start to expand, should be grown cool. 

 Some shade on the glass will lower the 

 temperature and preserve the flowers. 



White flowers, while they will sell for 

 Memorial day, do not bring as remunera- 

 tive prices as colored ones; scarlet and 

 pink shades in carnations, roses, tulips 

 and other seasonable flowers are always 

 snapped up quickly. With many of these 

 flowers it will be better to cut and place 

 them in large jars of water in a cold 

 room or cellar, where they will last much 

 better than on the plants. 



In addition to cut flowers, which in the 

 fottns of bouquets and wreaths of mod- 

 erate price are always in heavy call, many 

 customers will purchase geraniums, pan- 

 sies, forget-me-nots, daisies and other 

 bedding plants. If these are in small 

 baskets or flats, which can be readily 

 handled, they will sell all the better. The 

 bedding plant season in the northern 

 states may be said to fairly commence 

 with Memorial day, and growers should 

 place their best bloomed and most salable 



plants in batches arranged so as to take 

 the eyes of any prospective purchasers. 

 Hydrangeas, nicely flowered, are good 

 sellers at this time. Be sure they are 

 well soaked with water, and always in- 

 struct those purchasing them to water 

 liberally. •. 



Bedding Out. 



While we may still have a few cool' 

 nights, and the possibility of light freez- 

 ings are to be reckoned with, there are 

 many who will want their flower beds 

 planted before Memorial day. If your 

 stock has been well hardened there is 

 no reason why such plants as geraniums, 

 verbenas, Drummond 's phlox, lobelias and 

 the like, cannot be set out with safety. 



A few points to be remembered in bed- 

 ding out are these: Beds and borders 

 should be well spaded over and enriched 

 with rotted manure, except in the case of 

 geraniums, which want a rather poorer 

 soil, heavy manuring promoting too much 

 rank leaf-growth. Unless you have some 

 fanciful * carpeting design you wish to 

 work out, where it may be necessary to 

 raise the soil in the beds, keep the sur- 

 face level. It may not look so well at first, 

 but the benefits will manifest themselves 

 as the warm weather arrives. When 

 rains come they will soak the beds 

 evenly, which is not the case when they 

 are a foot higher at the center than the* 

 sides. 



Be sure all plants are wet at the 

 root before planting. He who sets out 

 bedding stock with dust dry balls, and 

 figures on a soaking from the hose or the 

 skies giving them a good start, deserves 

 to make failures. Always firm the ground 

 thoroughly around each plant. Leave 

 the surface soil loose, and try to keep 

 it in that condition if you want to see 

 the stock grow fast. 



Avoid Messy Mixtures. 

 In bedding out we still see many at- 

 tempts to get as many varieties an.d 

 colors in one bed as possible. Ii is 

 satisfactory to know that this practice is 

 being gradually improved upon. With the 

 constant decline in carpet bedding, in 

 which variations in color are a necessity, 

 and the adoption of more natural plant- 



ing, the tendency is to use either solid 

 individual colors to each bed or an edging 

 of some other color for contrast. We 

 prefer as much as possible to have each 

 bed a separate color. The effect is far 

 better and more satisfying. Particularly 

 is this true of those popular flowering 

 plants, cannas and geraniums. Do not - 

 use reds and pinks together or the con- 

 trast will be the reverse of pleasing. 

 With cannas, a bed of scarlet edged with 

 yellow looks well and the colors reversed 

 are equally good, but a solid bed of 

 Florence Vaughan or Bouvier is better 

 than either arrangement. . : • _, 



Plants for Shady Locations. 



Fuchsias do not flower here with the 

 persistency and freedom characteristic of 

 them in Europe. There they are features 

 in many of the parks and gardens. Here, 

 to succeed at all, a position with partial 

 shade is a necessity. 



Tuberous begonias are splendid bedders v 

 if they can have some shade. They ^ 

 like rich soil and if mulched with fine 

 manure in summer they are splendid sub- 

 jects. Many of the winter blooming 

 fibrous-rooted begonias are also good, if 

 they can be broken from midday sun, 

 and bloom remarkably well. Under the 

 shade of trees the showy Rex begonias 

 will grow luxuriantly, provided the water 

 supply is good. 



Such fibrous begonias as La Vesuve 

 or Vesuvius, Erfordii and. Vernon will 

 thrive in either sun or shade. Under the 

 latter conditions the foliage will not 

 take on that bronzy hue usually seen on 

 plants exposed to the sun's full rays. 



Pansies and violas, which make a bril- 

 liant show now, cannot be depended upon 

 to flower all summer. If, however, they 

 are well shaded, can be kept moist at 

 the root, and seed pods are removed, they 

 will bloom until late fall. 



Mixed Foliage Beds. 



While mixtures of flowering plants are 

 not in good taste, beds of miscellaneous 

 foliage plants, such as ficuSj curculigo, 

 pandanus, grevillea, the hardier palms, cro- 

 tons and other plants of like nature, with 

 groundwork of English ivy, alternanthera|, 

 santolina. Asparagus Sprengeri, varie- 

 gated vinca and other low-growing plants 

 are pleasing. In large beds, in addition 

 to the plants named, musas, Dracsena 

 indivisa, aralias, Pennisetum Euppeli- 

 anum, cyperus, ricinus and a number of 

 other plants are of great service. The 

 larger plants should not be set too 

 closely together, but should have ample 

 space to show their full individuality, 

 lower growing plants being used between 

 them. 



Even with the foliage plants it is mucb 

 better to keep the colored-le&ved plants 

 in beds by themselves, although tropical 

 mixtures of foliage plants are more tol- 

 erable than those in flower. 



Persistent Flowering Annuals. 



An enormous quantity of annuals are 

 used for bedding. A common query ask- 

 ed is, what annuals can I plant which 

 will flower all summer long? There are 

 a few varieties which can be depended 

 'upon. In rather poor soil nasturtiums 

 are hard to beat. In rich soil they 

 make rank growth and flower sparsely. 

 Verbenas like well enriched soil and will 

 bloom in it from June to November. 

 Drummond 's phlox will flower for sever- 

 al months. Stocks and asters make a 

 glorious show while in flower, but two or 

 three plantings are needed to keep a bed 

 attractive the season through. With par- 



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