Jdm 27, 1911. 



The Weekly FIoristsVReview^ 



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SEASONABLE 



SUGGESTIONS 



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Frimiilas. 



The intense beat of the first half of 

 July has been trying for primulas, 

 which, like many other winter-flower- 

 ing plants, love cool weather and only 

 start to grow in earnest with the ar- 

 rival of cold nighte. "When the ther- 

 mometer registers 90 degrees, or even 

 100 degrees in the shade day after day, 

 many of the pot plants suffer severely, 

 unless closely watched. Watering must 

 be done once, twice or perhaps thrice 

 a day, unless the pots are plunged, as 

 they seldom are. Of course, it means 

 some extra work to plunge such plants 

 as cyclamens and primulas in ashes, 

 but when the saving in watering is con- 

 sidered, and the fact that the roots are 

 so much cooler and moister than when 

 not plunged and grow so much better, 

 what we apparently lose in one way is 

 fully repaid in the other. Let any 

 grower who is handling this class of 

 plants try one batch plunged and the 

 balance unplunged, and note the dif- 

 ference. 



Primulas can not be successfully 

 grown in greenhouses in summer. They 

 will become drawn and emaciated look- 

 ing. Coldframes are the places for 

 them and the sashes should be removed 

 after four in the afternoon; in fact, 

 they are not needed at all, except dur- 

 ing heavy rains, so long as lath shad- 

 ings are used. The night dews greatly 

 benefit the plants, and during hot days 

 they should be sprayed over several 

 times. Pick off any flowers which ap- 

 pear and do not allow the plants to 

 become potbound. In potting the Chi- 

 nese section, set the plants just low 

 enough so that they will stand firmly 

 in the pots. Those left too high will 

 be wobbly and will need staking, and 

 will never make as good plants as those 

 set a little deeper in their receptacles. 



Bouvardias. 



The bouvardia plants in the field will 

 now be making good growth. Flowers 

 are not wanted on them at this season 

 and the shoots should be kept pinched 

 back whenever they run away and show 

 an inclination to flower. Any plants 

 which may have been carried over the 

 second season — and, by the way, that 

 splendid white, sweet-scented sort, 

 Humboldtii, makes bigger and more sat- 

 isfactory plants if kept over and cut 

 back quite hard before planting out — 

 will be growing strongly, and as break- 

 ages are possible during heavy rain and 

 wind storms, it will pay to use a stake 

 in the center of each plant and loop 

 them up a little. In August and Sep- 

 tember choice white flowers are not 

 plentiful and it will pay the average 

 country florist to let some of his plants 

 flower. Keep the ground well cultivated 

 about them, and where a really fine lot 

 of summer cutting is wanted it is al- 

 ways a good plan to plant some of the 

 old stock of Humboldtii in coldframes, 

 where they can be watered. 



Oenistas. 



About once a fortnight the genistas 

 .should be looked over and sheared to 

 keep them shapely. Avoid too much 

 formality in genistas. These plants lend 

 themselves quite readily to formal treat- 

 ment and various fantastical designs 

 are annually to be seen. These freaks 

 are not, however, what the best buyers 

 want. Nice, bushy plants, loose rather 

 than stiff and hedgelike, are the most 

 pleasing. Like all other winter-flower- 

 ing plants grown in the open, genistas 

 should be plunged and they enjoy a 

 hosing overhead at midday, as well as 

 in the evening. Keep young plants 

 potted on and pinched at least once a 

 week, to give them a good form. The 

 fullest sunshine is best for them at all 

 times. Genistas can be planted out and 

 will make a great growth with unlim- 

 ited root-run. They lift poorly, how- 

 ever, and the only safe plan is to keep 

 them in pots all the time. 



Allamandas. 



Both bush plants and climbers are 

 now blooming profusely, and what beau- 

 tiful hot weather subjects they are! 

 There are few visitors who can refrain 

 from exclamations of delight when on 

 a hot summer's day they walk along 

 a greenhouse path, while overhead Alla- 

 manda Hendersoni, or one of the other 



large-flowered varieties, covers the roof 

 with a wealth of its charming, soft 

 yellow flowers. A bunch of allamandas, 

 cut with some foliage, makes a beau- 

 tiful table centerpiece. Where the 

 tables are of considerable size, pots of 

 A. Williamsi rising from a bed of 

 Adiantum cuneatum or Farleyense make 

 one of the softest and most satisfying 

 of decorations. Allamandas are gross 

 feeders and, while flowering, will relish 

 quite strong doses of liquid manure 

 twice a week. They should never be 

 allowed to get the least dry, or the 

 flowers will at once become soft. AVhere 

 new stock is wanted, the>re is still time 

 to root cuttings, which are best if 

 rubbed off with a heel. 



Stephanotis. 



The old-time favorite, Stephanotis 

 floribunda, is not so popular in America 

 as in Europe, where it is a common 

 market flower. While it can not be 

 cut with more than a short stem, the 

 sweet-scented, pure white flowers are 

 of great value in bouquet or design 

 work of any kind, and at the time the 

 stephanotis naturally flowers choice 

 white flowers are not at all plentiful. 

 It may not pay many growers to have 

 this on their greenhouse roofs, but 

 there are not a few who have a good 

 summer trade at mountains, lakes or 

 seashore, to whom a well flowered 

 stephanotis will be both useful and 

 profitable. There are no great secrets 

 about stephanotis culture. It does not 

 like too much root run, but enjoys lib- 

 eral top-dressings and abundant water 

 supplies while growing and flowering. 

 It will succeed well in an ordinary 

 greenhouse and does not need a hot, 

 stuffy house. Mealy bug loves it dearly, 

 but if a good pressure of water, prop- 

 erly directed, is used on it daily, there 

 is no trouble about keeping the plants 

 clean. 



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THE RETAIL 



FLORIST...... i 



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A CONGBESS OF DAISIES. 



In a Florist's Window. 



Given: The average wedding stock 

 collection of flowers and the dull sea- 

 son. Ye store man is glad to put in 

 some strokes which shall count for an 

 advance in public taste and an improve- 

 ment of his standing in the commu- 

 nity, scarcely hoping that it may stim- 

 ulate any early advance in trade. But 

 he has resolved to make solitary con- 

 finement count for something, and so, 

 with both eyes open, he wonders why 

 he has never before noticed such a 

 large number of flowers of the daisy 

 type in such delightfully harmonious 

 colors. Among them are marguerites, 

 yellow and white; Shasta daisies, gail- 

 lardias, coreopsis; single dahlias run- 

 ning into browns, yellows and dull reds. 

 Catching another vision, he sees a 

 scheme which may include cosmos, 

 white and pink; heliotrope dahlias, 

 wild asters and red clover. 



The Design Plan of the Daisy. 



He gathers the first lot together and 

 adds to the collection two or three 

 kinds of fancy grasses, some few ferns, 

 a generous bunch of mignonette, and — 

 if they are yet in bloom — some hop 

 branches. He has not made up this 

 collection in a haphazard way, how- 

 ever. He has distinctly in mind what 

 plan of arrangement will best display 

 this style of flower and foliage. He 

 has studied the design plan of the daisy 

 and has seen that the radiate form, 

 with the proper color, throws light in 

 every direction to a greater extent in 

 proportion to its size than most other 

 floral forms. Therefore, commercially 

 speaking, it is a showy flower. 



A Sloping Field of Daisies. 



In the front corner of his show win- 

 dow he places a number of small vases 

 or jars filled with gaillardias, and hides 

 the vessels with moss or potted ferns. 

 This cozy group is supposed to repre- 



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