ao 



The Weekly Rorists' Review. 



AUQTJST 24, IMl. 



BOBEBT J. WINDLEB. 



Bobert J. Windier, who was elected 

 president of the St. Louis Florists' 

 Club, August 10, is one of the young 

 hustlers of the club and deserves the 

 high honors bestowed upon him by the 

 mepbers. 



He was born in St. Louis twenty- 

 seven years ago. Fifty y^ars ago his 

 grandfather built a greenhouse for his 

 own private use, which his father after- 

 ward tmrned into a commercial place 

 and which became the nucleus of what 

 is now a good-sized plant, conducted by 

 his brother, George. Robert J. is, there- 

 for0, a born florist. His retail store, 

 which he opened six years ago at 2300 

 South Grand avenue, is one of the lead- 

 ing flower stores in that part of the 

 city. 



In selecting Mr. "Windier as presid- 

 ing officer of the club for the coming 

 year, the members made no mistake, 

 as he has already demonstrated his 

 executive ability, and there is no doubt 

 that the affairs of the club will be 

 wisely and successfully directed by 

 him, as they have been for the last 

 twenty-five years by his predecessors. 

 J. J. B. 



PANSIES FOB SFBING TBADE. 



Improvement in Size and Beauty. 



As bedding plants, pansies seem to 

 be steadily increasing in popularity. 

 This is not at all surprising. They 



flowers, but the increase in size, so 

 far from giving us coarser blooms, has 

 rather made their appearance more re- 

 fined. Some there are, and the num- 

 bers of such are on the increase, who 

 do not loVe the pansies as they do the 

 violas. The latter are smaller, it is 

 true, but they are splendid to use as 

 a groundwork for bulbous plants, and 

 anyone who has seen, theqi in the public 

 parks of London, Glasgow or Edin- 

 burgh must have been carried away 

 with their beauty and have wished that 

 it were possible to flower them in the 

 same way here. 



There are a good many people who, 

 if they purchase any flowering plants 

 at all in spring, will select pansies, and 

 the retail florist who can grow a few 

 thousands of them and put them up 

 attractively in little baskets for his 

 customers will have little trouble in 

 disposing of them. While there are 

 some who would buy baskets of one spe- 

 cial color, there are probably ten times 

 the number who would prefer a mix- 

 ture of colors, and for this reason nearly 

 all the big specialists in pansies grow 

 mixtures principally. It would, how- 

 ever, pay to grow separate shades, 

 where the grower could use them in < 

 beds for special color effects. 



Sowing the Seed. 



Seed will have been sown before now 

 in nearly all sections, but if there are 

 any who have omitted doing so, there 

 is still time to get nice little plants 



Uf 



Robeit J. Windier. 

 (Pi-Mldent-elect St. 



-n-t- 



are easily raised from seed; they are 

 either winter hardy or can be carried 

 over with the aid of coldframes; they 

 flower early, soon after winter's snows 

 have melted, and if given a reasonable 

 amount of care will flower more or less 

 all suipimer. The plants, also, are florrf - 

 erous and the improvement in the 

 strains has not only given us larger 



LouiB Flortote' Clnb.) 



Jspecii 



re^fall, %i 



before^fall, %8p*?Ittliy' IRiHttW^outh 

 of New York, for pansies are cool and 

 moisture-loving subjects and make their 

 most rapid growth after the end of 

 August, when cool nights with heavy 

 dews are our lot. Reference has been 

 made in previous issues of The Review 

 to the best varieties of pansies to grow, 

 and if seed is secured from % reliable 



dealer little fear need be felt on this 

 score. 



Some growers, especially those who 

 want at most a few thousands of plants, 

 sow in coldframes, "^jut the big spe- 

 cialists, who handle many hundreds of 

 thousands, sow outdoors. Excellent 

 plants can be produced by either meth- 

 od if care is taken in the preparation 

 of the soil and the soil is artificially 

 watered, shaded, or, better still, moist- 

 ened from the skies. It pays to mulch 

 the seed beds with straw or hay when 

 they are outdoors, removing the cov- 

 ering gradually as the seeds germinate. 

 Straw is better than hay, as it. gives 

 fewer weed seeds. If the beds are kept 

 moist and the soil has been well pul- 

 verized in advance, the little pansies 

 should be nicely up in ten to fourteen 

 days. 



Culture in the Field. 



Even in the cold northern states on 

 the Atlantic seaboard pansies can be 

 successfully wintered outdoors, and 

 noted specialists, like the late D. Zim- 

 giebel, who was one of the pioneers in 

 pansy culture on a large scale, and all 

 others who raise them in large quan- 

 tities, sow outdoors and also winter 

 their plants in the open, except in the 

 case of some choice, special strains. 



Some there are who sow thinly and 

 do not transplant, but if strong plants 

 are wanted they must be given a rea- 

 sonable amount of room to grow in. 

 Where space is limited, well enriched 

 beds three and one-half feet wide an- 

 swer well. Each bed can contain six 

 rows and the plants can be four inches 

 apart in the rows. Grown thus, they 

 have a chance to 4evelop into strong 

 flowering plants. If field space is more 

 abundant, rows fifteen inches apart, to 

 permit the use of a hand cultivator, 

 answer well. Wherever transplanted, 

 it is safest to use ground with at least 

 a gentle slope, where water will not 

 stand. The plants should be kept stirred 

 while the growing season lasts, and 

 the winter covering should n6t go on 

 until the ground is hard frozen. Do 

 not mulch heavily. For covering, 

 straw, meadow hay, leaves and pine 

 needles are all excellent. Where the 

 two latter are abundant and can be 

 held in place with brush of some kind 

 or with com stalks, there is nothing 

 better, but straw or hay n geaemlly 

 used on big plantings. 



Wintering Them In Frames. 



It is far better, however, for the 

 small grower to winter his plants in 

 coldframes. By using soil well en- 

 riched with rotted manure, grand 

 plants can be obtained with trifling 

 care. Transplant them to the frames 

 when of sufficient size. A sash 3x6 will 

 give ample space for 200 plants. Keep 

 Ihevsi we^ed and -watered and exposed 

 to the weather antpl sharp, ftost tight- 

 ens the ground. Then give 'a light 

 covering of perfectly dry pine, needles 

 or leaves and put on the sash^. If a 

 warm spell occurs in winter,- ^||^- out 

 a little, but in the colder stfUes they 

 will need no attention until" early in 

 March, when the covering oAn be re- 

 moved, the soil loosened and the beds 

 soaked with water. The plants will 

 be as fresh and green as when covered 

 up, unless the mulch has hecQfae wet, 

 which causes them to damp off.. . 



The man who wants an ^riy lot 

 of pansies can lift them from his 

 frames and plant them in a cool house. 

 He always has an adrantage. over 



•■■. '^ .y jpi.v* S-i^ .• s, . 



1 ' -1^ ^.^ — ^ 'k'rl-u ^Jl 



