16 



The FIorist3^ Review 



July 4, 1912. 



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^ SEASONABLE <^ 

 \ s^ SUGGESTIONS j 



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Asparagus Sprengen. 



There are many greenhouses not well 

 adapted for growing cut flowers which 

 answer admirably for the culture of the 

 ever useful Asparagus Sprengeri. It 

 succeeds well in either beds or benches, 

 but the soil should be liberally prepared. 

 Well rotted cow manure, fibrous loam 

 and some bone meal make an excellent 

 compost. Young plants, if set out at 

 once, will make a lot of growth before 

 fall and give a fine crop of strings be- 

 fore cold weather sets in again. It is 

 not necessary to replant asparagus each 

 season. Old plants should be cleaned 

 over, removing all yellow or useless 

 growths. The soil should be scratched 

 over and a good top-dressing aflforded. 

 The asparagus roots will speedily find 

 their way into this and the plants will 

 put on new vigor. Grow the plants cool 

 all summer and the shoots will be 

 stockier and much better for bunching 

 than such as are grown in warm houses. 



There are few crops which pay better 

 than Sprengeri. Every country florist 

 needs it, and even when there is no local 

 retail trade the wholesale markets and 

 commission houses can always find cus- 

 tomers for a lot of it. There is really 

 no day in the year when a number of 

 bunches cannot be cut, and as it appar- 

 ently thrives just as well in old-fash- 

 ioned as in new houses, those who may 

 be at a loss what to grow in some of 

 their less up-to-date greenhouses might 

 do well to try it. 



Smilax. 



The demand for smilax is not what it 

 was before the advent of Asparagus 

 Sprengeri and A. plumosus. There is, 

 however, some call for it still and at 

 certain times a real scarcity exists. 

 Smilax, like Asparagus Sprengeri, is a 

 plant which will thrive in houses al- 

 most impossible for the culture of roses, 

 carnations or mums. Solid beds are 

 in every case to be preferred to benches 

 and soil which suits the asparagus 

 will be equally to the liking of the 

 smilax. One point to remember about 

 smilax is that it likes to be grown warm. 

 Contrary to preconceived ideas, strings 

 grown warm possess more substance and 

 keep better than such as are grown cool 

 and airy. Then again, warm treatment 

 practically means an extra crop of 

 strings each year. Old smilax, which it 

 is desired to carry over, should have a 

 good drying off and a rich top-dressing 

 applied before they are started up. If 

 cut right down and started up again 

 without a rest, probabilities are that not 

 a few of the plants will rot. Always 

 remember to run up strings as soon as 

 possible after the plants are set out. 

 Once they become grown and their 

 strings entangled, it is a hard job to 

 separate them. Never use anything but 

 green twine for the strings. 



Freesias. 



The bulbs of freesia will soon be ar- 

 riving and in order to get an early 

 batch, which will flower for Christmas 



or the New Year, a few pans or flats 

 should be started early in July. 

 Place them in a cool cellar after plant- 

 ing. Give one soaking watering and 

 leave them there until the growths are 

 starting. Then place in a coldframe, 

 where they can remain until the end 

 of September, after which time a shelf 

 in a carnation house will make an ideal 

 place for them. Purity is still much 

 the best freesia. 



Foinsettias. 



Cuttings are now being produced 

 freely on the old stock plants of poin- 

 settia and it will be necessary to put in 

 batches at least once a week. As soon 

 as possible after taking the cuttings, 

 throw them into a pail or tub of strictly 

 fresh water, and after trimming off the 

 leaves replace them in the water until 

 they can be inserted in the sand. Cut- 

 tings taken with a heel root a little 

 more quickly than those that have 

 grown rather long and have to be cut 

 through with a knife. Never allow the 

 cuttings to wilt under any considera- 

 tion, either before or after placing 

 them in the sand. 



Hardy Boses. 



The hybrid perpetuals being now 

 practically over, we must depend on the 

 increasingly popular hybrid teas for the 

 bulk of our flowers for the last of the 

 summer. While this type of roses is 

 more tender than the hybrid perpet- 

 uals, they are much more satisfactory 

 commercially, as they are so persistent 

 flowering, and, as they embrace a really 

 wonderful range of beautiful colors, it 

 is not at all surprising that they are 

 being more grown each year. Take 

 such varieties as the two Killarneys, 

 Mme. Ravary, Richmond, Gruss an 

 Teplitz, Mme. Chatenay, Caroline Tes- 

 tout, Antoine Rivoire renamed Mrs. 



Taft, Dean Hole, Captain Christy, The 

 Lyon, Kaiserin Augusta Victoria, Mrs. 

 Aaron Ward and Mme. Jules Grolez, 

 and what a grand display they make all 

 summer! Then in the pure tea class, 

 white and pink Maman Cochet, Lady 

 Hillingdon, Mme. Jules Gravereaux and 

 Clothilde Soupert are all free flowering 

 and of great value to florists. 



If we could be sure of frequent rain- 

 falls through the summer months it 

 would be comparatively easy to have a 

 constant supply of good hybrid teas out- 

 doors. Unfortunately, long droughts 

 are more the rule than the exception, 

 and in order to achieve satisfactory 

 results, mulching and watering are al- 

 most a necessity. Given these we can 

 get grand flowers outdoors, which for 

 size, fragrance, color and stem far out- 

 class the same sorts grown under glass 

 at the same season. 



It will pay to look over all hardy 

 roses and remove seed pods just now; 

 also, and even more important, rub or 

 pull out clean any shoots of Manetti or 

 seedling briar stocks which are starting 

 from the ground. These, if allowed to 

 grow ad libitum, will soon materially 

 weaken the plants. While budded 

 roses possess greater vigor and are 

 longer-lived outdoors than those on 

 their own roots, they are soon crippled 

 if these wild growths are not care- 

 fully removed. 



Fruning Flowering Shrubs. 



As soon after flowering as possible 

 is the correct time to prune the ma- 

 jority of deciduous flowering shrubs, 

 and not in the spring, when we still see 

 many so-called landscape gardeners 

 shearing them into shape. By remov- 

 ing dead, weak and overcrowded shoots 

 now and heading back long and over- 

 grown ones, the plants can be vastly im- 

 proved. All trees and shrubs, particu- 

 larly those of a deciduous nature, are 

 benefited by a little judicious tree sur- 

 gery, and summer is the time to attend 

 to this work, and not winter, as it is 

 easy now, when the plants are in leaf, 

 to see what requires removal. Lilacs, 

 loniceras, spiraeas, deutzias, viburnums, 

 exochordas, philadelphus and other 

 shrubs should be pruned now. Hy- 

 drangeas, such as paniculata grandi- 

 flora and arborescens, should be pruned 

 in winter. 



OUTDOOR CUIiTURE. 



Until now the indoor sweet peas have 

 filled the center of the stage. Now 

 they are on the wane. This is particu- 

 larly true where houses are not large 

 and well ventilated. No doubt sweet 

 peas under glass are possible all sum- 

 mer, provided big, light houses are at 

 disposal, with an abundant water 

 supply. If the plants, however, could 

 be watered outdoors they would possess 

 more substance and a freshness hardly 



possible in the greenhouse grown plants. 

 Revolving sprinklers and an overhead 

 watering system each have their advo- 

 cates. The latter is, no doubt, the best 

 where returns are likely to warrant the 

 initial outlay. Watering here can be 

 done on a large scale and all at night, 

 which prevents the loss which other- 

 wise takes place by evaporation. Even 

 if no artificial watering is possible, 

 much good can be accomplished by giv- 

 ing a liberal mulch between the rows. 

 Certain shades will scorch quite a lit- 



