24 



The Weekly Florists' Review, 



May 18, 1911. 



DISCOLORED GERANIUM FOLIAGE, 



Please tell me what is the matter with 

 my geranium plants. I am enclosing 

 some leaves, so that you can see liow 

 they look. " \\ (i. 



The leaves forwarded were of a uni- 

 form brown color when received, and it 

 is difficult to tell what has ])een the 

 trouble with Diem. Leaving cuttings 

 too long in the propagating bench, 

 keeping them too moist and. close and 

 damping the foliage too mucft are prob- 

 able causes of the disease. Spread the 

 plants out. Throw away any that are 

 badly affected and pick bad foliage 

 from the olheis. (!ive them all possible 

 sunlight and abundant ventilation and 

 let them dry out well between water 

 ings; let the night temperature run 

 from 4~) to .jO degrees and no higher; 

 keep the atmosphere ou the dry side 

 and your plants slioukl show imjirove- 

 ment' C. W. 



GERANIUMS NOT FLOWERING. 



Here is a samjile of my geraniums 

 this season. I have been growing them 

 over thirty yeais and never had them 

 like this before. The treatment has 

 been the sam(> as in other seasons, but 

 you will 111 dice that I have a great 

 deal of leaf growth but scarcely ;niy 

 buds; also, the buds that come drop otf 

 as soon as tliey begin to show color. 

 WJjat is the trouble and how shoiihl I 

 set about correcting it.' K*. ( '. !-. 



Th 



~aniple plant rci-.'i\ei| liad 



abundance of soft, rather weak looking 

 growths and the flower trusses were 

 yellow. I think it probable that you 

 have given the plants too much nitrog- 

 enous food. To grow them stocky and 

 have them flower freely, little rotted 

 manure should be used in the soil, and 

 that should be thoroughly decomposed. 

 8ome fine bone should be added to the 

 soil, at the rate of a 3-inch potful to a 

 bushel of soil. Potting should be firmly 

 done. The plants should never be kept 

 wet, as this causes a rank, sott and al- 

 most flowerless growth. On the other 

 hand, if let dry out fairly well between 

 waterings, the wood becomes hard and 

 stocky, and this tends to floriferous- 

 ness. A cool, sunny and airy house 

 suits geraniums. The temperature 

 should not be higher than .jO degrees 

 at night and 45 degrees will answer 

 well; 55 degrees is too high. Avoid 

 using stimulating foods, such as nitrate 

 of soda, cow manure, etc., unless the 

 ])lants look starved and appear in need 

 of a tonic. 



ft is late now to correct any short- 

 comings in tlie geraniums, but if you 

 take cuttings from strong, field-grown 

 stock just before freezing weather, 

 carry them cool over winter and pot 

 along as suggested from time to time 

 in The Eeview, you should have no fur- 

 th(>r trouble of this kind. C. W. 



WINTER-FLOWERING GERANIUMS. 



Will you please publish a list of the 

 best winter-flowering geraniums? When 

 should I start them to have nice plants 



in 4-inch 

 giving? 



pots in bloom 



for 

 L. 



Thanks- 

 F. M. 



In order to have good 4 inch pots of 

 geraniums blooming for Thanksgiving, 

 put the cuttings in 2-inch pots of sandy 

 loam toward the end of May. They 

 will root either in a g/eenhouse or cold- 

 frame, and should not be shaded. 

 Among double varieties you will find 

 the following good: Alphonse Kicard, 

 vermilion; Jean Viand, mauve rose; 

 ]•]. 11. Trego, bright scarlet; Beaute 

 l^oitevine, shrimp pink, shading to 

 white; S. A. Nutt, dark red; Mme. 

 i^andry, salmon pink; La Favorite, pure 

 white; Jean Oberle, peach pink, and 

 Marquise de Castellane, soft crimson. 



In the single section, the following 

 make excellent pot plants: Paul Cram- 

 pel, brilliant scarlet; Snowdrop, pure 

 Avhite; Jacquerie, rich glowing crimson; 

 The Sirdar, rich scarlet, small white 

 eye; Maxime Kovalevski, vermilion 

 orange; Ian Maclaren, salmon orange; 

 Scuramouche, reddish salmon, and Rich- 

 mond Beauty, scarlet, white center. 



For home retail trade the singles will 

 be found much better than the doubles, 

 as they flower more profusely, but for 

 shipping to a distance doubles should 

 have the call. Keep the flowers pinched 

 olf the plants until early in October, 

 and then let them develop. Geraniums 

 for ])ot culture are better if kept under 

 glass all the time. C. W. 



FILLING CEMETERY VASES. 



After the arrival of the outdoor plant- 

 ing season, a considerable proportion of 

 the business of florists who are situated 

 in the neighborhood of cemeteries — 

 especially if they are "good, live ceme- 

 teries" — consists in the filling of ceme- 

 tery vases. ;Most florists find that this 

 department of their work recompenses 

 them well for all the time, effort and 

 attenlion it requires. 



Whether the profits are great or small 

 depends much, of course, on two factors 

 which largely determine results in every 

 line of trade; namely, the degree of' 



Filling Cemetery Vases is an Important Part of the Spring Business with Many Florists 



