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The Weekly Florists' Reviewt 



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Febbuaby .2, 1911. 



SEASONABLE NOTES. 



; Phalaenopsis. 



February and March are months 

 when a larger number of phalaenopsis 

 are !in flower than at any other season 

 of the year. As the flower spikes are 

 noW well developed on P. Schilleriana, 

 P. Rimestadtiana and other varieties, 

 use water Avitli care, and any splash- 

 ing, of the hose among them must be 

 discontinued or many of the beautiful 

 flowers will spot. 



These East Indian orchids require a 

 waijin, moist house to themselves to be 

 grojvn successfully and for this reason 

 are ; less seen commercially in the east 

 thap on the Pacific coast. In Cali- 

 fornia they are grown in large num- 

 bers, and as they soon become estab- 

 lishied after being newly imported and 

 can be relied upon to give a fine crop 

 of flowers which will pay their initial 

 cosi eight months after being received, 

 there is every reason why they should 

 h^ more grown. 



Phalaenopsis succeed specially well in 

 round, rather deep baskets, and if some 

 of the old compost, which should be 

 about equal parts of fresh sphagnum 

 and fern fiber, is picked out each sea- 

 son and replaced by fresh, the plants 

 will not need disturbing for years. 

 Look out for cockroaches, which will 

 prey alike on leaves, flowers and 

 roots; also sow bugs and snails. The 

 cockroaches can be trapped in large 

 numbers in wide-mouthed jars contain- 

 ing molasses or stale bacon plunged be- 

 low the benches. A night temperature 

 of 65 degrees now, with a 10 degree 

 rise in the day time, will suit phalae- 

 nopsis. 



Cypripedium Insigne. 



As many of the plants of Cypripe- 

 dium insigne will now have passed out 

 of flower, any which are much matted 

 and crowded should be repotted. It 

 pays better to keep the plants in 

 pots six or seven inches in diameter 

 rather than grow them on into huge 

 pans, such as are often seen. The 

 small plants will give more flowers 

 proportionately than the big ones and 

 are more serviceable for use in deco- 

 rating or for retailing. Preserve all 

 possible roots intact when repotting. 

 Half fill the pots with broken crocks 

 and use two-thirds fibrous loam, with 

 the finer particles screened out, and 

 one-third rather soft fern fiber as com- 

 post. As with all orchids, potting must 

 be done firmly. Apply water sparingly 

 until the roots are actively at work, 

 but on bright days give a light spray- 

 ing overhead. 



C. insigne will do better after repot- 

 ting in a warm house, but during the 

 summer months it is much better 

 grown in a cool house, where it can 



be near the glass. While an old or- 

 chid, it is still one of the most easily 

 grown and most generally useful va 

 rieties in cultivation. 



CHLORIDE OF LIME AGAIN. 



In connection with the disqiission on 

 chloride of lime, I should like th^ mention 

 an experience I have had, similar to that 

 of E. M., in the culture of roses. About 

 eleven years ago, on a well-known place 

 near Chicago, we had a lot of roses — 

 Brides, Maids and.Perles — which looked 

 stunted and the leaves were turning 

 brown around the edges. On making 

 inquiry, I was told that the cause was too 

 much lime in the water. 



On close examination, however, I found 

 that the plants that seemed to suffer inost 

 v.ere those on the edge of theibenches 

 and on the top benches of the houses, 

 which dried out the most. So I decided 

 that dryness might have had something 

 to do with it, and thereafter I kept the 

 plants always wet. In about eight weeks 

 the plants had grown pretty well out of 

 their stunted condition. After that I 

 found at times that a strong plant would 

 again show some brownness of the leaves, 

 but after a few heavy waterings they 

 always revived. I have come to the con- 

 clusion, therefore, that wherever there is 

 lime in the water (and chloride of lime 

 may have the same effect), the plants ^ill 

 only suffer so long as the water is not ap- 

 plied liberally enough to thoroughly satu- 

 rate the soil and wash out the impurities 

 that have accumulated in it, thereby forc- 

 ing the plants to take up what they will 

 not take up as long as they have enough 

 water for their need. As E. M. 's trouble 

 started at the driest time in the year, 

 October, this may have had something to 

 do with it, and I would suggest that he 

 water a part of his stock until the water 

 runs through the bench, and continue 

 this for at least two months, watering 

 heavily about once a week. 



In propagating, this treatment would 

 be even more necessary than in the case 

 of the growing plants. The bench should 

 have sufficient drainage to allow the wat^r 

 to pass through the sand freely, and the 

 sand should be watered, or washed out, it 

 least twice per week. 



W. J. Keimel. 



MUMS FOR CHRISTMAS. ' 



I should like to know how to handle 

 the red mum called Intensity to get 

 blooms for Christmas, 1911; also the 

 names of a good pink and deep golden 

 yellow for the' same purpose. W.-P. 



I would state that the way to handle 

 your chrysanthemums to get them for 

 Christmas is to strike your cuttings in 

 June or July and plant them out Au- 

 gust 1, then grow them along and take 

 the latest possible bud, which is always 

 a terminal. 



This you should be able to hold back 

 until quite late in October; then run 

 the house as cool as possible without 

 actual frost. So treated, many varie- 

 ties can be kept perfectly well until 

 Christmas. The best thing I know of 

 for a late crop is W. E. Brock, and 

 the best yellow. Yellow Chadwick. Two 

 others. Major Bonnaffon and Nagoya, 

 can also be grown for Christmas use if 

 desired. C. H. Totty. 



HOUSE OF CHADWICKS. 



Leo Miller, of Shepard, O., who is 

 one of the skillful growers of stock for 

 the market at Colimibus, O.,' had ex- 

 ceptional success ' this season with a 

 house of W, H. Chadwick mums, white 

 and yellow, as shown in the accompany- 

 ing illustration. The house is 30x100 

 and the crop was grown under contract 

 for the retail cut flower department of 

 the Livingston Seed Co., Columbus. The 

 illustration shows also the "little 

 boss" — Mr. Miller's daughter. 



NAME OF PLANT. 



I am sending under separate cover a 

 plant of which I should like to know 

 the name. 0. C. G. 



The name of the plant is Agathsea 

 coelestis, allied to the cineraria and 

 sometimes called the blue marguerite. 

 It is an old plant in cultivation, having 

 beeen introduced as long ago as 1753 

 from the Cape of Good Hope. It roots 

 easily from cuttings and will flower 

 freely in winter, as well as summer. It 

 is a herbaceous perennial and will with- 

 stand light freezings. C. W. 



House of Chadwicks Grown by Leo Miller, Shepard, Ohio. 



