12 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



June 30, 1910. 



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SEASONABLE 



SUGGESTIONS 



Cyclamen. 



Cyclamen should now get careful at- 

 tention, for in the coming three months 

 they "will either make good plants or be 

 failures. Be certain that they are not 

 allowed to become potbound, or chances 

 of their doing well are much lessened. 

 If, perchance, they do become a little 

 matted, loosen the roots a trifle with a 

 pointed stick before potting them on. 



There can be no better place for cyla- 

 mens between now and the end of Sep- 

 tember than coldframes, where the 

 plants are close to the light, the glass 

 clear and shade provided by lath cov- 

 erings, which also keep the plants 

 cooler. Keep the sashes open, both top 

 and bottom, all the time. This is 

 easily arranged by making a temporary 

 wooden framework a few inches above 

 the present level of the sashes and 

 standing the latter on this. This al- 

 lows a current of fresh air to strike the 

 plants all the time. Keep thrips down 

 by spraying with some nicotine extract 

 once a week. This is better than fumi- 

 gating. 



On cool, cloudy days remove the 

 sashes altogether, also at night, when 

 there is no likelihood of heavy rains. 

 Eemember that the plants enjoy light 

 sprayings overhead. This can be done 

 thrice a day during hot weather with 

 advantage. 



Palms. 



Possibly rains may have washed off 

 considerable of the shading applied to 

 the glass some time ago. Where this has 

 happened, it will be necessary to use 

 some more whitening on the roof, as 

 some palms are quite easily scorched. 

 The stronger the light, the paler colored 

 will be the foliage, and it is the dark 

 green plants which people want. As 

 growth is now tolerably rapid, it as- 

 sists plants, which have the pots or 

 tubs well filled with roots, if they re- 

 ceive some weak cow manure water 

 once a week. Soot water is also good, 

 both for palms and ferns, making the 

 leaves and fronds a rich green color. 



Air freely, now that the days are so 

 warm, and keep plenty of moisture in 

 the atmosphere. A couple of hosings 

 overhead on clear days should also be 

 given. Let these be given with a care- 

 fully directed pressure, which will not 

 only help to keep the foliage clear of 

 dirt, but also will assist materially in 

 preventing the spread of scale. Where 

 the latter is troublesome we find an ex- 

 cellent insecticide to be Aphine at the 

 rate of one part to fifteen parts of 

 water. This loosens up the scale so 

 that it will come off when a good pres- 

 sure from the hose is applied the fol- 

 lowing day. 



Probably you may have your palm 

 house overcrowded, and, rather than let 

 the plants spoil one another, select some 

 of the larger and tougher leaved kinds 

 and stand outdoors well under the shade 

 of trees. Here they will grow well; 



better, in fact, than under glass. All 

 they need is water, shade and free 

 syringings overhead. They should not 

 be placed where the sun can reach them. 

 Latanias, phoenix and kentias will all 

 do well outdoors treated in this way, 

 and, in addition to palms, many other 

 foliage plants, especially those of large 

 size, are much benefited by being kept 

 outdoors for three months. 



Rambler Boses for Forcing. 



Rambler roses should now be carry- 

 ing some long, strong canes if kept in 

 pots under glass, which is the best place 

 for them yet a while. Keep the shoots 

 securely tied up and, in the case of 

 Dorothy Perkins, Hiawatha and other 

 varieties, which send up numerous 

 shoots from the ground, it will be 

 necessary to disbud some of these and 

 restrict the number left on each plant 

 to four or five. Use the hose freely on 

 the plants, so that no red spider can 

 get any foothold, and at the same time 

 do not stand them where drafts will 

 cause mildew to attack them. A month 

 hence these ramblers can be plunged 

 outdoors and their canes securely tied 

 to some light, temporary fence. Thej 

 are far better adapted for forcing than 

 the plants customarily potted up in the 

 fall. 



Bouvardias. 



Look over the bouvardia plants in 

 the field. They will now be growing 

 quite rapidly. Keep the shoots well 

 pinched back to give them a bushier 

 habit. On the variety Humboldtii, 

 quite a little flower appears even thus 

 early, and it is a useful subject for 

 bouquet work. It is easy timing this 

 plant so as to have blooms on it out- 

 doors from early in June until October 

 by pinching some plants and allowing 

 others to bloom. These latter soon 

 break again and give a good late sum- 

 mer crop. 



Digitalis. 



Never were digitalis finer than dur- 

 ing the present month, it being no un- 

 usual thing to see spikes standing six 

 to seven feet high. If you have not 

 yet sown your seed, lose no time in do- 

 ing so. This is one of the best hardy 

 plants for perennial borders and shrub- 

 beries, also for naturalizing in shady 

 woodlands, and there are many cus- 

 tomers who, if they could see a good 

 bed or clump in flower, would want to 

 order plants for another season. The 

 seed is small. Sow thinly and cover 

 lightly. Shade until the seeds appear, 

 which is usually in about a week 's time. 

 Then afford full light. 



Do not allow the seedlings to be- 

 come too large or crowded before trans- 

 planting them. This latter operation 

 should, of course, be done when the 

 ground is moist and the day overcast. 

 Allow the seedlings nine inches in the 

 rows, as they make remarkable growth 

 in late summer. Digitalis winters out 

 all right if covered with some thin ma- 

 terial, just suflSeient to exclude light, 

 but not heavy enough when wet to 

 weigh down and rot the plants. 

 [Continued on page 32.] 



^^1^ 



WINTER GEBANIUMS. 



With pressuie of other duties, win- 

 ter geraniums are liable to be neglected. 

 They should never be allowed to get 

 into a potbound condition until they 

 are in their blooming pots. It is then 

 a benefit to have them well matted, as 

 this checks too luxuriant growth, hard- 

 ens up the wood and makes them bloom 

 much more profusely than the over- 

 potted ones. Keep all flower trusses 

 picked off. Pinch the tops out of the 

 strongest plants. Do not give them 

 any shade. Spread them out from time 

 to time and let them have all the air 

 possible. Winter geraniums can be 

 grown outdoors during the summer 

 months, but are more under control and 

 do much better in a cool, light, airy 

 greenhouse. Try both plans and be 

 convinced. 



NAMES OF GERANIUMS. 



I am enclosing a floret of geranium 

 blossoms. The plant is a nice, stocky 

 grower. The color of the bloom seems to 



be lighter red than S. A. Nutt, and the 

 florets resemble half open roses and the 

 trusses are large and full. Can you tell 

 me the name of this geranium and 

 where I can obtain stock of itt Is 

 there a darker red geranium than this 

 which has florets resembling miniature 

 roses? Also is there a good darker red 

 geranium than S. A. Nutt? L. S. 



The flowers forwarded were too much 

 faded for correct identification, but 

 most nearly resemble Alphonse Ricard, 

 which is a bright vermilion scarlet, of 

 ideal habit and a splendid sort either 

 for bedding or pot culture. E. H. Trego 

 is another fine bright scarlet. Colossus 

 is somewhat darker than S. A. Nutt, 

 which, however, remains the most popu- 

 lar dark red today. Colossus is well 

 worthy of a trial. It is of a rich, dark 

 crimson color, trusses big and individual 

 florets of exceptional size. The plants 

 also possess great vigor. Any of the 

 varieties can be procured from gera- 

 nium specialists advertising in the col- 

 umns of The Review. C. W. 



