Mav ]», 1910. 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



21 



Bedding as it is Done About a Rochester Residence. 



' To the lot't.iiecraliuu, wliltc f^oraniiiuis, leil i^eiiiniiituH, nicotiana aiul iiioiiiirm t^loiics. Tn tlii' lit^lit wliitc a nil rcil t.'<'ranluiiis, l';iii.'lisli ivy and aniiicluiisis 



;ire few really good ones. Some that 

 inay thrive and tlower in a sheltered, 

 partly shaded place will look like rats' 

 tails in a few weeks if exposed to the 

 winds and starved for root room. Tlie 

 lOnglish ivy will remain just where you 

 jiut it, but in a vase is not graceful. The 

 vincas are truly the best of all. Then 

 there is the ivy geranium, Abutilon vex- 

 illarium, double sweet alyssuni, money 

 vine, senecio (often called fu'nuan ivy), 

 lobelias, maurandia, nasturtium, etc. 

 There arc two splendid climbing i)lants, 

 both excellent for this purpose, but sel- 

 dom seen because they are neglected in 

 thf winter, in f:ict, often lost, viz., Ipo- 

 lud'a Mortoiiii and Pilogyne suavis. 



Don't Crowd the Plants. 



Now, if you arc a beginner at tiie la- 

 borious vase b\isiness, remend)cr that you 

 crowd into a space of two feet in diimi- 

 cter or less, as many plants as would 

 .ibout properly fill a (i-foot bed. There- 

 fore the soil should be of the best. In 

 addition to manure, use a (J-inch pot 

 of bone Hour to every wheeliiarrow of 

 soil and be sure to get tiie soil firmly 

 and compactly don n between the balls 

 of the plants. Lot each plant be well 

 firmed in its pin;.-. You can cover the 

 surface of the soil with green moss, it 

 keeps the soil from washing off, prevents 

 some drying out of the soil and when the 

 roots reach it they thrive in it. 



One thing nuire. When you start a 

 .young man filling these vases, your stock 

 is abundant and he wants to make a nice 

 looking job and crowds in your fine 

 geraniums. Now. with these early filled 

 vases there is no need to crowd, for thev 



will soon fill up and be all the better 

 for a little room to spread. Don't put in 

 more stock than you are paid for, just 

 because it is abuiulant. Save your plants, 

 for there are lots of belated orders 

 coming along until July 4. Then you 

 would be glad of the ])lajits you so lav- 

 ishly used when they were plentiful, 

 and it is the late filled vases that need 

 crowding, if any. 



It is ;i good plan to arrange to water 

 the vases you till and if you water several 

 iuindred at .$!' or $'2.')i) each for the 

 season it do(S not seem a large charge 

 for the individual, but it will be fouml 

 a better paying operation than the charge 

 for filling, and yipu have the ojiportuuity 

 to care for vour own work. 



BEDDING OUT. 



The time for bedding out has arriveil 

 — at least, over the greater part of the 

 country, tloriculturally speaking, the time 

 for planting out most of the soft-wooded 

 stock is from May l'> to tiie early iiart 

 of .Tune, Karlier than this date ther'> 

 is danger of frost. Indeed, so warm 

 \\;is .March and the (>arly ])art of April 

 that a good many people were impatient 

 to get their lawns and wiii(h)w -boxes 

 in shape, and sonu' (lorists who yielded 

 to their customers' insistence have now 

 to explain why they did so — the cold of 

 late Ajiril and early ^lay has ruined 

 wliatever tender stock w.as exposed to it. 



ft is the duty of the tlorist to sug- 

 gest the most appropriate style of be<i- 

 <ling to his customers where advice is 

 asked for, and j)Oor pcdicy to crowd in 

 more tiian is discreet wlien it is left to 



his judgment. In resid(?nce streets a 

 (lower bed on the lawn between the house 

 and the sidewalk is not good taste. At 

 th(> side or slightly to the rear of the 

 lioust> is much lietter. Houses of a mod 

 erate size, with verandas at side and 

 front, have often a row or two of cannas 

 in the border surrounding the veranda, 

 and extremely handsome they look, 



I'lorists are disideij into se\eral classes. 

 The stiictly store man has no interest 

 in bedding pl.-ints, nor has the wholesale 

 liTiiwcr more than to dispos(! of them, 

 but the gi'eat majiu-ity of the llorists of 

 the country r.iise liedcling |daiits for 

 their >iiring ( inps .-lud depend upon theii 

 sile fur a unoil part oi' tlicir income. It 

 well and carefully ilmie and a fair and 

 just cliarge made, custonicis will be un 

 likely to leave .'intl one can de|ieiiii on 

 the ord(M" from year to year. 



Till' profit will lai'gely •li'pend ti|)on 

 llie florists' ability to keep a good storl< 

 of plants in ;i comp.iratively small sjiai-e 

 till afler Kast.T. I'rom f.-ill till after 

 Master benches ai'e wanted f'or siiri-e<si\ e 

 crop-;, bat I'la-^ter sales Largely i-lear tiiem 

 .'\ce|it these planted with id-es ami car 

 iiatinii<. (Jeranium^ ran be thiMi yiveii 

 their last shift, .and so .an .ageratuiii. 

 feverfew, liejiof idpe and valvi.a. ('oleu^ 

 .-.an lie grow II frein a cutting- tn a fine 

 iiedding [ilaiit in eigiit weeks. ('annas 

 and c.aladiums can be kept in flats till the 

 middli' of .\pril aiid tiieii mak.' fine 

 jdants by .lune 1. I'ltiinijis ran be 

 pricked out in |)ans and then in six Tveeks 

 will make the be-^t of bedding plant-, 

 ('ent.aurea. coleus, aidiyr.aiitlies. verlieiras, 

 heliotrojies, many of the geraniums, lo- 

 lii'li.as, ;ili.ysias. and .ill the .•.•irp.-t bed- 



