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APRIL 1, 1909. 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



31 



These Brunners Are in a Va«e of Italian Terra Cotta. 



purchases as promptly as possible, and 

 do not promise goods you know you can- 

 not supply. A pleased customer is the 

 best advertisement you can have, so 

 strive in every possible way to merit 

 their approval. 



Easter Lilies. 



About every grower is certain to have 

 a percentage of his lilies rather back- 

 ward. It will well repay a little special 

 effort to hurry these along, as Easter 

 prices are worth striving for, the demand 

 the following week usually being slight. 

 Longiflorums will stand a night tempera- 

 ture of 75 degrees, with a corresponding 

 rise in the daytime. Spray them over 

 several times a day, using warm water. 

 These plants will lack the substance of 

 those grown under cooler conditions, but 

 a plant with at least one flower open 

 will sell, while those unexpanded are not 

 wanted. 



The giganteum type of longiflorums is 

 extremely dwarf this season, although 

 fairly healthy. An early Easter does not 

 .suit this variety. The bulbs cannot have 

 a proper rest before being forced. On 

 fhe other hand, if brought along cooler 

 for Memorial day, they will have stems 

 of double the length. The Formosa type 

 Will be more grown another year. They 

 grow much taller than the other longiflo- 

 rums and come in season a couple of 

 "lonths earlier without hard forcing. 



Fancy-leaved Caladiums. 



There is no special advantage in start- 

 ing fancy-leaved caladiums much earlier 

 than the first week in April. Shake out 

 the bulbs and start them in small pots 

 or flats of leaf-mold and sand. They 

 want a brisk heat ; 65 degrees at night 

 will suit them. Water sparingly until 

 roots and leaves appear. Pot off singly 

 when they are nicely started, using for 

 compost fibrous loam, sharp sand, leaf- 

 mold and some well broken old cow or 

 hotbed manure. Stand the pots on a 

 bench where they can obtain some bottom 

 heat from steam or hot water pipes. 



Caladium Esculentum. 



Caladium esculentum makes such ex- 

 tremely rapid growth that there is no 

 need to start them before the middle of 

 April. Colocasia esculentum, as this 

 plant is known botanically, is indispen- 

 sable for sub-tropical bedding and suc- 

 ceeds particularly well where the ground 

 is low and damp. Some florists prefer to 

 purchase fresh roots each year. These 

 are inexpensive, and where suitable win- 

 ter storage quarters are wanting, it is 

 much better to secure a new stock of 

 roots each spring. Lay the tubers on a 

 bench in a warmer house, scatteftng a 

 little moss or sand over them, and pot up 

 singly when growth has started. 



Outdoor Bulbous Plants. 



It is now time to remove the winter 

 mulch from Dutch bulbs, except in north- 

 erly latitudes. Use care in taking it 

 away. The winter has been a compara- 

 tively open one and shoots of tulips and 

 hyacinths will be easily snapped off, if 

 careless hands are employed to do this 

 work. On no occasion use rakes on the 

 bulb beds where the tops are showing, 

 but use the hands to remove the winter 

 mulch. After taking away the leaves or 

 straw, scratch over the surface soil and 

 press in any bulbs which may have been 

 heaved by the frequent alternate freez- 

 ings and thawings. 



Hardy Perennial Plants. 



The recent spring rains are starting 

 hardy perennial plants into activity and 

 it is time to carefully remove the winter 

 mulch applied in December. The value 

 of this mulch has been well demonstrated 

 this winter. Those who carried out fall 

 planting and failed to use any winter 

 protective material, are mourning over 

 their losses. Had the winter been a 

 steadily cold one, losses would have been 

 much less severe. A coating of snow is 

 the best possible covering for all this 

 class of plants, and if we could only have 

 it from Christmas until the middle of 

 March, few herbaceous plants would die. 



