■.«7^::, 



12 



The Weekly Florists' Review* 



June 29, 1911. 



uanus grown in flats and allowed them 

 to ripen off without disturbance. They 

 produced finer bulbs by far than the 

 original imported, ones, but did not 

 flower at all well, and I came to the 

 conclusion that it did not pay to carry 

 over any forced gladiolus bulbs, far 



better results being had from new bulbs 

 which had been grown outdoors. Were 

 bulbs bench-grown and allowed to ripen 

 where they flowered, they might do 

 well, but it would never pay to give up 

 bench space to them, since it could be 

 much more profitably utilized. C. W. 



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I SEASONABLE 

 I^^A^ SUGGESTIONS 



1 



Summer Lilies. 



With the arrival of the two hot sum- 

 mer months flower demand slackens ap- 

 preciably and the call for longiflorum 

 lilies is never robust. People seem to 

 tire of them and want a change. The 

 speciosums, therefore, make a welcome 

 addition to our none too lengthy list 

 of summer flowers. 



The earliest of the fall potted speci- 

 osums are now coming into flower and 

 the flowers of both the white and pink 

 varieties are splendid in all classes of 

 design work. Keep the plants cool and 

 well watered; also see that the pollen 

 masses are removed daily, so thUt they 

 cannot discolor the flowers. Speciosums 

 grown under glass are finer in every 

 way than the outdoor ones and do not 

 become spotted by heavy rains and 

 spells of damp, muggy weather. Their 

 great foe is green aphis, but there is 

 really no occasion for this troubling 

 them if the hose is used freely among 

 them and a fumigation given once a 

 week. It is easy moving the speciosums 

 to a cold cellar to retard them for 

 special occasions, while we need not 

 state that well flowered pots, neatly 

 staked, are salable. 



The outdoor lilies, such as speciosum, 

 auratum, Henryi and tigrinum, will be 

 benefited by a generous mulch of old, 

 decayed manure. In dry weather, if 

 water can be given them occasionally, 

 their quality will be vastly improved. 

 Henryi grows tall and some staking of 

 this and auratum should be done to 

 hold the stems erect and keep the flow- 

 ers clean. 



Gardenias. 



The gardenia plants benched early 

 in June are now making a good growth 

 and are taking hold of the soil nicely. 

 To avoid the yellows, do not soak the 

 whole bench space when watering; 

 rather give it to the plants. They will 

 soon have their roots all through the 

 soil, when water can be gradually in- 

 creased. If the soil is sufficiently por- 

 ous it will dry out readily and there 

 will be little danger of pale foliage. 

 Use the spray nozzle on the plants at 

 least once a day and close them up in 

 the afternoon with an abundance of 

 moisture. A night temperature of 65 

 to 70 degrees is about right. Of course 

 this will be exceeded on warm nights. 

 Air freely during the day, and when 

 the nights are hot a crack can also be 

 left on. Pinch back the runaway 

 shoots for some time yet and do not 

 forge^ to scratch over the surface of 

 the benches occasionally. We can have 

 them in flower the vear around under ' 



glass by growing a winter and summer 

 crop. 



Lorraine Begonias. 



The earlier propagated plants of 

 Lorraine begonia are now making an 

 excellent growth and will need some 

 attention, as they should not be al- 

 lowed to become potbound. Keep flow- 

 ers removed as they appear and pinch 

 back all the strong shoots. In potting 

 always use a light compost; one com- 

 posed of equal parts of flaky leaf -mold 

 and loam (which has been laid up since 

 last year and mixed with cow manure), 

 with sand, will make a good potting 

 medium. Do not make the mistake of 

 shading the plants heavily. They do 

 not w.ant it and are hurt, rather than 

 benefited by it. They like to be grown 

 pretty warm and in this respect differ 

 from the tuberous section, which enjoy 

 cooler and airier conditions. Keep on 

 propagating. These late cuttings will 

 make nice plants in 4-inch pots or pans 

 and there was a marked shortage of 

 them at Thanksgiving and Christmas 

 last year. 



Gesneras. 



Gesneras are little seen nowadays. 

 They can be had in bloom either in 

 sum;Hef or fall, being specially useful 



in August and September. They are 

 easily raised from seed, which if. sown 

 in February will give nice flowering 

 plants the same year. From a bat,ch of 

 seedlings just as fine varieties may be 

 selected as the higher priced named 

 kinds. They are better grown in pots 

 singly, unless the colors are known, in 

 which case several can be used in 8- 

 inch pans to good effect. Gesneras like 

 a warm house, but should not have a 

 stove temperature, which is too warm 

 and moist and draws them too much. 

 They make one of the most charming 

 of plants for centerpieces. They grow 

 well in a light, fairly rich soil which 

 contains a good proportion of sand to 

 give it porosity. 



Trimming Hedges. 



The end of June and first week in 

 July is a suitable time to trim hedges 

 of California and other privets, also of 

 Berberis Thunbergii and any other de- 

 ciduous hedge plants which are grown 

 in formal hedges. Two or three clip- 

 pings a year for the California privet 

 makes the hedges more dense, and 

 where hedges have become thin and 

 naked a good heading back should be 

 given. It is now, however, late for 

 this work, which is best done when 

 growth starts in spring. The Califor- 

 nia privet is not altogether reliable as 

 to hardiness, and where temperatures 

 of 5 to 25 degrees below zero are re- 

 corded it will usually be cut down to 

 the ground. For this reason Ligustrum 

 Ibota, the Japanese privet, L. Regelia- 

 num, L. Amurense, the Amoor river 

 privet, and L. vulgare, the English 

 privet, should be chosen in preference, 

 as they are much hardier and all make 

 excellent hedges. The Berberis Thun- 

 bergii loses much of its beauty when 

 closely sheared. To see it at its best 

 it should be used for a natural hedge. 



Such evergreens as Norway spruce, 

 Thuyas occidentalis and Sibirica (ar- 

 bor- vitses), retinosporas and hemlocks 

 can all be clipped now, so that they 

 will make a little new growth to take 

 away their extreme stiffness before 

 fall. 



GEBANIUMS IN BAISED BED. 



We should like to know whether 

 geranium stock plants could be put into 

 a bed in the house at this time of the 

 year with good results. Can geraniums 

 be grown properly on a raised bed on 

 the north side of a sweet pea house, 

 with a solid wood wall to the north? 

 Can you inform us what kind of 

 house is best? F. B. 



Geraniums can be planted in the bed 

 in question now and will give excellent 

 results. You will find that cuttings 

 taken from plants from under glass are 

 firmer and show a much smaller per- 

 centage of loss from damping off than 

 do cuttings from outdoor plants. 3^,^ey 

 will requite an abundance of fresh £^i^. 

 If they stand near the glass there is a 

 possibility of red spider attacking 



them. The judicious use of the hose, 

 however, will prevent this. 



Geraniums will, of course, grow on 

 tlie north side of a sweet pea house, but 

 it is iiardly the location to be recom- 

 mended for them. They must be near 

 the glass if you want hard, stocky cut- 

 tings. An even-span house is the best, 

 not only for geraniums, but for all other 

 bedding plants. In making up the com- 

 post for geraniums, do not use the same 

 proportion of manure as you would for 

 mums, sweet peas or roses, or they will 

 grow to'o rank. A 4-inch pot of fine 

 bone to each bushel of compost helps to 

 keep the growth short-jointed, and an 

 occasional light top-dressing of this or 

 some reliable chemical, such as Clay's 

 fertilizer, will keep them in good grow- 

 ing condition, Four to five inches of 

 soil is ample for them. C. W. 



