1939 catalog of RICHARD DIENER NURSERY, oxnard, California, u. s. a. 
HANDLING OF YOUNG PETUNIA PLANTS WHEN GROWING 
IN 3-INCH POTS FOR THE MARKET 
In order to have large flowers and brilliant colors in three- 
inch pots, a good soil is absolutely essential for the young 
plants. 
Following Are Directions for Preparing the Best Soil: It is best 
to use an even mixture of leaf mould and old, rotten manure 
(four or five years old or from the hot bed). However, if no 
old manure is available, leaf mould will do. To a cubic yard 
of soil add a four-inch pot of fresh Portland cement, a five- 
inch pot of bone meal, a five-inch pot of dried blood and a 
regular water pail full of white sand. After mixing all of 
these ingredients, in a dry condition, run them through a 
fine screen. It is best to let this soil lie in the open in the 
shade of a tree or at the north end of a building to ferment 
for at least three months before using, but which is not abso¬ 
lutely necessary. 
Do not add anything else, as this is the best mixture for 
proper results. Do not use powdered sheep manure, chicken 
manure or fish meal, for these ingredients act as poison to 
Petunias. When transplanting, the young plants should be 
planted so that just the root part reaches into the soil. If 
poor soil is used, plants will be spindly, flowers small and 
colors bleached out. This has been the cause of many com¬ 
plaints in regard to the Petunias not being large. You can¬ 
not raise good plants in poor soil in three-inch pots. Many 
mistakes are made in that the seedlings are set too deep. It is 
very essential to be careful in transplanting so that only the 
roots are under the ground, as when planted too deep they 
take much longer to start growth and many will damp off. 
Our Petunias should not be pinched back when young, as 
they are naturally stocky and of dwarf growth, which we 
have accomplished by years of careful selection in that 
direction. 
We receive thousands of questions from customers every 
season in regard to growing and cultivating Petunias best, 
and so we have tried to cover the most important of them 
in this article. However, there is an excellent book on the 
market in which nearly all the questions which are asked 
us are clearly explained. The name of this book is Fritz 
Bahr’s Commercial Floriculture, which you can obtain by 
sending to us. (See the book page at the end of catalog.) 
HEMEROCALLIS 
(Day Lily) (Hardy) 
We are now offering seeds of our new hybrids. 
Some of the flowers reach 9 inches in diameter. 
Colors from pale yellow to deep orange and they 
represent the highest perfection in Day Lilies today. 
They are very free-flowering. Sow out like Pansy 
seeds. 
25 seeds 50c 75 seeds $1.00 
Westerly, Rhode Island, January 1, 1938. 
Richard Diener Nursery, Oxnard, California. 
Gentlemen: The Freesia seeds I bought from you are now 
in full bloom in the greenhouse and they sure are a hand¬ 
some sight. Sincerely yours, 
WM. H. CRANDALL. 
* * * * 
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, April 5, 1937. 
Richard Diener Nursery, Oxnard, California. 
Gentlemen: I enclose twenty-five cents in U. S. stamps for 
which I would like one package Cucumber seed “Sensation” 
at your very earliest convenience. 
We have grown this Cucumber for two seasons and like it 
very much. Last year was very hot and dry, but “Sensation” 
was TOPS as usual. Yours very truly, 
C. H. TAYLOR. 
FREESIA SEEDS 
A mixture of Diener’s own hybrids. They run mostly 
in lavender, blue, purple, yellow and white. There 
are some among them with reddish and pink tints. 
Flowers mostly double the size of the regular kinds 
and even larger. They have long stems and we believe 
there is nothing better in existence. We are increas¬ 
ing the stock from some of the finest and largest 
seedlings of the last few years and the seeds are 
taken from these. If sowed out early, many will 
flower five to six months after sowing. 
Pkg. 25c oz. 50c 1 oz. $1.00 1 lb. $15.00 
Directions for Sowing: Sow the seeds right out in the open 
in subtropical and tropical localities. Put them in rows, 
twelve inches apart and about three seeds to the inch in the 
row. Cover the seeds with a good, rich soil one-quarter inch 
deep. In cold climates, sow them out in boxes or seed pans, 
placing the seeds about one inch apart and one-fourth inch 
deep. Leave them there until the leaves have dried up, say 
about five or six months, and by that time they will have 
formed nice bulbs, which will bring large flower spikes the 
following winter. 
GERANIUM SEEDS 
(From our new Hybrids) 
We have a great many new hybrids which will be 
put on the market later. The flowers are twice and 
more in size than the varieties now. The clusters are 
much larger as well. The colors are mostly flame 
red. There won’t be two alike and every one is new. 
Package 50c 6 packages $2.00 
1 oz. (about 3600 seeds) $25.00 
Bemidji, Minnesota, February 5, 1937. 
Richard Diener Nursery, Oxnard, California. 
Gentlemen: We have been using your Petunia seed for 
three years now and think there is nothing like them. With 
our limited space we have not been able to supply all our 
customers. 
We have supplied Douglas Lodge at Itasca State Park with 
Petunias for the past three years and their Petunia beds are 
beautiful every summer. 
We are in northern Minnesota and thought you would be 
interested in knowing how successful we had been in grow¬ 
ing your Petunias. Yours sincerely, 
DUANE’S, The Home of Flowers. 
* * # 
Wellfleet, Massachusetts, March, 1937. 
Richard Diener Nursery, Oxnard, California. 
Gentlemen: This is my third order for seeds with which 
I have had unusual success; in particular I wish to speak of 
the Pepper Tomato. In a small way the seeds have been 
planted in hotbeds and from a surplus of plants in the first 
year (1935) I distributed a large number to my neighbors. 
Such was their success that last year, as early as March and 
April, I was asked by those who had tried the first trans¬ 
planting to reserve sufficient quantities for their use. I had 
to limit the supply to meet all the demands. It proved to be 
an unusually dry and hot season with a severe, long drouth 
in July. I did not lose a single plant and we all had a boun¬ 
teous yield. The red sandy soil of Cape Cod seems to be well 
adapted to vigorous growth of these vegetables. 
Sincerely, 
CLARENCE W. RYDER. 
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