THINGS TO BE DONE IN FEBRUARY 45 



Give Calceolarias the final shift. Marguerite cuttings rooted 

 during February will make good 4-in. pot plants by May and June 

 for use in veranda boxes. Feed the Callas in pots with weak doses 

 of liquid cow manure. 



The heavier roots of the small flowering Bouvardias cut up into 

 1-in. long pieces and placed in sand with bottom heat will soon 

 break into new growth, while the best way to root B. Humboldtii 

 is by means of softwood cuttings. 



The small shoots at the base of the larger plants of PandanuS 

 Veitchii will easily root in warm sand now; Dracaena terminalis 

 canes cut up into 2-in. lengths wiU also root and break, and the 

 tops of this variety can be removed from old plants and rooted now, 

 The same holds good with Ficus. Place the stock plants of Coleus 

 in a 60-deg. house if you want material in the way of cuttings 

 for propagating. Quite a number of perennials can be sown indoors 

 now and grown on for planting out in May. Among these just a 

 few are Oriental Poppies, Larkspur, Columbine, GaiUardia, Lychnis, 

 Shasta Daisy, Polyanthus Primulas, Pyrethrum, hardy Pinks, 

 Rudbeckia, Anchusa and Valeriana. 



MARCH 



Easter and Other Bulb Stock 



'TTHE Lilies, perhaps, head the list of the many Easter plants. 

 * They may need extra pushing in order to get them in on time. 

 Hardly ever, with Easter falling around the end of March, is there 

 much holding back to do when giganteums are made use of. The 

 same holds good with the Ramblers and Hydrangeas ; with the latter 

 a week or so in a cool house before Easter will not only harden off 

 the plants, but also bring out the coloring of the flowers better. 



Deutzia gracilis, Bougainvillea, Rhododendron, Azalea, Spiraea 

 — in fact, almost any plant — can, by the middle or end of March, 

 be subjected to a high temperature without bad results. If found a 

 little late, there is no alternative but to resort to forcing. The 

 hothouse is, however, of no greater importance than the cold one 

 in which, if necessary, things can be kept back or at a standstill for 

 a few days. 



Whatever is being placed in strong heat must be given extra 

 attention in regard to spraying and watering. To apply ice-cold 

 water to a Lily or anything else to be forced, and in an 80-deg. or 

 90-deg. house is a foolish thing to do, and you are bound to hurt the 

 plants by allowing the soil in the pots to dry out. The more you 

 force, the more it becomes a necessity to harden the stock off a little 

 before it is placed on sale. 



To have double Tulips in flower by the end of March wiU re- 

 quire close on to twenty-five days in a 55-deg. house, allowing a 



