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The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



January 13, 1910. 





« SEASONABLE 



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Az&Ieas. 



"When shall I start my azaleas so 

 that they will flower for Easter?" That 

 is the substance of many queries now. 

 Everything depends upon the tempera- 

 ture which can be given them and the 

 varieties being grown. Deutsche Perle, 

 for instance, will flower in a cool house, 

 and so will Hexe, Mme. Petrick, Apollo 

 and Vervseneana. Six weeks from start 

 to finish suflBces to flower azaleas in an 

 average night temperature of 60 degrees. 

 Provided this heat is not at command, 

 it will be better to start the plants by 

 the first part of February. The varie- 

 ties naturally late flowering should be 

 placed in heat before the naturally early 

 ones. 



Acacia Artnata. 



Acacia armata, while not sold in any- 

 thing like the quantities of azaleas, 

 ramblers and some other plants, is always 

 in fair demand at Easter. Provided the 

 plants are being held cool, it would be 

 well to place them where they can have 

 some fire heat about January 20. Acacias 

 will not stand forcing like azaleas, and a 

 night temperature of 45 to 48 degrees 

 is quite high enough. Grown thus, they 

 will open slowly and possess far more 

 substance than if forced. A. Eiceana, A. 

 heterophylla, A. Baileyana, the beautiful 

 -^ A. pubescens and other varieties all 

 bloom naturally in February and March 

 and will only require a cool, sunny house 

 to be in their prime in late March. 



Hydrangeas. 



Already the earliest hydrangeas are 

 making rapid growth and have required 

 spacing more than once. Let them have 

 an abundant water supply and see that 

 green aphis is not allowed to lodge in 

 the ends of the young growths. "We do 

 not like the temperature to exceed 50 to 

 52 degrees for the first few weeks, but 

 as the flower heads show, 60 degrees or 

 even 65 degrees at night can be given to 

 hurry them along. 



The number of hydrangeas flowered 

 for Easter is trivial by comparison with 

 those grown for Memorial day sales. 

 Plants should be kept cool and somewhat 

 dry for the latter holiday; just clear of 

 freezings, and a dry atmosphere is what 

 they want for some weeks yet. 



Shamrocks. 



There is only ten days between St. 

 Patrick 's day and Easter this year. While 

 the extra demand for flowers on the 

 former date is not yet very considerable, 

 it increases each year and is well worth 

 catering for. The sales of shamrock 

 plants now number many thousands each 

 season. From one or two specialists who 

 had the field to themselves for a year 

 or two, more and more are now dabbling 

 in their culture. These clovers want a 

 cool house. A temperature such as suits 

 mignonette or violets is right for them. 

 They sell best in small pots and pans 

 and should be placed in these before the 

 €nd of January. Use a light compost 



with considerable sand and some old hot- 

 bed or mushroom manure added to it. 



Marguerites. 



Discontinue all pinching where the 

 marguerites are wanted for Easter trade. 

 They should have their final potting 

 about the end of January. Where well 

 potbound, the water supply must be 

 generous, and liquid manure or a scat- 

 tering of a highly concentrated chemical 

 fertilizer once a week will keep them 

 toned up nicely. A temperature of 50 

 degrees at night should not be exceeded. 

 This is a good, time to take a batch of 

 cuttings where nice, bushy plants in 

 6-inch pots are wanted for Memorial day 

 or June sales. 



Show Pelargoniums. 



Growth on show pelargoniums becomes 

 accelerated with the turn of the year and 

 the plants will need spreading out once 

 a week, and as the pots fill with rdots 

 rapidly any potting should be attended 

 to from time to time. It will not pay to 

 attempt flowering any of these for so 

 early an Easter as the next will be. If 

 wanted at Memorial day there is still 

 time to pinch back the stronger shoots 

 to keep the heads symmetrical, but for 

 April flowering pinching must be discon- 

 tinued. A cool, light and freely ven- 

 tilated house is. what these showy plants 

 revel in. 



Lilies. 



The present winter is giving us some 

 abnormally low temperatures. On many 

 days the solar heat has been barely no- 

 ticeable and, with much snow on the 

 roofs, growth on the lilies has been 

 rather slow. It will take considerable 

 forcing to get the giganteum type of 

 longiflorums in season. Provided these 

 are now six inches or over in height, 

 they are all right if given 60 degrees at 

 night until buds show, and after that 

 time 5 to 10 degrees more, according to 

 the chances of securing them by 

 March 27. 



