Max 25, 1911. 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



13 



BEDDING OUT. 



It Monopolizes Attention. 



At present the sale of bedding plants 

 and bedding out will occupy a good 

 deal of the time of the average coun- 

 try florist. There are many who want 

 tbeir beds planted before Memorial day, 

 also cemetery lots, vases and window 

 boxes filled. All this means a lot 

 oi labor and it is often necessary to 

 hire some extra help to tide over the 

 rush season. Experienced help cannot 

 usually be had for a few days and 

 weeks, and we must perforce make 

 the best of what is obtainable. With 

 unusually warm weather, the green- 

 bouses need much attention, and neces- 

 sary work, such as syringing and wat- 

 ering, cannot be neglected, so be sure 

 t) leave one responsible person in 

 ciiarge. 



Much bedding out is already done, 

 but in the more northerly states, where 

 killing frosts often occur in late May 

 and early June, it is unwise to rush it. 

 Some subjects, such as geraniums, if 

 well hardened do not mind a light 

 freezing, but it is quite otherwise with 

 coleus, alternantheras, acalyphas, cro- 

 tons and other plants, from which the 

 leaves will be taken by a light freeze, 

 and even if actual freezing -is not 

 reached, the plants get a chilling, from 

 which they are slow in recovering. Set 

 out the hardier subjects first and leave 

 sub-tropical plants until the last. 



Watering the Beds. 



The rainfall over a large area of the 

 country has been deficient for many 

 months and soil will, in too many cases, 

 be found dry. There is the greater 

 need, then, to be sure that the balls 

 of all plants are really moist when 

 set out, and if the beds are to be 

 watered, do it thoroughly, stirring the 

 surface soil well on the following day. 

 Do not advise your customers to play 

 the hose on the beds every evening. 

 It usually moistens and bakes the sur- 

 face soil. One good watering a week, 

 followed by a tickling of the surface 

 soil, will do vastly more good than a 

 week's dribblings, such as are generally 

 meted out to bedding plants. Gerani- 

 ums especially do not need a lot of 

 water when in beds, any more than 

 they require a lot of manure in the soil. 

 Each tends to create a rank, soft 

 growth at the expense of flowers. 

 Probably you have noticed how ge- 

 raniums flower late in the summer, when 

 rainfall is light and the plants have 

 used up most of the manurial agency 

 in the soil. Young plants do not want 

 to be grown dust-dry, but they should 

 not be treated like semi-aquatics. If 

 water must be given, let it be to such 

 subjects as cannas, which will quite 

 appreciate it. 



Betain Good Stock Plants. 



It is easy when a rush of bedding- 

 out orders comes in to forget one's 

 self, and it is a good plan to reserve a 

 sufficient number of plants of each ge- 

 ranium for stock. Plant these but in 

 beds or nursery rows and then they 

 will not be sold. Be sure to label all 

 correctly. It always pays to make the 

 entrance to any commercial place at- 

 tractive. Nice flowering shrubs, a few 

 choice evergreens and a bed or border 

 or two of cannas, geraniums, verbenas, 

 petunias or any other bedding plants 

 give a charm to a place, and their 

 cost is always repaid many times over 



Wreath by the Jones-Russell Co., Cleveland, Ohio. 



by the purchases of customers, who, 

 but for your nice approach, would, in 

 all probability, go elsewhere. The flo- 

 rist's place is too often anything but 

 a thing of beauty, and photos of es- 

 tablishments in The Review, showing 

 work accomplished along this line, 

 should prove stimulating and act as a 

 lever to many who are still content to 

 travel along in the same old way. 



As inroads on the plants increase, 

 spend a little time in getting those 

 remaining stood together in batches. 

 It economizes on the watering, and the 

 place looks the better for it. Then, 

 again, do not throw the empty pots 

 here, there and everywhere, but when 

 you have a few spare moments have 

 them carried to your pot racks and 

 stored away in correct sizes. 



Anoka, Minn.— The Pratt-Ford green- 

 houses, which have been operated with 

 great success by Victor Peterson since 

 he leased the property two years ago, 

 have now been purchased by him. 

 Ujider his efficient management th© 

 business has greatly increased. 



CABBYING OVEB PIiANTS. 



We have left on hand a number of 

 azaleas and Spiraea Gladstone. Would 

 you kindly tell us how to treat them 

 so as to carry them over another year? 

 Or is it worth while to do so? C. 



Notes on the carrying over of azaleas 

 may be found in The Review of May 

 11, page 12. Spiraea Gladstone, if it 

 can be planted out in well enricJied 

 ground, moderately moist, will ui»(lo 

 strong clumps outside in two years, 

 vastly superior to any you can import. 

 In fact, so large have I had these 

 clumps that I have found it necessary 

 to cut them in two or three pieces with 

 a sharp spade, in order to make them 

 fit 7-inch pots. If you have good soil, 

 where water does not stand in winter, 

 by all means plant out your unsold 

 spiraeas, but do not force them until 

 the season of 1912-13. C. W. 



Princeton, Minn. — W. C. Middlebrook 

 has resumed business here, after with- 

 drawing from the trade for some 

 months. 



