20 



The Florists' Review 



Febhuaey 10, 1914. 



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Spanish Iris. 



Continue to bring batches of Spanish 

 iris into gentle heat, so as to ensure a 

 steady succession of bloom. These bulbs 

 are not infrequently planted in beds or 

 benches in a cool house, but as they 

 need to occupy such spaces a long time 

 before flowering, a far better method of 

 culture is to place them in flats five or 

 six inches deep, where just as fine spikes 

 can be produced, and the plants can be 

 better advanced or retarded. The latter 

 part of March is as early as iris can be 

 had in flower. As it will not stand hard 

 forcing, a temperature of 50 degrees at 

 night should not be exceeded. 



Iiilies for Easter. 



Just a few words as a reminder to the 

 many growers of lilies for Easter. Ee- 

 member that we are now in February, 

 and that Lent comes February 24. If 

 your plants are to be on time for Easter, 

 which comes April 12, you should be 

 able to see and count the buds plainly 

 when Lent arrives. If your plants seem 

 early, it is easy to keep them a trifle 

 cooler. On the other hand, it is not so 

 easy to have late ones on time. There- 

 fore, give more heat now. In the case 

 of giganteum let the temperature run up 

 as high as 65 degrees at night. Usually 

 this variety is quite dwarf and more 

 heat will help to lengthen its stem, 

 which is something of an advantage. 

 Continue to weed out and throw away 

 any diseased plants; it does not pay 

 to hold on to these. Give additional 

 space to all plants as needed, and re- 

 move the more backward ones to the 

 warmer end of your house. Be sure to 

 keep aphis in check by either spraying 

 or fumigation. 



Fuchsias. 



Kept-over fuchsias which have been 

 resting can now be started up in heat 

 and sprayed freely. They will soon 

 produce an abundance of cuttings. 

 These root quickly and will make good 

 plants for spring sales, as they make 

 rapid growth. Fuchsias cannot be de- 

 pended upon here as bedding plants 

 except to a limited extent, Iwt in piasea 

 boxes in partial shade, or planted out- 

 doors where an occasional watering can 

 be given and where they can Have the 

 benefit of shade from trees or buildings, 

 they can be depended upon to flower all 

 summer. Any location which suits 

 tuberous-rooted begonias will prove 

 equally good for fuchsias. 



Spiraeas. 



Spira;as, or astilbes, as they are bo- 

 tanically termed, make desirable Easter 

 plants, and, as they can be bought 

 cheaply and no particular skill is 

 needed to produce good plants, they 

 can be profitably sold at a moderate 

 price. They all like plenty of heat and 

 abundant moisture. Given these condi- 

 tions and a little care in occasionally 

 spacing them apart, it is a simple mat- 

 ter to produce fine plants. The old S. 

 Japonica is now largely discarded in 



favor of such improved sorts as Glad- 

 stone, astilboides, floribunda, grandi- 

 flora, etc. All these latter must go into 

 heat at once to be in on time. A tem- 

 perature of 60 to 65 degrees at night 

 and plenty of water will cause them to 

 grow rapidly. As the flowers expand it 

 is best to give them a somewhat cooler 

 house. 



S. Queen Alexandra requires, with 

 other pink and lavender varieties, a 

 longer season than the aforesaid white 

 ones, and Easter stock should have been 

 started early in February. They do 

 not flower so well for Easter as a little 

 later in the season, but their beautiful 

 colors commend them to critical buyers. 

 If spiraeas are in active growth, it is 

 safe to stand them in pans of water. 

 There is no fear of this causiilg any 

 loss of foliage, as in the case of mar- 

 guerites and hydrangeas. Spirseas are 

 perhaps the only plants which are not 

 injured if stood in saucers kept full of 

 water. All the pink sorts should have 

 some shade while opening; bright sun 

 will bleach their flowers almost white. 



Lilium Candidum. 



