14 



The Weekly Florists^ Review^ 



Aphil 11, 1912. 



respect of all who know roses. You 

 men of Baltimore are deservedly proud 

 of John Cook and I feel grateful to 

 your club to think that I have been 

 honored by an invitation to speak on 

 the subject of roses before a club of 

 which he is a member. 



BICHMOND WEAK STEMMED. 



We have a house of 2-year-old Rich- 

 mond roses growing well, , with nice, 

 clean foliage, two to five blooms to 

 the bush, large blooms but weak stems, 

 especially at the neck. We carry a 

 night temperature of 58 degrees, day 

 68 to 70 degrees. They are grown in 



good clay soil and we have been feed- 

 ing them liquid manure once in two 

 weeks, and once each month a mulch of 

 Chicago cattle manure. C. H. M. 



Your treatment of Richmond seems 

 to have been about right, only I find 

 56 degrees at night suits it best, with a 

 rise of 10 degrees in the daytime. A 

 dressing of wood ashes or lime will 

 help strengthen the stems, and perhaps 

 you are running them a little close in 

 the daytime and not ventilating suffi- 

 ciently. Rather more fresh air, some 

 lime or ashes and a slight drop in the 

 temperature should materially improve 

 them. C. W. 



i 



I SEASONABLE 



I ^ SUGGESTIONS \ 



I 



3C 



ac 



3C 



Canterbury Bells. 



Any Canterbury bells which were not 

 flowered for Easter should be grown 

 cool; never mind if the temperature is 

 as low as 40 degrees at night. Remem- 

 ber that these plants will withstand 

 outside temperatures of zero or lower, if 

 mulched, and they are not improved by 

 warm house culture. They make superb 

 pot plants, entirely discounting such as 

 are grown outdoors, and those who will 

 hold their stock moderately cool and 

 time them to come in for Memorial day 

 will make a good stake. These Canter- 

 bury bells are grand, not only as pot 

 plants but for cutting, particularly the 

 single varieties. The cooler they are 

 grown the better they will be, and do 

 not forget to use a few stakes in each 

 pot. 



That reminds us that now is the time 

 to make a sowing of Canterbury bells 

 if strong plants are desired next au- 

 tumn. Do not put off your sowing until 

 you sow pansies, daisies and myosotis, 

 as is too often done. Canterbury bells 

 sown in July and August will not pro- 

 duce plants of sufficient size to flower 

 the following season. When big enough 

 to be handled, transplant into flats, and 

 plant out a foot apart in nursery rows 

 towards the end of May, Cultivate well 

 all summer and you are sure to have 

 strong crowns. 



Primulas. 

 In the pressure of Easter week many 

 little jobs will have been postponed and 

 these will no doubt include the trans- 

 planting of many seedlings. The little 

 primulas, whether obconicas. Sinensis, 

 Kewensis, malacoides or whatever 

 other sorts you may have sown, are, 

 or should be, ready for transplanting 

 into shallow flats of soil of which at 

 least one-half is leaf-mold. Give them 

 a light position, quite near the glass, 

 but be sure to shade for a few days 

 after pricking out the seedlings. Prim- 

 ulas, if left too long in the seed pans, 

 will be completely ruined. 



Standard Wistarias. 



A correspondent, who has admired 

 the standard wistarias at Easter in 

 some of the high class florists' stores, 

 asks where he can purchase some. A 

 certain number are imported annually, 

 but if the inquirer can wait a season or 

 two there is no reason why he cannot 



grow some standards himself. Purchase 

 some plants, from any reliable nursery, 

 of Wistaria Chinensis or its white 

 form. They will carry several shoots 

 each. Cut away all but the strongest. 

 Plant these out in nursery rows and tie 

 to a stout stake the shoot retained. 

 Cut it off at any desired height; four 

 to five feet is about right. Rub away 

 all bottom growths and such as come 

 below the desired head. Pinch the up- 

 per shoots back from time to time to 



make a close head. Grow the plants 

 outside a couple of years, then dig up 

 and either pot them or place them in 

 tubs. You can grow just as fine wis- 

 tarias in this way as can be imported, 

 and with little trouble. 



