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36 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



NOTBMBBB 12, 1908. 



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SEASONABLE 



SUGGESTIONS 



Lorraine Besonias. 



Many of the Lorraine begonias are 

 now flowering quite profusely, and if 

 the temperature can be lowered a few 

 degrees, to a minimum of 55 degrees at 

 night, the plants will be stockier and the 

 blooms have more . substance. We hope 

 the necessary supports were remembered 

 some time ago, for too often growers 

 wait until the plants are coming into 

 flower and falling over the sides of the 

 pots before attending to this. The stakes 

 should be light and not long enough to 

 show above the flowers. Feeding once in 

 four or five days with weak cow manure 

 is now beneficial, and if the foliage 

 wants toning up a little, soot water 

 should be used. Lorraine begonias re- 

 quire no shade now and the nearer they 

 can be stood to the light the better they 

 will be. Avoid any wetting overhead 

 now, as it will be injurious. 



Show PeUrgoniums. 



It will now be possible to make room 

 for show pelargoniums in a cool house; 

 40 to 45 degrees at night will answer 

 well. See that the pots do not become 

 matted with roots before a shift is given. 

 Pinch the tops out of any shoots which 

 are taking the lead, to keep the plants 

 bushy. Do not forget to spread some 

 fresh tobacco stems among the plants 

 once a fortnight. Green aphis has a 

 decided partiality for these pelargoniums 

 and will speedily ruin them if not kept 

 in check. 



Pandanus Veitchli. 



There are few more generally useful 

 fine foliaged plants than Pandanus 

 Veitchii. It is of easy propagation at 

 this season by rubbing off the side shoots 

 and inserting them in a warm propagat- 

 ing bed. In potting off the rooted cut- 

 tings be careful to prevent any of the 

 roots being broken. They will usually go 

 straight down through the sand into the 

 drainage if left too long in the propa- 

 gating bench. Pandanus Sanderse, which 

 was introduced a few years ago, is little 

 heard of now. It never attained any 

 popularity, but is useful in a collection 

 for variety. As a house plant it is in- 

 ferior to the older variety. 



Poinsettias. 



The bracts on poinsettias are develop- 

 ing quite fast now and every attention 

 should be paid to watering, so that the 

 plants will lose as little foliage as pos- 

 sible. Poinsettias with leaves to the top 

 of the pots or pans, and of a dark 

 green color, will sell on sight. It is 

 otherwise where only a tuft of leaves 

 remains just below the bracts. A tem- 

 perature of 60 degrees at night is better 

 than a higher one when the bracts are 

 opening. Applications of manure water 

 should cease before they are fully devel- 

 oped. Avoid heavy doses. If these do 

 not cause a loss of foliage, they will 

 make the bracts soft and then when cut 



they will not stand up so well as those 

 subjected to less feeding. 



Hardy Lilies. 



Fall is the proper season to plant 

 haxdy lilies. In the spring the bulbs, no 

 matter how carefully carried over winter, 

 have lost much of their strength. Bulbs 

 of some varieties are now arriving, but 

 others may not come to hand before 

 December. For these latter it is best to 

 protect the places to be planted, with 

 straw or leaves, so that they can be 

 gotten in on arrival. 



The general practice is to plant out- 

 door lilies too shallow. A depth of eight 

 to ten inches is better than four to five 

 inches. Put a good coating of sharp 

 sand below and above the buTbs and do 

 not use any fresh manure about them. 

 Lilium speciosum album and rubrum, 

 tigrinum, auratum and Batmannise are 

 useful commercial sorts. All will do 

 better where they can have a little shade. 



Preparing; Gjxnpost Piles. 



Now is the season to secure a good 

 stack of compost for pots and benches. 



The top spit of upland pastures, where 

 stock has been grazed, is the best and 

 this may be cut four inches thick. In 

 stacking it we like to place a layer of 

 cow manure between every two thick- 

 nesses of sods. When chopped down in 

 spring and turned over, this makes first- 

 class material for either pots or benches. 

 As there are some plants which would 

 object to the manure, it is best to make 

 a pile of pure sod for these. Far too 

 little attention is paid to the compost 

 heaps. Without good soil it is out of the 

 question to grow good flowers, no matter 

 how much fertilizer and liquid manure 

 may be given them while growing. 



As freezing-up weather may soon be 

 expected under ordinary conditions, it is 

 time to get a supply of loam, rotted 

 manure, sand, leaf-mold and other pot- 

 ting accessories under cover. It is not 

 pleasant scurrying around after these 

 when a thick blanket of snow covers the 

 ground. 



Pansies. 



Where pansies are to be wintered out- 

 doors, it is still too early to afford pro- 

 tection. Wait until the ground is hard 

 frozen for this work. In many places it 

 is risky to attempt carrying these out- 

 doors, and in such cases the plants should 

 be put in coldframes at once. In addi- 

 tion to pansies, such plants as digitalis, 

 Canterbury bells, rockets, double ^isies, 

 forget-me-nots and others of doubtful 

 hardiness are best carried over in frames. 

 Place no sashes over them until quite 

 severe weather sets in. 



Adiantums. 



For the next few months maidenhair 



Chrysantliemuin Frank Payne. 



