12 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



November 25, 1900. 



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SUGGESTIONS | 



Primulas. 



Plants of Primula Sinensis are now in 

 many cases pushing up their flower spikes. 

 Some are already coming into bloom and 

 a few will be in quite good shape for 

 Thanksgiving. Primulas are not plants 

 that sell at a high price and they are 

 almost frowned upon by some of the high- 

 class stores. However, when well grown 

 and nicely flowered, they are attractive 

 and possess vastly better keeping quali- 

 ties in the average dwelling house than 

 such plants as poinsettias, Lorraine be- 

 gonias or azaleas. Furthermore, it being 

 possible to sell them profitably at a com- 

 paratively low price, they come within the 

 reach of those who are not habitual plant 

 purchasers, and it is customers of this 

 class that the average country florist is 

 glad to cater to. 



Allow the plants suflicient space so 

 that the leaves are just free. They love 

 a house where they get an abundance of 

 fresh air and where there is none of that 

 strong smell of fire heat so distasteful to 

 many plants of this class. They will 

 stand any sun we may now get, without 

 shade, but must be carefully watered to 

 prevent their wilting. A severe drying 

 out Avill spoil many flowers. Afl'ord a 

 dose of weak liquid manure once in five 

 or six days, and if the foliage turns a 

 trifle pale use a little soot Avater or 

 Clay's fertilizer to color it up. 



Primula obconica is not usually in good 

 flower for Christmas. A few flower 

 spikes only are showing yet. It requires 

 more water than P. Sinensis and will ap- 

 preciate more liberal feeding. P. Kew- 

 ensis is the most robust growing of the 

 whole family and seems destined to be- 

 come a u.seful and popular commercial 

 variety. While it will flower in 4 inch 

 and 5-inch pots, to have it in good condi- 

 tion 6-inch and 7-inch pots should be 

 used. It is a thirsty subject and can be 

 fed much more heavily than either P. 

 Sinensis of P. obconica. It does not 

 flower in season for Christmas, but from 

 the middle of January to the end of 

 March is one of the best decorative flow- 

 ering plants yet introduced. 



Poinsettias. 



Many inquiries are now coming to 

 hand relative to poinsettias and how to 

 prevent loss of foliage on them. A com- 

 mon error is to keep the pans or pots too 

 close together. This inevitably causes 

 some of the lower leaves to fall. It is 

 also partially' responsible for sourness at 

 the root caused by an exces? of moisture. 

 The surest cure for this is to spread out 

 the plants and allow the sun to reach the 

 pots. Bracts are now forming and it is 

 at this time that judicious feeding will 

 immensely benefit them. Do not attempt 

 it unless sure the pots are well filled with 

 roots and capable of absorbing it. The 

 plants cannot have too light a house, and, 

 to hold them stocky, should be as close 

 to the glass as possible. A temperature 

 of 60 degrees at night is a good one. A 

 higher figure means leggy plants, which 



are not wanted. A lower one is often 

 productive of pale foliage and too slow 

 development of the flowers. 



Lilies. 



Thanksgiving Harrisii lilies are non- 

 opening and can easily be held in a cool 

 house. The Christmas crop has buds of 

 a good size, two to three inches long. 

 These will be kept in a warm, moist 

 house, 65 to 70 degrees at night, until 

 the first buds burst, when a drop of 10 

 degrees in temperature will be given, un- 

 less the backward condition of the plants 

 necessitates forcing tactics. A spraying 

 overhead early each afternoon is bene- 

 ficial and, besides helping to develop the 

 buds, helps to keep down aphis. Fumi- 

 gate or spray for the last named pest. It 

 will speedily spoil the beauty of many 

 flowers if allowed any leeway. 



Some lilies for Easter are now six 

 inches high. These are being kept in a 

 oool, airy house. A further batch has 

 just pushed growths through the pots, 

 while the last lot of multiflorums and 

 giganteums, owing to delay in shipments, 

 have only just been potted. Any lilies for 

 Easter should now have the growths 

 started, or at least have the pots full 

 of roots and be ready to push into heat 



at short notice. There is a little over 

 tour months left between now and Easter, 

 none too long a time to flower them in. 

 Throw away any plants coming with dis- 

 eased foliage. It is a pure waste of space 

 to cling to them in hopes that they may 

 f,now out of it, something they never do. 



Hybrid Perpetual Rosts. 



November is a good month in which to 

 plant hardy roses. The woQd is now 

 plump and well ripened. It is a pity 

 more 4ire not set out at this season, for 

 they •will give a much better account of 

 themselves next summer than such as are 

 planted in spring. Never allow the roots 

 to become dry. Plant rather deeply, cov- 

 ering the buds or grafts three to four 

 inches, jjnd firm the ground thoroughly 

 about them. Of course, roses all delight 

 in land which contains plenty of humus 

 and which has been deeply plowed or 

 spaded. One advantage gained in plant- 

 ing hardy roses now is that all stock is 

 freshly dug and has not been stored in a 

 cellar over winter or subjected to much 

 handling or drying at the root. As be- 

 tween own-root and budded roses for out- 

 door planting, the latter possess more 

 vigor and are longer lived. 



The growing of hybrids in pots is less 

 practiced than a decade ago, when we 

 had less variety in the rambler class. 

 Some florists, however, continue to grow 

 a batch each year and there is no better 

 time than the present to pot them. We 

 like to leave the plants outdoors for a 

 time after potting, protecting the pots 

 with straw to prevent breaking in case 

 of severe frost. Eoses prefer a rather 

 heavy soil, and if some clay can be added 

 to a naturally light soil, the plants will 

 show a marked improvement in their 

 growth. 



Weather conditions are still favorable 



Chrytanthemum Miis Muriel Smith. 



