. 7. J* • V ■ >». 



JULT 6, 1011. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review^ 



13 



NOTES ON HABDY PEEENNIALS. 



Delphiniums. 



What a glorious showing the del- 

 phiniums, or hardy larkspurs, as they 

 are commonly known, have just been 

 making in the hardy herbaceous bor- 

 ders! What a gap there would be in 

 the hardy garden were these stately 

 and beautiful plants removed! They 

 are so easily raised from seed and re- 

 spond so readily to good culture that 

 it is astonishing that more florists do 

 not grow them. The flowers are splen- 

 did for cutting and anyone who has a 

 few clumps or rows of them can easily 



fet his money back with added interest 

 rom the sale of plants alone, for there 

 are increasing numbers of amateurs 

 who are growing hardy perennials, and 

 few plants other than delphiniums will 

 more quickly charm them and cause 

 them to purchase. 



While good plants can be raised 

 from root division and cuttings, seed 

 sowing is the simplest method, as a 

 few packets of seed will give many 

 hundreds of plants. It is not yet too 

 late by any means to sow a good batch 

 of seed to secure plants for flowering 

 next year. Sow either outdoors or in 

 a coldframe under lath shades, where, 

 with an occasional watering, the seed- 

 lings will soon appear. Then trans- 

 plant to beds or nursery rows, allow- 

 ing six inches between the plants, 

 choosing always a cool or cloudy day 

 for the operation, when the soil is 

 moist. If kept well stirred among, 

 the plants will be quite strong before 

 autumn and should again be trans- 

 planted, allowing twelve inches be- 

 tween the plants, or, if preferred, they 

 can be closely set in coldframes over 

 winter and planted out in early spring. 



D. Belladonna is one of the most 

 beautiful imaginable shades of blue 

 and an excellent grower withal. Cash- 

 merianum, pale blue; formosum, dark 

 blue with a white eye; formosum 

 ccelestinum, beautiful pale blue; King 

 of Delphiniums, deep blue, semi-double, 

 white eye; Queen Wilhelmina, soft 

 lavender, flushed with rose, and Amos 

 Perry, rosy mauve, flushed with sky 

 blue, semi-double, are splendid va- 

 rieties for anyone wishing for a boiled 

 down selection, but a packet of each of 

 dark and light blue seed from a reliable 

 seed house will give varieties equal in 

 quality to many of the best named ones. 



In addition to the tall hybrid lark- 

 spurs, the Chinese larkspurs, D. Chinen- 

 sis, should not be overlooked. These 

 are dwarfer in habit and have much 

 finer cut foliage. They also bloom 

 much earlier from seed, flowering in 

 two or three months. These are pro- 

 curable in shades of deep gentian blue 

 and pure white and are among the most 

 easily grown and most beautiful of 

 perennials for cutting. There is the 

 scarlet delphinium, D. cardinale or D. 

 nudicaule, also a yellow one, D. Zalil, 

 sometimes called sulphureum, with sul- 

 phury -^How flowers, but neither of 

 these will be found of great commer- 

 cial value. 



Delphiniums enjoy deep, rich soil, 

 well drained, and in such they make 

 really marvelous growth. As they are 

 somewhat brittle, it is best to s^ke. 

 them, as wind storms are liable to 

 damage them. ,11 cut down when the 

 first lot of flowers have faded, and fed 

 a little, they will send up quite a good 

 second crop in August. To secure a 

 really beautiful effect in the hardy gar- 



Double Delphiniunu. 



den, plant the dark or light blue del- 

 phiniums in association with Lilium 

 candidum. These flower together and 

 the effect is almost indescribably beau- 

 tiful. 



Cut worms and white grubs, the 

 larvae of the May beetle, are fond of 

 delphiniums, the former in May and 

 early June and the latter later in the 

 season. The use of lime, gas lime and 

 soot in the soil will help to keep these 

 away. Some of the choice named va- 

 rieties if not transplanted every two 

 or three years are subject to blight; 

 otherwise delphiniums are among the 

 cleanest of all perennials. They also 

 have a future for forcing purposes. At 

 least one wide-awake Boston grower 

 had them in quantity in April this 

 year and had no trouble in disposing 

 of all he grew to the up-to-date retail 

 stores. There would seem to be an 

 opening in the way of hardy perennials 

 for increasing our variety of spring 

 flowers, the paucity of which our Eng- 

 lish visitors at the late S. A. F. na- 

 tional show commented upon. With 

 such flowers as double and single pyre- 

 thrums, phloxes like Miss Lingard, 

 peonies and delphiniums, all of which 

 would be welcome even a few weeks 

 ahead of their natural flowering time, 

 there would seem to be a field for 

 some bright, enterprising growers to 

 branch out into. W. N. Craig. 



TBOUBLE WITH MAQOOTS. 



In doing our summer propagating 

 in hotframes we have had consider- 

 able trouble with maggots. After the 

 cuttings have been in for a few days 

 the maggots burrow through the sand 

 in such quantities as to leave the sand 

 so loose that the cuttings almost turn 

 over. Can some one suggest something 

 that can be applied to the manure that 



will destroy the maggots before the 

 sand is put in the bed! W. B. 



Carbon bisulphide applied to the 

 manure before the cuttings are put 

 in will destroy the maggots and any 

 other larvae. It is often used in green- 

 house benches to destroy grubs and 

 worms, but in pots, pans or confined 

 spaces it will injure the plants, unless 

 used carefully. Bore holes in the 

 manure. After the holes are formed 

 pour a teaspoonful of carbon bisulphide 

 into each hole. Make the holes twelve 

 to eighteen inches apart and cover up 

 as soon as the liquid is poured in. 

 Don't smoke while using this chemical; 

 it is highly inflammable. C. W. 



I.EAF MINEB ON BEGONIAS. 



What is the trouble with my be- 

 gonia leaves, samples of which are en- 

 closed, and can you give me a remedy 

 for itt G. G. 



The leaves were much shriveled, but 

 seemed to have been attacked by a leaf 

 miner. These little creatures work in- 

 side the leaves, almost skeletonizing 

 them. Spray with a rather strong nico- 

 tine solution. Keep this up and you 

 will gradually clean them out. Poisons 

 could be used, but they would disfig- 

 ure the foliage and probably burn 

 them at the same time, and they are 

 only of service if gotten on the leaves 

 before the miner tunnels into the in- 

 ner tissues of the leaves. Nicotine! 

 seems to soak into the tissues and kills 

 the miners working there. Dipping 

 the plants in nicotine water would be 

 effective if you have only a few plants 

 in pots. .^. ^ C. W. 



Huntington, Ind. — Bieberich & Weber 

 are putting up another house, 16x100 

 feet, for carnations. 



