March  2,  18£9. 
1G7 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE 
WENER. 
SEASONABLE  HINTS  ON  FLORIST  FLOWERS. 
What  an  extraordinary  season  this  is  through  which  we  are  now 
passing — somewhat  similar,  indeed,  to  last  year,  but  more  favourable  in 
its  character  with  regard  to  gardeners,  inasmuch  as  we  have  had  in 
this  south-eastern  part  of  England  a  fair  supply  of  that  rain  of  which 
we  were  so  deficient  in  the  early  part  of  last  year.  Of  frost  and  snow 
we  have  had  none,  never  more  than  3  or  4  degrees  of  the  former 
and  only  a  few  flakes  of  the  latter.  Some  of  our  days  have  been  more 
like  spring  than  winter,  and  now  that  we  have  passed  more  than  half 
through  the  month  of  February  we  begin  to  think  that  the.  winter  is 
igone.  We  may  have  a  rude  awakening  yet;  but  now  already  our 
borders  are  gay  with  Crocuses,  Scillas,  Aconite,  hardy  Cyclamens, 
Anemones,  and  Snowdrops,  and  how  delightful  to  us  all  these  early 
flowers  are ;  but  what  effect  has  this  strange  season  had  upon  our 
florist  flowers  ? 
Take,  for  example,  the  Auricula.  I  do  rot  see  that  they  are  one 
bit  more  forward  than  in  ordinary  seasons,  nor  have  the  winter  and 
autumn  trusses  been  more  abundant  than  usual.  Some  sorts  there  are 
which  are  always  inclined  to  commit  this  mistake,  and  whether  the 
season  be  early  or  backward  makes  little  matter  to  them.  We  have 
had  no  trouble  about  covering  up  our  frames  or  pits,  and  it  is  too  parly 
yet  to  determine  whether  the  flowering  season  is  likely  to  be  an  early 
•or  a  late  one.  As  far  as  my  judgment  goes,  the  culture  of  the 
Auricula  for  exhibition  purposes  does  not  seem  to  increase  very  much  ; 
'the  flower  is  not  a  popular  one,  although  those  who  are  really 
interested  in  its  culture  are  devoted  to  it.  At  the  present  time  the 
great  object  of  the  grower  is  to  see  that  his  plants  are  clean  —  that  is, 
'free  from  green  fly,  and  none  of  them  water-logged.  If  any  of  them 
have  been  unfortunate  enough  to  have  been  under  a  drip  they  ought  to 
be  examined  at  once  ;  it  may  possibly  be  that  a  worm  has  got  in  and 
disarranged  the  drainage;  this  can  be  ascertained  by  turning  the  pot 
'up  upon  the  hand,  and  if  the  intruder  be  found  he  will  have  little 
cnercy  shown  to  him. 
Of  late  years  the  desire  for  decorative  plants  has  led  to  what  are 
called  fancy  varieties  being  more  cultivated,  fl’hese  are  show}',  free 
flowering,  and  many  of  them  very  bizarre  in  character ;  but  of  course 
they  do  not  find  favour  with  the  old  florists,  who  like  myself  "were 
brought  up  in  a  very  strict  school,  where  any  depaiture  from  the 
-established  rules  of  criticism  was  resented.  One  would  advise  growers 
now  to  get  in  any  new  sorts,  but  as  far  as  florists’  varieties  are 
concerned  these  are  very  few,  lor  you  cannot  propagate  the  Auricula 
as  you  do  many  things — you  must  depend  upon  its  power  of  giving 
offsets,  and  in  many  cases  these  are  very  sparingly  produced.  The 
character  of  tte  weather  at  the  present  time  is  most  ravourable  for 
giving  them  air  on  all  occasions,  taking  care,  however,  that  they  are 
preserved  from  rain. 
Carnations  and  Picotees. 
