JtiLV 30, 1908. 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



country florists do not grow it for home 

 trade. Even if the plants are not sold, 

 the flowers work in beautifully in funer- 

 al designs and, arranged in a vase, last 

 longer than carnations. Even as an 

 outdoor annual the schizanthus has been 

 sadly neglected. During August and Sep- 

 tember the flowers will be found serv- 

 iceable when really good material is 

 decidedly scarce. The best variety is 

 Wisetonensis, on account of its dwarf 

 habit, but for outdoor use grandiflorus 

 oculatus and pinnatua albus are also 

 From Thanksgiving to Christmas nice- 

 ly bloomed schizanthus are something of 

 a novelty. To secure such plants, sow 

 seeds now in 3 -inch pots. Thin the 

 seedlings as soon as they germinate, leav- 

 ing four or five in a pot. Keep in a 

 coldframe right up to the light. Give 

 plenty of air and throw off the sashes at 

 night. The aim should be to grow the 

 plants as stocky as possible. They w^ll 

 never tolerate forcing at any stage of 

 their growth. The little shoots will soon 

 run up to flowers and must be kept con- 

 stantly pinched. Pot them on as re- 

 quired and keep as cool as possible, short 

 of actual freezing, at all stages of 

 growth. Do not place in the greenhouse 

 before October. There are now some 

 large flowered strains of 8. Wisetonensis 

 oflfered, with blooms double the size of 

 the ordinary type. 



Scented Geraniums. 



There is a good call for bunches of the 

 shoots of the various scented geraniums, 

 especially during winter. Perhaps you 

 have been growing along a number of 

 plants left over from spring sales, to 

 give you shoots for the coming season. 

 If not, it is time to root a good batch 

 of cuttings. As the shoots are now- 

 very succulent, they are liable to rot 

 unless carefully watered. Trim the foli- 

 age off closely. Give one good soaking 

 of water. Then keep dry for a day 

 or two. Do not shade heavily. For 

 Eonal geraniums no shade at all is needed, 

 but the scented varieties require a lit- 

 tle. If you have a house facing north 

 they will root in it fairly well, but in 

 a coldframe with constant air on top and 

 bottom they will do even better. The 

 •lemon-scented verbena now has an abun- 

 dance of soft shoots and, if you wish 

 to increase your stock, now is a good 

 time to do so. It is always well to lift 

 a few old plants of this favorite, for 

 they give such a crop of nice cuttings 

 when started up, after being kept cool 

 and dry for a time. 



Asters. 



Aster plants from the latest sowings 

 should now be in their flowering quar- 

 ters. In spite of climatic conditions, 

 the season has been a fairly good one 

 for these, and for the next two months a 

 fine grade of flowers will be produced. 

 The appearance of the notorious aster 

 beetle will require a sharp lookout to be 

 kept for these pests. They are specially 

 partial to the white flowered varieties, 

 although they will eat any other color. 

 If the flowers are not open, the plants 

 can be saved to some extent by spraying 

 with Paris green at the rate of one 

 pound to 200 gallons of water. This 

 cannot be given when blooms are open 

 without discoloring them. A bait of 

 shorts and Paris green, sweetened with 

 molasses, will poison many, while hand- 

 picking can be resorted to if the beetles 

 are not numerous. Where blue lice ap- 

 pear on the roots, it is better to pull up 

 the plants; also any affected by the 

 several diseases affecting asters. Keep 



Bouquet Carried by Joseph Letter's Bride. 



the ground constantly cultivated and 

 the ravages of pests will be to a consid- 

 erable degree lessened. 



Perennial Phlox. 



How useful perennial phlox are during 

 the hot summer months to the country 

 florist who is far from a large city and 

 who is constantly being called upon to 

 furnish flowers for funerals and other 

 purposes at short notice! Rarely seen in 

 retailers' windows and hardly ever being 

 bunched for market, the hardy phloxes, 

 nevertheless, are indispensable to any- 

 one doing a summer trade in cut flowers. 

 Their extreme hardiness, ease of culture, 

 great color variations, rapidity of in- 

 crease and extended flowering season are 

 all strong points in their favor. For pro- 

 ducing large trusses Voung plants are 



necessary. These are easily raised by in- 

 serting young shoots, in the same way as 

 with mums, in a propagating bench, and 

 later planting in nursery rows. These 

 will flower in August and September, 

 after the old clumps are pretty well 

 faded, and any of your customers see- 

 ing a good batch in bloom will surely 

 want to purchase some, especially if you 

 grow a good selection. 



The following list contains only first- 

 class sorts and will give a succession of 

 bloom from June until freezing weath- 

 er: White, Miss Lingard, pink eye, very 

 early; Pyramide, Le Cygne, Fiancee; 

 Albatre, very late; pink. General Chanzy, 

 Lumineux, R. P. Struthers; blue or 

 mauve, Le Mahdi, Esperance; scarlet, 

 Coquelicot, Boule de Feu, General 

 Chanzy; Richard Wallace, white, rose 



