14 



The Weekly Florists^ Re vie w* 



Mav 



1912 



3C 



3C 



3C 



i 



ii SEASONABLE 



i ^ SUGGESTIONS \ 



(r\\W(fl> 





DC 



3C 



3C 



Gloxinias. 



Till' earliest hatch of jiloxinia plants 

 should now be coinin;; into flower, (live 

 them u warm housf and a moderate 

 amount of shade. If too mueh shade 

 is used the foliage will be of a fine dark 

 jireen color, but the flower stems will 

 be -weak and floppy. .\void sjnaying 

 the folia<,'e or you ■will soon disfijiure 

 it, .lust as soon as the sun strikes any 

 damj) leaves, they Avill be badly burned 

 and, if the folia<;e is once scorched, 

 the ])lants are ]>ractically unsalable. 

 AVluM'e a batch of these showy ])lants 

 is wanted for flowcMinj,"' in August, the 

 dormant tubers slioidd be started now. 

 These will do well from this time on 

 in an ordinary greenhouse, always tak 

 ing care that tlie sun is not allowed 

 to scorch the leaves. Seedlings started 

 last February are now in ;>-inch ]iots 

 and almost ready for a shift. These, 

 if kept growing on, will make useful 

 stock for flowering in July and August, 

 (ijoxinias should not be too lirmly 

 jiiittiNl and the compost at the final 

 shift shoubl be liglit but rich, with a 

 good ]u-oportion of sand added. 



Fancy Caladiuins. 



Those attractive plants, the fancy 

 leaveil caladiunis, are ]iarticular]y valu 

 aide for bedding in the warmer states, 

 but, while they will make a fair amount 

 of gi'owth as far north as Boston and 

 Chicago, they cannot be depended upon 

 as bedding jdants. For pot culture 

 they are. however, extremely useful. 

 They are at their best at the hottest 

 part of the year, at whi(di time really 

 good flowering jdants ai'o not ]dentiful. 

 and for room decoration, also on 

 ]iiazzas which aie not too exposed, the 

 1'ancydeaved caladiunis come in use- 

 fully. Tlii'v en.joy a warm, moist house 

 to maki^ their growth in and. while they 

 like a little shade undtM- glass, it should 

 be light or the naturally rich colors of 

 the lea\('s will be dulh^d. For com 

 ]iost. they grow W(dl in fibrous loam, 

 decayed i-ow iiianure, leaf-moM and 

 sand. They .also giow finely if some 

 fern fiber is Jiiixed in tlu^ soil; it helps 

 to keeji it jiorous at the same time. 

 Li(|uid nianuie once a week can ho 

 gi\(Mi as soon ;is the jdants uro well 

 rooteil aiouiid the pots. 



Thei'e are many beautiful \arieties 

 of fancy lca\('(l caladiunis and !is they 

 .•lie of eas\' culture, no florist need be 

 afraid to try them. Many fail to carry 

 the roots o\(M- winter succi^ssfully. To 

 keep them iirojierly. they need a tiMii 

 ]ii>r:ifure ot' not less tlian HO degrees. 



Bay Trees. 



After the first we(d< in May it is al 

 ways s;ife to stand bay trees outside. 

 They may get an oci-asion;il light frost 

 ;iftcr that date, but it will not hurt 

 them. l",\]iosiire to strong light will 

 ]ii-obably turn th(> leaves brown on 

 some i>lants and, to ])revent this, they 

 should 1)0 freidy hos(^d o\erhead an<l 

 sufliident moisture must be ajiplied at 

 the root. Plants b.adly jiot or tub 



bound slioubl have a shift, but in nuist 

 cases if a good top-dressing is gi\'en it 

 will suffice, supjilcmenting this with 

 liquid manure from time to time 

 throughout the growing season. Plants 

 which have become quite brown should 

 be carefully sheared back; they will 

 soon make new growths and make pre- 

 sentable heads. In addition to bay 

 trees, such evergreens as aucubas, cu- 

 ])ressus, box trees,, Araucaria imbricata, 

 English and Irish yews and others 

 which do not winter in the colder 

 states, should be placed outdoors at 

 once. Give them an abundant water 

 sujiply and hose overhead freely and 

 they will soon start away into ;icti\e 

 growth. 



Amaryllises. 



The flowering season for amaiyllises 

 will now ln' over, but if a fine <rop of 

 spikes is desired next winter and spring 

 they must ha\e the best of attention 

 through the summer. If space peiinits 

 they will do well in a greenhouse, espe 

 cially if they can be ])lunged. On the 

 whole, however, the best jilan is to 

 plunge them in coldframes and leave 

 sash protection over them all summer, 

 shading a little from direct sunlight. 

