8 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



Septbmbkk 2o, 1909. 



GERANIUM RED WING. 



In Geranium Eed Wing F. H. De Witt 

 & Co., of Wooster, O., consider they 

 have a variety which is as good a bedder 

 as S. A. Nutt and which will outsell the 

 old favorite as a pot plant. The variety 

 originated on their place. The color is 

 described as deep cardinal red, with a 



soft velvety sheen. The flower is semi- 

 double and of good substance. It is 

 floriferous and the trusses of good size. 

 De Witt & Co. have found the variety 

 to be a robust grower and to stand the 

 sun well. With them it has been a more 

 salable and popular variety than any 

 other in the large list of sorts they grow. 



SOAP ON FERN FRONDS. 



Enclosed you will find two fern leaves 

 with the edges dried up. Can you tell 

 me what causes them to dry up in this 

 manner! I use Fir Tree Oil soap to 

 keep the scale off them. Is this good 

 for that purpose? For some reason I 

 do not have extra good luck with my 

 ferns. I have not been in the business 

 very long. Had I got a copy of the 

 Review when I started, I would have 

 been better off today. J. E. S. 



The most likely cause of the injury to 

 tliese fern fronds is the use of Fir Tree 

 Oil, the insecticide hanging on the tips 

 of the leaflets longer than on the re- 

 mainder of the fronds. This is not a 

 safe remedy to use on ferns, unless used 

 in quite a weak solution, and in the latter 

 case it is not of much use against the 

 scale. 



A solution of extract of tobacco, used 

 in the proportion of one part of extract 

 to fifty parts of water, is less likely to 

 injure the foliage than the Fir Tree Oil, 

 and will be quite as good as a preventive. 



W. H. T. 



TROUBLE VITH BOSTON FERNS. 



I am sending a tip from a leaf of a 

 Boston fern, showing what is happening 

 to a fine lot of plants. The new growths 

 come up healthy, but instead of properly 

 developing, the tips dried up. Something 

 else also seems wrong with them, because 

 after taking the plants from the green- 

 house and leaving them in the retail store 

 for a few days, instead of retaining their 

 natural dark green color, they turned a 

 rather grayish green and were difficult to 

 dispose of as healthy plants. What is 

 the remedy? e. W. C. 



You do not state how the ferns in 

 question have been treated, but the con- 

 dition of the specimen indicates that the 

 plants have had a check, either from too 

 low a temperature or from lack of water 

 at some time ; or if the plants have been 

 lifted from a bench, the check may have 

 occurred then. The grayish green color 

 that the plants show after having been in 

 the store for a few days is due to the 

 fact that they are not well rooted, and 

 would appear to show that they are 

 bench-grown plants that have been put 

 in the store before they were well estab- 

 lished in the pots. It pays better to get 

 the plants thoroughly rooted in pots or 

 pans before offering them for sale, for 

 a pot-bound plant will wear much bettor 



in a dwelling and consequently give 

 greater satisfaction. W. H. T. 



HYACINTHS AND PAPER WHITES 



When is the proper time to plant Ger- 

 trude, miniature, and Pinnocense, min- 

 iature, hyacinths to come in for Christ- 

 mas? What kind of soil do they want 

 and what treatment? Also Paper White 

 narcissi; liow should they be iihuitcd 

 and how can they be held until wanted 

 inside? A. L. & S. 



Paper White narcissi if placed in flats 

 now can be kept in a cellar, frame or pit ; 

 later they can be stood for convenience 

 under a greenhouse bench. They are 

 easily flowered for Christmas. Allow a 

 month from the time you house them 

 until they are wanted in bloom. You can 



easily retard them in a pit or cold green- 

 house. The flats do not require covering 

 with soil or ashes, as in the case of the 

 majority of bulbous plants. 



Hyacinths, other than Romans, are not 

 easy to flower for Christmas. These lat- 

 ter if started now will be in ample time. 

 In a .night temperature of 55 to 60 de- 

 grees these and the Paper Whites will bo 

 in flower in three or four weeks, provided 

 they are about three inches high when 

 housed. The miniature hyacinths referred 

 to should be planted right away, well 

 soaked with water and stood in a dark 

 cellar or pit until they have the flats full 

 of roots and have growths two or three 

 inches long. When housing them keep in 

 a warm, dark place for a few days to 

 draw them up. W. C. 



LILIUM HARRISII. 



Our Easter lilies, Harrisu, are up about 

 two inches above the pots out in a frame. 

 We leveled the pots off with sand after 

 filling the pots within an inch and a 

 half from the top when the bulb was in- 

 serted. Should they be brought out when 

 about four inches above the sand and will 

 they be too soon for Easter in a tempera- 

 ture of about 50 degrees when the cold 

 weather starts in? A. L. & S. 



A good many Lilium Harrisii will be 

 used next Easter, owing to the early date 

 on which it falls. In a temperature of 

 50 degrees at night it is probable that a 

 good many will flower before Easter. 

 Endeavor to hold them back so that the 

 flower buds do not show before the middle 

 of February. You can do this with a 

 good many, if you keep them in a frame 

 for another month and then give them a 

 house kept at 45 to 48 degrees at night, 

 increasing the temperature for auy which 

 appear late and giving all more heat early 



New Geranium Red Wing. 