Bamblers for Memorial Day. 



Started early in April, there will be 

 no trouble in flowering ramblers for 

 Memorial day. The demand at the end 

 of May is less robust than at Easter 

 for the tall ramblers, but the baby 

 ramblers, also Clothilde Soupert, Maman 

 Cochet andi some hybrids, notably Frau 

 Karl Druschki, sell well in pots even 

 though the flowering period outdoors 

 is close at hand. Hard forcing will not 

 be necessary for the Memorial day 

 stock. The plants will be of much finer 

 quality if grown moderately cool 

 throughout, a night temperature of 50 

 degrees being about right. 



Pricking Out Annuals. 



Many annuals will now require 

 pricking off into flats or potting. The 

 soil in each case should be light but 

 moderately rich. Spent hotbed manure 

 which has been dried and is not full 

 of worms is excellent, as is old mush- 

 room manure. If a man or boy will fill 

 the flats and carry them away, a good 

 hand can plant a large number of flats 

 per day, and it never pays to leave any 

 of these annuals to become crowded in 

 the seedling pans or flats, as they soon 

 become spindling and starved. With 

 abundance of space at disposal, with 

 Easter stock out of the way, this work 

 of potting and boxing should receive 

 considerable of our time. 



CAENATION SHOW IN ENGLAND. 



The carnation show which was opened 

 in London, England, March 21, was the 

 largest, and for spectacular effect the 

 finest, ever held under the auspices of 

 the Perpetual Flowering Carnation So- 

 ciety. W. E. Wallace, of Eaton Bray, 

 maintained his position as champion 

 grower and carried off leading honors, 

 with C. Engelmann, of Saffron Walden, 

 a good second. Mr. Wallace's achieve- 

 ments included a gold medal for the 

 best group of carnations; the American 

 cup for American novelties, with Mrs. 

 C. W. Ward, Dorothy Gordon and 

 White Wonder; the Covent Garden 

 cup, with Winsor and Gloriosa, sixty 

 blooms of each, and a silver gilt medal 

 for the best vase in the show. White 

 Perfection. Quite a number of prizes 

 in other classes went to the Eaton Bray 

 grower also, with such varieties as De- 

 light, Winsor, May Day, Scarlet Glow, 

 etc. 



C. Engelmann, Saffron Walden, con- 

 tributed an extensive and excellent col- 

 lection of flowers, including a number of 

 his own raising, and he secured a fine 

 lot of awards, including a large gold 

 medal for a group; the Brunton cup for 

 British novelties, with three of his own 

 varieties, namely, Carola, British 



Triumph and Lady Northcliffe, and 

 firsts in other classes, with Lady North- 

 cliffe, Carola, Hilda, etc. For a variety 

 not in commerce, first, C. Engelmann, 

 with Hilda; second, W. E. Wallace, 

 with Una Wallace; third, AUwood Bros., 

 with Peerless. 



The floral committee had about half 

 a dozen varieties to consider, but only 

 one award of merit was recorded, 

 namely, to Lady Northcliffe, from C. 

 Engelmann, a flower of a lovely pink 

 shade, of good form and substance and 

 quite free. Among the varieties which 

 failed to obtain the requisite number 

 of points was Mrs. A. F. Button, from 

 A. F. Dutton, Ivor, Bucks. However, 

 Mr. Dutton swears by it as an excellent 

 market variety, and has confidence in 

 its future, or he would not have named 

 it after his wife. Cinnabar, from 

 Stuart Low & Co., Bush Hill Park, is a 

 flower of a novel and pleasing shade, 

 quite unique in carnations, and will 

 probably be grown in many private col- 

 lections, though too small for the gen- 

 eral market. The Newport Carnation 

 Nursery Co. put up Lady Meyer, but it 

 also was found lacking, although in the 

 competitive vase classes it beat En- 

 chantress. 



A year or two ago the leading vases 

 in competitive classes were Enchantress, 



