JANUABY 21, 1900. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review^ 





Spiraeas. 



The early part of February is suffi- 

 ciently early to start spiraeas wanted for 

 Easter, but a few pots are useful at any 

 time with retail florists, the sprays be- 

 ing excellent in design work. The old 

 variety, S. Japonica, will come in season 

 in two weeks less time than the newer 

 and improved varieties, such as Glad- 

 stone, astilboides and grandiflora. The 

 three last named sorts are such great im- 

 provements over S. Japonica that the lat- 

 ter is really haVdly worthy of any ex- 

 tended culture, although it has accept- 

 ably filled the bill for a long period of 

 years. Be sure all the spirsea balls are 

 well soaked before being potted. 



Easter plants can be started in any 

 ordinary greenhouse, but where you want 

 some early, a night heat of 65 degrees 

 and plenty of moisture are requisites. 

 The new pink spiraea, Queen Alexandra, 

 is the most beautiful of the family. Its 

 price, unfortunately, remains rather high 

 for commercial growers. To have it well 

 flowered for Easter, the plants of this 

 grand novelty should now be placed in 

 a hous^ kept at 50 degrees at night. 



Gloxinias. 



It is not too early to start a small 

 batch of gloxinias for early flowering. 

 These will flower in season for Memorial 

 day, at which time they will be found 

 acceptable. If you have not grown your 

 own tubers, secure a good strain from 

 one of the many dealers advertising in 

 the Review. They are offered at low 

 rates. Start the tubers in flats of sand, 

 potting them up when the growths have 

 started nicely. After watering well once, 

 wait until signs of growth appear before 

 damping again. Continued wetting will 

 sometimes cause the tubers to decay. 

 When potting, use a compost of fibrous 

 loam, dry cow or sheep manure, broken 

 charcoal and sharp sand. In starting 

 gloxinias a minimum temperature of 60 

 degrees is necessary. 



Fancy Gdadiums. 



Caladiums are not so much grown com- 

 mercially as their beauty and extreme 

 usefulness would seem to warrant. For 

 summer decorations they are invaluable, 

 being superior to flowering plants, which 

 latter speedily drop to pieces during tor- 

 rid weather. They are also useful in 

 tropical bedding, as well as for use on 

 sheltered piazzas in boxes or vases. 



The roots, which have been wintering 

 in a warm, dry shed, can now be shaken 

 out and laid on a bed of moss in a propa- 

 gating case, or on a bench where they 

 can get a brisk bottom heat. Scatter 

 a. little sand or broken moss over the 

 tubers and water sparingly until growths 

 start. Pot up as roots and growths ap- 

 pear and keep in a warm, moist heat. Of 

 course these caladiums may be started 

 two months hence and be in season for 

 bedding-out purposes, but those placed in 

 heat now will be fine, well furnished 

 plants by early summer, at which time 

 they will sell better than later in the 

 season. 



Marguerites. 



Marguerites intended for Easter flow- 

 ■eri'ng should be placed in their flowering 

 pots without delay and will come along 

 nicely in a night temperature of 48 to 

 ■50 degrees. No more pinching must be 

 done or the plants will be a little too 

 late. Marguerites require lots of water 

 and will be benefited by frequent water- 

 ings of liquid manure when well rooted 

 in the pots. 



House of Ouysantiiemum Belfast. 



Memorial day stock should be shifted 

 along before the balls become matted. 

 To secure a fine quality of fiowers at that 

 date, plant out some of your stock 

 in a shallow bench. These will not bloom 

 so well for Easter as if kept in pots, 

 but for May and June flowering they 

 are to be preferred. 



Put in a good batch of cuttings now. 

 They can be carried in pots during the 

 summer and will prove useful for early 

 winter flowering when mums are on the 

 wane. 



For the leaf -miner, which attacks mar- 

 guerites, spray or dip the plants in nico- 

 tine extract, taking care to wet all the 

 foliage thoroughly. Use the nicotine 

 double the strength required for aphis. 



Propagation. 



Now that the steam or hot water pipes 

 are constantly warm is the time to keep 

 the propagating benches well filled with 

 cuttings. It is much easier rooting the 

 majority of plants now than later in the 

 season, when there is more solar and 

 less bottom heat. Coleus, alternantheras, 

 heliotropes, crotons, dracsenas, pandanus, 

 marantas, achyranthes, strobilanthes, 

 acalyphas, hibiscus and many others re- 

 quire a warm propagating bench, and 

 if shaded from the sun's rays and well 

 watered, will root surprisingly fast. Ver- 

 benas should be rooted in a cooler house, 

 where also carnations, chrysanthemums 

 and plants needing cooler culture will 

 root better. Now is the time to get in 

 cuttings of any good mums you intend to 

 grow more largely another year. Pot 

 these off when rooted and later transfer 

 to a bench or flats, where they will give 

 you a big crop of fine, succulent cuttings 

 for May and June, which is as early as 

 the average florist needs to take his cut- 

 tings. Eemember that if you let your 

 propagating bench become dry, many 

 of your cuttings will be lost and even 

 those which do root are hardened and 

 injured. Plenty of moisture should al- 

 ways be given until the cuttings are 

 rooted, afterwards a lessened supply. 



Pots and Flats. 



At this season there is more time 

 than during any other part of the year 

 for overhauling the pot supply. Take 

 advantage of any spare hours to wash or 

 at least rub out the insides of the pots 

 and stnck them on shelves, each size 



by itself. It is, of course, most impor- 

 tant that the insides of the pots are 

 clean, as plants placed in dirty pots 

 can never be turned out with clean balls. 

 We are. still waiting for a pot which will 

 not become green and slimy, also for 

 some preparation which will prevent this 

 material from growing on the pots, with- 

 out harming the plants. 



Now is also the time to prepare a good- 

 ly supply of flats for the sowing of 

 seeds and for transplanting bedding 

 stock, carnations, mums and other plants 

 into. A convenient size for these flats 

 is from twenty-four to thirty inches long, 

 nine to twelve inches wide and anywhere 

 from three to four inches deep. Half- 

 inch stock is the best to use, except across 

 the two ends, where pieces three-quarters 

 of an inch thick are to be preferred. 



A CHRISTMAS CHRYSANTHEMUM 



In the last few years great progress 

 has been made in lengthening the chrys- 

 anthemum season in point of earliness, 

 but Willis E. Hamilton, of Belfast, Me., 

 says he has found it fully as desirable 

 to lengthen the season at the other end. 

 In other words, it is as much worth while 

 to have chrysanthemums after the recog- 

 nized season as it is to have them while 

 they must compete with asters and other 

 summer flowers. 



Mr. Hamilton lengthens his season to 

 Christmas and later with a variety of his 

 own raising, called Belfast, in honor of 

 his home town. This variety originated 

 with him a number of years ago and was 

 exhibited February 10, 1908, before the 

 New York Florists' Club under the name 

 of Eadiant. The accompanying illustra- 

 tion shows his house of it, photographed 

 December 12, 1908. He cut the entire 

 house out clean for his Christmas trade. 

 Last year he cut his last blooms April 11, 

 which gave him chrysanthemums for 

 Easter. 



Belfast is light pink in color, the 

 blooms running of large size and carried 

 on strong stems that will hold the flowers 

 up in salable shape for a long time after 

 the cutting. Mr. Hamilton says he has 

 been able to bring it into flower at any 

 time from November 15 onward to April, 

 but that it has paid him best to bring it 

 in especially for Christmas. 



