AlAY 5, 1910. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review^ 



of the crop is from the October planting, 

 while part was planted in March. The 

 former has quite a lot of fruit, some 

 nearly ripe, some partly ripe, and picking 

 is done daily; the latter is just setting 

 the fruit for the first crop. "Whether the 

 house will remain in tomatoes for another 

 season or will be used for Beauties, as at 

 first planned, is still undecided. 



The mammoth, house of 1907 is planted 

 in Beauties; the next range of four 

 houses, smaller in size, is in carnations, 

 while a new stock house, 32x100, built last 

 winter, is used for young carnations in 

 pots, soon to be planted in the field. The 

 corridor house, connecting the handsome 

 offices ^nd cooling room with the mam- 

 moth houses, is filled with tomatoes in 

 pots for planting outside. 



The proximity of the establishment of 

 the Florex Gardens to the Philadelphia & 

 Reading railroad station at North Wales 

 is of never-ending value as a labor saver. 

 Every box of flowers, every car of coal, 

 costs a little les? in taking to or bringing 

 from the station than almost anywhere 

 else. Phil. 



PLANTS FOR CARPET BEDDING. 



I should like to do some carpet bed- 

 ding, such as placing a name in a border 

 twenty-four feet long and three feet wide. 

 There are fourteen letters in the name 

 which I should like to write. Any ad- 

 vice as to height, color and quantity "^o^ 

 plants and the varieties to use in filling^ 

 such a border will be much appreciated. 



E. P. 



The most suitable plants for carpet 

 bedding, being of rapid growth, so that 

 they speedily cover the space in which 

 they are planted, are alternantheras. We 

 would suggest that you use a groundwork 

 of either A. brilliantissima, red, or A. 

 nana, yellow. If you use the one color 

 for the groundwork, utilize the other for 

 the lettering. We would prefer to use 

 the two varieties, rather than plant a 

 larger assortment. If you want a bor- 

 dering of some different material, Alys- 

 sum Little Gem would be suitable if your 

 groundwork were red alternantheras. 



Plant the alternantheras four inches 

 apart each way. They need not exceed 

 six inches in height if trimmed when 

 necessary. The alyssum grows about four 

 inches high and flowers all summer. The 

 soil in the bed should be rich. The vari- 

 ety used for lettering should be allowed 

 to grow higher than the groundwork. 

 The letters need not exceed six inches 

 in width at any part. The bed, to plant 

 it properly, should have 600 alternan- 

 theras from pots or flats, and 200 

 alyssums in addition for an edging, or 

 SOO alternantheras if used alone. 



C. W. 



ANNUALS FOR WINTER BLOOMS. 



[A paper by William Swan, of Manchester. 

 Mass., read before the Gardeners' and Florists' 

 Club of Boston, April 26, 1910.] 



Among the best annuals for cut flowers 

 in winter are larkspurs and lupines. We 

 sow these the first week in August for 

 cutting in February and March. A later 

 batch is sown in September, to follow 

 chrysanthemums. These flower from the 

 end of March until May. Of the lark- 

 spurs we like the rosy scarlet the best. 

 It flowers ten days ahead of the blue 

 and white varieties. These are sown in 

 flats of light soil and, as soon as they 

 can be handled, are put in 214-inch pots. 

 They must be planted before getting pot- 

 bound. If, perchance, the benches are 

 not ready, we shift into 4-inch pots. 



The Cross. 



We mix some bone and sheep manure 

 in an old chrysanthemum soil and plant 

 the larkspurs eight inches apart each 

 way. When the plants have branched 

 we pinch out the central spike, as it yrould 

 bloom ten days before the side shoots 

 and its short stem would make it worth- 

 less. 



Lupines are given the same treatment 

 as larkspurs, except that they are sown 

 in 3-inch pots, thinned to three plants 

 in each, and no pinching is done. L. 

 mutabilis is the .variety mostly grown, but 

 Hartwegii is much the best. Its long 

 spikes of pure white and light blue flow- 

 ers can be cut close to the ground, and, if 

 red spider is kept ofl", a second crop 

 will be ready in a month. 



Leptosyne maritima is another desir- 

 able annual. Seed sown in September 

 will flower at Christmas and continue 

 through the winter. We find these do 

 better in 8-inch pots than when planted^ 

 out. They will keep a week in water 

 when cut. 



Antirrhinums are handled by some as 

 annuals. Ours are grown from cuttings 

 taken from plants which have been car- 

 ried over winter in a cool house, and not 

 allowed to flower. These are planted 

 outdoors the first week in May. An early 

 batch of cuttings is taken in June, to 

 flower in January and February. More 

 cuttings are taken in August, to follow 

 chrysanthemums. These are potted as 

 soon as rooted. The earliest batch is 

 planted out and lifted and benched in 



August. The later ones are put in flats 

 and kept in frames until chrysanthemums 

 are gone. We plant them ten inches 

 apart for fine spikes, leaving three to 

 four shoots to a plant. These are kept 

 disbudded and, when they are eighteen 

 inches high, manure Avater is given every 

 two weeks. 



Schizanthus Wisetonensis is a fine plant 

 for winter flowering. These are mostly 

 seen in pots, but anyone planting them 

 out and giving them the same culture as 

 stocks will be more than satisfied with 

 them. 



Centaurea cyanus flowers freely if red 

 spider is kept off it. We sow these in 

 boxes seven inches deep, two rows to a 

 box, and keep them outdoors as long as 

 possible. 



We grow each year a small batch of 

 Xemesia strumosa Suttoni and Nigella 

 Miss Jekyll. These may be of Uttle 

 value to the florist, but to the private 

 grower, who is looking for something in 

 early spring when his employers are tir- 

 ing of the flowers they have had all win- 

 ter, they prove useful. 



There are probably other desirable an- 

 nuals suitable for winter flowering under 

 glass, if they were only given a trial. 

 We find a carnation temperature suit- 

 able for all the annuals named. 



Ir- 



JOHNSTOWN, N. Y. — Thomas Barson is 

 building an additional greenhouse, of 

 Lord & Burnham construction, on North 

 Perry street. - 