The  season  has  also  been  most  favourable  for  these,  and  I  have  no 
doubt  that  those  who  groiv  them  in  the  open  during  the  winter  have 
found  it  to  be  so ;  but  as  I  grow  but  few  I  never  venture  to  expose 
'them,  but  keep  them  in  pots  during  the  winter,  and  in  looking  at 
mine  now  I  find  them  in  the  most  healthy  condition,  no  spot  or 
appearance  of  fly,  but  with  good  green  healthy  foliage.  This  is 
another  flower  in  which  there  has  been  a  vast  change  of  taste.  This 
'has  arisen  from  two  causes  ;  the  overdressing  of  the  old  florist  varieties 
made  it  very  disappointing  for  anyone  who  saw  a  stand  of  beautiful 
flowers  arranged,  and  then  tried  to  grow  them,  to  find  out  that  unless 
he  possessed  the  art  of  dressing  them  he  had  no  chance  whatever  of 
equalling  the  flowers  he  had  seen;  and  heie  again  the  wish  to  have 
more  decorative  flowers  in  greater  quantity  made  a  great  revolution 
in  public  taste.  This  was  greatly  encouraged  by  the  w'onderful  success 
that  attended  the  earnest  labours  of  Mr.  Martin  Smith  in  producing 
what  may  be  really  called  a  new  race ;  from  his  seed  we  have  flowers 
of  the  most  varied  hues,  good  form,  large  size,  and  great  fragrance. 
He  distributed  these  seeds  liberally  to  members  of  the  National 
'Carnation  and  Picotee  Society,  so  that  in  all  parts  of  the  country  we 
see  the  results  of  his  efforts.  As  border  pilants  they  are  invaluable, 
producing  large  quantities  of  good  flowers,  and  so  making  a  great 
■effect.  There  is  now  no  longer  need  of  carefully  watching  over  a 
plant  or  two,  which,  after  all,  might  refuse  to  grow;  we  can  get 
iplenty  of  foliage  and  strong  layers.  As  the  days  advance  the  plants 
will  require  more  water  until  the  time  for  planting  out,  but  it  had 
•better  not  be  overdone,  and  air  should  be  given  on  all  possible  occasions. 
Towards  the  end  of  the  month  I  take  my  plants  from  the  pits  or 
frames  and  place  them  out  of  doors  under  a  shelter  where  they  are 
•protected  from  wind  and  rain  but  have  air  upon  all  sides.  This 
hardens  them,  so  they  are  in  a  better  condition  to  plant  out  by-and-by. 
Gladioli. 
The  beds  ought  now  to  be  carefully  forked  over  when  the  weather 
is  fine  to  get  ready  for  planting,  though  it  is  too  soon  for  that  yet. 
'When  large  quantities  are  grown  the  .small  corms  and  seedlings  should 
now  be  planted,  but  the  larger  ones  must  be  kept  in  safe  position 
until  April.  I  notice  that  the  edrms  of  the  Lemoinei  group  are  very 
strong,  and  do  certainly  seem  tO:  be  hardier  than  those  of  the 
gandavensis  section,  although'  neither  have  yet  made  their  appearance 
above  ground. 
Pansies. 
I  suppose  that  in  the  South  <4  England  wc  must  confine  our 
attention  to  growing  these  plants  in  pots  ;  our  hot  and  dry  summers 
make  sad  havoc  with  them  when  planted  out  of  doors,  they  become 
infested  with  mildew  and  the  plants  perish  altogether.  I  therefore 
of  late  years  have  never  grown  them  except  in  pots.  It  is  advisable 
now  to  stir  up  the  soil  with  a  blunt  stick  and  tie  the  long  straggling 
shoots  to  alinest  invisible  stakes,  for  the  beauty  of  the  blooms  is 
creatly  marred  when  the  shoots  hang  about  in  all  directions.  Here 
again  a  great  chauize  has  taken  place.  The  show  varieties,  as  they  used 
to  be  called,  are  very  seldom  met -with;  the  Fancy  or  Belgian  varieties, 
as  they  are  called,  though  mostly  mixed  in  .ibis  country  now,  have 
entirely  superseded  them,  and  yet  when  the  late  Mr.  Charles  Turner 
wrote  his  little  treatise  on  the  Pansy  Fancy  varieties  did  not  exist.  It 
is  to  the  Scotch  grower.s — Laing,  Downie,  Laird,  Paul,  Bobbie,  and 
others — that  we  are  indebted  for  the  large  and  showy  varieties  which 
we  now  possess.  To  see  them  in  perfection  you  must  see  them  growing 
in  Scotland  or  in  the  North  of  England. 
Ranunculuses. 
