Mav 5, 1910. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



u 



'^-'viperature of 55 degrees at night will 



r/er the plants at Christmas, but they 



will grow well in 10 degrees less heat. 

 These linums are now little seen and 

 ■would be something of a novelty for 

 Christmas trade. 



Bedding Plants. 



continue the propagation of any quick 

 rooting and rapid growing bedding 

 plants. Coleus, alternantheras, helio- 

 tropes, ageratums, salvias and some other 

 varieties make salable plants in a few 

 weeks. Many of the hardier plants can 

 be moved into coldframes. Plan to give 

 each plant space so tliat it will not 

 crowd its neighbors. To have good, 

 healthy plants, care in watering is now 

 a vital necessity. The man who can be 

 depended upon to water a batch without 

 skipping a few dozens daily is a jewel. 

 It is possible some plants may show signs 

 of yellow foliage, indicating root starva- 

 tion. Give these weak liquid manure, or 

 a mild dose of nitrate of soda, to tone 

 them up. Except where newly potted 

 stock is being grown, the plants should 

 hav» full sun, and, as the time for bed- 

 ding-out approaches, the amount of ven- 

 tilation should be increased and the tem- 

 perature gradually lowered. 



Compost for Vases and B(aes. 



There will be many calls soon for the 

 filling of cemetery vases, window and 

 piazza boxes, and it is necessary to have 

 a good heap of compost prepared for 

 these purposes. Plants to be grown 

 where root run is restricted must have 

 a rich soil, or they will speedily show 

 signs of starvation. Two-thirds fibrous 

 loam, one-third dried cow manure passed 

 through a coarse screen, and a 3-inch 

 potful of fine bone to each bushel of soil 

 will make a good compost. Chop the 

 sod down and, after adding the manure 

 and bone, turn it over a couple of times 

 to mix it properly. 



It is the most economical plan to fill 

 .all vases and -• boxes at the greenhouses, 

 unless they are too heavy for convenient 

 handling. Some customers prefer to 

 have their window boxes kept in the 

 greenhouses a few days after being filled, 

 for which, of course, suitable charge 

 must be made. 



Dutch Bulbs in Beds. 



Beds of Dutch bulbs will now 'be most- 

 ly on the wane. Where a groundwork of 

 pansies, daisies, forget-me-nots or other 

 spring flowers has been used, it is best 

 to cut the dead blooms from the tulips, 

 hyacinths ?>*• narcissi and leave them for 

 a time, but where the bulbs only were 

 used, they can be lifted and heeled in 

 until the foliage dies down, when they 

 can be taken up and stoted in boxes until 

 next fall. Choose a piece of ground out 

 of the way, where some shade can be ob- 

 tained. Of course, all bulbs are better 

 left until the foliage matures, but this 

 is impracticable where tender bedding 

 plants are required to follow them. In 

 mixed borders they can be left to ripen; 

 other plants set out near them or even 

 among them will speedily hide them. 

 Hyacinths are of little value a second 

 season, but narcissi do well, and a fair 

 proportion of the early tulips are all 

 right. The late tulips, if left undis- 

 turbed, are better the second and third 

 than the first year. 



Lee, Mass. — Fred T. Phelps, of the 

 Berkshire Hills Nursery, is the owner of 

 a handsome new automobile, a Maxwell 

 runabout. 



Croton Falcatum. 



CROTONS. 



Spring and summer are the seasons at 

 which crotons enjoy their greatest popu- 

 larity and they are now coming to be 

 used much more generally than heretofore 

 in high-class work. Long recognized as 

 among the most attractive of large deco- 

 rative plants for the conservatory, in the 

 latitude of Philadelphia and southward 

 they now frequently are used for, summer 

 bedding and make a splendid effect, 

 whether planted alone, in sub-tropical or 

 mixed beds. It has been found thfit cro- 

 tons will stand much 'more unfavorable 

 conditions than once was thought, but a 

 protected situation still is advised. They 

 also dislike to have their roots chilled 

 with cold water, and repeated doses of 

 cold water will soon show by a drooping 

 of the foliage. 



Retail florists seeking to add color to 

 tlieir plant combinations have found the 

 croton invaluable at Christmas and Eas- 

 ter, but to handle it satisfactorily at 

 those seasons it must be guarded against 

 chill. For spring work nothing is better. 

 The bright foliage adds immensely to the 

 appearance of any mixed basket of 

 blooming hnd decorative plants. 



Crotons are rapidly propagated from 

 the tips of the young growths in warm 

 sand in March and April. The sand must 

 be kept moist and sun and draughts kept 

 from the cuttings. Growers of large 

 quantities plant out on a bench in five or 

 six inches of good, rich soil, the young 

 plants in a light house, where during the 

 summer months they make a fine, quick 

 growth, and in the fall they are lifted 

 and potted, and when established are 

 ready for sale. Indeed, the plant spe- 

 cialists now find so good a sale for 

 crotons that propagation is carried on as 

 steadily as possible. 



To grow crotons at their, best, they 

 should not go below 70 degrees at night 



at any time of the year, but for a short 

 time will endure 20 degrees lower than 

 that. Unlike a palm or dracsena, how- 

 ever, anything near the freezing point for 

 an hour or two will greatly damage them. 



They are subject to the ravages of the 

 mealy bug, red spider and thrips, but 

 there is no excuse for either, as they 

 delight in syringing; the proper use of 

 the hose should banish their pests, or 

 rather they should never appear. 



For soil they like a strong, turfy loam 

 with a fifth or sixth of rotten cow ma- 

 nure, and should be firmly potted, and 

 when the water passes properly through 

 the soil^ which it always should, they 

 want lots of it. Bone meal has been 

 added to the compost, about one pound to 

 a bushel of soil, with the best of results. 



There are a- large number of good 

 varieties, but the croton specialists keep 

 their lists down to a limited number. 

 Two of the best sorts, in the estimation 

 of the Robert Craig Co., Philadelphia, 

 which, is probably the largest grower in 

 this country, propagating some 5,000 a 

 month, are those shown in the accom- 

 panying illustrations, Edwin Lonsdale 

 and Falcatum. The former originated 

 witli the gentleman whose name it bears, 

 but was not christened until after the 

 stock had been sold to the Craig Co. 



Syracuse, N. Y. — Leonard McDaniel 

 will erect a greenhouse on Orchard road, 

 together with other buildings. 



IIerington, Kan. — Two new green- 

 houses, each 20±80, have recently been 

 erected here. They are of cement con- 

 struction. 



Beatty, O. — -The final report of S. F. 

 McGrew, receiver of the Fairview Floral 

 Co., has been approved in the common 

 pleas court and Mr. McGrew has been 

 discharged. ' ' 



