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12 



The Weekly Florists^ Review. 



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JuLT 27. 1911. 



EFFECT OF SX7N ON COLOR. 



Over the greater part of the country 

 where roses are forced under glass, 

 there has been, this summer, excessive 

 and prolonged heat, with its usual ac- 

 companiment, bright sun. While at the 

 beginning the roses showed the debili- 

 tating effects of the heat, they at 

 length appeared to become acclimated, 

 as it were, and many growers have of 

 late been cutting roses the equal of 

 any produced in less trying summers. 

 Frequent comment has been made re- 

 garding the color of Killarney; it has 

 come a deep pink, fuller and richer 

 than in winter, which has led to inter- 

 esting discussion of the effect of bright 

 sun on the colors of flowers. 



Sixteen years ago the late Foster- 

 Melliar wrote: "Exposure to the sun 

 undoubtedly takes the depth of tint 

 from almost all teas, making them 

 paler," and his editors, in the last 

 edition of his book, say, "The effect of 

 unshaded sun upon the colors of roses 

 seems peculiar — undoubtedly it gradu- 

 ally absorbs or weakens the yellow tint, 

 which may not only be preserved but 

 also increased by close shading or cov- 

 ering; but a very hot sun will some- 

 times bring a second red flush on some. 

 On the other hand, all red H.P.'s cer- 

 tainly come much brighter in color on 

 a dull, cool day after a hot time." 



The Gardeners' Chronicle notes that 

 ."in England this year garden roses were 

 decidedly late in starting into growth, 

 and were forced rapidly into bloom by 

 the hot sun of May and early June, 

 with the result that some came into 

 flower a week earlier than in the last 

 two years, others a fortnight, and a few 

 three weeks earlier. The flowers have 

 been wonderfully bright and clean, and 

 though some have been small, many 

 have been of very good quality. But 

 what has been particularly striking 

 about them has been the predominance 

 of pink colors in the flowers, and that 

 often in roses where one would not 

 usually expect this tone." 



BOSES A THIRD YEAR. 



Will it be all right to transplant 

 two-year-old roses into a new bench, or 

 will it be better to get new plants? 

 They are in good condition and bloom- 

 ing, ■vv^^'. ,; W. G. 





While roses can be used a third year, 

 it would be better for you to plant 

 young stock if you can secure some of 

 good quality. The plants in the bench, 

 if wanted for replanting, should be 



moderately rested for five to six weeks 

 and not planted later than the end of 

 July. As your plants are still flower- 

 ing, you cannot give them the need- 

 ful rest and plant them in sufficient 

 season; so young stock planted in fresh 

 soil will be decidedly the best to use. 



C. W. 



TOO DRY WHEN TRANSPLANTED. 



We have some Killarneys, one year 

 old, which we transplanted to another 

 house, to new soil. They were excep- 

 tionally dry before lifting — too dry, I 

 know now. There was hardly a leaf 

 when cut back, but many fine looking 

 eyes. Almost every eye on the plants 

 started at once and grew till one to 

 two inches long, but there they stand. 

 They are green, not yellow, but the red- 

 dish color which the new leaves should 

 have is wanting on perhaps one out of 

 twenty plants. The new growths are 

 wilting and drying up. On examining 

 the roots, I find few new growths start- 

 ed; on the drying plants the roots are 

 dead. The leaf growths seem to be 



ahead of the roots on all. What can I 

 expect of such plants? Would it be 

 better to throw them all out and buy 

 new plants? 



My Bichmonds are starting finely 

 under the same conditions and all the 

 new stock is satisfactory. All are 

 planted in the same kind of soil. A 

 few of the Killarneys, which were get- 

 ting some drip from a gutter on the 

 old bench, did not dry up. This ex- 

 plains the cause of the trouble, I think. 

 It is getting late for planting and I 

 do not know what it would be better 

 to do. Can you give me some sugges- 

 tions? ^ N. N. 



None of the forcing roses should be 

 severely dried. What they need is a 

 reduced supply of water at the roots 

 for a few weeks. If this causes even 

 a heavy loss of leaves, it has been car- 

 ried to excess and will seriously cripple 

 the plants, more particularly when 

 they are replanted and started up at 

 the most torrid season of the year. 1 

 am afraid that plants which have lost 

 all or nearly all their foliage will not, 

 even under the most careful cultural 

 conditions, give you much satisfaction. 

 It is not by any means too late to se- 

 cure young stock to take their place 

 and this is what I would advise. 



The fact that certain plants, which 

 were less severely dried off, are doing 

 well, plainly shows that the real cause 

 of the trouble was excessive dryness 

 at the root. Another year, be careful 

 not to overdry your plants. The soil 

 should never become dry. All that is 

 needed is a moderate reduction in the 

 water supply, and even this should be 

 partly counterbalanced by keeping the 

 plants well sprayed overhead. C. W. 



SWEET PEAS FOR CHRISTMAS. 



I wish to grow some sweet peas and 

 have them in full crop at Christmas, if 

 possible. I will plant them either in 

 our lettuce or radish house, in which 

 the temperatures will be 45 and 50 de- 

 grees, respectively. Which house would 

 you recommend planting them in? The 

 houses are 28x160, running from east to 

 west. I will plant them in solid 

 benches and run the rows across the 

 house from north to south. How far 

 apart must the rows be planted for best 

 results? Please name the best white, 

 pink and red varieties for planting and 

 give the date of planting, in order to 

 have a full crop at the time stated. 

 What height shall I make the supports? 

 Will a netting fence five feet high be 

 all right? My location is northern Wyo- 



ming. 



•■'•i 



L. M. B. 



Sow the peas not later than the end 

 of August, and the middle of the 

 month would be better in your state. 



Either of the houses named, if it has 

 ample light and head room and the 

 necessary heat, should answer well for 

 peas. A night temperature of 45 de- 

 grees will do well until the flowers com- 

 mence to open, when 48 to 50 degrees 

 should be maintained as nearly as pos- 

 sible. For best results let the rows 

 run four feet apart. Some growers let 

 them run six feet apart, growing vio- 

 lets or some other cool crop between 

 them until the peas shade them too 

 heavily. Peas want plenty of head 

 room; while five feet would answer for 

 Watchung or Mont Blanc, it would be 

 too low for some sorts, which under 

 good culture will run up eight or ten 

 feet. If, instead of using wire netting, 

 you will run upright strings from a 

 stout galvanized wire just above the 

 ground, and, as the vines grow, draw 

 them in every few days with white 

 twine, you will find this a better and 

 more economical support than the net- 

 ting. As a general rule, we like our 

 peas to run lengthways of the house. 



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