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10 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



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May 13, 1909. 



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GERANIUMS FOR EASTER. 



Kindly advise me as to what kind of 

 geraniums 1 could grow from cuttings 

 being rooted now. By next Easter or 

 later would they be large, salable plants? 

 Or would they be overgrown? If nice 

 plants can be produced by then, what 

 special care or attention do they require 

 during the summer? Give me any advice 

 in growing nice, large plants, full of 

 bloom. I have good varieties, and would 

 like to try the above, if in your judgment 

 it is advisable. G. H. H. 



Geranium cuttings, if put in at once, 

 will root fairly well, but would have done 

 better when the weather was cooler. They 

 damp off badly during hot summer 

 weather. Presuming that you put the 

 cuttings in at once, you can grow these 

 along and have large plants in 6-inch pots 

 before Easter, 1910. Cuttings rooted in 

 October or the early part of November 

 will make good 4-inch pot plants by 

 Easter. 



Double geraniums of the Bruant type 

 will do! well stood outdoors in the hot 

 months, but the singles, especially of the 

 large, round-flowered English types, suc- 

 ceed best under indoor culture. Shift 

 your plants successively from 2% -inch to 

 4-inch and later to 6-inch, and even 8- 

 inch pots, if required. Geraniums want 

 an abundance of sunlight, but when in 

 bloom under glass a light shade tends to 

 keep them from fading out. C. W. 



SPIRAEA GLADSTONE. 



Please tell what to do with Spira;a 

 Gladstone plants that are left over. Can 

 I divide and grow them outside this 

 summer and lift in the fall to force, and 

 are they hardy? S. M. 



Spirffia Gladstone is perfectly hardy, 

 wintering just as well as the old S. Ja- 

 ponica. If your clumps are large, cut in 

 two or three pieces with a sharp spade; 

 small clumps can be left intact. Plant in 

 rich soil, and if you leave them undis- 

 turbed until the fall of 1910, you will 

 have excellent forcing clumps, far 

 superior to what are imported annually 

 from the European continent. It would 

 not do to attempt any forcing of these 

 spirffias next fall. The plants need and 

 must have an additional year 's growth to 

 make them in fit comlition. C. W. 



ANOTHER DOUBLE CALLA. 



Every little while someone comes for- 

 xVard with a report of a double calla. 

 Authorities say that Richardia Africana. 

 or Calla ^thiopica, the lily of the Nile, 

 frequently sports with double or even 

 triple spathes, but florists who grow the 

 calla in quantities encounter these sports 

 so infrequently that they always are re- 

 garded as great curiosities. When a dou- 

 ble calla bloom falls into the hands of a 

 store florist he always makes it the cen- 

 ter of a window display, with a show- 

 card, that attracts much attention. 



The accompanying illustration is from 

 a photograph of a singularly well formed 



double calla discovered by Joseph Traudt 

 at Canajoharie, N. Y. Mr. Traudt has 

 grown callas in considerable quantity for 

 many years, and says this is the first 

 double flower he ever has seen. He 

 grows all his callas in pots, and has now 

 flowered the same bulbs each spring for 

 six years. This season they produced an 



Another Double Calla. 



unusually large number of fine flowers, 

 and he found the crop one of the most 

 profitable of the season. 



PRIMULA FORRESTII. 



At a recent meeting of the Roy,) 

 Horticultural Society, London, Messr-;. 

 Bees, Ltd., of Liverpool, exhibited PrJn; 

 ula Forrestii, a handsome Chinese sp- 

 cies producing rich golden-yellow flowe s 

 in profusion, and were awarded a firs 

 class certificate for it. 



