^6 



The Weekly Florists^ Review. 



Mat 9, 1912. 



houses. His establishment is situated 

 on an elevation, overlooking the 

 Genesee nver and a part of the Genesee 

 valley, and the site is an admirable one 

 for a grower, on account of the abund- 

 ance of light and sunshine. He has 

 9,000 square feet of glass and grows 

 carnations, chrysanthemums, Boston 

 ferns, flowering and bedding plants, for 

 his own use, but he reports that he can 

 not grow enough to supply his own 

 trade. He ships pansy seedlings to dif- 

 ferent parts of the country. He is also 

 growing a few streptocarpus, which, 

 though a highly decorative plant, is 

 somewhat rare in his city. 



A little over a year ago Mr. Fry 

 purchased from J. 0. Pridmore a green- 

 house containing a small salesroom, on 

 Lyell avenue, about one mile from the 

 city line, and at this place, also, he is 

 doing a prosperous business. E. C. A. 



PLANTING IN THE FIEU). 



It is always well to plant out the 

 violet stock before the weather be- 

 comes too warm. Violets succeed best 

 when the ground is cool and moist and 

 do not make much growth during the 

 hot summer months. They do much bet- 

 ter when planted out early. This al- 

 lows them to become established before 

 they get torrid heat. The ground for 

 them should have been liberally ma- 

 nured, plowed and well harrowed. The 

 singles, such as Princess of Wales, 

 should not be less than twelve inches 

 apart in the rows. If hand cultivators 

 are to be used, eighteen inches between 

 the rows will suffice. If horse cultiva- 

 tion is wanted, leave at least twenty- 

 four inches. Choose if possible a cool, 

 cloudy day to plant out the young stock. 

 Try to get a little ball of soil on each, 

 and be sure the soil is well moistened. 

 It is simply a waste of time and energy 

 to plant out violets or, for that matter, 

 any other plants, with dry roots. Never 

 mind if rain does seem imminent. It 

 often does not come when expected and 

 then only in sufficient volume to moisten 

 the surface soil. The grower who is 

 careless enough to bed out any plants 

 with dry roots deserves to lose them. 

 This applies not only to violets, but to 

 all flower and vegetable plants and 

 trees and shrubs of every kind. 



With double violets, such as Marie 

 Louise, Lady Hume Campbell, Swan- 

 ley White and Farquhar, the plants can 

 go eight to nine inches apart in the 

 rows, and the rows as near as twelve 

 inches apart where hand hoeing can be 

 done. While the single violets succeed 

 well in full sunshine, I have had 

 fine doubles where they have had a 

 little shade from buildings or tall 

 trees. Shade, however, is not neces- 

 sary, as many of the best specialists in 

 doubles grow them in the full sun. If 



any violets, double or single, are planted 

 out early, while the ground is cool and 

 moist, and are kept thoroughly culti- 

 vated all summer, they should make 

 good growth, unless, peradventure, pro- 



tracted heat or attacks of red spider 

 should cripple them. It is surprising, 

 however, what a lot of drought even 

 violets will stand if a fine, loose mulch 

 of soil is kept about them. 



ac 



ac 



ac 



1 SEASONABLE »e 



(SD 



i 



)> 9^ SUGGESTIONS k 



I 

 i 



Poinsettias. 



If the poinsettia stock plants wejli!f, 

 started as advised a few weeks ago they 

 will now be carrying a nice crop of cut- 

 tings, which should be taken off before 

 they are too long, and inserted in a prop- 

 agating bench where they will have a 

 good bottom heat. The cuttings root 

 most easily and quickly and are the 

 least liable to damp off when taken off 

 with a heel. When they are allowed to 

 become long and have to be cut below 

 a leaf there is always greater danger 

 of their damping in the cutting bench. 

 As a rule one watering a day will suf- 

 fice while cuttings are in the sand. On 

 dark days none may be needed. Be sure 

 not to allow any sun to strike the cut- 

 tings until they are rooted. Once they 

 are badly wilted they might as well be 

 thrown away. Do not leave cuttings 

 in the sand after they have roots an 

 inch in length, as they are easily brok- 

 en. Give small pots at the start and be 

 sure to keep close and shaded until es- 

 tablished. Where stock plants are not 

 yet started it would be well to place 

 them in heat now, as a few weeks will 

 elapse before they will carry cuttings 

 of propagating size. 



