THE two old favorites, calceolaria 

 and cineraria, are still the stand- 

 bys for succession of bloom in 

 the average greenhouse during 

 the late winter and early spring. They 

 lend themselves to so many situations 

 and, if massed, will give striking color 

 effects which can be used in many 

 schemes of interior decoration. The great 

 secret in the cultivation of both these plants 

 is getting them started early enough. Bear 

 in mind, too, that it is the best kind of 

 wisdom to buy the highest grade seed that 

 the trade offers. 



CALCEOLARIAS 



THE herbaceous hybrid calceolaria is 

 rather easy to grow, yet strange to 

 say it is not very common in the small 

 greenhouse. It is sure to bloom, and for 

 spring decorative work in pots or as a cut 

 flower there is no plant that is more at- 

 tractive, with its enormous clusters of 

 beautifully splashed and tinted and odd 

 shaped slipper- like flowers. 



Early in July is the best time to sow the 

 seed, although good results have been 

 obtained from sowings made in early 

 August and even at any time up to January. 

 The seeds are small and care must be 

 exercised in sowing. Be sure to procure 

 a good strain of seed. I tested this out 

 very carefully to my own satisfaction; a 

 cheap strain of calceolaria seed is almost 

 worthless because one gets not only a very 

 poor range of colors but a very inferior 

 growth. 



Have a compost that is very free, using 

 plenty of leafmold, with a liberal sprink- 

 ling of sand and the balance good 

 turfy loam. Be sure to put 

 some drainage in the bottom of 

 the seed pan and about half 

 an inch of sphagnum moss 

 over this to prevent the soil 

 from clogging up the drainage. 

 Calceolarias will not stand a wet 

 soil. Over the moss place about 

 one inch of coarse material selected 

 from the compost; then add about 

 one half to three quarters of an 

 inch of the sifted compost. 

 Firm slightly, using the tips of 

 the fingers, then smooth off 

 the top, and be sure it is per- 

 fectly level. 



Sow the seed thinly and do not cover; 

 simply press the seeds into the soil with a 

 seed board. Be careful when watering. 

 I always place the pan in a pail of water 



Winter Bloom 



By W. C. McCollom, New York 



so that the water will be about half way 

 up on the pan. Hold it in this position 

 for several minutes and the water will soon 

 appear on the surface as the soil readily 

 absorbs moisture. Another method is to 

 lay a piece of cheesecloth on top of the 

 soil and water through this, but the former 

 method is by far the better. 



After watering, the pan should be set 

 away, using a glass cover with a paper on 

 top for shade to prevent the soil from drying 

 too rapidly. Watering should always be 

 done by the dipping method so long as the 

 seedlings are allowed to remain in the pans. 



Do not allow the seedlings to crowd too 

 much. When they have attained proper 

 size, transfer to thumb pots and from then 

 on keep potted as required, using a richer, 

 mixture each time. The soil for the final 

 potting (which should be a seven inch pot 

 for good flowers) must be fairly rich. A 

 good compost is made as follows: 



Sift some well rotted cow manure and 

 use one third of this, a good third of sod 

 loam and a scant third of leafmold, with 

 just a sprinkling of sand — about one 

 shovelful to every twelve of the mixture 

 — to keep it open. When potting give 

 the plants small shifts and do not ever pot 

 them before they are well rooted in the 

 pot they are in and have exhausted the 

 good elements from the soil. At the same 



time care must be exercised that the plants 

 do not become pot bound. Either extreme 

 is bad. Liquid feeding can be resorted to 

 but not until the flowering spikes appear. 

 Liquid cow manure is best for this purpose, 

 starting with a weak liquid and gradually 

 working up to a good strong mixture. 

 You can not make any rule for this as the 

 condition of the plants must be your guide. 



During the entire summer the young 

 plants must be kept partially shaded. 

 The north side of a building is not bad, 

 but a slat trellis is better. This admits 

 enough strong sun to prevent the plants 

 from becoming soft and sappy. I usually 

 carry the young plants along in a coldframe 

 with a cinder bed beneath them. 



Do not m^ke the soil sour by overwater- 

 ing and do not let the plants wilt for lack 

 of moisture. Spray lightly several times a 

 day all season. 



About October ist bring the plants 

 indoors and place them in the coolest house 

 you have. Forty degrees at night suits 

 them very well but they can also be grown 

 satisfactorily at a much higher temperature, 

 although at the higher temperature the 

 plants become rather soft and are apt to be 

 infested with green fly. This, by the way, 

 seems to be the only insect enemy of the 

 calceolaria. A good plan is to put tobacco 

 stems between the pots and spray about 

 every week with some standard insecticide; 

 but if they get the better of you, fumigating 

 must be resorted to. 



After the flowers have passed the plants 

 can be thrown away; they are use- 

 less after once flowering. 



THE cineraria 

 owner of a 



A fine type of calceolaria. The showy markings on the 

 flowers are very striking 



339 



CINERARIAS 



offers to the 

 small green- 

 house the means of having a 

 supply of pot plants during 

 the late winter and early spring; 

 it is also valuable as a cut flower, 

 and is of such easy cultivation 

 that the veriest tyro can have suc- 

 cess. 



It is worth while taking pains to 

 select a good strain of seed of cin- 

 eraria. While even,' seedsman from 

 Maine to California claims to have 

 the most superb strain, known as 

 "Jones's Large Flowering,'" ''Smith's 

 Perfection,'' or some other such name, 

 and while some of these are quality seeds, 

 yet it should be remembered that most 

 of them obtain their supplies from one 

 common source and the would-be pur- 



