Decbmbeb 21, 1011. 



TheWcekly Florists' Review. 



15 





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Store of Hollywood Gardens, Seattle, Durinsf Autumn Opening. 



plants are wanted in bloom early, it 

 will be necessary to keep the stronger 

 shoots pinched back for some weeks 

 yet. Do not allow the plants to be- 

 come potbound. In shifting them use 

 a compost of fibrous loam, cow manure 

 and sand, to which can be added a little 

 fine bone or Clay's fertilizer. Pot firm- 

 ly and keep the plants well up to 

 the glass in a cool and airy house. 

 The night temperature may be as low 

 as 40 degrees, and is better not to 

 exceed 45 degrees, if you want nice, 

 stocky plants. V spraying over on 

 bright mornings will be beneficial, and 

 do not omit regular fumigations or the 

 dreaded green aphis will soon raise 

 havoc with them. 



Hydrangeas. 



The wood on hydrangeas which were 

 pot-grown through the summer, or were 

 lifted and potted in early fall, should 

 now be of a nut-brown color, hard and 

 well ripened. If an early batch of 

 plants is desired, some can be placed 

 in heat at once. A temperature of 50 

 degrees at night will suffice. Keep a 

 little on the dry side at the root, but 

 spray freely until the young shoots 

 push out; then give more water at the 

 roots. It is inadvisable to give heat 

 in the early stages of growth, but with 

 shoots well advanced the temperature 

 can be raised 10 degrees, and when the 

 flower heads peep they can be forced 

 quite hard. It is better, however, to 

 open them in a somewhat lower tem- 

 perature. Do not overlook the ever- 

 blooming hydrangea, H. arborescens 

 grandiflora. This is splendid for pot 

 culture, as well as one of our finest 

 hardy flowering shrubs. 



Calceolarias. 



Those showy spring flowering green- 

 house annuals, the calceolarias, succeed 

 splendidly in a cool, damp house, one 

 which sends a clammy feeling through 

 anyone when entering it. They thrive 

 in a low temperature, and 40 degrees at 

 night is better for them than 50 de- 

 grees. The cooler they are grown, 

 clear of actual freezing, the better they 



will be, and, at the same time, the 

 freer from green aphis, which has a 

 special fondness for them. In potting 

 use a compost of fibrous loam, cow ma- 

 nure and sand, adding some soot and 

 powdered charcoal to it. This latter 

 keeps the foliage a beautiful dark color. 

 Pinch the tops out of the plants to 

 make them branch, unless you want an 

 early lot of plants in small pots. The 

 C. rugosa, or shrubby calceolarias, 

 which are such favorites for bedding 

 in Europe, are not sufficiently grown 

 in pots. They are splendid either in 

 pots or for cutting at Memorial day. 

 Keep these potted on and well pinched 

 for some time yet. 



Seed Sowing. 



Asparagus Sprengeri should now be 



sown in pans or flats of leaf-mold and 

 sand. Many growers save their own 

 seed. Where this has not been done, 

 secure some at once. Asparagus plu- 

 mosus nanus also will germinate well if 

 sown now. Gloxinias, if started at once 

 in pans of light soil, will make ex- 

 cellent flowering plants next summer. 

 Water the pans, sow the fine seed care- 

 fully on the surface and do not water 

 at all.. Keep covered with glass and 

 paper until the seedlings germinate. A 

 few other seeds which can be sown 

 now with advantage are Grevillea ro- 

 busta, Aralia Sieboldii, fibrous-rooted 

 begonias such as Vernon, Erfordii and 

 semperflorens, antirrhinums for May 

 flowering, amaryllis and Early Wonder 

 aster; if a bench can be given to the 

 latter for an extra early crop, this is 

 the earliest aster in cultivation. All 

 these seeds will germinate best in a 

 temperature of 60 to 65 degrees at 

 night. The asters and snapdragons must 

 be moved to cooler quarters after ger- 

 mination. 



Smllax. 



Probably a good deal of the smilax 

 has been cut for the holiday trade. Be- 

 fore running up new strings for the 

 next crop, scratch and clean over the 

 surface soil and give a top-dressing of 

 fine bone or rotted cow manure. Allow 

 the plants to start well into growth, 

 however, before giving them a soak- 

 ing with water. Herein lies a common 

 source of failure in smilax culture. Ex- 

 cessive waterings at the start, with an 

 idea of starting the plants at once into 

 active growth, will sometimes rot the 

 plants. Nearly all plants enjoy a short 

 rest, with drier conditions at the root, 

 for a short time before making their 

 next growth. We are, of course, refer- 

 ring to indoor plants, and an entire ig- 

 noring of this is too often the cause of 

 injury to some, and may be death to 

 others. Smilax, to do well, should have 

 a night temperature of 60 degrees. It 

 can be grown much cooler, but the 

 strings grown in the higher tempera- 

 ture are better and keep just as well 

 as those grown cool. 



Store of Hollywood Gardens, Seatlle, During Autumn Opening. 



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