No  flower,  I  think,  has  suffered  by  the  change  of  fashion  more 
than  the  Persian  Ranunculus,  yet  what  could  be  more  beautiful 
than  a  bed  of  these  exquisitely  formed  and  most  varied  flowers, 
ranging  through  almost  afl  shades,  except  perhaps  blue  ?  I  remember 
the  time  when  a  single  tuber  was  catalogued  at  half  a  guinea,  and  yet 
as  far  as  I  know’  these  are  nowhere  to  be  had  now  ;  the  Dutch  florists 
still  keep  up  a  large  collection,  but  I  cannot  find  amongst  them  those 
varieties  that  used  to  please  one  in  earlier  days.  \ou  get  much  larger 
flowers,  hut  they  very  soon  show  the  eye,  and  then  all  their  beauty  is 
gone.  I  have  managed  to  get  enough  roots_  to  plant  a  large  bed, 
which  I  hope  to  do  in  the  course  of  a  lew'  days.  They  should  be 
planted  about  Ij  inch  under  the  ground,  the  rows  5  inches,  and 
the  roots  to  be  placed  4  inches  apart  in  the  row.s.  All  worms 
should  be,  if  jiossible,  taken  out  of  the  bed,  for  they  have  a  very 
unpleasant  practice  of  getting  under  the  tubers  and  throwing  them 
out  of  the  ground.  After  the  bed  is  planted  it  must  be  very  gently 
smoothed  down,  but  not  with  the  rake.  Theie  is  a  class  which  is 
called  French  varieties,  but  they  lack  the  perfect  form  and  symmetry 
of  the  older  kinds. — D.,  Deal. 
PYRETHRUMS. 
What  wonderful  strides  have  been  made  of  late  years  in  these  useful 
hardy  herbaceous  perennials,  and  no  small  meed  ot  praise  is  duo  to  those 
painstaking  hybridists.  Messrs.  Kelway  &  Son  of  Ijungport,  for  the 
inrjst  beautilul  varieties  that  from  time  to  time  make  their  appearance. 
The  uses  to  which  Pyrethruins  may  bo  put  are  almost  innumerable,  but 
certainly  dotted  about  in  clumps  in  the  border  they  look  charming,  and 
■with  a  little  judicious  attention  regarding  varieties,  we  have  a  blaze 
of  colour  when  the  larger  herbaceous  flowers  are  somewhat  scarce. 
From  the  middle  of  May'  to  the  beginning  of  July  they  are  greatly  in 
evidence,  and  with  good  cultivation  the  yield  of  bloom  is  enormous  ;  and 
being  able  to  be  cut  with  long  stems,  the  variety  of  floral  work  to  which 
they  may  be  adapted  is  almost  endless,  and  one  would  like  to  see  them 
grown  in  greater  profusion. 
Regarding  their  successful  culture,  there  are  few  plants  that  require 
so  little  to  bring  about  a  good  return,  as  even  in  the  commonest  of  soils  a 
profusion  of  flowers  is  the  result.  But  it  is  when  sound  loam  and  well- 
decayed  manure  are  thoroughly  mixed,  and  supplies  of  liquid  manure 
given  during  the  growing  season,  that  the  quality  of  flower  and  robust 
appearance  are  manifested.  Timely  attention  to  staking  is  also  essential, 
as,  although  the  blooms  seem  scarcely  to  suffer  from  the  rain,  yet  it 
allowed  to  touch  the  soil  they  soon  get  damaged.  The  requirements  to 
insure  a  second  crop  of  flowers  in  the  autumn  is  after  flowering  to  cut 
down  the  old  steins  and  to  remove  a  little  of  the  surface  soil,  replacing 
by  new  material,  making  all  firm.  If  the  weather  is  dry  give  heavy 
supplies  of  water.  The  new  growths  will  soon  make  their  appearance, 
and  it  is  from  them  that  a  watering  with  liquid  manure  twice  a  week  will 
work  wonders  in  the  size  and  prolusion  of  the  flowers  obtained. 
The  season  of  planting  may  be  said  to  extend  over  a  very  long  period, 
but  the  present  cannot  well  be  improved  upon,  and  an  early  purchase  will 
insure  happy  results.  Where  so  many  seedlings  abounding  in  beautiful 
colours  can  be  purchased  at  a  moderate  cost  I  'will  not  attempt  to 
speak  of  the  selected  named  sorts  which  are  catalogued,  and  which 
ought  to  find  a  place  in  all  large  establishments.  Suffice  it  to  say  that 
purchasers  may  have  the  choice  of  either  double  or  single  varieties,  ^ 
should  strongly  recommend  both,  in  colours  varied  from  the  choicest  seifs 
to  almost  every  conceivable  intermediate  shade.  The  single  varieties  are 
charming  for  house  decoration,  the  yellow  eye  noticeable  all  through  being 
a  fine  set  off  against  the  coloured  petals. — R.  P.  R. 
