8 



The Florists^ Review 



July 25. 1912. 



cause the northern market became 

 overstocked. We are still cutting for 

 Mobile florists. We expect to cut 

 back most of the field early next month, 

 close to the ground, and cultivate thor- 



oughly for the production of plants, of 

 which we expect to produce at least a 

 quarter of a million. We found Cin- 

 cinnati and St. Louis our two best mar- 

 kets for the cut flowers." 



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? SEASONABLE <^ "11 



\ ^ SUGGESTIONS j 



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THE PEBENNIAI. GARDEN. 



In July's Heat and Drought. 



July, the month of heat and not 

 infrequently of drought, has not quite 

 80 interesting a display of hardy herba- 

 ceous flowers as its immediate prede- 

 cessor. In droughty periods perennials 

 are never seen at their best. When 

 the soil is dry and artificial watering 

 is out of the question, not a few plants 

 pass all too quickly. Where watering 

 cannot be done, the frequent stirring 

 of the surface soil and the application 

 of a mulch of decayed or partly de- 

 cayed manure about lilies, phloxes and 

 such varieties as suffer most quickly 

 from drought and heat will do a world 

 of good. Whenever watering is done, 

 let it be thorough, and be sure to loosen 

 up the baked surface soil on the fol- 

 lowing day. The persistent playing of 

 the hose on perennials and annuals has 

 nothing to recommend it; it is far bet- 

 ter to give one soaking watering, then 

 loosen the surface and wait until ne- 

 cessity calls for more moisture before 

 applying it. 



Blue Delphiniums or Larkspurs. 



The delphiniums or hardy larkspurs 

 make a glorious show in early July. 

 They delight in a deep, well-manured 

 soil and should have the fullest sun- 

 shine. I like to plant in October, but 

 seedlings set out in spring always do 

 well, unless cutworms, which have a 

 strong liking for them, make meals of 

 a majority of them. They will give 

 nice spikes later in the season than 

 older established plants. Many named 

 varieties of delphiniums are offered. 

 European firms specialize in them, and 

 such growers as Lemoine, Kelway, 

 Perry, Wallace and others offer many 

 magnificent sorts. The average florist 

 and gardener, however, cannot afford 

 to invest in plants which cost a rather 

 fancy price, and good light and dark 

 blue mixtures of seeds or plants an- 

 swer well. Belladonna, of a beautiful 

 sky blue color; D. formosum, rich deep 

 blue, white center; D. formosum coeles- 

 tinum, light blue, large flowers, and 

 Queen of the Blues, clear gentian blue, 

 are all first-class. If given good cul- 

 ture, these will easily grow five to six 

 feet high or even more, and if cut 

 back when the first crop of spikes has 

 passed they will give a useful second 

 crop in September. 



Larkspiirs in Other Colors. 



The rather dwarf growing D. nudi- 

 caule, scarlet, and D. sulphureum, clear 

 yellow, growing three to four feet high, 

 while interesting, are not in the same 

 class with the blue forms. The Chi- 

 nese larkspur, D. Chinense, of a rich 

 gentian blue, and its pure white form 



are among the most easily raised and 

 useful of all perennials. Sown now, 

 they will flower the same season and, 

 transplanted in fall, they will make a 

 fine display the following summer. 

 Seed of all the hardy larkspurs can be 

 sown now. A coldframe where some 

 shade and water can be given is best 

 for this purpose and there is time yet 

 to secure good plants before fall. 

 Those who care to indulge in some of 

 the newer named hybrids will find that 

 they contain some glorious colors, in- 

 cluding almost every imaginable shade 

 of blue, with strong spikes and flowers 

 of remarkable size. 



Phloxes. 



The phloxes are probably the most 

 valuable, in many ways, of all hardy 

 perennials. They bloom over so long 

 a season, contain so wide a range of 

 colors, grow so easily even under ad- 



verse conditions and are so winter- 

 hardy that no florist can afford to be 

 without them. They are easily propa- 

 gated by division of the root or by 

 cuttings. The latter method is most 

 satisfactory, taking the cuttings as soon 

 as procurable in spring and rooting 

 them just as mums or carnations are 

 rooted. The early suffruticosa section, 

 which includes that finest of all 

 phloxes, Miss Lingard, is now at its 

 best. The paniculata, or late flower- 

 ing section, are just coming nicely into 

 flower. There is a wealth of varieties 

 of these and no two lists of varieties 

 will exactly tally, but here are a dozen 

 first-class ones: Henry Murger, white, 

 rose eye; K. P. Struthers, rosy carmine, 

 crimson eye; Le Cygne, a grand pure 

 white; Coquelicot, fine clear scarlet; 

 Le Mahdi, reddish violet, the finest of 

 the blue phloxes; G. A. Strohlein, scar- 

 let, carmine eye; F. G. Von Lassburg, 

 superb pure white; Pantheon, carmine 

 rose, fine spike; Eclaireur, rich ma- 

 genta, large flowers; Bridesmaid, pure 

 white, crimson eye; Elizabeth Camp- 

 bell, salmon pink, bright red eye, fine, 

 and Beranger, white, suffused rosy 

 pink, amaranth red eye. 



In planting phloxes, or, for that mat- 

 ter, any other herbaceous perennials, 

 rows, beds or masses of one color are 

 effective, while mixtures and occasional 

 individual plants dotted here and there 

 are the reverse. Many of the phloxes 

 will give a nice second crop of flowers 

 in the fall if the flower heads are 

 removed as soon as the first flowers 

 have passed. 



A START IN ROSES. 



I should like to get some help in 

 planning my work. I am erecting 

 three greenhouses, each 25x100 feet, 

 and expect to have them completed by 

 the last of August. I want to grow 

 roses, carnations, house and bedding 

 plants, etc. Would it be practical to 

 buy rose plants, set them out in the 

 field now and shift them to the house 

 in the last part of August? I am 

 afraid I shall have to wait until an- 

 other year to start roses. If I can, I 

 want to put half a house to roses and 

 one house to carnations. I expect to 

 grow 5,000 geraniums for Decoration 

 day. I am in a town of 15,000 in- 

 habitants, in northern Ohio. 



R. L. S. 



It would not do to plant roses out- 

 doors, lift them in August, bench them 

 and expect good results. A far better 



]il;in would be to give the plants a 

 shift into pots a size larger, and 

 plunge them up to the brims in a betl 

 of coal ashes outdoors where they cau 

 be readily watered. Treated thus, 

 they would start right away and suf- 

 fer no serious check, as would plants 

 lifted from the open ground. 



C. W. 



ROSES IN CARNATION HOUSE. 



I wish to grow a few roses in the 

 warm end of one of my carnation 

 houses, where the temperature will be 

 from 58 to 60 degrees. Will My Mary- 

 land, White Killarney and Richmond 

 do well together? If not, which vari- 

 eties would you suggest using? When 

 should roses be planted and what size 

 should they be in order to cut a cro]» 

 for Christmas? R. & S. F. S. 



Killarney and White Killarney wouW 

 prove the most satisfactory varieties 

 of roses for you to grow, as they do 

 well in a night temperature of 56 to 

 58 degrees. Richmond would also do 



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