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Apiui- 29, 1909. 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



The Armstrong Wreath.. 



a light coating of kerosene and white 

 lead will be an advantage. Air abun- 

 dantly, but avoid cold draughts. Look 

 out for red spider, which will speedily 

 ruin the plants if once fairly started. 

 Xear steam pipes or in close proximity 

 to the glass is where tliis pest is likely 

 to appear. Use the spray nozzle in such 

 places as a preventive. 



Keep faded flowers and seed jiods re- 

 moved. Pull up any dead or dying 

 haulm. Afford an abundant water sup 

 ply. If the ground is well drained, there 

 is little fear of an oversupply of moisture 

 now. A dressing of finely broken sheep 

 or cow manure lightly forked into the 

 soil will now prove of great benefit. 



Early sowings have probably been 

 made outdoors some time ago, if your 

 climate permitted. Any plants which 

 were started in small pots some weeks 

 previously should now, if well hardened, 

 be planted out thinly. Place supports 

 in position before planting, them. Sue 

 cessional sowings of sweet peas outdoors 

 in the greater part of the country are 

 generally unprofitable after the end of 

 April, as the ground has then become 

 fairly warm and well dried out, and 

 shoots will appear almost before the peas 

 Jiave any roots. 



SPIRAEA FOLIAGE BROWNING. 



We have had some elegant spira?a, ap- 

 parently healthy, but as soon as the buds 

 show white the foliage curls under and 

 browns. We fumigate with Nico-fume 

 and have not syringed since the first 

 indications of trouble. Can you give us 

 the reason and remedy? I live in the 

 state of Kansas. E. H. K. 



Fumigation with Nico-fume we have 

 never found to be injurious to the foli- 

 age of spiraeas, but these plants will 

 simply not stand the smoke from to- 



bacco stems. Are you quite sure that 

 you liave given your plants an abun- 

 dant water supply? Dryness at the root 

 is a more probable cause of the curling 

 and browning than fumigation. Spiraeas, 

 as astilbes are still mostly called in the 

 trade, can liardly be overwatered in your 

 climate. They will do better if you 

 place a saucer under eacli pot when the 

 flower spikes begin to push up. 



Keep the saucers full of water. Tliere 

 is no fear of the roots becoming soggy, 

 as the plant requires more water than 

 any other greenhouse flowering plant 



when in full growth. .Especially is this 

 true when the flowering period arrives. 



C. W. 



LETTERING IN PLANTS. 



One of my customers has asked me to 

 do some carpet bedding and lettering in 

 front of a club house. The bbilding sits 

 back only a short distance from, the 

 street. There are two curved drives 

 which form the arc of a circle, running 

 in froni both the east and the west sides 

 of the lot and passing in front of the 

 iiouse. The visitors drive in at one side 

 and pass out at the other. The en- 

 trances to the drives are only thirty feet 

 apart and there is a hedge along the 

 street for these thirty feet. The drive- 

 way at the center is only fifteen feet 

 from the hedge and between the drive- 

 way and the hedge is lawn. I want the 

 lettering ' ' Wednesday Club " in a curve 

 at the back of the lawn. What would 

 be the best plants to use? Would you 

 recommeml red and yeiiow alternanthera, 

 or could I use Tom Thumb alyssura for 

 the background and lobelia for the let- 

 ters'? Would letters twelve inches high 

 be large enough? Should the lettering 

 be so it could be read from the street 

 or from tiie house? About how much 

 would the whole thing cost? M. O. 



Alyssum and lobelia, if you could de- 

 pend on them both flowering all summer, 

 would answer well for your bed. Unfor- 

 tunately the lobelia is unreliable, fre- 

 quently damping off during warm, damp 

 weather, when there is little sunshine. 

 On the whole, I think a groundwork of 

 red and lettering of yellow alternanthera 

 would give the best satisfaction. The 

 letters would be rather small to show 

 effectively if only a foot in length. 1 

 would advise making them twenty-four 

 inches long, certainly not less than 

 eighteen inches. You should get $4 per 

 hundred for your alternanthera. Decide 

 on the length of your letters and reckon 

 on a double row of plants for these. 

 They should be planted fairly close to 

 make a show from the start. Be sure 

 the soil is well enriched and do not plant 

 out in your latitude (Massachusetts) be- 

 fore the first week in June. Face the 

 letters toward the street. C. W. 



Retail Store of H. M. Walfaridge, Hornell, N. Y. 



