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12 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



Mat 12. 1910. 



Two-year-old Seedling Amaryllis, Light Forms. 



SEEDLING AMARYLLIS. 



Under separate cover I am sending 

 you a lily of the amaryllis type. Will 

 you give me the name? I have had 

 the bulb for a number of years and it 

 bloomed last year for the first time. I 

 am anxious to get more bulbs. 



E. J. C. 



The flower is a fairly good, light col- 

 ored amaryllis hybrid, of the sort that 

 are purchasable from many seedsmen 

 and other dealers. As there is a host 

 of distinct forms of the amaryllis when 

 raised from seed, these are rarely named. 

 English specialists name some of their 

 best varieties and get fancy prices for 

 the bulbs, in some cases $50 to $100 for 

 novelties. In America we can grow the 

 amaryllis as easily and as well as in 

 Europe and a few details as to culture 

 may not be out of place. 



The amaryllis is increased by side 

 bulbs and seed. The latter plan is the 

 best. Bulbs have been flowered in as 

 short a time as fifteen to eighteen months 

 from seed, but as a general rule growers 

 manage to flower a certain number when 

 two years old, and others not until the 

 third year. As the flowering season is 

 now over, it is not possible to secure any 

 home-grown seeds, but by selecting suit- 

 able flowers of decided colors, which have 

 plenty of substance, some splendid va- 

 rieties are certain. In purchasing seed, 

 that handled by specialists should be se- 

 cured. There is much cheap, trashy 

 seed sold, which will only prove disap- 

 pointing to any who sow it. 



Amaryllis seed should be sown as soon 

 as ripe, or as soon as purchased. It 

 should be sown in pans or flats and 

 placed in a warm, moist house, using a 

 light, sandy compost. A little leaf is 

 not long in appearing. When two leaves 

 have been produced, pot off into 2-inch 

 pots, still growing them warm and moist. 

 As the plants need larger pots, use a 

 heavier compost. For the final pottings, 

 two parts of a rather heavy, fibrous loam, 

 one part of old cow manure, some gritty 

 sand and a dash of soot and fine bone 

 make a good potting medium. 



Amaryllis seedlings should be k^pt 

 growing continuously until they flower. 

 One successful specialist devotes a bench 

 to them in the greenhouse, where they 



remain until they flower. This is an 

 excellent plan where the necessary space 

 can be spared, but on most commercial 

 places it is impracticable. Another 

 method is to plant the seedlings outdoors 

 early in June on a warm, sunny piece of 

 rich ground. They will make a good 

 growth here, but when lifting and pot- 

 ting them in the fall they receive a great 

 check, many roots being broken. 



An excellent way to grow amaryllis 

 plants in summer is in frames, plunging 



Two-year-old Seedling Amaryllis. 



— — 7 — — 



them in manure to the top of the pots. 

 They can be put in the frames any time 

 after the end of May. A light shade on 

 the glass will be necessary, also a spray- 

 ing over each afternoon to keep spider 

 in check. Treated thus, the bulbs pro- 

 duced will be double the size of those on 

 plants not plunged. The plants can re- 

 main in the frames until early in Octo- 



ber, when they can be removed to a cool, 

 dry house for flowering size bulbs, and 

 a temperature of 50 to 55 degrees for 

 seedlings. Drier conditions at the root 

 should be maintained in winter, but it 

 is a big mistake to keep the plants dust- 

 dry, as many do. These bulbs are really 

 evergreen and the baking process to in- 

 duce them to lose their leaves is all 

 wrong. 



A repotting each season is not usually 

 necessary. If the drainage is seen to be 

 right and some of the old surface soU 

 is removed to allow a liberal top-dress- 

 ing, the plants with the aid of liquid 

 stimulants can be carried over another 

 season. Potting or top-dressing should 

 be done while the plants are resting, Jan- 

 uary and February being suitable months. 

 In starting bulbs, a temperature of 60 

 degrees at night and some bottom heat 

 should be provided. 



In some of the warmer states the am- 

 aryllis, or hippeastrum, as it is now often 

 called, succeeds well outdoors. Even in 

 New England it is planted out in summer 

 and blooms well, and it is likely to be 

 much more used in this way in years to 

 come. 



It is best to cut amaryllis flowers for 

 shipment while in bud and open them in 

 a warm house. The flowers are hard to 

 pack without bruising them. During the 

 last few years there has been a marked 

 increase in the use of amaryllis in the 

 larger stores, both cut and as a pot 

 plant. Easter is the time when it is 

 most easily and naturally flowered. 



W. N. C. 



LATE TUUPS. 



Can you give me the name of a light 

 pink or rose-pink tulip which blooms at 

 the same time as White Swan, also a red 

 one? Are there any other varieties of 

 this shape blooming at the same time? 

 Are the Darwin tulips any later than 

 such varieties as Picotee, Gesneriana, etc.? 



H. H. G. 



White Swan is sometimes listed as an 

 early tulip and in other catalogues is in- 

 cluded among the late ones. It flowers 

 later than White Pottebakker, White 

 Joost von Vondel and others of the early 

 bedding section, but is faded before Pico- 

 tee, Gesneriana, Bouton d'Or and the 

 Darwins are in season./ I do not know 

 of any tulip with the same egg-shaped 

 flowers, either in pink, rose or scarlet, 

 which will bloom at the same time. 



Picotee, Gesneriana and the various 

 Darwin varieties come in close together. 

 The Darwins more nearly resemble the 

 White Swan in form, but could not weU 

 be used with the latter variety, as they 

 bloom some days later. The following 

 Darwins you will find excellent for bed- 

 ding; they all flower together: Gretchen 

 (syn. Margaret), blush; May Queen, rosy 

 pink; Glow, crimson scarlet; Flambeau, 

 brilliant scarlet; La Candour, pure white, 

 shading to blush; Carminea, bright rose; 

 Pride of Haarlem, rose suffused purple. 

 All the foregoing are of moderate price. 

 C.W. 



Lowell, Mass. — Frank P. Putnam will 

 soon start commercial greenhouses here^ 

 specializing on carnations. 



Dundee, III. — A new gas-heating ap- 

 paratus has been installed in the green- 

 houses of the D. Hill Nursery Co. 



Humboldt, Kan. — Mrs. H. E. Barber 

 has purchased the greenhouses of Miss 

 Irene Heath and will continue the busi- 

 ness. 



