10 



The Weekly Florists' Review^ 



October 20, 1910. 



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SEASONABLE 



SUGGESTIONS 



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Foinsettias. 



Do not keep tlie poinsettias in a 

 warm house yet; 50 degrees at night is 

 better for them than (30 degrees. The 

 time they want an advance iu tempera- 

 ture Is when tlie bracts are forming. 

 Jf kej.t close and warm now, the shoots 

 will 1)0 long, lanky and soft. In a 

 cooler house they will be nice and 

 stocky. Avoid Avide fluctuations in 

 night temperatures, and as you value 

 good foliage use the; hose; or watering- 

 pot with care. Many pooh-pooh the 

 watering can as being slow and obso- 

 lete. Those who decry its use as being 

 "old-fashioued cannot, as a rule, pro- 

 duce plants comparable in quality with 

 such as are watered by hand at the 

 critical stages of their growth. Of 

 course, hand watering is laborious and 

 ofttimes impossible, but the average 

 country florist can well afford to use it 

 in preference to the hose on poinsettias 

 in pots and jians at this season, and he 

 will be well repaid for his extra labor. 

 No plants are more easily and speedily 

 ruined by an excess of moisture at the 

 roots than poinsettias. Feeding in 

 strong doses is just as bad. Each will 

 cause a loss of foliage, and poinsettia 

 bracts on naked stems are wanted by 

 nobod}'. Do not feed at all until the 

 bracts are forming. Then give it twice 

 a week in moderately weak doses. 

 Some soot with the manure helps to 

 keep the leaves a dark green color. 



Lilium Multiflorum. 



The bulbs of L. longiflorum multi 

 florum have recently arrived and been 

 potted. These will come in useful at 

 Easter. The late date will prevent For- 

 mosas, which are naturally earlier, cut- 

 ting much of a figure, and multiflorums 

 and gigantenms will be the lilies par 

 excellence. While it is quite possible 

 to pot up these lilies considerably 

 later and still have them for Easter, 

 the earlier they are potted the bet- 

 ter they will be. Do not stand the 

 lily pots under the benches. This 

 is a convenient but often a reprehen- 

 sible practice. Newly potted plants 

 never want to stand where tliey will 

 get drip. It soddens and sours tlie soil. 

 Worms speedily find their way in and 

 fatten under such conditions, and 

 drainage becomes clogged and plants 

 unhappy in appearance. A frame shed, 

 cellar or any frost proof ]>lace will be 

 all right for these lilies for some weeks 

 yet. Do not let the sun shine on them. 

 A soaking after potting should carry 

 them until the bulbs are well rooted. 

 Lilies do better kept on the dry side 

 until the pots are full of roots and top 

 growth nicely started. If kept wet, the 

 roots will rot and the plants speedily 

 sliow traces of the ever present "dis- 

 ease," which is often caused by wrong 

 culture. 



Cannas. 



Look over the cannas and see that 

 thev are correctly labele.j before lift- 



ing. Let them have a moderate freez- 

 ing first, and dig them on a dry, sunny 

 day. Do not shake the soil from the 

 roots. They keep much better with a 

 good quantity left on. They should be 

 stored where they will not get any 

 drip, and shelves in a dry shed with a 

 minimum temperature of 45 to 48 de 

 grees will answer well. They are often 

 stood under greenhouse benches. Sucli 

 places are all right, except for the drip. 

 This starts too early growth, and will 

 often rot the roots. 



Marguerites. "^ 



Now that the weather is cooler, the 

 marguerites are growing fast. There is 

 still ample time to insert a batch of 

 cuttings. These will make excellent 

 stock for blooming during May and 

 June, and those late propagated plants 

 can be planted outdoors after blooming, 

 headed back a little, lifted and potted 

 in the fall, kept shaded a few days 

 until established, and will flower much 

 earlier than the younger stock. Some 

 have been in fine bloom for Christmas, 

 and all of them will flower during the 

 winter season. Keep young jilants 



potted on before the roots have a 

 chance to become matted, and unless 

 you want an early crop of flowers, keep 

 the shoots pinched until Christmas. 

 Marguerite plants sell well at Piaster, 

 but the cut fiowers arc iu better de- 

 mand during the spring and early sum- 

 mer months than earlier in the season. 

 Spray the foliage Avith nicotine extract 

 if you see the least signs of the leaf 

 miner, which will soon disfigure the 

 foliage. In growing marguerites, it is 

 well to remember that the variety 

 Queen Alexandra is not an early Avinter 

 bloomer, not being in good sha])e until 

 the last of Aj)ril or May. 



Antirrhinums. 



Many of the earlier chrysanthemums 

 are now cut and other crops can l)e 

 planted in their stead. Among these 

 are antirrhinums, Avhich make a profit- 

 able spring crop. If it is decided not 

 to renew the soil, give it a good coat- 

 ing, at least, of a\ cU decayed manure,, 

 and spade it over to thoroughly incor- 

 porate it before ])lanting. The first 

 spikes pushed are usually of little ac- 

 count. Pinch these back, and if you 

 want really strong sj)ikes three to four 

 feet long or more, allow "I'-ly four or 

 five to each plant. Never alloAV these 

 to become bent, or they are of little 

 value. Keep them tied up from the 

 start, and rub off any side shoots or 

 useless growths which may appear. If 

 you want a late crop of these snap- 

 dragons, sow some seed now. Select 

 the tall varieties, which haA'e the best 

 spikes. Do not sow mixtures. Put in 

 pure white, yelloA^^ pink and scarlet^ 

 whi'h ai'e the popular shades. 



PRINCETON. 



Kosarians all over the country knoAV 

 that the home of the great New Jersey 

 uniA'crsity is also the home of the com- 

 ing rose, Princeton. Gladly accepting 

 an invitation of John Berger to A'isit 

 the greenhouses of Stockton & Howe, in 

 the beautiful old uniA'ersity toAvn, an 

 afternoon of pleasure and profit Avas 

 devoted to calling on the new rose in 

 its home. 



Princeton is the name given a seed- 

 ling raised from a cross between the 

 hybrid perpetual rose, Ulricli Brunner, 

 and the tea rose, Safrano. The seed- 

 ling has been grown by Stockton & 

 Howe for three years. At first it de- 

 lighted them by its beautiful color and 

 by its freedom of bloom, but there were 

 cultural diflSculties. These have been 

 successfullv overcome. Todav I'rince- 



ton stands out prominently as one ot' 

 our most productive roses, awaiting 

 only the judgment of the flower-loving 

 public to make its future brilliant. 



Taking, then, the cut flower qualities 

 of Princeton first, the dazzlingly beau- 

 tiful color is the rose's most striking 

 feature, a color that resembles the pink 

 in Killarney at its best, only it is sev- 

 eral shades deeper and has no white or 

 lighter shading. 



The effect of the open flowers, stand- 

 ing strongly on their stiff stems clothed 

 with broad, light green foliage, is strik- 

 ing. The color of Princeton is halfway 

 between Killarney and Beauty; it is the- 

 color of well grown Salvator Rosa in 

 the tulip. The position that Princeton 

 will occupy in the minds of our floral 

 artists is the position occupied by the 

 Mrs. Thomas W. Lawson carnation, 

 that of a color by itself, something be- 

 tween red and a pink — a deep pink. 

 Here the simile ends, for the color of 

 the Princeton rose is not the color of 

 Mrs. Thomas W. Lawson. It has a 

 color, a vivacity, too, that is quite- 



