18 



The Fbrists^ Review 



Mabch 5, 1814. 



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i 



RP 





f SEASONABLE ^^ i 

 i ^ SUGGESTIONS I 





Show Pelargoniums. 



No more pinching need be given 

 show pelargoniums after this date. All 

 should now be in their blooming pots, 

 and, as growth from this time on is 

 quite rapid, they will need spreading 

 out from time to time. On clear days 

 give the plants a spraying overhead, 

 and, to keep them clean, a light fumiga- 

 tion must be given once a week. They 

 do better if grown cool; a temperature 

 of 40 to 45 degrees at night is ample. 

 If kept warmer, the growt'fi will be 

 more spindling and aphis will trouble 

 the plants more. 



Gladioli. 



For a Memorial day crop, plant a 

 good batch of such gladioli as Augusta, 

 Shakespeare, America, Chicago White, 

 Mrs. Francis King and Brcnchleyensis 

 now. The pink and scarlet colors sell 

 specially well for Memorial day. The 

 small-flowered gladioli, such as Peach 

 Blossom, Blushing Bride, etc., can be 

 brought along in batches. The earliest 

 lot, housed a month ago, should flower 

 for Easter. Later lots can easily be 

 held until Memorial day, or even later. 



Marguerites. 



"Well flowered marguerites make ex- 

 cellent Easter plants. The yellow va- 

 rieties, while good for cutting, do not 

 make shapely pot plants. Therefore 

 we have to depend upon the white ones, 

 and the older forms of these, carrying 

 small flowers, are vastly superior to 

 the new, improved and large-bloomed 

 aorts. Plants wanted in flower for 

 Easter should now have flower buds 

 showing, and if given a light, sunny 

 house, with a temperature of 48 to 50 

 degrees at night, they will be in good 

 condition early in April. Marguerites 

 need abundant water supplies and will 

 stand lots of feeding. Do not, how- 

 ever, stand them in saucers of water. 

 This may be all right for spiraeas, but 

 if water is allowed to stand in the sau- 

 cers under marguerites it will soon 

 cause a loss of foliage. Mrs. Sander is 

 sometimes seen in nice condition, but 

 it cannot be depended upon to make a 

 shapely plant like the old varieties and, 

 furthermore, is decidedly softer, al- 

 though for cutting it is excellent. 



Lilacs. 



Nice, bushy lilacs, which have not 

 been forced but allowed to come along 

 in a fairly cool house, make acceptable 

 Easter plants. Start them now in a 

 temperature of 50 degrees at night; 

 they should flower in six weeks in such 

 a temperature. Spray freely until the 

 plants are well started, and give a 

 light, sunny location, where the growth 

 made will be stocky. You can get li- 

 lacs open in four weeks by giving them 

 a brisk heat, but such plants will be 

 soft and will wilt easily if exposed to 

 any air currents. If you grow the 

 |)lants cool, they can safely be stood 

 outside when the toiiii>erature is above 

 freezing. 



Rambler Boses. 



If the shoots of the rambler roses are 

 now six to ten inches long and the 

 buds are just beginning to show, your 

 l)lants are all right, and if allowed a 

 night temperature of 55 degrees they 

 will be in good season. Never mind if 

 they are a few days early, as it is an 

 easy matter to hold them back in a cool 

 house. Do not give the plants a strong, 

 forcing heat; it makes the shoots deli- 

 cate and a little lack of care in ventila- 

 tion will speedily give such plants a 

 bad dose of mildew, and if anything 

 makes roses utterly unsalable it is mil- 

 dew. You will notice that Tausend- 

 schou opens earlier than the other 

 ram(^ers. Let the flowers open cool, 

 so that they may retain as much as 

 possible of their pink color. 



Miscellaneous Deciduous Shrubs. 



It is a mistake to start such decid- 

 uous shrubs as forsythias, prunus and 

 malus too soon. It does not take long 

 for them to open their flowers in a 

 warm house. It is also a mistake to 

 liave the plants in full bloom at Easter. 

 Customers naturally prefer them just 

 opening, as they will then give them a 



longer season of flowers. Deutzia 

 gracilis, however, must be started at 

 once; also wistarias, as they require a 

 somewhat lopger season to open their 

 flowers. 



Lily of the Valley. 



While a| month is ample time to al- 

 low lily of the valley for Easter, when 

 grown in the dark and in heat, there is 

 always a splendid call for pots or pans 

 of it at Easter, and such stock should 

 be kept only a short time in the dark. 

 In fact, if it is kept in the light all the 

 time it will be stockier and will carry 

 the best foliage. Suitable sizes of pots 

 in which to grow the valley are 6-inch 

 and 7-inch. Do not cut off any of the 

 fibrous roots. See that fine so^l is 

 shaken well about all the roots and is 

 well firmed. Do not use anything but 

 the new season's pips when you want 

 good valley, and let the plants be grad- 

 ually hardened in a cool house. Start 

 the valley now at 55 degrees at night 

 and it will be in flower in good sea- 

 sou for you. 



NARCISSI ARE SHORT-STEMMED. 



I have a small greenhouse in which I 

 am forcing daffodils, Princeps and po- 

 cticus. I do not seem to ■ be able to 

 get long stems. I am located in the 

 state of Washington, near Puget Sound. 

 I planted the bulbs in good, rich soil 

 in flats, October 1, and covered them 

 with leaves. I took them in January 

 1 and started forcing January 15, keep- 

 ing a night temperature of 50 to 55 de- 

 grees. The bulbs are. from stock im- 

 ported from England. Many of the 

 stems are not more than six inches 



The Unwin Type of Early-Flowering Sweet Peas. 