 Leave the sashes tilted up, both top and 

 bottom, all the time and give the plants 

 a hosing over every afternoon, or if, 

 perchance, the day is unusually hot. 



two (u- three sjirayings will be apiir,. 

 ciated. When jduiiged to the bim.; 

 in old manure or leaves, the ])lants win 

 not require fre«iuent waterings, . \,,y 

 ill the hottest weather, and i ho^ 

 ])lunged ])lants always jiroduce n u)) 

 l>igger bulbs than the ini|dunged i. ,|.^ 

 Keej) seedling plants i)otted on as 

 need it. They will make cpiite 1 

 bulbs in one season if carefully loi 

 after, and a large proportion will fle vi| 

 the second year. 



Asters. 



lOV 



Farly asters, such as Karly Woi loi 

 and Queen of the Market, should i^ 

 be gradually hardened off, and plani nj- 

 out can be done from the early pan tu 

 the end of May, according to the 1 ti 

 tude. A light freeze will not hiim 

 them. Of course ground well enririioil 

 is necessary for a fine crop of flow' i>;. 

 It is a pure waste of time to plant tn 

 poorly prepared ground. Nine to twi vc 

 inches apart in the rows, with the ri \\> 

 twenty-four inches apart, will sutiico 

 for these early varieties. The l.to 

 batches are better allowed thirty to 

 thirty six inches between the aows. 

 >sow is a suitable tiiiu" to nmke a goml 

 sowing of such varieties as Crc^o, 

 A'ick's Branching, the Ostrich Plume 

 varieties and Sem]de*s for late flower- 

 ing. A coldframi' .-inswers well for siw 

 ing now and is ]ireferable to so\\iiig 

 outdoors, as watering can be attt'nlcil 

 to regularly and a larger jicrcentagc nf 

 germination eiisuriMl. Keel> ♦'i^' sashes 

 on until the seedlings ar(> abo\(> gi'oun'l; 

 then remo\ (' them entirely unh'ss ]'cr 

 chance a cold snap should make if ncr 

 essary to co\ cr them. These seedlini^s 

 raised in the open are not subject to the 

 Aarious stem diseases which att n k 

 those started in heat. 



OUTDOOR PEAS. 



The earl\- (uifdoor sowings cif sweet 

 peas are now above grotiiid and thi> soil 

 sImhiM be ke|it well stii're<| about them, 

 (iet sui'porfs in jiosition as soon as 

 possible, whether it be brush or wire 

 netfing. Stand some short, bushy twigs 

 among the little seedlings tor them to 

 cling to. -No doubt nuiiiy ot' them ha\e 

 come up too thickly and should b(» 

 thinned. lea\ing the jiiants three or 

 four inches ajiart eacli way. A thick 

 row of sweet jieas makes a bra\'e show 

 of green, but it will Jiev(M' give nearly 

 as fine flower spikes as those well 

 thinned out and, furthermore, there is 

 always likidy to be a large numb(^r 

 dying oft' during the season, something 

 li'ss seldom seen where ]dants are judi- 

 ciously thinned. If any more sweet 

 jieas are to lie sown, get them in at 

 once. If d(dayed any more, the tlowers 

 will be of ])oor (|ualify.' as the growth 

 will be forced with few roofs to support 



them. The plants started in pots shot; 1 

 go out at once. If they get the lea t 

 potbound it is better to loosen t ■' 

 balls somewhat when jdanting thcni oi '. 



TEMPERATURE FOR SWEET PEA r 



111 my jiajier on sweet peas, entifl' i 

 ■ ' .V Grower's Notes." which was pu 

 limited in Tiie Keview of April 2'), jia. ' 

 I 1. 1 notice a mistake, by correcfi' - 

 \\ Inch you will greatly oblige me. Tt, - 

 mistake was probably made in copyi: : 

 my in.Miiuscriid on the typewriter, I 

 fore sending the copy to The Kevic . 

 and is in regaid to temperature. 



During midwinter we run a nig ' 

 temperature of ."lU degrees, with a tc 

 jioraturc of .")."i degrees on cloudy da - 

 and i)(» fo 0.J degrees during lirigl • 

 clear weather. Toward spring we dr ' 

 to 45 or 47 degrees at night, with f ' 

 same day temperature as during im 

 winter. I shall be grateful to you 

 vou will make this cornH-tion. 



'h.arh's M. \Ve;iver. 



