-HP,' 1W!!^-*I*V»J!-'.W : 



f^W 



rr-fF'VT-;^- f^n *■*! ■r^'^'i'T*. ■> "r^- 



March 31, 1910. 



The Weekly Florists' Review^ 



J3 



Climbing Roses in California* 



Cover the roots with some burlap to pre- 

 vent drying out by wind or sun. If dry 

 when planted, pour a little water over 

 the roots after first covering with soil. 

 Allow this to settle before filling in and 

 giving the final tramping. Prune back 

 quite severely from April 10 to 15. Al- 

 low three or four buds on strong shoots 

 of last season's growth and two buds on 

 "vseaker wood. Vigorous 2-year-old nur- 

 sery stock would give better satisfaction 

 than the older bushes you refer to. 



C. W. 



CLIMBING ROSES IN CALIFORNIA. 



The climbing roses shown nn the ac- 

 companying pictures are all six years old 

 from the cuttings, and illustrate the re- 

 markably rapid growth made by roses in 

 the vicinity of Monterey bay, California. 

 They are principally Lamarque, though 

 there are included a few Seven Sisters 

 and Eeine Marie Henriette. 



But it should be stated that plenty of 

 food was provided for the plants when 

 set out. The planting holes were three 

 to four feet in diameter and two feet 

 deep, and in the bottom of each were 

 placed two wheelbarrow loads of mixed 

 cow and horse manure and a liberal al- 

 lowance of broken bones and wood ashes. 

 This was covered with four or five inches 

 of soil and the soil used to fill around 

 the plants was enriched by decayed cow 

 manure. Further, each spring the soil 

 around the plants was dug and then heav- 

 ily mulched with manure. 



The heavy layer of manure at the bot- 

 tom of the hole was put in to help hold 

 the moisture during the dry season, as 

 well as to supply food, and it seems to 

 have accomplished the purpose. Of 

 course, the plants were watered during 

 the dry season, but much less was re- 

 quired than is usually the case in that 

 part of California. 



A COLEUS SPORT. 



I am sending you a coleus sport that 

 has grown for the second season, and it 

 has not changed back to the mother 

 plant as yet. Please tell me whether I 

 have anything new. K. P. B. 



The sport is not a new one and is a 

 color which we think will not prove pop- 

 ular for bedding. There are a whole host 

 of varieties similar to this one. C. 



FAILURE WITH LILIES. 



AVe are sending, under separate cover, 

 some tops from Lilium Harrisii and L. 

 candidum. We should like to know why 

 the bulbs will not make more than about 

 five per cent of tlowers. Either they 

 show no signs of flowers at all, or only 

 a few poor looking buds, not much big- 

 ger than the head of a pin, and most 

 of them disappear again. The leaves roll 

 up and the majority of the leaves have a 

 rolled-up, sickly appearance, with brown 

 lines through them. One box of candi- 

 dum lilies turned out well; the second 

 box, with exactly the same treatment, 

 made no flowers at all. Out of a full 

 box, only six plants made a poor show- 

 ing of tops. We have during the lasv 

 /ivo years always had about five per cent 

 of diseased bulbs from Holland, but this 

 time they are a complete failure. We 

 got one box of Harrisii directly from 

 Japan and this box contained extra fine 

 bulbs. Kindly tell us where the trouble 

 lies. B. F. C. 



The most probable cause of the failure 

 of the bulbs is that they had been sub- 

 jected to strong heat in transit and that, 

 while the bulbs themselves may have 

 looked plump ami would make some 

 growth, the embryo flower buds were 

 killed. A similar case came to my no- 



lice only two or three days ago. A 

 large retailer in an eastern city, who 

 conducts a large growing establishment, 

 stated that he had lost every longiflorum 

 and candidum in the same way, although 

 the soil, watering and other conditions 

 were made as nearly perfect as possible. 



In the case of candidums, another sea- 

 son demand north of France grown bulbs. 

 These carry broader foliage than the 

 type usually seen and carry double tiie 

 number of flowers per stalk, the blooms 

 being much broader and larger. Har- 

 risii are now coming so diseased and are 

 so uncertain a crop that Formosas are 

 largely displacing them. The latter are 

 clean, and, as they arrive early, can be 

 bloomed five to six weeks ahead of any 

 other longiflorums. C. 



BOSTON, 



The Market. 



While it is undoubtedly true that more 

 plants and flowers were sold than ever 

 before in Boston's history, the hot 

 weather, particularly March 25, caused 

 something of a glut of some varieties of 

 flowers. With cooler weather everything 

 would have been cleaned up, but every- 

 one seems pretty well satisfied. It was 

 more emphatically than ever a plant 

 Easter, the cut flower trade being mere- 

 ly of secondary importance. Lilies, of 

 course, were leaders and sold out well. 

 The expected shortage did not material- 

 ize. Azaleas were in evidence every- 

 where and proved great sellers. Next to 

 these in popularity came rambler roses. 

 Among these, Dorothy Perkins, Tausend- 

 schon and Hiawatha were the favorites. 

 Crimson and Baby Eamblers were not 

 seen at all in some stores. How have 

 the mighty fallen! Frau Karl Druschki 

 and other hybrids and Clothilde Soupert 

 had a good sale. Ericas sold well, but 

 hydrangeas, even when beautifully flow- 

 ered, were in poor demand. They seemed 

 to be about the only flowering plant on 

 the tabooed list. Acacias sold quite well, 

 metrosideros in limited numbers, and 

 lilacs in large quantities. 



Ehododendrons, such as Pink Peurl 

 and other choice sorts, sold quickly; 

 kalmias only moderately; while quite a 

 number of prunus, pyrus. Azalea mollis, 

 weigelias and wistarias were sold. Genis- 

 tas did not move quite so quickly as 

 other better lasting flowers, but had a 

 larjje sale. Bougainvilleas sold well. 



Climbing Roses in California. 



