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The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



SUPTEMBBB 16, 1900. 



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SEASONABLE 



SUGGESTIONS 



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Cinerarias. 



As the growth on cinerarias is now 

 much more rapid, the plants Mill re- 

 quire spacing once a week ami potting 

 should be done before the young plants 

 become crowded in tlie flats or jjotboiind. 

 Cinerarias like a light, rich soil, not 

 pressed too (irmly in the pots until the 

 final siiift, when it is better to use a 

 potting stick and see tliat it is well 

 firmed. For compost in the earlier stages 

 of growtii, onelialf hiam, one fourth K-af- 

 mold and onefonrtli fine cow nianure, 

 well decayed, answers w(di. At the iast 

 potting <lrop tin- leaf mold. Two-thirds 

 loam ami unetliird cow manure, with a 

 little fine li(inc an<l a dash of sand and 

 fine charcoal, will then be found excel- 

 lent. 



(!row the plants co(d 

 abundant \y ; ^lia 

 spray ovrrliead 

 of hut days. !•' 



all the time; air 

 I' triirn bright sunsliiiu'; 

 ■ally in the a I teinuoiis 

 iiiiii<ja!e or sjiray once a 



week for aphis and 

 to tlie <:lass. Will 



always keep w(dl 

 I this treatnu'nt 



up 

 the 



plants rannot fail to tliri\'i'. For some 

 time yet frame cnltnn' will be found 

 much the best for the plants. 



Eiicas. 



It is now time to lift an4?]iot ericas. 

 Where they have been plantA^^ out in a 

 sunny spot and kept well syVrn^ed, they 

 should be bristling with little flower buds. 

 In lifting, it is essential to have a good 

 ball. This can be reduced with a sharp 

 pointed stick so as to permit them to go 

 into pots of moderate size. It is an 

 erroneous notion that ericas must have 

 peat to successfully grow them. It is 

 true they thrive beautifully in peat, to 

 which sand, leaf iindd and some old ma- 

 nure have been added, but loam will an- 

 swer as well as peat, particularly if it is 

 of a fibrous nature. Fricas, like all hard- 

 woo<led snbjects, nuist be potteil firmly. 

 Pack the suii a little .at a time aroiunl the 

 sides of the pots with a thin, flat pot- 

 ting stick, being sure that no open crev- 

 ices are left. 



If nice balls were on the plants when 

 lifteil, they will require little .shading. 

 Be sure fo soak tluvri thonmghly after 

 potting ami keep outdoors until danger 

 of frcist nece-sitates Iheir rem()\al to a 

 cold howse or pit. Frica nielanthera is 

 probably the nmst widely popular of the 

 heaths "in the United -States and is an 

 excellent j)lant for stores, (m account 

 of its splendid keeping qualities. It is 

 easily flowereil for Clinstmas by housing 

 a few plants miw, giving them a light, 

 airy structure to grow in. 



Lilies. 



Bulbs of L. longillorum niultiflonim 

 and of the so-calleij Foruu)sa tyjie should 

 be potted as soon as received. A larger 

 proportion of growers than usual are 

 planning to grow these in lieu of L. 

 longillorum gigantium. on account of tlio 

 early date on which Ivister falls in IIHO. 

 There can be no question but that the 

 giganteum is the best lily commercially, 

 but it is going to require more forcing 



than Usual to flower it by the end of 

 March. This will make it necessary to 

 have buds in sight by St. Valentine's day. 



Small growers, who lack forcing facili- 

 ties, had better depend on Harrisii, multi- 

 florum or Formosa. The first named may 

 require some holding back. It is, unfor- 

 tunately, subject to disease. Formosas 

 are of such variable heignts, all the way 

 from twelve inches to six feet, and also 

 show so much irregidarity in the flowers, 

 that they do not make desirable pot 

 plants, though they are good for cut- 

 ting. Their practical imnuinity from dis- 

 ease is the great point in tlieir favor. 

 Good multillorums are probably the best 

 to grow where giganteums <'annot be flow- 

 ered in time. 



The giganteums are dwarf in habit 

 and flower profustdy. The llowers are 

 large and the percentage of loss from dis- 

 ease is, as a ride, less th.an fvum Harrisii 

 or midtilhirum. Just as soon as the lily 

 bulbs arrive, get them in the soil. If 

 allowed to lie around for a week in flats, 

 they will lose tnuch of their weight and 

 become quite flabby. When the scales of 



ter to secure any propagating wood on 

 marguerites in the hot months, every 

 shoot hardening and running to bloom. 

 There should be no trouble now for some 

 months about securing all necessary cut- 

 tings. Plants carried over the summer 

 in pots do not at present look particu- 

 larly promising, owing to the constant ef- 

 fort they make to bloom, causing a con- 

 tinual removal of buds. They will soon 

 tulle on a new lease of life. Any which 

 are getting cramped at the root will be 

 benefited by a small shift. Do not give 

 too big a shift, for it will mean an ex 

 cess of growth at the expense of flowers. 

 For early winter flowering the plant.s 

 must be well rooted in the pots. 



Hydrangea Otaksa. 



Easter comes early in 1910, and it be 

 hooves us to get the wood ripened on our 

 hydrangeas in good season, so that they 

 will be in a fit condition to force a little 

 earlier than usual. Field-grown stock, if 

 potted now and kept in an open, sunny 

 spot, will wilt but little, provided some 

 ball was retained on the plants and they 

 are freely spray eil for a U\\ days. Plants 

 kejit in pots through the .summer can 

 have the water supply gradually reduced, 

 in order to check tlie growth ami harden 

 the Wdod. Kemember the withholding of 

 water must not be sm! icn, oi it will be 

 more harmful than hcipr'id. What we 

 ai-e aiming at is to lia\e the foliage ma- 

 tured ami the wood of a nutty brown 

 color early in DeceminT. If we can se- 

 cure these things, we can depend upon it 

 that the plants will be in a lit conditior 

 for forcing. 



D. Rusconi. 



a lily bulb become soft, it is a moral cer- 

 tainty that much of its vitality has gone. 

 Bo careful, then, to delay potting of all 

 lilies as short a time as possible. 



Marguerites. 



Stock plants of marguerites in the field 

 are now throwing a nice lot of soft cut- 

 tings, free from flower buds, and .1 good 

 batch of these should be placed in the 

 sand bench at once. It is a difficult mat- 



Lemon-fcented Verbenas. 



Every florist is askcil for some plants 

 of lemon-scented verben;is each spring. 

 It is often fouiul a diflicult subject to 

 propagate. From hard wood the chances 

 of rooting this jilant are small, but by 

 selecting soft tops or little side shoots 

 rubbed off with a heid, and inserting 

 them in an ordinary propagating bench 

 where there is a little bottom heat, few 



