JO 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



October 7, 1909. 



as soon as ripe, or at latest early in 

 spring. Pots or pans may be employed 

 for sowing, but the drainage must be 

 ample. Use a potting compost of sandy 

 loanl and peat — that which is used for 

 hard-wooded greenhouse plants is suit- 

 able. With this fill the pots with soil 

 and water it, and as soon as the exces- 

 sive moisture has drained off, sow the 

 seeds upon the surface and lightly cover 

 with sifted soil. Place the seed pots in 

 a cool frame and exclude light. When 

 germination becomes evident admit light, 

 but shade from direct sunlight. Water 

 must be carefully supplied, as the seed- 

 lings easily damp off at this stage, and 

 air must be given on favorable occasions. 

 As the seedlings become large enough to 

 handle, put them singly in small pots, 

 employing a compost similar to that 

 used for seed sowing. Maintain a light 

 shade during periods of bright sunshine, 

 and spray the plants overhead morning 

 and evening. Towards the end of July 

 they will be ready for planting out; 

 those intended for flowering in pots are 

 grown on under the above conditions, 

 repotting as becomes necessary; 9-inch 

 and 10-inch pots are suitable for flow- 

 ering specimens. 



"The best position for permanent 

 planting, not only for this species, but 

 for all the meconopsis is, I rather fear, 

 a debatable point. Travelers emphasize 

 what their leaves proclaim, that they are 

 plants adapted to an atmosphere always 

 more or less charged with moisture, and 

 it is here that numbers of English grow- 

 ers have failed in a too generous in- 

 terpretation of this weakness, thereby 

 subjecting the roots to a surfeit of mois- 

 ture. From what I have seen of 

 meconopsis in other gardens, compared 

 with my own experience, I am led to 

 avoid those contracted, pit-like depres- 

 sions so frequently found as accessories 

 to the rock garden, and generally recom- 

 mended as inviting success, choosing in 

 preference some sheltered bay among 

 choice shrubs, and if the ground is com- 

 paratively flat, so much the better for 

 our purpose. The soil must not contain 

 lime, and should consist of the best 

 sample of loam, peat and oak leaves pro- 

 curable. Plant the foreground thinly 

 with pernettyas, introducing Kalmia lati- 

 folia or similar shrubs behind, and sub- 

 ordinate their increase in width to the 

 primary object of supplying shelter. 

 Group among these the various species 

 of meconopsis, tnose dwarf in stature to 

 the front, paniculata and Wallichi be- 

 hind, and the result will be an effect 

 satisfying to the most exacting. As 

 these two species have foliage that is 

 marvelously beautiful and evergreen, the 

 rain drops rest among the hairy leaves, 

 reflecting the sunlight so that they almost 

 vie in brilliancy with that produced by 

 the gaily colored fruits of the per- 

 nettyas. From May onwards till autumn 

 the floral feast will be one of ever-vary- 

 ing beauty; the garment of the meconop- 

 sis is in essence that which the poppy 

 always wears, the former supplying those 

 colors which the latter singularly lack; 

 the texture of their petals is as silk 

 compared with a common fabric, their 

 nobility in comparison to a plebeian race. 



"One of those idiosyncrasies which 

 often force themselves upon the prac- 

 tical cultivator is that species so dis- 

 similar in nature and habit and widely 

 separated geographically should find con- 

 genial quarters in the same garden plot. 

 Such is my experience with M. hetero- 

 phylla, the only American species, and 

 M. Wallichi from the Sikkim Himalayas, 



and my contention for a drier rooting 

 medium is amply justified by the be- 

 havior of these species. So far, Wallichi 

 has topped the measuring rod at seven 

 feet six inches, perfect pyramids of the 

 most exquisite silky blue, while hetero- 

 phylla makes thick little bushes two 

 feet high, of gray-green leafage, clothed 

 with fairy stems, supporting the deep 

 orange and maroon blotched flowers." 



GLADIOLUS GAIETY. 