Be careful not to water lilies too freely 

 in the early stages of growth. It is the 

 fertile cause of much so-called disease. 

 When once in active growth, vdth the 

 pots filled with roots, they take an 

 abundant water supply. Lilies are an 

 erratic crop. Leaving disease out of the 

 question, there is always the probability 

 of the plants flowering two months apart, 

 unless the tardy ones are forced and the 

 earlier ones retarded. February will soon 

 be here, and if buds are showing by 

 the first part of that month they can 

 easily be held for Easter. It should be 

 possible to see buds not later than the 

 middle of the month to be sure of their 

 being in season. 



Spiraeas. 



It will be better to start spiraeas at 

 once to be sure of having them well open 

 for Easter. Under a stage will answer 

 all right for the first fortnight. Then 

 give them a side stage in a hoase where 



55 to 60 degrees at night is maintained. 

 More heat can be given if they are likely 

 to be backward. You cannot overwater 

 these plants, and you should never fumi- 

 gate them unless it be in mild doses, the 

 foliage being somewhat tender. 



MILWAUKEE. 



The Market 



The continued cold and disagreeable 

 weather was undoubtedly the cause of 

 the inactivity in local business since New 

 Year's. While there was considerable fu- 

 neral work, still, with a liberal supply of 

 stock in all lines, it was not enough to 

 cut much of a figure. Roses and violets 

 were equal to demand. Carnations of 

 the poorer grades were at times too plen- 

 tiful. The stevia supply is diminishing, 

 while bulbous stock is coming in more 

 heavily. The shorter stemmed Beauties 

 are more in demand than the longer ones. 

 Sweet peas are not any too plentiful. 



The continued dark weather in Decem- 

 ber is making its effects noticeable now, 

 for it is stated that with most carnation 

 growers fully one-third of the cut con- 

 sists of splits. 



Qub Meeting. 



Although the weather was extremely 

 cold, quite a number attended the club 

 meeting held January 6, and it was the 

 most spirited one in some time. Presi- 

 dent Dallwig called the meeting to order, 

 and, after the routine work was com- 

 pleted, he called on Fred Holton to act as 

 master of ceremonies and install the offi- 

 cers for 1910. This he did in a most 

 acceptable manner. 



After N. Zweifel, president-elect, took 

 the chair, a lengthy discussion regarding 

 the 1910 flower show took place. After 

 a lot of matters were adjusted to the 

 satisfaction of all, the chair named a 

 committee to look after the guarantee 

 list, which this year will undoubtedly 

 be signed by members of the club only. 



It was also voted, lest they might for- 

 get, to send an invitation to the Ameri- 

 can Carnation Society, which meets in 

 Pittsburg the latter part of this month,, 

 to convene in Milwaukee in 1911. Presi- 

 dent Zweifel, who is an ardent member 

 of the society, urged everyone to attend 

 who could possibly get away. 



The following were appointed on the 

 standing entertainment committee for 

 1910: G. Eusch, chairman; Fred Holton, 

 Wm. Zimmermann and G. H. Hunkel. 



In view of the fact that the club has 

 a comparatively small number of mem- 

 bers, it was voted, at an extra meeting 

 the same night, that the club would pay 

 the initiation fees of all members whose 

 names would be taken up at the February 

 meeting. So there is no reason why a 

 whole lot of employees and others should 

 not become members at that time. 



Various Notes. 



August Poehlmann, of Morton Grove,^ 

 111., called on several growers on Thurs- 

 day, January 6, and spent the evening 

 with his mother, who lives in our city. 

 He expressed himself as well satisfied 

 with the stock he saw. 



Alex. Klokner, of Wauwatosa, vice- 

 president-elect of the Milwaukee Florists' 

 Club, left January 5 for California. He 

 intends to be gone about six weeks. 



Nic Zweifel, of North Milwaukee, is 

 mourning the loss of a fine strip of trees, 

 which up to a short time ago adorned and 

 protected the north side of his property. 

 This has been purchased by the North- 

 western railroad, which is building a belt 



