MaV '2o, 1011. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



13 



BEDDING OUT. 



It Monopolizes Attention. 



Vt present the sale of bedding plants 

 11, I beddiiiy out will oecu2)y a f,rood 

 ,1, .1 of the time of the averayo couii- 

 ir llorist. There are many who want 

 tl ir beds planted before Memorial dav 

 , cemetery lots, vases and window 

 i XL'S tilled. All this means a lot 

 labor and it is often necessary to 

 re some extra help to tide over the 

 ■ h season. Experienced help cannot 

 jally be had for a few days and 

 , eks, and we must perforce make 

 . !• best of what is obtainable. With 

 usually warm weather, the green- 

 uses need much attention, and neres- 

 ly work, such as syringing and wat- 

 iug, cannot be neglected, so be sure 

 leave one responsible person in 

 large. 



Much bedding out is already done, 

 lit in the more northerly states, where 

 illing frosts often occur in late May 

 )id early June, it is unwise to rush it. 

 ■>onie subjects, such as geraniums, if 

 \ell hardened do not mind a light 

 leezing, but it is quite otherwise with 

 oleus, alternantheras, acalyjdias, cro- 

 ons and other plants, from whiidi tiic 

 oaves will be taken by a light freeze, 

 md even if actual freezing -is not 

 cached, the plants get a chilling, from 

 vliich they are slow in recovering. Set 

 lut the hardier sul)jccts tirst and leave 

 ubtroi)ical plants until the last. 



Watering the Beds. 



The rainfall over a largo area of the 

 ountry has been deficient for many 

 iionths and soil will, in too many cases, 

 >e found dry. There is the greater 

 leed, then, to be sure that the balls 

 f all plants arc really moist when 

 et out, and if the beds are to be 

 watered, do it thoroughly, stirring the 

 urface soil well on the following day. 

 'o not advise your customers to phiy 

 lie hose on the beds every evening. 

 t usually moistens and bakes the sur- 

 ace soil. One good watering a week, 

 ollowed by a tickling of the surface 

 oil, will do vastly mure good than a 

 week's (iribl)lings, such as are generally 

 leted out to be(lding plants. Gerani- 

 ms especially do not need a lot of 

 >ater when in beds, any more than 

 hey require a lot of manure in the soil, 

 ^ach tends to create a rank, soft 

 rowth at the expense of llowers. 

 'robably you have noticed how ge- 

 miums llower late in the summer, when 

 ainfall is light and the plants have 

 sed up most of the manurial agency 

 Q the soil. Young plants do not want 

 be grown dust-dry, but th(>y sliouM 

 ot be treated like semi-aquatics. If 

 .•ater must be given, let it be to such 

 ubjects as canuas, wliich Avill quite 

 ppreciate it. 



Retain Good Stock Plants. 



It is easy wIumi a rush of Itediling- 

 ut orders comes in to forget one's 

 elf, and it is a good plan to reserve a 

 ufiicient number of plants of each ge- 

 anium for stock. I'lant these out in 

 eds or nursery rows and then they 

 ^ill not be sold. Be sure to label all 

 urrectly. It always pays to make the 

 ntrance to any commercial place at- 

 ractive. Nice flowering shrubs, a few 

 boice evergreens and a bed or border 

 r two of cannas, geraniums, verbenas, 

 etunias or any other bedding plants 

 ive a charm to a place, and their 

 3st is always repaid many times over 



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



by the purchases of customers, wlio, 

 but for your nice a()proach, would, in 

 all probability, go elsewhere. The tlo- 

 rist's i)lace is too often .anything but 

 a thing of beauty, and ))hotos of es- 

 tablishments in The Keview. 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 i)lants increase, 

 spend a little time in getting those 

 remaining stood together in batclies. 

 It economizes on the watering, and the 

 place looks the better for it. Then, 

 again, do not throw the empty jiots 

 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. 

 Under his eflicicnt management th(0 

 business has greatly increased. 



CARRYING OVER PLANTS. 



We have left on hand a number of 

 azaleas and Si)ira'a 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 

 in.ay be found in The Review of :\[av 

 11. page 12. Spiriva Gladstone, if it 

 can be planted out in well enricJied 

 ground, moderately moist, will llyl^c 

 strong clunqts outside in two years, 

 \astly superior to any you can import. 

 In fact, so large have 1 had these 

 idumjis that I have found it necessary 

 to lilt them in two or three pieces with 

 a sharp sjiaile, 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 

 spira'as. but do not force them until 

 the season of 1912-13. C W 



Princeton, Minn.— W. C. ]\riddlebrook 

 has resumed business here, after with- 

 drawing from the trade for some 

 months. 



