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The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



July 1, 1909. 



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SUGGESTIONS 



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Gardenias. 



It is time to get the young stock of 

 gardenias planted out in the benclies, 

 in order that the plants may attain a 

 good size before fall. After cleaning 

 out the soil, wash the benches out well 

 with the hose and give the boards a coat 

 of either whitewash or crude oil. The 

 latter is to some extent a wood preserva- 

 tive and those who use it have never 

 found it in any way harmful to plant 

 life. Thorough drainage is absolutely 

 essential for successful gardenia culture. 

 Many growers fail, owing to using a 

 compost from which all the coarse mate- 

 rial has been shaken out. It is this 

 latter which the plants revel in. Three- 

 fourths rough, fibrous loam and one- 

 fourth well decayed and rather lumpy 

 cow manure, with some coarse sand and 

 broken charcoal, makes an ideal rooting 

 medium and one of suflScient porosity. 

 The water should pass quickly through a 

 gardenia bench when applied, or a bad 

 dose of the yellows is a certainty. 



Plants from 3-ineh pots are sufficiently 

 large and if these are set in rows eight- 

 een inches apart, with fifteen inches be- 

 tween the plants, they will easily cover 

 the benches before fall. Plant firmly and 

 leave a small hollow space around each 

 plant for water. This is better than 

 soaking the whole bench at each water- 

 ing. The soil in the benches need not 

 exceed five inches in depth and the coars- 

 est compost should, of course, be placed 

 in the bottom. Keep a moist atmosphere; 

 spray three times a day in hot weather. 

 Shade lightly, air freely in warm weather, 

 close up about 4 p. m., to bottle up a 

 brisk heat, and the plants will surprise 

 you with their growth. Keep the shoots 

 pinched and do not allow any flowers to 

 be produced. 



Stephanotis Floribuoda. 



Stephanotis floribunda, the one-time 

 prime favorite with florists, is less grown 

 than its merits would seem to warrant. 

 In Europe it is one of the standard mar- 

 ket flowers and for bouquets and fu- 

 neral work is in strong demand. Flow- 

 ering in spring and early summer and 

 not being by any means a fussy subject 

 to handle, it would pay many a country 

 florist, especially those who have calls 

 for choice white flowers, to grow at least 

 one plant of this stephanotis. Although 

 a native of Madagascar, S. floribunda 

 does not, as is commonly supposed, re- 

 quire tropical treatment. As fine plants 

 as one would care to see are grown in 

 ordinary greenhouses, with a winter min- 

 imum of 50 degrees, flowering profusely 

 in May and .June each year. 



A light house is not necessary, al- 

 though the plant will stand fairly strong 

 sunlight. Too much root space causes a 

 rampant growth and sparsity of flowers ; 

 tubs, boxes or small prepared beds are 

 the best. For compost, turfy loam, bone 

 meal, sharp sand and dry cow manure, 

 making the whole rather coarse to in- 

 sure free passage of water, is ideal. 



Good top-dressings early each spring 

 will carry the plants safely for a year. 



In Europe specimens on balloon-shaped 

 trellises are features at exhibitions. These 

 are invariably run up wires or strings on 

 the roofs and later tied around the 

 frames. There are back walls and ends 

 of houses, often not utilized, which would 

 grow stephanotis well. 



Scale and mealy bug are especially 

 fond of this plant. Good pressure of cold 

 water from the hose will easily control 

 them. 



Propagation from the previous sea- 

 son's wood in winter in a brisk bottom 

 heat is easy and the cuttings grow sur- 

 prisingly fast if kept potted on. 



Eucharis Amazonica. 



Eucharis Amazonica is an extremely 

 useful florists' plant. When properly 

 handled, two and occasionally three crops 

 of flowers are produced each year. As 

 a rule, two crops can be depended upon, 

 one in December and the other in June. 

 The plants succeed well either in benches 

 or fairly large pots, the latter being the 

 better mode of culture, as the plants can 

 be placed outdoors or in frames in sum- 

 mer, and can be placed in cooler quar- 

 ters for a rest between crops. Pots ten 

 to twelye inches in diameter are suffi- 

 ciently large. A compost of rough, 

 fibrous loam, broken sandstone or brick, 

 broken charcoal and cow manure will 

 grow eucharis to perfection. They must 

 have a porous rooting medium, or the 

 soil will speedily get into a sour condi- 

 tion. 



At this season, when the plants have 

 just finished their second crop of bloom, 

 they should be abundantly watered, fed 

 with liquid manure once in four or live 



days, syringed frequently to keep that 

 arch enemy, mealy bug, in check and 

 kept growing until the end of September, 

 after which time a gradual rest is neces- 

 sary to secure a good Christmas crop of 

 flowers. 



Either a bench in a light house, or a 

 coldframe will grow eucharis finely during 

 summer. The glass must be shaded and, 

 if shut u[) with abundant moisture at 4 

 to 5 'clock each afternoon, the plants 

 will make splendid growth. With newly 

 potted stock, water rather sparingly until 

 the pots are well filled with roots. The 

 main essentials of success in eucharis 

 cultivation are: Using a coarse, porous 

 compost; getting the pots well filled with 

 roots before resting at all ; ripening thor- 

 oughly in a cooler structure, and a brisk, 

 moist heat while growing. Of course, 

 to these must be added freedom from 

 mealy bug, which a judicious use of the 

 hose will control. 



Poiasettias. 



The earliest poinsettia cuttings are 

 now well rooted in small pots and ready 

 to be transferred to a bench, in which 

 they are given six inches of compost, 

 such as is used for chrysanthemums. In 

 this they grow splendidly and will pro- 

 duce large bracts for Christmas. There 

 is still ample time to get in several addi- 

 tional batches of cuttings during such 

 torrid weather as a large section of the 

 country has been sweltering under of 

 late. Care in watering and shading are 

 necessary, or a batch will speedily be 

 ruined. Cheesecloth hung over the cut- 

 tings is better than whitewash. Exclude 

 air from them as much as possible and 

 they will root much better. 



Stock plants, from which cuttings are 

 being taken, can be planted out moder- 

 ately close in a frame. No sash cov- 

 ering is needed. The cuttings will be 

 shorter-jointed and stockier than if 

 grown under glass. If possible, use cut- 

 tings rubbed off with a heel. Dip in dry 

 sand to stop bleeding and always trim 

 off the leaves pretty closely before plac- 

 ing in the propagating bench. 



Winter Geraniumc. 



In hot weather winter geraniums are 

 benefited by a light shade. The Bruant 





House of Geranium Mrs Lawrence. 



