10 



The Weekly Florists' Review* 



Mauch .n. I'.do. 



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SEASONABLE 



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SUGGESTIONS 



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Pansics. 



.Maiili li;is |iin\iHl ii i('!ii;ak;ibl V wni'iii 

 ;iiniitli. utterly Ijclyin^ its diai'iu-tcr. 

 'I'lid'c li.-is liccii :iii ahsciico nf rnM. cut 

 liiii; \\iii(l~ :iii(l. with ;i tt'iii|icratur(' iiiurli 

 .■iliii\i> the iHuiiial, \('f^(.'tatioii i^ muc-li 

 iihuc a'l\aiic('i| than the axeram'. It is, 

 ..1 cdiiix', [lus-iMc that A]iiil may have 

 >-ciiiic ilisa^iccaMc i-liiiiatic i-haiiiios, but 

 vxilli the increasing jKiwei et' tiie sun llie 

 ihihLZiT t idin late I'rcczinjis and thawinj^s 

 i'^ iiiiw much Icsseneil, Thei'e is often a 

 liiiiiy III icmii\c wintei- mulchini^s with 

 the lirsi l.ui-i (if late winter heat. It 

 i- always well lo <^i> shiwly in iloin^' this. 

 I'aiisic^ (-an nnw ha\e their eoxerings 

 ^I'achi.iliy i'ciii(i\c(l. They ha\(^ wintered 

 icmarkalily well, thanks tn the heavy 

 cnaiiuL; '>' ■~iuiw durin;;- .January and 

 I'rhruarv A^ Sikui as tin' )nulch has 

 liecii remiixnl, liiok (i\er ami lirm any 

 [danis which ha\(; lieen lilted by the 

 action of frost: aJsu stir the jii'ouud be- 

 twc'iMi the |dants and they will >rro\\ at 

 an accejciated rate. 



I'lants in coKlfranies should ha\e a 

 nil (■ crop of tlowers cominji on them 

 now. Kee]i these well soaked with water. 

 .Ml the members of the \iola family love 

 cool and iniiist <-onditions at the root. 

 .Many country llorists do considerable 

 outside work in the way cit planting and 

 laring for small estate-. (>u such ])]aoc3 

 a good many pansies, myosotis, daisies 

 an<l other sj»ring jilants can b<^ used up. 

 It is always !i good ]ilan to have a stock 

 nf small liandle baskets containing a do/, 

 en plants each. These invariably sell 

 well. A»^ a general rule, mixed colors 

 please the inajoiity, but some prefer 

 iiaskets of blue, white and (Jther shades 

 separately. 



Hardy Biennials. 



Ineluileil in the category of hardy 

 biennials are some jilants which in some 

 winters stand well outdoors, esiieeially if 

 the snow remains on the ground emit i mi 

 ously ; also snme which are really jieren- 

 nials. but are more frequently treated as 

 biennials. Among these plants are Can- 

 terbury bells, foxgloves, rocket-, colum- 

 bines, honesty, ('oreopsis graiidiflora, 

 (laill.'irdia grandiflora, and in some locali- 

 ties Shasta daisies and I'yrethrum 

 idseiim. in the more iiurlhei'ly states, 

 pl.'iiits of these that were carried over 

 winter under sa-hes >hiiuld imw be 

 planted out. ThoSi' wintereil outside 

 -hiuild lia\e their mulch reimi\cd. In 

 -nine st;ites all the foregoing plant- will 

 wii.ter ijutdiini-, but they cannot be relied 

 up"n in many sections. 



Gladioli. 



.Tust as soon as the ground is well 

 dried out — and it has been in that condi- 

 tion for the last ten days in March — 

 ]dant out a generous batch of gladioli. 