The accompanying illustration is from 

 a photograph of a seedling gladiolus 

 which originated with Harry G. Wolf- 

 gang at Leetonia, O. The rule beside 

 the spike gives an idea of the dwarf 



Gladiolus Gaiety. 



growth. The spike is a first season's 

 bloom. The flowers are of excellent size. 

 In describing the variety Mr. Wolfgang 

 said: 



"It sprang from a lot of seedlings of 

 1898 from the Groff strain. The plant is 

 dwarf in habit, growing from eighteen 

 inches to two feet in height, in ordinary 

 garden soil. The plant is quite sturdy, 

 holding the flower stem erect. I have 

 never known one to lop over. Owing to 

 the immense size of the flower spike, in 

 proportion to the stalk, it is a shy bulb 

 producer, although the cormels or spawn 

 will bloom or throw heavy spikes of 

 flowers the second season. The flowers 

 are amaryllis-shaped, having no wrong 

 side; when in a vase one side is just 



as beautiful as the other. The bud or 

 half opened flower has a white b a^ 

 around it and resembles a tulip flo er 

 When full open it is scarlet in color, he 

 outer parts of the petals being fai^ ly 

 penciled with crimson and the thi at 

 marbled, white banded and splashed a th 

 violet red. Stamens and pistils re 

 prominent, adding greatly to the bea ty 

 of the flower. In color the stamens re 

 claret, while the pistils are of a beaut . ui 

 shade of shrimp. Among the many li n- 

 dreds of seedlings in our trial groiid 

 Gaiety is the vanguard of them all : kJ 

 is the admiration of everyone t! at 

 sees it." 



EASTER LILIES. 



Eegardiug the inquiry of E. S. H. 1 

 would like to give you some experiem^e 

 which I had. I found out that the ladr, 

 within reasonable limits, the Easter lily 

 bulbs are planted, the sooner they come 

 into bloom. Leave them in the cases as 

 long as possible, in a cool place, only 

 looking out that they do not make any 

 roots. 



It is unnatural for the bulbs to start 

 too earlj', and they never will make a 

 good plant before the bulb has its nat- 

 ural rest. "They will perhaps start to 

 grow, but when the plant is about nine 

 to twelve inches high the growth stops 

 and that is the end of it. But if you 

 plant your bulbs late, they will make 

 sufficient roots and produce good, healthy 

 plants. Do not force them too much 

 from the start; they only can stand 

 forcing when they show buds. Plant 

 them two months later than your neigh- 

 bor; you will save greenhouse space, 

 coal, and have them just as early and 

 better than he has. P. W. 



NARCISSL 



Is Golden Spur narcissus as hardy a 

 variety as Emperor, and is it as earlv as 

 the single Von Sion? H. H. G. 



Emperor is decidedly hardier than 

 Golden Spur. The latter flowers a few 

 days the earliest, but is preceded by tlie 

 single Von Sion. Emperor, I consider 

 the hardiest of all the large trumpet nar- 

 cissi. Von Sion is one of the most un- 

 reliable outdoors. Emperor will increase 

 from year to year. Golden Spur grad- 

 ually dies out and Von Sion disappears 

 nearly altogether after the second year. 

 Princeps is a cheap trumpet narcissus, 

 which proves hardy, also double Vcii 

 Sion. W. N. C. 



ROOTING HELIOTROPES. 



What is the proper method of proi' - 

 dure in rooting heliotrope cuttings ;/ 

 insure a minimum loss from rotting oil 

 R. P. 



Place the cuttings in a propagati; 

 bench where they will have some bottf- 

 heat. In a house kept at 55 to 60 <l 

 grees at night they will root within thr 

 weeks. Be sure to keep the sand w< 

 watered; one soaking per day will su 

 flee. There is no reason why every cu 

 ting should not root, heliotrope being i> 

 easy plant to propagate. In a cold hou- 

 the chances are that many of your cui- 

 tings would fail to root or damp off. 

 C. W. 



Centekville, Ind. — Fred Davis & Bro- 

 have got the boiler installed in their new 

 greenhouse. 



New Philadelphia, O.— T. B. Stroup 

 has just completed a new greenhouP"" 

 24x100 feet. It will be used for roses. 