Far fewer of the Madonna lilies are 

 grown for Easter than of the Easter 



lilies proper. Many annually are dis- 

 gusted after buying big, handsome 

 bulbs which produce weak stalks, car- 

 rying a few miserable, narrow-petaled 

 flovers. If growers would but insist on 

 having candidums from the nif|iy|<>of 

 France, and taboo the brand nowjcom- 

 monly sold, they would soon find 'a"ij^ in- 

 creasing call for candidums, for, if the 

 true broad-petaled variety is once seen 

 properly grown, no substitute can ever 

 be tolerated, and pots of this, the 

 purest, most regal^^ud deKghtfully fra- 

 grant of lili«9y*woulcF8ell «*l sight. Can- 

 didums will not fitand hard forcing; 

 under such conditions "^e flowers would 

 come puny and half sized. Do not ex- 

 ceed 55 degrees at night, and 50 de- 

 grees will suit them better. If you can 

 see and count the buds five weeks prior 

 to Easter, you can depend upon their 

 being in on time. 



Calceolarias. 



Calceolarias must all be in flowering 

 pots now, or they will be somewhat 

 late. Give them the coolest house you 

 have; anything clear of actual frost will 

 be suitable. Keep the plants well ele- 

 vated to the light; spray lightly on 

 warm, clear days; fumigate once a week 

 to keep aphis in check, and they will 

 grow satisfactorily. Pinching of the 

 rugosa varieties should now be discon- 

 tinued. These plants can be carried 

 along easily until the middle or end 

 of May. For Memorial day trade, C. 

 Golden Gem and C. Stewarti, a yellow 

 hybrid between the herbaceous and 

 shrubby sections, are invaluable, and 

 the wonder is that florists do not give 

 more attention to them. 



OEEANIUM CUTTINGS DYING. 



Will you please tell me the cause of 

 my trouble? I bought rooted cuttings 

 of geraniums and transplanted them 

 into 3%-inch pots. I have kept them 

 moist and the temperature up to 65 

 degrees, and wfljl^ave lost about one- 

 third ofjjhhem. Was it because the 

 plants were forcedl..^ik F. G. 



I am not at all surprised at one-third 

 of your geraniums dying; I am sur- 

 prised thafa. much larger proportion 

 did not die. In the first place, 3^- 

 inch pots are far too large for mere 

 rooted cuttings. It would have been 

 all right to have used 2V4-inch pots and 

 shifted the plants to 3%-inch pots 

 after they had become well rooted in 

 the smaller pots. The cuttings in such 

 large pots oould not take up the plant 

 food in so large a compass, and, being 

 constantly moist, they first lost their 

 roots and later damped off. A tempera- 

 ture of 65 degrees for young geraniums 

 is far too high; 50 degrees at night is 

 ample, and they must have plenty of 

 fresh air and not be treated like trop- 

 ical subjects. Always water sparingly 

 until the plants are well rooted aroh'nd. 



. NEW ZONALE GERANIUM. 



We are sending one truss of a gera- 

 nium. Many florists have looked this 

 over and have pronounced it to be a 

 new one, and we have seen nothing just 

 like it. You will note we had to cut 

 the bloom down to get it into the box. 

 In growth it has all the properties of 

 the parent, Ricard, being strong and 

 robust and standing up well under all 

 conditions. It is a free bloomer the 

 year around. We now have plants that 

 are never without from one to four 

 large trussed of flowers, and they are 

 exceptionally good for Christmas flow- 

 ering. We have had chances to sell all 

 the stock, but we will not dispose of it, 

 as we feel from the various opinions 

 •given that it will pay us best to work 

 with it and get a good stock. We should 

 like to have your opinion on this bloom. 



E. G. 



The geranium truss arrived perfectly 

 fresh. It is certainly well worth retain- 

 ing. The truss is large and the color 

 brilliant. It seems to be quite distinct, 

 and I should say you would do well to 

 propagate it as largely as possible. 

 C. W. 