Primulas. 



The early sown primulas will now be 

 well established in flats and within a 

 few days should go into 2%-inch pots. 

 Use a light compost for them, contain- 

 ing plenty of leaf -mold with just a lit- 

 tle fine manure added. All these green- 

 house annuals grow well in a light soil 

 at the first potting. In a retentive loam 

 they are not at home at all, and to 

 heavy, clayey soils, sand and leaf-mold 

 should be added freely. Where leaf- 

 mold is unprocurable, some well de- 

 cayed hotbed manure or mushroom ma- 

 nure passed through a fine screen may 

 be used with advantage. All the prim- 

 roses like a cool house and are bene- 

 fited by a little shade. .Tust as soon 

 as Memorial day and the rush of bed- 

 ding out is over, move them into a 

 coldframe, which is the ideal location 

 for them in summer. 



Gardenias. 



Where an early batch of gardenia 

 cuttings was inserted early in April 

 in a propagating house with a brisk 

 bottom heat the cuttings should now be 

 rooted and ready to pot off. Give them 

 a close, stuffy, moist atmosphere after 

 potting, and give them frequent light 

 sprayings until established. The pres- 

 ent is an opportune time to do more 

 propagating. As with many other 

 plants, heel cuttings root more quickly 

 than any others. The great secret in 

 rooting gardenias is to keep the cut- 

 tings constantly sprayed over. One 

 damping over a day is entirely inade- 



quate. For the first three weeks keep 

 the leaves constJftJtly damp and few 

 "lis treatment would 

 Id other soft wood 

 lias, with their hard 

 it. 



will fail to root, 

 soon rot mums 

 cuttings, but garc 

 wood, just revel 



BerrieC^Solanums. 



Plant out the ycRing berried solanums 

 any time now. N^ver mind if they get 

 a light freezing; it will not hurt them 

 in the least. These plants are not ten- 

 der subjects and it is a good plan to 

 get the hardier plants outdoors before 

 the real hustle and rush commence. 

 Plant twelve to fifteen inches apart in 

 the rows in good soil and you will get 

 much finer plants and more heavily ber- 

 ried than if you kept them growing in 

 pots all summer. Plants you raised 

 from cuttings will fruit earlier than the 

 seedlings, but the latter have more 

 vigor, are of a stronger and more bushy 

 habit and will make you the finest 

 Christmas plants. 



Cyclamens. 



With the rush of other spring work, 

 there is great danger of overlooking 

 those useful winter plants, the cycla- 

 mens. Not infrequently we see them 

 in flats or pots with the surface soil 

 coated with slime and the plants half 

 choked in weeds. Good plants cannot 

 be expected if this treatment is toler- 

 ated. Keep weeds pulled out and en- 

 deavor to give time to transplant or pot 

 over any needing it. A few minutes' 

 labor may mean a big difference in the 

 selling value of your plants next winter. 

 Use a light soil, with plenty of sand in 

 it, and pot moderately firm. Keep the 

 plants on a bench or shelf where they 

 get a little shade from the direct sun's 

 rays and where they have a night tem- 

 perature of 50 to 54 degrees. You will 

 hardly be able to spare frame room for 

 them yet, but as soon as you have 

 cleared out a few sashes of bedding 

 plants, move the cyclamens into cold- 

 frames. 



Lilium Speclosum. 



Plants of Lilium speciosum being 

 grown for summer fiowering should have 

 a light house, without much shade. Give 

 them an abundance of air at all times, 

 as speciosums resent coddling. As buds 

 show on the flowering stems, it will be 

 well to give them some support. The 

 stalks may keep erect now, but it will 

 be otherwise when the flowers start to 

 open. Be sure you do not allow any 

 green fly to get a foothold on the plants 

 or you will find many of the flowers 

 will be ruined by it. What applies to 

 L. speciosum applies with equal force 

 to L. auratum and, in fact, to all lilies. 

 Don't wait until you see plants alive 

 with pests and then fumigate or spray; 

 always remember that prevention is bet- 

 ter than cure. 



