OCTOBEB 29, 1914. 



The Florists^ Rcvico^ 



15. 



mmmmm 



( abbyzng oveb in hotbed. 



i you tliink that I can carry over 

 SOI' >i geraniums in a hotbed that is well 

 sh' iteredf I am in Massachusetts, not 

 far from Boston. J. T. B. 



> ou can successfully carry over the 

 gernniums if you have a sunken frame, 

 well protected at the sides and ends 

 and absolutely frost-proof. I am ac- 

 quainted with one prominent grower 

 not thirty miles distant from you who 

 carries over all his geraniums in this 

 way. Your frame should face south 

 and be in a protected location. Keep 

 a good bed of coal ashes below the 

 plants, and be sure your sashes are well 

 glazed and will not leak. An important 

 thing is to keep the plants considerably 

 on the dry side through the cold win- 

 ter months, to air them on every pos- 

 sible occasion, and to pick oflf decaying 

 foliage, etc., frequently. The greatest 

 danger comes when we get heavy snow- 

 falls and severe cold. Do not leave the 

 snow on the sashes longer than two or 

 three days at a time, or the plants will 

 mold badly. Yes, it is possible to 

 winter geraniums in a frame even as 

 far north as you are, but they need 

 much more care than when in a green- 

 house. C. W. 



IVY-LEAVED OEBANIUM SPOBT. 



I have had a good deal of stock of 

 vining or ivy-leaved geraniums on hand 

 the last few years, light pink in color, 

 with red lines in the center of the flo- 

 rets. This spring from a good, sturdy 

 plant I noticed an unusually thrifty and 

 altogether better stalk shoot up. When 

 it bloomed it was of a wine-red color, 

 with fiery red lines in the florets. It is 

 80 different from the parent that I wish 

 to know if it is a new variety. Is there 

 a red ivy-leaved geranium on the mar- 

 ket t Is this a sport t Will it be valua- 

 ble to keept I have seen none of this 

 sort listed. Its characteristics are as fol- 

 lows: It will propagate more easily and 

 quickly than the old, pink variety; color, 

 wine-red, or American Beauty shade; 

 leaf, triangular in shape, texture glossy 

 and thick; stem, long and more sturdy 

 than parent's; habit, upright; florets, 

 li'rge, flowering more marked; some flo- 

 rets have measured two inches across, 

 about six to a group; slight odor. This 

 plant was among a batch of S. A. Nutt 

 geraniums, winter 1913-14. Kindly let 

 K'o know what you think about it. 



C li. L. 



There are several scarlet ivy-leaved 

 };f raniums on the market, but your sport 

 '•'•ay be different from any of these and 

 «"ould be worth propagating. From your 

 '. escription of it, I should almost take 

 't to be one of the hybrids of the zonale 

 '"ad ivy geraniums, which have foliage 

 S'lmilar to the ivy but a more sturdy and 

 ];fect habit. Would be glad sometime 

 ^" see a leaf and truss of flowers if you 



•-^^'^' 



can pack them in a tin or light, wooden 

 box. Do not send in a thin, pasteboard 

 receptacle, as too many do. C. W. 



WHITE AND PINE GEBANIXTMS. 



Do you know of any white and pink 

 geraniums which are the equals of red 

 S. A. Nutt as bloomers! S. E. C. 



You will find La Favorite, pure white; 

 Jean Viaud, rose pink; Miss Langtry 

 and Beaute Poitevine, salmon pink, all 

 good and continuous bloomers. C. W. 



campaign and sale for the Christmas 

 ship we donated thousands of Killar- 

 neys and they were all choice long- 

 stemmed stock and not junk, such as 

 usually goes to the dump. This week 

 the weather is much cooler, so that the 

 outlook is better and the demand is 

 about normal for all good stock. 



L. F. Darnell. 

 [The clippings give an account of 

 a street sale of flowers for charity, by 

 a party of theatrical ladies, operating 

 along the lines of the ubiquitous tag 

 day. The J. M. Qasser Co. is given 

 credit for donating the flowers. — Ed.] 



