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The Florists' Review 



August 1, 1912.- 



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fsEASONABLE ^ 

 I ^ SUGGESTIONS^ 



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Fansies. 



For the grower needing a few hun- 

 dreds or thousands of plants, it is much 

 the best plan to sow the seeds in a 

 coldframe, covering with a sash and 

 shading until they germinate. Use a 

 light soil, containing plenty of leaf- 

 mold or spent hotbed manure. Sow 

 either broadcast or in shallow drills. I 

 prefer the former plan. Water after 

 sowing. In watering, do not use the 

 hose, but a watering pot with a rose. 

 Expose to sun and weather as soon as 

 the seeds have germinated. Keep weeds 

 pulled out carefully. Transplant to 

 their permanent winter quarters before 

 they become overcrowded. 



As to the best strain to buy, opin- 

 ions may vary, but a good selection of 

 the Giant Trimardeau will be found as 

 satisfactory as any. Generally a mix- 

 ture is preferred, but separate colors 

 are obtainable, and where the plants 

 are to be used fjor spring bedding this 

 is the only way to purchase seeds. If 

 one or two special varieties are wanted 

 which will appeal to critical customers, 

 try a little of Mme. Perret, Giant Mas- 

 terpiece, Gassier 's, Bugnot's, Odier, or 

 one of the best English strains, all of 

 which have flowers of immense size and 

 embrace many beautiful shades of color. 



For those needing bedding pansies 

 of distinct colors, the following half 

 dozen sorts will be found extremely 

 good: Emperor William, deep blue; 

 Golden Queen, pure yellow; Lord Bea- 

 consfield, violet, upper petals fading to 

 white; Cardinal, bright red; Emperor 

 Frederick, purple, edged scarlet and 

 yellow; and if a really dark variety is 

 wanted King of the Blacks will fill 

 the bill; also a good white variety with 

 a dark eye. 



Tufted Pansies. 



For massing effects and filling in as 

 a groundwork among spring bulbs, such 

 as hyacinths and tulips, the tufted 

 pansies, or Viola cornuta, are admir- 

 able. They have smaller flowers than 

 the pansies usually seen, but flow- 

 er more profusely and persistently. 

 These are a great feature and charm all 

 visitors to the English and Scotch parks 

 and gardens. It is best to sow them 

 in separate colors. They come true 

 from seed. A good quartet of varieties 

 is: Mauve Queen, pale blue; Admira- 

 tion, dark blue; White Perfection, pure 

 white, and grandiflora lutea, golden yel- 

 low. These violas have larger flowers 

 than the true Viola cornuta, which is 

 a popular hardy perennial, much used 

 for edging purposes. There are sev- 

 eral shades of this valuable plant, 

 which is best propagated from cut- 

 tings, especially the white variety. 



Hollyhocks. 



What beautiful and stately herba- 

 ceous plants are the hollyhocks, now in 

 full beauty! They are less grown than 

 even twenty-five years ago, when the 

 •dreaded rust decimated them, but of 

 late years this trouble has been less in 



evidence. Sprayings with Bordeaux 

 mixture keep the plants in good condi- 

 tion. In order to get strong plants for 

 blooming next year, sow the seeds at 

 once, either outdoors or in coldframes, 

 transplanting them into nursery rows 

 during moist weather, when they are 

 of suflScient size. There is no better 

 strain, of hollyhocks than Chater's; 

 these produce beautiful double flowers. 

 Those preferring sinjgle or semi-double 

 sorts should try the Allegheny strain 

 of these. 



Show Pelargoniums. 



The wood on show pelargoniums 

 should now be well ripened and the 

 plants can be pruned back moderately 

 hard. Provided you have not put in a 

 batch of cuttings, do so now. They will 

 root easily in sand and make nice 

 plants in 6-inch pots for next spring's 

 sales. Wait until the cut-back plants 

 are breaking before repotting them. 

 When doing this, shake away most of 

 the soil from the roots. Shorten back 

 the ^longest of these and use pots one 

 or two sizes smaller than the plants 

 previously occupied. Be careful not to 

 overwater after pruning back the 

 plants, or you are liable to lose some 

 of them from rot.' 



Polnsettias. 



Continue the propagation of poinset- 

 tias. The old stock plants are' now 

 making cuttings in abundance, and they 

 root more easily now than at any other 

 time of the year. The stock rooted 

 from now until the middle of August 

 makes the best of stock for small p^ns, 

 being dwarf and stocky. Keep batches 

 potted promptly as they are rooted. 

 Every broken root — and roots are al- 

 ways more or less broken if potting off 

 is delayed — means a serious check to 

 the little plants. The earliest rooted 

 cuttings, which are intended for cut- 

 ting, should be placed in a bench or 

 bed in any good soil, such as mums or , 

 carnations will thrive in; or, if the 

 plants are not numerous, they will 

 flower just as well in 6-inch pots and 

 carry bracts fifteen to twenty inches in 

 diameter. Poinsettias will grow in al- 

 most any house now, but you cannot 

 flower them successfully unless you 

 have a night temperature of 60 to 65 

 degrees after the bracts once appear. 

 Therefore, do not make the mistake of 

 planting in a cooler house, or you will 

 get poorer bracts, and, what is of equal 

 importance, they will not be in flower 

 for Christmas. 



Genistas. 



Look over the genistas outdoors. 

 You will find they have made consider- 

 able growth of late and will need some 

 shearing into shape, unless you prefer 

 to have ,them loose. As a rule, how- 

 ever, the close, compact, densely 

 flowered plants have the call, although 

 it cannot be said that they are equal 

 in beauty to the looser and less formal 

 appearing plants. 



THE EVERY-DAY WOBK. 



Watering the Young Stock. 



During the heated terms of July and 

 August, especially if much young stock 

 has been planted late, a great deal of 

 water has to be used in the rose houses. 

 On the low wooden benches, used where 

 solid beds are not a success, young rose 

 stock dries out more rapidly than in 

 almost any other position and there is 

 no use of talking or thinking of over- 

 watering. The plants must have the 

 water, or they will not mal^e satisfac- 

 tory growth. For every plant injured 

 at this stage by overwatering, a hun- 

 dred are stunted and their vigor ar- 

 rested by lack of moisture. 



It is good practice to retain the de- 

 pressions around individual plants and 



water there as long as possible, but 

 healthy plants soon push their roots all 

 through the limited amount of soil 

 these benches hold and then the water- 

 ing must be general all over the 

 surface. 



Stirring the Surface Soil. 



Some soils become baked and crusted 

 over much more quickly than others 

 and need more cultivation. But the 

 deep prodding with forks or tineo 

 hoes, sometimes practiced, is not re- 

 quired for young stock; it is detrimen- 

 tal, in fact. 



Soils that are full of good fiber need 

 less stirring at the surface than those 

 deficient in it. Each watering, as it '* 

 given, draws fresh air down through 

 the interstices and these are oot 

 quickly filled up, as they are in closer; 

 less fibrous soil. But rose growers can* 

 not always get fibrous soil. The o*' 

 mand for flowers is everywhere ^y 

 growers in some places have an alkaU' 



