^mn)ifmmv>llt-'f I r-^—vnr' »,*T^'p;'(T<f -■!'•■ -'V" ■'•!;.? 



March 7, 1912. 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



25 



Establishment of D. H. Smouse & Sons, Mt Pleasant, la. 



lar, as they can be profitably sold at a 

 comparatively low price. All these 

 should now be well started into growth, 

 and if the spikes are already showing 

 they are all right. Give them a warm 

 house, an abundant water supply and 

 frequent doses of liquid manure. 

 Spiraeas are thirsty subjects and may 

 need three waterings daily where ram- 

 blers or lilies would only require one. 

 As they grow rapidly now, they will 

 have to be frequently given additional 

 space. Stand some of the largest plants 

 on inverted pots, with a saucer below 

 them, which will prevent their drying 

 out so rapidly. 



Spiraea Queen Alexandra. 



The beautiful peach-pink spiraea, 

 Queen Alexiandra, is not adaptable for 

 early forcing, but started from now 

 onward will do superbly. Its price 

 has come down until it is now within 

 the reach of all florists. It usually pays 

 much better to have this for Memorial 

 day than for Easter, as the flowers are 

 in active demand and they realized as 

 much as $6 per hundred last year at 

 wholesale, and in some cases even more. 

 The plants also sell particularly well 

 for Memorial day. If this spiraea is 

 grown in a moderately cool house from 

 the start, it is much finer than when 

 subjected to hard forcing. A point to 

 remember about it also is to be sure to 

 have the plants in a well shaded house 

 when the flower heads are expanding, 

 or they will soon lose their beautiful 

 pink color and bleach out almost white. 

 The new variety, Philadelphia, prom- 

 ises to be something of unusual merit. 

 Anything which beats Queen Alexandra 

 must be exceedingly fine. 



Amaryllis. 



To have amaryllis of the finest qual- 

 ity, the pots should be plunged in some 

 material such as oak leaves, tan bark 

 or cocoanut fiber, and they should be 

 on a bench under which the heating 

 pipes run. This insures a nice, gentle 

 bottom heat and the plants appreciate 

 it, as is evidenced by the robust spikes 

 and strong foliage sent up. Treated 

 thus, the plants do not require more 

 than one-fourth the water supply of 

 the unplunged ones. Of course, many 

 growers produce splendid amaryllis 

 without any bottom heat, and no one 

 should fear to attempt their culture, 

 which is comparatively easy, because 

 he can not provide such heat. A 

 night temperature of 55 to 60 degrees 

 at this season is suitable for amaryllis. 

 Provided they were not repotted before 

 being started up, applications of liquid 



manure will greatly improve the qual- 

 ity of the flowers. Amaryllis bulbs 

 are expensive to purchase, and anyone 

 going into their culture should secure 

 a flrst-class strain of seed as a starter, 

 later crossing the best of these and 



iraVERY now and then a well- 

 IL9I pleased reader speaks the word 

 which is the means of bringing a 

 new advertiser to 



tVEO^ 



Such friendly assistance is thoroughly 

 appreciated. 



Give us the name of anyone from 

 whom you are buying, not an adver- 

 tiser. We ;;specially wish to interest 

 those selling articles of florists use 

 not at present advertised. 



FLORISTS* PUBLISHING CO. 

 530-60 Caxton Bldg. Chicago 



saving his own seed. It usually takes 

 two or three years to flower amaryllis, 

 although they have been known to 

 bloom in fourteen months from seed. 



Calceolarias.' 



Both the herbaceous and rugosa or 

 shrubby section of calceolarias are now 

 in active growth. May is their flower- 

 ing period, although it is possible to 

 have some late in April. Be sure that 

 some stakes are given them before any 

 of the shoots can break, as calceolarias 

 are quite brittle. Let these stakes be 

 thin and painted green; this, indeed, 

 applies to all stakes which will show 

 in any way. Grow the plants cool; 40 

 to 45 degrees is sufficiently warm. The 

 cooler they are kept, the stockier will 

 they be. 



Cobsea Scandens. 



Cobsea scandens is one of the quick- 

 est growing and most useful of annual 

 climbers. It is a mistake to sow the 

 seeds too early, as growth is so rapid 

 that the plants become overgrown and, 

 unless carefully staked and tied, will 

 get badly entangled. Sow the seeds in 

 flats or pans, standing them on edge, 

 and cover an inch deep with light, 

 sandy soil. Pot off when they have 

 made their second leaves and give a 

 further shift to prevent their becoming 

 potbound. 



TBADE DEVELOPMENT IN IOWA. 



In that great section of the country 

 between the Mississippi and Sierras the 

 florists' business is just beginning to 

 grow — the development there in the 

 next ten years will be worth watching. 

 As to present status and recent growth, 

 the report of Smouse & Sons, of Mt. 

 Pleasant, la., is typical. They write: 



"We have only been in the flower 

 business five years. "We began by using 

 a small house made of hotbed sashes 

 heated with a fire train. Later, with a 

 little assistance from a near relative, 

 we were able to erect the two smaller 

 houses shown in the accompanying illus- 

 tration, in which we grow carnations, 

 bedding stock, ferns and roses. As 

 our business grew we built the larger 

 house, in which we grow one bed of 

 carnations, with the rest in mums, 

 which we follow with lettuce and spring 

 vegetable plants. 



' ' This fall we advertised a chrysan- 

 themum show, which proved to be de- 

 cidedly successful. We believe that 

 more can be accomplished in the way of 

 advertisement by having an opening of 

 this kind than in almost any other 

 way. ' * 



Chrysanthemums of D. H. Smouse & Sons, Mt. Pleasant, la. 