 They are among the most useful and best 

 selling of outdoor llowers, and to secure 

 a long season -with them it is better to 

 ]dant the bulbs at intervals of a fort- 

 night until .Tune, always keeping the 

 btilbs in a cold, dry cellar until they are 



wanti'd. A\()id using fresh barnyard 

 manure foi- gladioli, l^anil that was W(dl 

 manured the i)re\ious year is all right, 

 ;uid 1,(1(10 pounds of some good commer- 

 cial feitili/er jier aci(> will gixc good re- 

 turns. Plant the conns four inclies deep. 

 Let the rows be suiliciently wide to per- 

 mit easy cultivation. T.arge conns can go 

 twii or thi'ee iiKdies apart, small ones 

 i-loser. ltd not b(^ afraid ot' late frosts 

 hurting the conns. liaxc you never iio 

 ticed that they .are piactically hardy, .and 

 in v\('ll draineil laiul will come through a 

 quite severe winter unharmed it' well 

 muhdied .' Sod l.-iud, plowed last fall, is 

 good for gladiob and they do specially 

 well in gr(uind of a sandy nature. 



Dutch Bulbous Plants. 



It ha- been so warm in .Mai-cli that we 

 have been obliged to remove most of the 

 covering from beds of hy.acinths. tulips 

 ;ind narcissi. This is much earlier than 

 usual and has ijeen done because the 

 continiu>d warm weather \v;is <-ausing the 

 slioots to develop rapidly under the 

 mulch. ;ind leaving; it on longer would 

 mean many broken shoot-. Some covci-- 

 ing is still, however, left on the beds, just 

 enough to jirotect them somewhat in case 

 of sudden late c(dd sn;i|is. .\ar(-issi. as 

 the hardiest of the bulbs named, can well 

 dispense with all covering now, liut it is 

 well not to be in too big ;i rn-h to fullv 



expose the tulips and hyacinths. Just 

 as soon as mulch is taken idf, scratch 

 the soil over, using a small hand fork. 



Pruning Hardy Roses. 



The earl\- jiart of April is a good time 

 tor pruning hardy rost's. Jt is unwise to 

 <lo tlie work any sooner, as late frosts will 

 st)inetimes seriously Idast the breaks on 

 the jdants. Jn the case of hyliriil per|iet 

 iials, such as ,lac(iuemiuoi . t'lau i\arl 

 Druschki, Mme, (i. Lui/.ei. Mrs. .lohn 

 I.aing, etc, cut av\ay all old and weak 

 wood. Leave four to -i\ oi' tiie 

 strongest shoots t(j a ]dant. Never leave 

 more thiin a foot of the jirev ions season "s 

 growth on even the strongest, ami in the 

 case of weaker shoots half that length 

 will siillice. If you v\ant strong 

 slK)ots and fine roses, piuue hard. Xiiie 

 out of ten growers are afiaid to head 

 back their plants siifriciently. If un- 

 convinced of the merits of s<werr' jiruii- 

 ing, cut back a few plants lightly under 

 the old method ami cut tlie sanu' number 

 back as advised. AVhen llowers appeal 

 you will speedily see ^vhich ]dan is the 

 one to follow in the future. 



Hybrid teas must be jiruned much 

 more lightly than the hybrid ]'erpetuals. 

 "Merely remove ilead and weak wood and 

 shorten back the other shoot- a few 

 inclie-. Ill juuning ramblers, the old 

 i-anes, v\hicli will yield few (lowers, 

 shmild lie cut out clean. a> well as all 

 dead and weak wood. The shoots made 

 last summer are tho.se whicli will yield 

 the fiiK^st trusses of tlowers. Leave tlit^se 

 I heir tMitire length, except that it is well 

 to remove the thin or deai] ends. J'rune 

 such varieties as Austrian Copper, Harri- 

 son '- Yellow, Persian Yellow, multillora 

 and the various rugosas as lightly as 

 ymi would hybrid teas. Among climb- 

 ing varieties xvhidi with-t I Id to lo 



degrees below Zero without injury diir 

 ill"- the winter which ha- just closed. 



George Morrison. 



6i I'ii-i, lent, Ice HnKlliioji- (iio.lc^iiiM-' iiinl |'|,,ii-l-' Cliil 



