298 FRITZ BAHR'S COMMERCIAL FLORICULTURE 



Fig. 120. — Pot Cannas. If you want to 



sell Cannas for bedding get a few plants 



of each variety in flower by May 10, by 



starting eyes in January 



with three plants in a clump. 

 Nor need they be planted in 

 beds by themselves if lack of 

 space prevents. They can be 

 used to advantage in the 

 perennial border, where if 

 planted in clumps, they take 

 the place of some perennials 

 or biennials that finish bloom- 

 ing by early July; or they can 

 be made to brighten up the 

 shrubbery border if no other 

 place can be found. 



We have always found 

 that starting a few plants 

 early, say about the middle of 

 January, so as to have speci- 

 mens in flower in 5-in. pots by 

 the middle of May, results in 

 the purchase of Cannas by 

 many of our customers who 

 had no such intention when 

 they entered the place. If you 

 make an effort to have people 

 buy Cannas, you will not only 



do more business, but also please your customers with the re- 

 sults they obtain; for. while Cannas, in order to do their best, 

 should be encouraged with a well-prepared bed and plenty of 

 water during the Summer months, even where they don't get the 

 best of care they still make a good showing. 



Every retail grower with a little space outdoors should arrange 

 for a good display of Cannas in order to advertise them. This is 

 always a good investment, not only as an advertisement, but because 

 from each single 33^-in. plant grown in good soil and properly at- 

 tended to, he will obtain from eight to twelve more for use the 

 following year. 



Cultural Notes 



If you sell your customer Cannas during the bedding season it 

 is always well to call attention to the fact that they will do best in a 

 deeply dug-over bed where the soil contains a liberal amount of 

 manure. If one can add to a bed say 6 or 7 ft. in diameter about 

 twenty-five pounds of bonemeal, so much the better. Don't have 

 the bed crowned up in the center. A flat bed, as long as there is 

 plenty of drainage below, is better, for the plants wiU get more 

 benefit from the rains or the water you apply during the Summer 

 months; and water they must have. 



