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AUGUST 12, 1909. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



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SPECIOSUMS CAHRIED OVER. 



Will you kindly advise us as to the 

 be^t disposition to i^ake of Japan lily 

 Ijiilhs that have bloomed in pots? The 

 varieties are pink and white. Can they 

 be left in the pots and started again? If 

 go, when? Or will it be best to put them 

 ju open ground and take them up again 

 anil pot them, and if this is all right, 

 ,v!.on shall it be done? B. F. C. 



We suppose the Japan lilies referred 

 to are speciosums. It will not pay you 

 to carry these over in pots and force 

 a<,fain. You can plant them in the open 

 ground in good soil, covering the bulbs 

 about eight inches for the best success. 

 Tiiey will flower well another year for 

 y )u, treated thus. We would advise you 

 K )t to try lifting and forcing the bulbs 

 again; far better purchase new ones. 

 I'oth speciosums and auratums are to be 

 l,:td at moderate prices. The new crop 

 fiom Japan usually arrives late in No- 

 vember. Get your bulbs early and pot 

 right away. This will be far better than 

 litting any second rate, home-grown 

 bulbs. C. 



GARDENIAS FOR CHRISTMAS. 



Will you kindly state what is the most 

 satisfactory time to disbud gardenias, in 

 order to make them flower around 

 Cliristmas time? I live in Virginia. 



T. E. L. 



To have a good crop of gardenias at 

 Christmas requires considerable skill. 

 You will have less trouble in getting 

 them, however, than your fellow florists 

 farther north. Presuming that your 

 plants are benched and growing freely, 

 you should pinch the shoots until the 

 middle of August, after which date no 

 further pinching must be done. It is 

 well to rub oflf any early flower buds 



Dendrobium Schneiderianum Giganteum. 



which may appear, unless you have some 

 particular use for them. Keep the plants 

 well syringed and close up with abun- 

 dant moisture each afternoon. The night 

 temperature now is easily kept in the 

 seventies or higher. Later in the season 

 do not allow it to fall below 65 degrees. 

 Watch the cultural columns of the Ee- 

 viEW for further hints from time to time. 



C. W. 



SEASONABLE ORCHID NOTES. 



Dendrobium Nobile. 



This useful old dendrobe enjoys a hot, 

 moist house at this season. The pseudo- 

 bulbs are now being well made up, and 

 the plants must have abundant supplies 

 of moisture, both at the root and in the 

 atmosphere. Only in the case of those 

 which are much root bound should ma- 

 nure water be applied, and then in weak 

 doses once a week. The plants, if grown 

 in a house which can be syringed over 

 and closed up tight about the middle of 

 the afternoon, will be exactly in their ele- 

 ment. After the end of August it may 

 be possible to gradually reduce the water 

 supply on the most advanced plants, but 

 for a few weeks yet the plants should 

 have warm, moist, tropical treatment. 

 Such varieties as Wardianum, Phalaenopsis 



and formosum giganteum like the same 

 culture as D. nobile. 



Cattleya Labiata. 



What a gap we would have to fill were 

 that easily grown and free flowering fall 

 cattleya, the labiata, taken away! It 

 seems hard to imagine that, but a few 

 years ago, prior to its rediscovery, there 

 was really no fall cattleya of any ac- 

 count, whereas now it is grown commer- 

 cially by thousands. 



The earliest plants now have bulbs 

 pretty well made up, with sheaths show- 

 ing. These will give some flowers by the 

 last of September, a time when indoor 

 flowers are just starting to sell again. 

 The shade on these cattleyas should not 

 be too heavy now, as, if the plants are 

 far from the light, it will mean beauti- 

 ful, dark foliage, large bulbs and half 

 the flowers per sheath they should carry. 



Move such as are well made up close to 

 the light. This will have the effect of 

 hardening them. If every cattleya 

 grown could be kept about two feet from 

 the glass during the whole growing sea- 

 son, there would be fewer complaints 

 about big bulbs showing only one or two 

 flowers, instead of double or treble that 

 number. The plants must still have a 

 good water supply, and on hot days a 

 light syringing early in the afternoon will 

 help them. The foliage is better dry 

 before nightfall. 



Calanthes. 



In order to keep the calanthes growing 

 vigorously and to make up first-class 

 bulbs, a warnj, close house is absolutely 

 necessary, which can be shut up about 

 3:30 p. m. each day. Do not syringe the 

 plants over. This is liable to cause spot- 

 ting of the foliage; but keep the atmos- 

 phere saturated with moisture. The pots 

 are now becoming well filled with roots, 

 and something more than clean water is 

 wanted to build up strong bulbs. Cow 

 or sheep manure water twice a week in 

 moderate doses is the best food. Chem- 

 icals will only work injury. Be sure to 

 keep on a little fire heat, except on the 

 warmest nights, so that the house may 

 never feel clammy in the morning. It 

 should be warm and genial, or the plants 

 will not thrive. C. 



DENDROBIUM SCHNEIDERIANUM 



Dendrobium Schneiderianum is one of 

 the largest and showiest of all the hybrid 

 dendrobiums. The flowers are fairly 

 intermediate and characteristic of the 

 two parents, D. Findlayanum and D. 

 aureum, the rather wide, flat flowers con- 

 taining a good deal of yellow. The illus- 

 tration shows the form giganteum, in 

 which the flowers are much larger than in 

 the type, originally raised by Hardy. 

 This is a winter bloomer, coming in with 

 the various forms of nobile and requiring 

 similar treatment to flower it well. 



W. N. Craig. 



