Drcbmbbs 12, 1912. 



The Florists' Review 



33 



Big Basket with Heart-tfiaped Handle, Filled with Poinrettias. Crotons and Adiantum. 



that none of these plants should long 

 be exposed to a temperature lower than 

 50 degrees, or they will soon show it in 

 loss of foliage. They should therefore 

 be extra well protected when sent out 

 to customers during severe weather. 



Fern Dishes. 



There is invariably considerable call 

 for fern dishes at Christmas and it is 

 well to have a good number made up 

 in advance. Some prefer them with a 

 small Cocos Weddelliana as a center- 

 piece. If a sufficient stock of these 

 ^ small ferns has not been laid in, se- 

 cure them at once from one of the 

 spiecialists. All the pteris are good, 

 except, of course, such rank growers as 

 tremula. Such adiantums as Groweanum, 

 cuneatum and gracillimum, Cyrtomium 

 falcatum, Aspidium Tsussimense and 

 Davallia stricta are all good. The 

 adiantums look best by themselves, but 

 other sorts are all right either separate 

 or mixed. 



Specimen Ferns. 



The nephrolepis is the great fern for 

 iiouse culture. The old Boston variety 

 is still most in evidence and sells bet- 

 ter than any other sort, but there is a 

 wide assortment of other nephrolepis 

 varieties, such as Whitmani compacta, 

 elegantissima, Todeaoides, and others, 

 all of which are beautiful. One of the 



/=^ 



finest and most beauti^ of house ferns 

 is Cibotium Schiedei. It is really sur- 

 prising how much ill treatment this will 

 stand without showing its effects. 

 Cyrtomium falcatum, the holly fern, is 

 another sort which stands dry heat re- 

 markably well. Adiantum Fkrleyense 

 is especially handsome, but given one 

 chill and one drying up at the root and 

 it is all up with it. This holds good, 

 of course, of all adiantums, and to a 

 greater or less degree of all ferns. 

 "Watering is of vital importance, or 

 there will be a great loss while plants 

 are in the store. Let a man attend to 

 it who really understands it. Few store 

 florists know much about it and when 

 large numbers of valuable plants are on 

 hand, get a competent greenhouse man 

 to water them. 



Hardy Shrubs. 



Hardy shrubs are popular at the holi- 

 days. The person of moderate means 

 cannot, however, afford to buy them. 

 Practically all the berried sorts are im- 

 ported from Europe and they cannot 

 profitably be sold at a price within the 

 reach of nine-tenths of flower store cus- 

 tomers. English hollies in tubs take 

 the lead among these berried subjects. 

 Others are Skimmia Japonica and 

 Aucuba Japonica. These being plants 

 which will stand quite hard freezing, 

 they are excellent to stand outside the 



store, and in addition some of the 

 cupressus, retinosporas, thuyas, abies 

 and other evergreen conifersB can be 

 used to good advantage. Neat tubs, 

 painted green, are better than pots for 

 all these shrubs. The pots, if hard 

 frozen, will split and are more likely 

 to blow over and break in windy 

 weather. 



Primulas and Cyclamens. 



Primulas and cyclamens are plants 

 which can be sold at a moderate price 

 and are really satisfactory to the pur- 

 chasers, as they bloom so long under 

 quite adverse conditions. Some florists 

 fight shy of Primula obconica, as the 

 leaves are somewhat poisonous to some 

 people. In spite of this, however, it 

 is such a satisfactory plant that there 

 is no falling off in numbers grown. It 

 would be well to tell purchasers that 

 each of these plants will give most sat- 

 isfaction if grown in a cool room. Too 

 often salesmen know little or nothing 

 of the needs of the plants they sell and 

 advise a warm room for semi-alpine sub- 

 jects. If we can enly educate buyers, 

 particularly those of moderate means, 

 so that they will give the plants ra- 

 tional treatment, thus prolonging their 

 flowering season and lives, we will find 

 them more likely to invest in them. 

 Nothing so profoundly disgusts the 

 average buyer as to find plants drop- 



