The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



Apeil 28, 1910. 



BASEBALL BRINGS BUSINESS. 



The opening of the baseball season in 

 recent years has become an important 

 business event for the retail florists, or 

 at least some of them, in every town 

 represented in the big leagues. But it 

 is not often that so large a piece is 

 called for as when the season opened at 

 St. Louis, Thursday, April 21. At that 

 time Ostertag Bros, were called upon to 

 make a harp in flowers that stood ten 

 feet high and for which they received the 

 quite satisfactory sum of $300. It was 



ordered by the friends of "Jack" 

 O'Connor, manager of the St. Louis 

 Browns. The accompanyii^ illustration 

 shows the mayor of the city making the 

 presentation speech on the diamond. One 

 of the novelties worth noting was that 

 the names of the donors were shown on 

 small ribbon streamers attached all over 

 the piece, each streamer having the name 

 of one of the donors in the regulation 

 gilt letters used for inscriptions on de- 

 signs. The streamers added no little to 

 the appearance of the piece. 



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SEASONABLE 



SUGGESTIONS 



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Fancy Gdadiums. 



Fancy caladiums should now be start- 

 ing into active growth and will require 

 larger pots. A compost that we find 

 good is one composed of equal parts of 

 fibrous loam and lumpy peat, to which is 

 added some dried cow manure, broken 

 charcoal and sharp sand. We like to 

 have water pass freely through the pots 

 and a fairly porous compost permits this. 

 The pots should also have good drainage. 

 Of course, good caladiums can be grown 

 in any ordinary potting soil, but much 

 better ones can be had in the"other mix- 

 ture. These plants revel in heat and 

 moisture, and while requiring some shade, 

 should not be grown too dark, or the 

 leaves will lose much of their high color- 

 ing. When the pots are full of roots, 

 applications of Uquid manure once in 

 four or five days prove beneficial. 



For bedding out in mixed tropical 

 beds, caladiums are useful. In pots they 

 are also excellent for window or piazza 

 boxes, when not too much exposed to old 

 Sol's rays. In late summer, when flower- 

 ing plants are none too plentiful, these 

 fancy caladiums prove serviceable. Grown 



in coldframes, plunged to their brims, 

 during the warm summer months, where 

 a brisk, moist heat can be secured by 

 closing early in the afternoon, caladiums 

 grow faster and more luxuriantly than 

 in greenhouses. 



Dahlias. 



Even with dry roots, it is still much 

 too early to plant out dahlias. Our best 

 success has always been with rather late 

 planted stock, June being a favorite 

 month. While the general run of dahlias 

 are sold in the form of root divisions 

 with one or two eyes each, there are 

 many purchasers who prefer started 

 plants in pots, and we like to sell our 

 customers' plants out of 4-inch pots, aver- 

 aging nine to twelve inches in height, 

 which have been well hardened and are 

 sturdy. There is still plenty of time in 

 which to start these plants, and, if green- 

 house space is at a premium, they will 

 make ever so much sturdier growth in 

 coldframes. One gr6wth to a plant is 

 all that is needed; if any more start, 

 rub them off. A common mistake is to 

 plant whole clumps, instead of single 

 eyes. A plant with half a dozen shoots 



will never give half the satisfaction of 

 one carrying a single sturdy growth. 

 Many growers also plant too shallow. 

 Lay the roots flat and cover to the depth 

 of six to seven inches, and they will do 

 vastly better than if covered to only 

 half that depth. 



Evergreens in Tubs. 



Such plants as bays, boxes, laurels, 

 aucubas, hollies and (Jther evergreens, 

 which in the northerly states are not 

 classed as hardy, should go outdoors with- 

 out delay. If kept too late in cool and 

 rather dark storage sheds, they are liable 

 to scorch badly when exposed to strong 

 sunlight. They should be freely syringed 

 for the first few days after being placed 

 outdoors, especially if the weather is 

 warm and dry. No doubt some of the 

 foliage will turn brown after exposure to 

 sunlight, and some judicious trimming 

 and pruning will be necessary to make 

 them presentable. Just as soon as new 

 growths get fairly started, however, any 

 imperfections speedily vanish. Remove 

 some of the old surface soil and give the 

 plants a liberal top-dressing of loam, 

 cow manure and fine bone. Be sure, also, 

 that they never suffer from lack of water 

 at the roots. 



Bedding Geraniums. 



There never seems to be any falling 

 off in the sales of geraniums as bedding 

 plants. They are sometimes called old 

 and common, but it is the old plants 

 which are most in favor today. Plants 

 in 4-inch pots, the popular bedding size, 

 are, or should be, well established now. 

 If, perchance, any show ruddy foliage, it 

 is either a sign of poor soil or insuffi- 

 cient water. If the former, you can 

 easily remedy it by one or two water- 

 ings with nitrate of soda water; a tea- 

 spoonful to a 3-gallon can will suffice. 

 This should soon green the plants up. 

 Do not, however, keep on applying either 

 this or animal manures, as they tend to 

 promote a soft growth, which means 

 foliage at the expense of flowers. It is 

 flowers which sell plants at bedding-out 

 time. Did you ever notice — but of course 

 you have — how the plants always move 

 first which carry a truss of bloom, while 

 bigger, healthier plants of the same va- 

 riety, minus flowers, are left behind? 



Mayor of St Louis Presentinsf a Floral Harp Ten Feet High made by Ostertag Bros. 