This is an interesting new species froi^ 

 the high alps of Yunnan, China, 9,000 t( 

 11,000 feet altittide. The species po^ 

 sesses many points of uncommon interest 

 The root-stocks are described by Mr. For 

 rest, who collected this species and others 

 for A. K. Bully, as growing in thi 

 crevices of dry, shady limestone cliffs, 

 where they become two to three feet ii; 

 length. Only a few inches of the tapere<i 

 root-stalk are generally enclosed in the 

 crevices of the rock, the remaining part 

 of the plant being pendulous for almost 

 its full length, a few inches of the grow- 

 ing apex only being turned out and up- 

 wards. It is estimated that some of the 

 native plants are from 50 to 100 years 

 old. The plants shown by Messrs. Bees 

 were about two inches high, and bore 

 simple, ovate-elliptical leaves with crenate 

 margins. The flowers were borne on 

 erect scapes, and were deep yellow with 

 orange-colored eye. Both flowers and 

 foliage, were frjjigrant. The older leaves 

 were mealy on the under surface. The 

 Gardeners' Chronicle says the species is 

 described as perfectly hardy in Cheshire 

 and it is the consensus of opinion among 

 British growers that this will prove a 

 valuable addition to the list of hardy 

 plants. 



HAIL LOSSES. 



The Florists ' Hail Association is doing 

 its work so quietly that many do not 

 know what a good work it is doing. 



I recently had Avord from our genial 

 secretary, John G. Esler: "We are hit 

 $10,000 worth in Omaha and Council 

 Bluffs. Several are frozen out, besides 

 losing all their glass. Probably one of 

 the most destructive storms on record. 

 Hail insurance a godsend." I decided 

 to send you a list of the losses paid in 

 the last few months. 



A word to the wise is sufiicient. Write 

 to John G. Esler for blank application 

 for membership, and insure against loss 

 by hail in the Florists' Hail Association 

 of America, which is now insuring over 

 30,000,000 square feet of glass. 



Joseph Heacock, Treas. 



The list of losses paid to date this sea- 

 son is as follows: 



Name. Date paid. 



Julius Stelnhauser, Pittsburg, Kan Dec. 23. 



\V. I'. Nceley, Slloam Springs, Kan Jan. 20. 



A. Jablonsky, Central, Slo .\pr. 17. 



Dr. L. W. Jacobs. Osawatotnle. Kan Apr. 17. 



Henry Gaethje, Rock IsUnd, 111 Apr. 19. 



Fred Bruckman, Rock Island, 111 Apr. 19. 



Kills Floral Co., Davenport, Iowa Apr. 22. 



St. Peter's German Evangelical Congregiit Ion. St. l,<iuls, .M<> .\pr. 22. 



Krnst Hoescht. Clayton, Mo Apr. 24. 



Park Commissioners of Davenport, Iowa Apr. 26. 



J. VV. Davis, Davenport, Iowa .\pr. 26. 



Forbes & Bird, Davenport, Iowa Apr. 27. 



\Vm. Bruckman, Rock Island, 111 .\pr. 27. 



George Corbett, College Hill, Ohio May 1. 



McBvoy Bros., Mt. Healthy, Ohio May 1. 



Asher M. Coe, North Olmstead, Pa May 1. 



Adolph Brlx, St. Louis, Mo May 1. 



John . Lodder & Sons, Hamilton, Ohio May 1. 



Joseph Linfoot, College Hill, Ohio May 1. 



L. Stapp, Rock Island, III May 1. 



Max Rudolph, College Hill, Ohio May 5. 



J. T. Conger, Hartwell, Ohio May 5. 



J. A. Hill, Steubenville, Ohio May 8. 



Ewold Bros., Davenport, Iowa May 8. 



D. Rasp, Lockland, Ohio May 8. 



Herman Bros. Co., Council BlnfFs, Iowa May 8. 



Henry Corbett, College Hill, Ohio May 8. 



Alfred Donaghue, Omaha, Neb May 8. 



Amount. 



$ 00.08 



22.05 



129.10 

 22.26 

 54.54 

 30.14 



235.20 

 41.80 

 14.42 

 64.75 



408.90 

 23.9.' 

 35.22 



167.77 

 24.49 

 11.22 



121.02 

 51.63 



173.95 

 36.10 



129.71 



212.65 

 22.10 

 36.40 



102.13 



1&6.77 



267.40 

 1,882..37 



14,578.12 