VALLEY PIPS IN GOLD STOBAGE. 



Will you please tell me how long it 

 is necessary to keep home-grown valley 

 pips in cold storage before they can be 

 successfully forced, and what is the 

 proper cold storage temperature? 



J. T. C. 



MOVING THE SUEPLUS. 



We are sending you under separate 

 cover a clipping from our city papers 

 showing how we work off our surplus 

 roses during a glut. Last week this 

 market was simply snowed under with 

 stock and every inducement was made 

 to lighten the load. Nearly every store 

 in town had a special sale of some kind 

 and yet the stock would pile up in spite 

 of all efforts to dispose of it. In this 



I have had no experience with home- 

 grown lily of the valley pips. A month 

 in cold storage should suffice, but of 

 course they can be kept there for a 

 much longer period. A temperature of 

 26 to 28 degrees above zero will be 

 found a suitable one while they are in 

 storage. A fluctuating temperature is 

 bad for them. C. W. 



Lebanon, Pa. — C. D. Mish has the con-- 

 tract for beautifying the surroundings 

 of the city disposal plant. He is plant- 

 ing a 1,200-foot hedge around the place 

 and putting in a number of trees and 

 shrubs. 



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1 



* SEASONABLE ^ 1 

 I ^ SUGGESTIONS j 





Eucharis Amazonica. 



The beautiful pure white bulbous 

 plant, Eucharis Amazonica, is not seen 

 as frequently on commercial places as 

 one could wish. Its culture is not at all 

 difficult and it is accommodating in its 

 cultural needs. In a bench over heat- 

 ing pipes it does splendidly and pro- 

 duces wonderful spikes. It loves bot- 

 tom heat. Two, or occasionally three, 

 crops of flowers a year may be had by 

 careful culture and drying off properly. 



The eucharis loves a lumpy compost of 

 coarse sod, cow manure, charcoal and 

 lumps of sandstone, no matter whether 

 in pots or benches. A Christmas crop 

 is especially valuable. To secure this, it 

 is necessary now to give the plants a 

 few weeks' rest by gradually withhold- 

 ing the 'water supply, not to the extent 

 of causing the leaves to die off, but so 

 that they will lie rather limp on the 

 soil. About five weeks before Christ- 

 mas, commence watering again. The 

 leaves will soon plump up and, if bottom 

 heat is at command, a crop of spikes will 

 soon appear. Mealy bug is partial to 

 the eucharis, but is easily kept in check 

 by using a good water pressure on the 

 leaves from a spray nozzle. 



Besting BtdboUs Plants. 



Such greenhouse plants as gloxinias, 

 tuberous-rooted begonias, fancy , cala- 



diums, gesneras and achimenes are now 

 passing out of flower and should be 

 gradually rested. The fancy caladiums 

 need a warm, dry location for the win- 

 ter; a temperature of 60 degrees at night 

 is about right. Gloxinias will come 

 through all right 10 degrees cooler, and 

 both achimenes and begonias 10 degrees 

 lower still. The two latter winter well 

 in dry sand and can also be carried over 

 successfully in cocoanut fiber refuse. 

 The achimenes can be left in the pans 

 or baskets and shaken out during tHe 

 winter when time permits. 



Antirrbinums. 

 The earliest planting of antirrhinums 

 will soon be giving some nice spikes. 

 Keep the plants cool and freely venti- 

 lated. A temperature of 50 degrees at 

 night should not be exceeded and later 

 in the season 45 to 48 degrees will be 

 found, better. When heading plants 

 back, it is not good policy to pinch back 

 shoots as they are running up to flower. 

 Allow a f^w flowers to open first; then, 

 when cut back, the plants will break far 

 more strongly than would be the case 

 from softer wood. As the early chrysan- 

 themums are cut out, snapdragons will 

 be found a useful crop as succession. 

 They like a^ood soil and the old mu»n 

 soil should have cow manure and fine 

 bone added to it before the snapdragons 

 are planted. 



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