The Weekly Florists' Review. 



Febbdahy 11, 1009. 



FOR VINTER FLOWERING. 



An Oppof tanity Neglected. 



The popularity of zonal pelargoniums 

 as bedding plants and for use in piazza 

 or window-boxes and vases, shows no fall- 

 ing off. No other flowers can compare 

 with them for these purposes, and the 

 introduction annually of many new and 

 unique varieties keeps the public appe- 

 tite whetted. But the culture of ge- 

 raniums, entirely apart from the bedding 

 sizes so much in demand in May, is stiU 

 rather limited and could be profitably ex- 

 tended by many florists. Such geraniums 

 as are seen in bloom during the winter 

 months are customarily of such sorts as 

 Double Grant, Alphonse Eicard and a 

 few other double varieties. Bright and 

 attractive as these may be, they sink 

 into comparative insignificance when 

 placed alongside the well grown plants 

 of the better varieties of singles, more 

 particularly those known as the English 

 round-flowered type. 



Some of these are not successes bedded 

 out, but others are good alike outdoors 

 and under glass. All are so much inore 

 beautiful than the doubles and flower so 

 much more profusely that it is surpris- 

 ing to find so few grown commercially. 

 Any florist who can work up a stock 

 of this type of geraniums for spring 

 trade can readily get a fancy price for 

 them. I have in mind a florist in a city 

 of 30,000 people, who propagated a 

 large quantity of these singles a year 

 ago, and in May his customers preferred 

 them to the old type and were willing to 

 pay fifty per cent more for them. This 

 experience is not exceptional, and not 

 only will this class of geraniums sell bet- 

 ter in spring, but there is a wonderful 

 opening for them as winter-blooming 

 plants. At present they are but little 

 seen and the varieties are mostly old- 

 fashioned. Wide-awake florists, who have 

 seen well flowered single geraniums, 

 state that they would have no trouble in 

 Belling them at good prices. Having had 

 occasion in December, 1908, to send sev- 

 eral batches grown in 6-inch pots to 

 charity fairs in Boston, it was noticed 

 that the geraniums were eagerly snapped 

 up, while Lorraine begonias, cyclamens, 

 azaleas and poinsettias were neglected. 

 This would seem to dispose of the hack- 

 neyed argument tftat geraniums will not 

 sell in winter. Of course they will sell, 

 if they are properly grown and the colors 

 are what people want. 



For December Sales» Start Now. 



To secure a good lot of geraniums for 

 blooming in December, 1909, the cuttings 

 should be started about the end of Feb- 

 ruary. Let them dry a little in the sun 

 before potting them and trim oflP the 

 leaves quite closely. Use 2-inch pots for 

 each cutting, and for compost a mix- 

 ture of loam, leaf-mold and plenty of 

 sand will be found suitable. Stand the 

 little pots closely together on a bench 

 over hot water or steam pipes, where 

 they can get the benefit of some bottom 



heat. Give one soaking of water and 

 then apply it sparingly until the cut- 

 tings are rooted. Never use any shade; 

 full sun is required. Do no spraying 

 overhead and a small proportion only 

 will fail to root. Shift to 3-inch pots. 

 At this stage use no leaf-mold. Later 

 shifts can be given into 4 ^^ -inch and 

 6-inch pots. The latter size is a con- 

 venient one to flower the plants in, un- 

 less extra large specimens are desired. 

 It is an advantage to have the pots well 

 matted with roots at flowering time. 

 This prevents undue leaf growth at the 

 expense of flowers. For the final shift 

 a compost consisting of two parts fibrous 

 loam, one part dried cow manure, some 

 sharp sand and a dash of bone or Clay's 

 fertilizer will be found about right. 

 Press the soil firmly in the pots at the 

 final shift and, as the flowering time 

 advances, keep the plants toned up by 

 occasional doses of liquid manure and 

 topdressings of such highly concentrated 

 fertilizers as Bon Arbor or Clay's. 



Some pinching will be necessary to 

 keep the plants shapely and a few stakes 



may be needed as the flowering sei^son 

 advances. I have found it better to 

 grow the winter geraniums under glass 

 all the time. When stood outdoors, if 

 the weather should happen to be drench- 

 ingly wet, the foliage will spot badly. 

 No drying off is necessary to success- 

 fully bloom these geraniums. To have 

 them follow chrysanthemums and be in 

 good shape for Christmas, discontinue 

 pinching the shoots at the beginning of 

 September, and let flower spikes remain 

 after the end of October. A house kept 

 at 50 degrees at night, with a dry at- 

 mosphere and plenty of sun, will suit 

 geraniums admirably. Plants carrying 

 ten to twenty trusses per pot of such 

 sorts as Paul Crampel, Jacquerie, Max- 

 imo Kovalevski and Eeformator would be 

 preferred to poinsettias by nine custom- 

 ers out of ten. 



Some Good Sorts. 



A selection that has proved satisfac- 

 tory for winter flowering is as follows: 

 Paul Crampel, brilliant scarlet, unsur- 

 passed for both pot culture and bedding, 

 6-inch pots of this variety, if well grown, 

 will carry fifteen to twenty big trusses 

 of flower; Eeformator, a heavier grower 

 than Crampel and dwarfer in habit, 

 color reddish scarlet, makes a fine pot 

 plant; Maxime Kovalevski, a strong 

 grower and free bloomer, the flowers are 

 dazzling orange scarlet and a mass of 

 them is very effective; Duke of Bed- 

 ford, immense trusses of rich crimson 

 colored flowers, the individual florets two 

 and one-half inches in diameter, one of 



Geranium The Sirdar. 



