8 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



OcTonEu 7, IJtOii. 



FIELD OF ASTERS. 



The accompanying illustration shows a 

 part of the field of asters grown by A. Ci. 

 Lake, Wellesley Hills, Mass., and photo- 

 graphed September 18. The patch in 

 question contained 33,r)00 plants. Tlie 

 varieties were principally Semide's ami 

 Vick's Branching. The plants showed 

 remarkable vigor, many standing three 



to three and one-half feet high and 

 carrying forty long-stemmed flowers per 

 plant. A fair average per plant would 

 be twenty good llowers. Mr. Lake had 

 an earlier batch, containing some 30,000 

 plants, which immediately preceded those 

 illustrated. They were the finest lot of 

 asters I had seen for a long time. 



W. N. Craig. 



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SEASONABLE 



SUGGESTIONS 



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Lilies. 



The earliest batch of Ilarrisii lilies are 

 now six to eight inches high, and have re- 

 cently been placed in a house where the 

 night temperature averages 62 degrees. 

 These are wanted for Christmas flower- 

 ing, and as they have the pots well filled 

 with active roots they can be assisted 

 with weak manure wnter, or somewhat 

 higher temperature can ?lso bo afforded 

 later if they apjiear to be . little late. 

 IMants for Christmas should have the 

 buds showing by the middle f Novem- 

 ber at the latest. Forcing for Christmas 

 is quite different from Easter. We now 

 have a decreasing amount of light and 

 heat, while in the early months of the 

 new year, while the cold is more severe, 

 we h:ive a daily gain in light. Do not 

 allow aphis to get any hold on the plants. 

 If fumigation once a week is done, there 

 will Ix' no trouble. Spraying with a 

 nicotine solution is equally ellective, if 

 carefully done. 



Kumerous inquiries come in regarding 

 the holding back of lilies for Easter. 

 These each refer to Harrisii. Easter in 

 1910 comes unusually early, and it may 

 be possible to hold back Ilarrisii for that 

 date, jirovided they are given a cool 

 house for the next two or three months, 

 a temperature of 4~> to 50 degrees being 

 about right. Probably some of these will 

 flower before the last of March, but the 

 average florist caTi generally use a few 

 lily flowers in his business. 



Multiflorum and Formosum will, or 

 shouM be, jiotled before now and held in 

 a coldfrnmc or ))it. (iiganteunis are al- 

 ways late in arriving. They will need 

 consideralile ])ushing to get them in 

 flower, and no time must be lost in pot- 

 ting them after their arrival. 



Cannas. 



Frost will have cut down the flowering 

 cannas in many places by this time. 

 They should not be dug right away. Usu- 

 ally after a freeze we get a spell of 

 clear, warm weather. Tiike advantage 

 of this dry weatiier to cut down the tops 

 to within a few inches of the ground, and 

 in digging allow some of tlie soil to ad- 

 here to the roots. The clumps sliould not 

 at tills time be cut in ]iieces t)r disturbed 

 in any way. The roiits will keep un<ler 

 a greenhouse bench, but this is not a 

 good [dace for them, owing to the mois- 

 ture in the atmosphere and the constant 

 dri]). A cellar where potatoes, gladioli 

 ami dahlias will winter is ideal for can- 

 n:»s. If the floor is inclined to be damp, 

 raise them on boards. A tier of shelves 



makes the best possible storage place for 

 them. Be sure to keep the roots away 

 from furnaces or other drying heat. 



Romans and Paper Whites. 



The earliest batch of Komans and 

 Paper Whites can now be introduced to 

 heat, and in the case of Paper Whites, 

 which are much quicker to start than 

 Roman hyacinths, blooms can easily be 

 had by the beginning of November. At 

 that time there is usually a glut of 

 chrysanthemums, but the average country 

 florist will find a few boxes useful, espe- 

 cially where he has design work almost 

 every day. Succession batches of Paper 

 Whites can be stood below the benches in 

 a cool house and lifted up to the light 

 before the flowers open. Roman hya- 

 cinths had better be kept in the dark a 

 little longer, until they are well started. 

 It will only take three weeks to flower 

 them in a temperature of GO to G5 de- 

 grees at night. 



Stevias. 



If your stevias are still outdoors, and 

 it is always well to leave the bulk of the 

 ])lants outdoors as late as possible, keep 

 a close watch on them. Heavy wind 

 storms will raise havoc with them, unless 



securely staked, while the least bre h 

 of frost will kill them. If there i ■,^ 

 deep frame or i)it which will afford | ,. 

 tection from the elements, the ste\ ,s 

 will do nicely without fire heat foi a 

 number of weeks yet. Of course, a ! v 

 may be placed in a warmer house ,, 

 furnish an early cutting, but whcit ^ 

 Christmas or January crop is wanted, 

 plants should be kept as cool as possil 

 Anything above absolute freezing v> | 

 suffice for them. Stevias are cheap u i 

 commoni)lace ))lants, but the flowers . 

 useful not only for design but for b. 

 quel work. Cannot some hybridizers gi > 

 us a light pink and lavender blue \;i 

 ety? Such would be in big demand. 



Hydrangeas. 



Hydrangeas are tolerably hardy plan 

 and will endure considerable frost wli. 

 their wood is thoroughly ripened. WIk 

 however, the leaves and ends of shoo 

 are soft and green, it requires only a I'l 

 degrees below freezing to destroy li 

 soft wood and foliage. Every year 

 number of growers, anxious to leave ;i ' 

 their plants as late as possible, n' ' 

 cauglit. If spare frames are at disjios;. 

 it will pay to place sashes over the plani-i 

 after the middle of October, or o\<- 

 earlier in the colder states. Keep tli. 

 soil somewhat drier and endeavor to gi ■ 

 the wood as well ripened as possible \» 

 fore cold weather sets in. If sashes can 

 not be placed, let the plants be stooi' 

 where they can get the fullest sunligin, 

 and make arrangements for covering 

 them M'ith sail cloth or some other simihr 

 material when frost threatens. 



It is unsafe to leave the plants in ihi 

 fields much longer. Of course, we nia> 

 get no frost to injure them for week-, 

 while, on the other hand, a lO-degre. 

 drop below freezing will probably rnio 

 all flower buds for another season. 



Lorraine Begonias. 



The growth Lorraine begonias are noi. 

 making cheers the heart of the cultivate' 

 The plants practically double in size, ■ . 

 though by magic, during the last half ■■ 

 September and first part of Octobei 

 Any potting of late stock should be fii' 

 ished forthwith. Nice 6-inch pans c:i 



Field of Late Asters at A. G. Lake's, Wellesley Hills, Mass. 



