18 



Weekly Fkwists' Rfvicw* 



May 30, IMO. 



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SEASONABLE 



SUGGESTIONS 



Cemetery Vases. 



About every florist doing any retail 

 business has a certain amount of ceme- 

 tery work. It pays well and is well 

 worthy of increased attention from those 

 who are growers of bedding and deco- 

 rative plants. Memorial day is drawing 

 near and calls to have vases nicely filled 

 for that occasion will be common during 

 the next few days. Strive as far as pos- 

 sible to satisfy every customer and do 

 not promise to fill an order for Memorial 

 day and then fail to do it; far better 

 turn the order down than make promises 

 you have grave doubts about being able 

 to fill. 



Some cemetery vases are heavy and it 

 is not possible to move all of them to the 

 greenhouse to fill, but it will certainly 

 pay to haul as many there as can be com- 

 fortably handled. It will pay you much 

 better than sending a miscellaneous load 

 of plants and another of compost and 

 then not having some things you need. 

 At your own establishment you can fill 

 the vases to suit your taste and the work 

 will suit both you and your customers 

 better than if filled at the cemetery. Be 

 sure you use a soil well enriched, as the 

 plants will have but a limited root run 

 and will soon have a starved appearance 

 if the soil is poor. 



As a general thing there is a pleasing 

 breaking away from the vases containing 

 a centerpiece of Dracaena indivisa or 

 phoenix and a miscellaneous mixture of 

 other plants around them. Solid vases of 

 red, pink, salmon and white geraniums 

 are in excellent taste, also such dwarf 

 cannas as Tarrytown, Crozy, Queen Char- 

 lotte, Express and others. Other flower- 

 ing plants include about everything which 

 can be bedded out, such as petunias, ver- 

 benas, abutilons, begonias, ageratums, 

 etc. The trailing plants embrace a large 

 variety, including, among others, nastur- 

 tiums, English and German ivy, Aspara- 

 gus Sprengeri, vincas (still perhaps the 

 best of all), Abutilon vexillarium, ivy 

 geraniums, petunias, alyssums and others. 



Points to remember in filling cemetery 

 vases are: See that there is good drain- 

 age. Provide rich soil, containing some 

 bone as well as cow manure. Do not 

 plant too thickly. Do not run too much 

 on one shade of color. One shade to a 

 vase is preferable to a riot of colors, as 

 we too often see. Firm the soil well 

 about the balls of the plants. Only use 

 ferns, palms, fuchsias, show pelargoniums 

 and tuberous begonias where the vases 

 are shaded. 



Beddine Out. 



"While bedding out is not usually in full 

 swing in the colder and more northerly 

 states much before the end of May, many 

 of our florists farther south are now busy 

 with this work, some having already com- 

 pleted it. "We are often tempted sorely 

 by premature hot waves to get things out 

 too early, a late frost usually paying us 

 for our temerity, but if plants are well 

 hardened some of the hardier kinds can 

 now be started, geraniums being included 



in this class. Always be sure that the 

 balls of all bedding plants are moist 

 when planted. To set out plants with 

 dry i-oots. trusting in Providence to pro- 

 vide rains speedily to soak them, is a 

 poor policy. 



The soil in all beds and borders should 

 })e carefully prepared and well loosened 

 up. It is, of course, necessary to firm 

 the soil well about the roots of all plants, 

 but always leave the surface soil loose as 

 a mulch. Tell your customers it is not 

 necessary to ply the hose or watering pot 

 over their beds every night. Tell them to 

 water thoroughly, stir up the surface soil 

 when the ground has dried up, and then 

 wait two or thr.ee days, at least, before 

 watering again. 



Tender Nympbaeai. 



The more tender varieties of 



nym- 



phseas are not uAially planted much be- 

 fore the beginning of June, at which time 

 we are, as a rule, favored w th settled 

 weather. The varieties, Zanzibariensis, 

 Devoniensis and others, belong to the 

 tender class. Many beginne' s in the cul- 

 ture of pond lilies err in neglecting to 

 properly provide them with sufficient root 

 run. A generous compost, comprising 

 three parts strong loam to on«. part cow 

 manure, will grow good aquatics. It is 

 hardly possible to have a hasin or pond 

 of pellucid water and vigoro is aquatics. 

 The adding of the compost provides 

 means for the discoloration of ihe water, 

 and at the same time much greater vigor 

 in the plants. 



Spray Persistently. 



The advance of the season, with the 

 accompanying bursts of torrid heat, 

 brings us one of its legacies, a swarm of 

 insect pests, to properly combat which, 

 we must wage a relentless war. For 

 aphis on trees and shrubs, either whale 

 oil soap or kerosene emulsion is suit- 

 able. To make the latter, take one-half 

 pound of any good hard soap, one gallon 

 of boiling water and two gallons kero- 

 sene. Dissolve the soap in the water; 

 add kerosene and churn with a pump for 

 ten minutes. Dilute twenty to twenty- 

 eight times before applying. Do not 

 wait for shrubs to be smothered with 



The Crabapple in Easter Attire. 



