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The Weekly Florists' Review. 



MILTONIA CANDIDA. 



The genus miltouia contains some beau- 

 tiful orchidsf the best known being M. 

 vexillaxia, Kuv.lii, PlialiPnopsis and spec- 

 tabilia. M. candichi lacks tiie superb 

 beauty of M. vexillaria, luit is an easily, 

 grown, free lloweriiig :ind useful ()rclii<l. 

 worthy a place in evciv collect iou. it is 

 <-om[)aratively old in cultivation, having 

 been introduced from Hra/il as long ago 

 as 18.'5(J. The yellow colored se|)als and 

 petals are spotted with brown. The lip 

 is white, tinged with rosy pink. Three 

 to seven flowers ar(> carried on each S(a|)e. 

 Two narrow, light green leaves aic pro- 

 duced on the top of each bulb. This va- 

 riety grows well ill rather small pots or 

 f)an9, in fern liber and spiiagnum. Like 

 other miltoiiias. they must never be kept 

 dry at the loot, oi' they will sutVcr. A 

 light j)osition, well uj) to tlic glass, suits 

 them, and too dense sliad(^ jiroduces dark 

 greeu foliage at the expense of tlowers. 



W. N. Ckak;. 



ASTERS COMING GREEN. 



(an you tell us wliat causes our asters 

 to come green .' We bought tlit> seed 

 from a good housi. We planted the 

 I'larly Snow, a .Iiiiir lloweriug variety, 

 and about one-fiftii came blind or green. 

 Of Vick's Early branching about one- 

 third came blind. Now the Invincible 

 are coming in and four-fiftiis of them ar(> 

 blind. They were planted outside, in a 

 sandy loam, and a liberal (piantity of 

 guano was used. Is the cause in the seed 

 being gathered in a green state, or can 

 vou state the reason? 



J. L. O. 



This is a common trouble with asters. 

 The cause is unknown. Seedlings raised 

 outdoors are less susceptible to it than 

 tiiose started under glass, but neither are 

 altogether exempt. In the earlier stages 

 of growth there is no i)erceptible differ- 



Miltonia Candida. 



ence in th(^ appearance of the plants; it 

 does not show until they are nearing the 

 lloweriug stage. 



Vour soil should be all right. Asters 

 like soil that is deeply jdowed and well 

 enriclied with barnyard manure. They 

 also lik(^ a change of soil each year. 



.Nothing can be done to check the dis- 

 ease when once it has appeared. AVe 

 doubt if these diseases are transmitted 

 in the seed; scientific opinions are rather 

 to the contrary. A curious fact is, that 

 seeds which were with difficulty secured 

 from malformed flowers gUve ])erfectly 

 healthy plants the following year. ^Ve 

 can only advise change of soil and that 

 you start the seeds either in a coldframe 

 or in the open air another season. 



C. \\'. 



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SEASONABLE 



SUGGESTIONS 



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Bouvardias. 



The shortening days and cooler nights 

 iiulicate the a[ipr()acli of fall, and from 

 this time onward there will be nuu-h 

 lifting and jtotting to be doiu^ prior to 

 ili(> arrival of King I'rost. liomardias 

 .ire tender plants ;ind. having now made 



a nice, stocky growtii, are in a g i 



condition to lift. Kmh^aviu'. it possible, 

 to secure a little soil on the roots, as they 

 do not lift and start growth so easily 

 as some otiier v.aiieties. If Iley are to 

 be plaiitcfl ill lieiiches. so.ik tlieui well 

 and sli.ade the glass until tiny become 

 established. It grown in I'ots, keep 

 them outdoors tor ^oiiie time yet. shade 

 for a few days, spray trei|niMit ly and 

 they will soon recover from tlieir shift. 



IJouvardias ar(> easily broken and it 

 will jiay to use a st.ake in the center of 

 each plant, to draw the slioots in to. 

 Of course, the plants may be lefi out- 

 doors for another montii, Imt better 

 tlowers will be had if thi' lifting is done 

 MOW, to allow of tiie ])lan1s getting nicely 



established before they flower. That use- 

 ful white luMivanlia, Ilumbohltii, which 

 blooms jiractically all summer and fall, 

 is now (|uite useful when choice white 

 tlowers are scarce. It is the most robust 

 growing of the family an<l every thuisr 

 doing a r(>tail trade should have a I.e.! 

 ..f it. 



Bougainvilleas. 



lioii<;aiiivilleas intended for rhnsiina- 

 llnut'riu<i should now have their sinpol- 

 well ripened. Keep slightly <liier ,il the 

 root au<l keep under glass, so that tiie 

 I'ots will esca|)e drenching rains. Tliose 

 wanted for Master blooming can !»• kept 

 growing for some time longer. We pre- 

 fer to kee|) theui under glass most n\' the 

 time, but a stay outdoors for tlie next 

 month will suit them well. Wiiat shouhl 

 be avoided are heavy wind :ind rain 

 storms. wlii(li are liable to occur in 

 Se|itember. Kemember the weather is 

 still warm; tlier(>fore be careful not to 

 suddenly withh(dil water, or von m.-iv kill 



the jdants altogether. Ise tlic hose on 

 them on bright days, \early all plants 

 iind(>r glass enjoy si)rayings overhead. 



Myosotis. 



While the chief sale for forget-me-nols 

 i^ in spring, there is a moderate call for 

 them during the winter and a few 

 ininches ]ier wei'k can easily bo disposed 

 of Probably you have old plants of a 



\ariety you have 1 n growing. If so, 



put in a bat(di of cuttings now. They 

 will soon root and they can either have 

 a portion of Vjem h in a cool house or 

 be dotted along the front of benidies 

 containing other plants. ^1. dissiti(lor;i 

 is a good indoor variety, but there are 

 several special strains offered for grow- 

 ing under glass. Seed sown when sug- 

 gested a week nv two ;igo will "ive nice 

 l>lants, which, if potted off singlv, can be 

 useil tor late winter blooniine 



Geraniums. 



1 'o not be ill too .nui<-!i oi a i ii>ii about 

 taking geranium cuttings. I'.scry year 

 iii.any growers lose a large part of their 

 stock by too early jiropagation. There 

 is no advantage in startiuL; tiiiis early, 

 esjiecially wheii' ]dants are wanted for 

 liedding out about Memorial day. Out- 

 door geranium cuttings are now extreme- 

 ly soft ami, however great c.ne is taken 

 with them, many are bound to n>t if we 

 get a successir)n of hot days. it is 

 otherwise with cuttings taken fi'oni 

 plants grown under glass all the time. 

 These are hardier and tlu' [lercentagi^ o1 

 loss t'rom damping oil' will lie small. 

 September is early enmigh to propagate 

 geraniums t'(ir growers in tlie northern 

 states ;itid a month latei is better in the 



Mltl 



Heliotropes, 



A liatch of heliotrope cllttinu- sliouh; 



now be taken. The\' root (|uii-kly, .and it 

 ;i lew ;ire jiotted along and later trail-- 

 I'ei red to a bencji, I hey will give an 

 abundance of ciitlin^^s for projiagatine 

 purpeses and also fiirnisii tlowers for 

 cutting. Heliotrope tlowers ,iri" rarelv 

 ^eeii ill the iii;irkets. e\tii in winter, 

 owing to their jioor keeping <|iialitit^s. 

 If the ends ot' the sti'ins. as --oon as cut. 

 are Seared with a lighted Lamp or dipped 

 in boiling water, tliev will keep iiiiich 

 belter. The same treatment applied to 

 pniiisrtt ias is also (|uite etl'cctivc. 



