July 9, 1908. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



geraniums, 15,000 coleus, 10,000 hydran- 

 geas, all the foregoing in 48 's and 32 's. 

 Over 2,000 rambler rosea in 16 's and 24 's, 

 in addition to rhododendrons, 8tand3.rd 

 fuchsias, Japanese maples, etc. Further 

 they introduced about 200 loads of clay, 

 600 square yards of soil and 50,000 

 square feet of turf, and fifty men were 

 employed getting all into shape for the 

 opening. Quick changes had to be ef- 

 fected, not only in altering from one 

 style to another each night, but where 

 the decorations were broken up in the 

 arena by the horses, much work had to 

 be done in the intervals between the per- 

 formances. On the occasion of the king 's 

 visit the royal box was decorated with 

 rambler roses, pink hydrangeas, Japanese 

 maples, smilax, etc. A ribbon border 

 encircled the arena, composed of mar- 

 guerites, hydrangeas and coleus, with 

 rambler roses in the background and at 

 intervals vases of flowers and graceful 

 statues; also two large golden crowns, 

 four feet in diameter and five feet high, 

 filled with golden coleus and pink hy- 

 drangeas. 



One of the most effective pieces of 

 decoration was just within the main en- 

 trance, a pretty flower garden with beds 

 and vases of flowers, encircling a foun- 

 tain. In the evening when the electric 

 light was on the effect was exceedingly 

 pretty. Throughout the building stand- 

 ard fuchsias, clipped box trees of vary- 

 ing designs and standard bays were ef- 

 fectively introduced and 500 baskets of 

 Asparagus Sprengeri, with floral trails, 

 were suspended from the roof. The 

 whole of the decorations reflected the 

 highest credit on the firm and the able 

 and genial manager, Mr. Fortescue, who 

 saw everything through and up to time 

 without a hitch. To accomplish this, how- 

 •ever, a day staff and a night staff were 

 constantly at work. 



PERENNIALS FOR RETAILERS. 



A Neglected Branch of the Business. 



One of the branches of the business 

 of retail growers that is only too often 

 sadly neglected, even in many instances 

 entirely overlooked, is the growing of 

 perennials for spring sales. There are 

 a lot of men who are perfectly willing 

 to grow a geranium from a cutting struck 

 in October, have the plant occupy bench 

 room until the following May and then 

 accept 10 cents or 12 cents retail for it, 

 while a delphinium, Shasta daisy, gail- 

 lardia, coreopsis or campanula will bring 

 twice the price, with hardly one-third the 

 trouble or expense in growing. 



There may not be as great demand for 

 perennials as for general bedding stock, 

 nor can they be always used in place 

 of other stock for formal bedding, yet 

 the demand for hardy plants on the 

 part of the public has been steadily 

 growing for the last ten years, and it 

 seems that while practically all of the 

 larger firms in the country have met 

 and encouraged in every way this demand 

 by the growing of large quantities of 

 stock and the offering of quite a number 

 of novelties of great merit, the smaller 

 retail grower has done but little to push 

 things in this direction. 



While there are places where a nice 

 assortment of well grown plants are on 

 hand, which bring as good returns as 

 any other class of plants on the grounds, 

 there are more places, by far, where this 

 is not the case. Plants which could have 

 teen just as well grown on the place 

 have to be ordered in the last minute 



.i 



Funeral Spray of Pink Sweet Peas. 



from afar. The shipping of this class 

 of stock long distances, and late in the 

 season, never improves it, and even at its 

 best it cannot be compared with home 

 grown plants. 



Methods of Culture* 



Pot grown perennials are of great 

 value and are superior to field grown 

 plants where late planting is to be done, 

 or where stock is to be shipped long 

 distances. This method is, however, but 

 little made use of by the average retail 

 grower, who can lift his plants with a 

 good clump of soil and do the transplant- 

 ing in short order. The culture of pe- 

 rennials is very simple and requires not 

 half the skill it does to produce good 

 specimens of bedding stock in pots. 



As the object of this article is to 

 help the beginner to work up a stock 

 of the more widely known varieties of 

 perennials for this fall and next spring's 

 sales, I will only speak of such now as 

 can nicely be grown from seeds, which, 

 however, should be planted at once in 

 order to get desired results. An out- 

 door frame is better than flats for the 

 seeds. We sow in drills about five inches 

 apart, and cover with sashes until the 

 small plants are well established. After 

 that, a protection of shade frames, made 

 of laths, will shelter the seedlings from 

 the hot sun, as well as from heavy 

 rains. Great care should be taken in 

 covering the seeds; only too often this 

 is done too heavily. The young plants 

 can be transplanted as soon as large 

 enough to handle. 



Canterbury Bells, Foxgloves and Poppies. 



Campanula Medium, or Canterbury 

 bell, should be found in every collection 

 of hardy plants. Many more would be 

 sold if the public could see more of 

 them. At this writing they are at their 

 best and as showy, to say the least, as 

 any other plant in bloom. Seed sown 

 now will produce fine, strong plants by 

 fall, of which some can be potted up in 

 October and kept in a coldframe until 

 about January. Brought in then and 

 given gentle heat, they will make most 

 d^irable Easter plants, for which pur- 

 pose the white, light blue, and pink are 

 the most valuable. Field grown plants 

 can also be lifted in spring, when just 

 coming into bloom. Potted up in 8-inch 

 pots, they will make beautiful decorative 

 material for the veranda. 



No time should be lost in sowing out 

 pome Digitalis gloxiniffiflora, or foxglove. 

 Seed sown in August often makes fine 

 plants, but these may not bloom the 

 following spring. Sow thin; quite often 

 the young plants damp off before they 

 can be transplanted, on account of being 

 crowded too much. 



Papaver orientale, or oriental poppy, 

 is one of the most showy early flowering 

 perennials. Its bright red, large flow- 

 ers liven up the border in early June. 

 Even when out of bloom, its fernlike 

 foliage is beautiful during summer. A 

 mass of poppies and Chrysanthemum 

 maximum makes a grand combination. 



Other Useful Sorts. 



It is not too early to sow aquilegias 



