The Weekly Florists' Review* 



FebeuaeY 3, 1910. 



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I SEASONABLE 

 l^^A^ SUGGESTIONS 



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Easter Lilies. 



It is now time for the lilies intended 

 for Easter to commence showing their 

 buds. It should be possible to count the 

 buds on the shoots by February 15, in 

 which case, if given a night temperature 

 of 60 degrees, they will be in season. It 

 may be possible to bring in quite a num- 

 ber that do not show buds thus early, but 

 such should be afforded more heat at 

 once; 70 to 75 degrees at night for the 

 more backward ones is not too high. It 

 may make them a little more leggy, but 

 the extra price to be had at Easter will 

 compensate for a little special effort. In 

 answer to inquiries as to whether plants 

 now four to six inches high will flower 

 for Easter, our answer will be decidedly 

 ' ' No. ' ' Better hold these cool ; they will 

 come in for funeral work from time to 

 time after Easter. 



Keep the pots well watered; spray the 

 backward ones several times a day and 

 use manure water to keep the foliage in 

 a dark green, healthy condition. The 

 plants will require considerable moving 

 around during the next few weeks to have 

 them come in uniformly. Be sure not to 

 crowd the plants unduly, or poor foliage 

 will result. 



Deciduous Flowering Shrubs. 



Lilacs can be flowered in a brisk heat 

 within a month. To have plants with 

 nice foliage for Easter, start them now. 

 Deutzias, wistarias, prunus, pyrus, Mag- 

 nolia stellata. Azalea mollis and other 

 varieties should all be placed in heat 

 now. Syringe freely until the shoots 

 break. Any hard forcing is better done 

 before the flowers start to open. At the 

 latter stage they should be moved into a 

 lower temperature, to give the flowers 

 substance. 



Cyclamens. 



There is some sale for cyclamens at 

 Easter, and this year, owing to its early 

 date, March 27, there will be some nice 

 plants in flower. It vdll be necessary to 

 keep the plants cool and well ventilated, 

 and after the middle of February the 

 best place for them will be a north 

 house, where they will be effectually 

 screened from the sun's rays. 



Little plants intended for flowering 

 next Christmas, or later in the season, 

 will want some attention now. Cyclamens 

 do not succeed in widely fluctuating tem- 

 peratures. A night reading of 54 to 56 

 degrees is a happy medium, with a 10- 

 degree rise in the daytime with sun heat. 

 Any seedlings still in flats will require 

 potting off, if this has not already been 

 done. In potting, be sure to always 

 leave the upper part of the little corm 

 above the ground. For soil at this stage 

 a mixture of loam, leaf-mold and sand 

 will suffice. To grow cyclamens well, 

 these points should be considered: Con- 

 stant heat, a moist atmosphere, free 

 drainage and an ample water supply. 

 Air should be applied, but not in the 

 nature of a draft. Insect pests should 

 never be given any quarter. A spraying 



once a week with a reliable nicotine solu- 

 tion will keep the plants clean. 



Rambler Roses. 



With only about seven weeks until 

 Easter, the ramblers should now be 

 pushed along if at all backward. A 

 light, sunny house, kept at about 60 de- 

 grees, will bring them along all right. 

 Any which are apparently a little early 

 can be retarded in a cool room. The pots 

 should now be well filled with roots, and 

 a top-dressing of Clay's fertilizer or 

 liquid manure once a week will add to 

 their vigor. Let the plants stand so 

 that they will not be crowded, and thus 

 they will be much more salable at Easter. 

 Crimson ramblers were at one time the 

 plants par excellence. Nowadays the 

 pink forms, such as Lady Gay, Dorothy 

 Perkins, Tausendsehon and Farquhar, 

 are much more popular. 



Sweet Peas. 



The early batch of sweet peas, now at 

 the. height of their flowering season, will 

 require some' feeding to keep them in 

 good condition. A top-dressing . of a 

 good brand of pulverized sheep manure 

 is a safe stimulant to use. We say "a 

 good brand ' ' advisedly, as there are some 

 on the market of low quality. If you 

 are buying two or three brands of sheep 

 manure, put an equal amount of each in 



a pail or tub and allow them to stand a 

 day or two. You will be able to form a 

 tolerably accurate idea then as to whi. ii 

 is the best. 



All the sweet peas are now growii .; 

 faster with the lengthening days, and t 

 will not do to neglect running the strings 

 around them every few days. At thj-* 

 season any of the outdoor varieties cti i 

 be sown for a late crop under glass. 

 Among these, such sorts as Miss Will- 

 mott, Helen Lewis, white and pink Speii 

 cer. Lady Grisel Hamilton, Frank Dolbv, 

 Dorothy Eckford, Gladys Unwin aii.l 

 Helen Pierce will be found popular col- 

 ors. The call for scarlet, crimson, purpio 

 and maroon shades is light. A niglit 

 temperature of 48 to 50 degrees will 

 answer well for plants in flower. 



Verbenas. 



As between propagation of verbenas 

 by cuttings or from seed, we have a de- 

 cided preference for seedlings. They 

 possess greater vigor and give a better 

 account of themselves when bedded out 

 than plants propagated from cuttings. 

 In the case of special varieties, as, for 

 instance, that charming pink. Miss Wiil- 

 mott, recourse is usually had to cutting.s, 

 but seed of good quality is procurable in 

 separate colors, and if a really good 

 strain is bought the number of rogues 

 are surprisingly few. Verbenas and pe- 

 tunias are the two most satisfactory bed- 

 ding annuals, owing to their persistent 

 flowering qualities. Where stock plants 

 have been carried over, now is the time 

 to get in plenty of cuttings. Seed can 

 also be sown, but, as the seedlings make 

 rapid growth, there is no danger of being 

 too late if the sowing is delayed until 

 even the last of February. Not only are 

 verbenas good for beds and borders, but 

 they are useful in vases, window boxes 

 and baskets, in which they will flower 

 the whole season through. 



CARNATION NOTES.-EAST. 



Propagation. 



Conditions will be such, from now on 

 through February, that propagation 

 should occupy the attention of every car- 

 nation grower. The plants, if in the 

 shape they should be at this time, are 

 well established, mature, strong and 

 healthy, and are therefore capable of 

 furnishing prime cuttings. The low 

 temperature outside and the consequent 

 steady firing combine to produce con- 

 ditions exactly suited to the work. 



Every effort should be made to secure 

 the required quantity of stock before 

 the sun's higher position necessitates 

 more frequent spraying or increased 

 shading, for while cuttings may root 

 under this treatment, their stay in the 

 sand is prolonged and there is usually 

 some loss of vitality. 



The Natural Cutting. 



The natural cutting is essentially a 

 side shoot, and the most desirable of 



these are found on the stem of a flower- 

 ing branch. Varieties differ in the de- 

 velopment and number of these shoots, 

 some presenting several in prime order 

 when the bloom is in condition to cut o»" 

 even before, while others give but fe" 

 and these must be left on the plant to 

 gain size. 



Not all side shoots borne on flowei" 

 stems, however, furnish desirable cut- 

 tings; generally speaking, those farthest 

 removed from the bud or flower ap- 

 proach nearest the ideal. We reach thi- 

 conclusion by observing the increases 

 tendency to run to bud in the uppermost 

 side growths. 



There might, with good reason, b" 

 objections to using some shoots grow- 

 ing at the very base of the plant, owin,: 

 to their long-jointed or rather spindlini: 

 nature, but this is a condition brough' 

 about by present-day cultural methods — 

 that is, bushy plants, closely set. I^ 

 commercial culture would permit more 

 space to the plant, it would become at 

 once apparent that these lower shoots, 

 for use as cuttings, left nothing to be de- 

 sired. 



