10 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



Septembeb 1, 1910. 



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Lilium Candidum. 



The bulbs of Lilium candidum usually 

 arrive about the last part of August 

 and should be potted as soon as possible 

 after being received, as both leaf 

 growth and root growth have already 

 begun in many cases while the bulbs 

 are in transit. There are two types 

 of candidums on the market. The best 

 are from the north of France. The bulbs 

 of these are round, the scales thick, 

 the foliage broad, and the flowers broad- 

 petaled and carried eight to fourteen on 

 a stem. The other type, which is most- 

 ly in evidence, has broad bulbs, rather 

 hollowed at the center; the scales are 

 much thinner, the foliage narrow, the 

 flower stalks thin, and the blooms are 

 half the size of those of the good type. 

 As a rule, three to eight flowers are pro- 

 duced to the stalk. This type is not 

 worth growing and has discouraged 

 many from growing candidums. 



Candidums can be potted singly in 

 6-inch pots, but do much better if three 

 to five bulbs are used in 8-inch and 10- 

 inch pots. They also succeed well in 

 boxes six inches deep. The bulbs should 

 be covered two inches. Give a good 

 watering, then keep tolerably dry until 

 foliage has appeared. Too much water 

 at first will rot the bulbs. Stand the 

 pots or boxes outdoors on a bed of 

 ashes, and leave them there until frosts 

 come of sufficient severity to firm the 

 soil in the pots, then stand in a cold- 

 frame. For Easter flowering, house 

 early in January and give a tempera- 

 ture of 54 degrees at night. Candidums 

 are ruined by forcing; the flowers are 

 only one half the size of those grown 

 ( oo^er. 



Berried Solanums. 



Early in September is a good time to 

 lift and pot berried solanums from the 

 field. These are now bushy and finely 

 berried. The larger plants will require 

 6-inch pots, the smaller ones 5-inch. Pot 

 firmly, soak well with water, shade for 

 a few days, then give full sun and lots 

 of water. Frequent sprayings over- 

 head after potting will prevent wilting. 

 It is astonishing how quickly the pots 

 are filled with roots when they are kept 

 freely syringed. These outdoor plants 

 are bigger and better in every way 

 than any which have grown during the 

 summer in pots. 



Vallota Purparea. 



At present the brilliant Scarborough 

 lily is in full bloom. It is often seen 

 beautifully flowered outside humble 

 cottages, far better than with gardeners 

 and florists. This vallota dislikes fre- 

 quent pottings and, like nerines and 

 Amaryllis Belladonna, flowers best 

 when well matted with roots. Any com- 

 mercial grower who can get up a stock 

 of this lily will have no trouble in dis- 

 posing of it. Five-inch pots carrying 

 three spikes and 6-inch pots carrying 

 five to six spikes are pretty, but it is 



when in large pots that it is the most 

 telling. A compost of loam, broken 

 sandstone and dry cow manure suits 

 vallotas. In winter, any temperature 

 just clear of freezing will carry them 

 over nicely. 



Euphorbia JaccLuiniseflora. 



Not so much grown as its value mer- 

 its, Euphorbia Jacquiniaeflora, the bril- 

 liant Christmas plant, makes new 

 friends each year. Whether for selling 

 in pots or pans, or selling in sprays, 

 this is one of the best colored flowers 

 we have for the holidays. To get extra 

 fine sprays, which will bring good 

 money, plant out one or two in boxes 

 and let them run up the roof; or, if 

 you have a bed where they can be al- 

 lowed to go undisturbed for a couple 

 of years, they will give some grand 

 sprays. In pots or pans six inches in 

 diameter, several plants together, they 

 look well and it is now time to give 

 them their final shift. If desired, put 



a few small pteris in with them to 

 cover the soil from view. Like the 

 poinsettias, they like a warm house to 

 develop in, but for the next few weeks 

 they will do well outdoors or with the 

 protection of a coldframe. With the 

 arrival of cold nights, place them in 

 warmer quarters, or you may lose a 

 lot of foliage. 



Annual Larkspurs. 



In winter ana early spring there is 

 always too little variety in our cut 

 flowers and anything out of the beaten 

 track is welcome. It is true that it is 

 hard to get some dealers even to try 

 new things, but the progressive men are 

 glad to get anything in the way of a 

 novelty. Annual larkspurs are easy 

 to grow and succeed even better under 

 glass than outdoors. They are grace- 

 ful, make charming centerpieces, and 

 a large vase arranged with them at- 

 tracts attention at once. There are 

 some beautiful colors, including pale. 

 blue, light pink, deep pink, pure white 

 and dark blue. As a general rule, the 

 white, light pink and lavender shades 

 sell the best. This makes a good crop 

 to follow mums with. Sow the seed 

 now, in a coldframe or in flats. Pot 

 off singly and grow in a frame or cool 

 greenhouse until the .benches for them 

 are ready. Place the plants a foot 

 apart in the rows each way. They 

 should not go any closer, as they branch 

 considerably. Pinch out the central 

 spike; then all the side shoots will come 

 strong and uniform. 



f^aiiii 



GERANIUM CTJTTINQS. 



Early propagation of zonal geraniums 

 often entails a heavy loss in damped- 

 off cuttings. Should extremely hot 

 weather come after the cuttings are 

 placed in the sand, many will probably 

 rot, particularly if they were soft cut- 

 tings from outdoor plants. It is well to 

 delay propagation as long as possible, 

 as experience shows that with cuttings 

 put in the saod early in October the loss 

 is not one-tenth that of those inserted 

 four to six weeks earlier. If the stock 

 plants have been grown under glass, 

 the wood will be harder and the liabil- 

 ity of damping oflf greatly decreased. 

 With outdoor cuttings, I like to leave 

 them on a bench twelve to twenty-four 

 hours after making, to dry somewhat, 

 but not in the sun. Such cuttings show 

 a smaller percentage of loss than those 

 inserted as soon as made. 



There are various methods of propa- 

 gation in general use — placing in sand 

 benches, in flats of sand, and singly in 

 small pots. Of these I prefer the flat 

 system. Those started in flats, if well 

 drained and stood on a shelf where they 

 can get the full sun, should show fewer 

 damped-oflf cuttings than under any 

 other plan. There should be one thor- 

 ough soaking, then comparative dry- 

 ness until rooted, and after that merely 

 sufficient moisture to prevent shrivel- 

 ing. These cuttings, shaken out early 



in the new year, will have a veritable 

 mat of fine roots and will grow fast 

 when potted in light, rich soil. 



If placed on regular cutting benches, 

 extreme care in wiring is necessary 

 The sand should be fresh and the drain- 

 age abundant. This plan will answer 

 well if the sand is not needed for other 

 cuttings until the mum season closes. In 

 small pots the cuttings usually root well, 

 fepace, however, is usually valuable at 

 the time they are put in and pots need 

 a Jot more space than flats. Much moro 

 time IS also consumed in putting them 

 in pots. * 



Some growers, both in the north and 

 south, but particularly in the south, 

 hnd that cuttings root much better out- 

 doors than under glass. The trouble with 

 this plan is that drenching rains some- 

 times saturate the flats and cause a 

 wholesale damping oflF. Each grower 

 must adopt the plan best adapted for 

 his particular section. All cuttings 

 should be trimmed off closely; no leaves 

 except extremely small ones should be 

 left on. They will root whether cut be- 

 low a joint or not, but I find the propor- 

 tion of rotted cuttings is considerably 

 lessened T^hen they are cut directly be- 

 low a joint. 



GERANIUM CUTTINGS IN IeNCH. 



Would geraniums do satisfactorily if 

 rooted cuttings were planted in the 



