The Flower Of Good Growing

The greatest clematis discovery of recent times is the form of C. orientalis which Ludlow and Sheriff brought back from Tibet. The four waxy petals which make up the flowers are as thick as orange peel. To begin with they are pale green, then they turn to yellow and finish real orange color. With me they start opening in late July and there are a few flowers in November. The foliage is sea-green and as delicate as a fern. I have one plant on a west wall and it frames the kitchen window, climbs up on the roof to smother the wireless aerial and works its way round the corner on to a north wall. When it is heavily laden with flowers in September it would completely curtain the window if we didn't deal with it firmly. The other one is on an east wall and the growth is even more luxuriant because after reaching the top of the wall it has to work forward and has smothered the bed below with tropical luxuriance. I planted the soft blue C. jouiniana praecox to cover the lower part of the wall and have great difficulty in keeping it from being swamped. And the finish of the flowers isn't the end of Clematis orientalis, for the balls of silky down which mingle with the flowers all through the season hang on until it is time to cut the clematis down in February. I asked Mr. Roland Jackman how I should treat this clematis and he told me I could cut it down to about z' in mid- February.

Compared with the luxuriance of the orange-peel clematis the other clematis that flower in July is very restrained. The pearly- flowered C. Huldine is best appreciated if one can look up at the flowers. C. albo-luxurians should be at eye level as the green- tipped white flowers have a delicate beauty, and C. kermesina, another viticella type, is a strong pink and associates well with Ceanotbus Autumnal Blue, with soft blue flowers.

A Flower For Every Day

The crimson-flowered S. grabamii is the toughest of the shrubby salvias but the flowers are rather small, and so are the dark leaves, and the bush is rather thin and straggly. I have mine growing near the barton gate and it benefits by associating with a bergenia growing in front of it, with comfortable, solid leaves. Salvia candelabra grew there once too, with a good background of large woolly leaves for its long arms and soft lavender-blue flowers. Verbena venom (rigida) plays about among the stones at its feet and is always still blooming in November.

A Flowers For Every Day Polygonum

Several new forms of Polygonum affne have come to us from recent expeditions and they are grown extremely well in the rock garden at Kew. The most brilliant is the Loundes' variety, with much finer flowers.

Although I admit its good qualities, I find Corydalis keteus rather too persistent in its seeding habits and spend much time tearing it from walls and flower beds. Now the pale-flowered form, C. ochrekuca, is another matter and my complaint with it is that it doesn't seed at all—at least not with me. With great care I put my newly acquired plant in a part of the garden where I have none of the common variety, and I hoped I should soon have a colony of seedlings, but so far there haven't been any. Most evergreen corydalis seed them well. The ferny- leaved Corydon: cheilanthifolia sows itself and produces its yellow- green flowers for months on end. They look very pretty against the bronze leaves. Even more attractive is the soft rose madder Cogdalis rubra which has foliage in the most delicate hi If-tones and flowers to match.

Antirrhinum asarina either likes you very much or not at all. In some gardens it seeds itself so much that it is a nuisance and in others it won't grow at all, let alone seed. I like its pale primrose flowers and grey-green leaves and its habit of trailing down over stones, and for years I tried it in different parts of the garden without success. It was not until it was planted in a large stone sink filled with greensand that it settled down at all, and once growing well it started seeding, and very soon there were trails down the front of the trough and seedlings in every corner, mingling with the bright blue flowers of Parochetus communis.

Eomecon cbionantha has something of a halo, probably because it is not very well known. Perhaps that is just as well, because most of the people who grow it find it a nuisance. It has very nice leaves shaped rather like a large nasturtium and with a pleasant glaucous finish. It is sometimes called the "Cyclamen Poppy"; I don't know why because its leaves don't look much like cyclamen leaves. Its other name, "Poppy of the Dawn", doesn’t raise any queries in one's mind. The flowers are pretty and they do look like small poppies with white petals and large yellow centres. They start in summer and will go on till October and November, but do not flower very much for me, and other people seem to have the same experience. The plant is a runner and I often wonder if it would flower better if we could find some means of controlling its wandering stems and make it give a little more thought to producing flowers.
 I agree its foliage is almost as beautiful as that of bocconia, but I feel I should like it more if it kept to one place instead of appearing some yards from the parent plant. It is a wily plant, for one treats its succulent stems with great respect, thinking they are as brittle as those of Dicentra spectabile, whereas they have the iron will of such plants as Cogdalis lutues, which looks brittle and fragile and yet finds a foothold in all sorts of places from which it cannot be easily removed It is a good thing that some of the less spectacular plants flower late in the year; it is so easy to overlook them at their ordinary flowering time if that comes when a great many plants are in bloom, most of which are more showy. I noticed a plant of marjoram blooming in a friend's garden in late October and learned it was the Bury Hill form of Origanum vulgate, with heliotrope and indigo flowers on slender dark stems. In a sunny spot it makes a good companion for Oxon:floribunda.

Origanum laevigatum is even more attractive, but it is a good thing that it flowers late in the year when there is not much competition. From a tight carpet of dark, glucose leaves less than an inch high rise  slender stems which have corymbs of small violet flowers. It grows rather slowly and so is not very easy to increase. I have it growing next to the blue flax, Linton perenne, with the rich claret Cosmos atrosanguineus, very near, and the colors blend very happily.

Serratula shawii is another rather subdued little plant which has considerable charm if only one takes the trouble to find it. The flowers are of the cornflower type, rather small and in a subdued shade of mauve. They nestle in delicate bronze ferny foliage. The plant doesn't increase very fast but its roots run slightly and hang on, so that when once it has been grown in the garden small pieces will come up in the same place each year, even though the original plant has been moved elsewhere. It makes a good companion for the grey leaves of Geranium gnardii.

The other serratula I grow, S. coronata, flowers a little earlier and is as big as the other is tiny. The flowers are the same thistle shape and dark purple in color and they come on 5' stems. The whole plant is very strong and massive and could well be used in a place where something as big and dense as a shrub is needed.

Blue flowers tone most beautifully with dwarf chrysanthemums, particularly the little blue daisies that flower so frenziedly in the autumn. ThoughAsterpappeiand Agathaeacoelestis do start flowering in late summer, it is not till late September and October that they really get going, and then they seem to produce as many flowers as they can before frosts finish their season. They are not hardy and must be kept going with cuttings. If one has a greenhouse the flowering plants can be lifted, potted and transferred to the greenhouse where they will flower all through the winter. Aster pappei has very fine, dark green foliage and in Agathaeacoelestis the leaves are wider, more the size and shape of box, but both have the small kingfisher-blue daisies that are so welcome in the autumn.

MAJOR GREENHOUSE PESTS AND DISEASES

Correct identification of the pest or disease cannot be understated. How can a pest be controlled if it is unknown? Unless the pest is known, proper treatment cannot be administered. For instance, a doctor would not prescribe cold medicine to treat athlete's feet. Following are a number of the more common pests and diseases found in the greenhouse.

Pests

Aphids—Aphids are pear-shaped, soft-bodied, usually wingless insects. They are often green or yellowish in color. Aphids have the ability to reproduce very rapidly. Astonishingly, they give birth to live young that are pregnant! Aphids use their mouthparts to pierce the plant and suck out juices. Aphids attack a wide variety of greenhouse plants.

Fungus gnats—Fungus gnats are

long-legged, winged, gray-black insects less than an eighth of an inch long. The larvae of fungus gnats feed on root hairs and tunnel into plant stems. They prefer growing media that is constantly moist.

Leaf miners—Leaf miners are small stocky flies. The adult deposits eggs inside a leaf. The eggs hatch and the larva feeds on the interior of the leaf, making tunnels as it moves along. Chrysanthemums are subject to leaf miner damage.

Mealybugs—Mealybugs are slow-moving, oval-shaped, whitish insects. They have a waxy finish and produce small cottony masses. Mealybugs pierce plant leaves and suck the plant juices. As with aphids, they give birth to living nymph.

Mites—Mites are not insects. They have eight legs and are related to spiders. Mites pierce plant leaf tissues and suck juice. Symptoms include a yellow speckled appearance to the leaf, and in severe cases, yellowing of the leaves and defoliation. TWo-spotted or red spider mites are among the most serious greenhouse pests. Two-spotted mites have two dark spots on their back and appear as tiny specks. Cyclamen mites infest a broad range of plants and are not visible to the naked eye. Bulb mites damage lily bulbs and the developing shoots. Spider mites create a complex network of webbing as they move about a plant.

Scale—Many types of scale insects infest greenhouse plants. 'Typically, they have flat, oval, often brown bodies. They may or may not be covered with an armored shell. Scale insects pierce plant leaves and stems and suck juices.

Western flower thrips—Western flower thrips are small insects with two pairs of fringed wings. They are dark brown in color.

Whiteffies—Whiteflies are small insects that are not surprisingly, white. They generally camp out on the undersides of leaves where they pierce the tissues and suck juices. Their flat, scale-like larvae feed on the undersides of the leaves. The whitefly is a major pest of poinsettias and fuchsias.

Worms or caterpillars—Caterpillars are the larva of various moth species. They damage greenhouse crops by eating the plants.

Diseases

Botrytis blight—Botrytis blight is a fungal disease that can attack nearly all greenhouse crops, and is a common problem with cut flower storage. It causes a brown rotting and develops fuzzy, gray mold as it produces spores. Botryt,is is most common when temperatures are between 60 and 70°F, air circulation is poor, and humidity is high.

Erwinia—Erwinia is a bacterial disease that causes rotting of plant tissues. The bacteria enter the plant through wounds. It is a common problem on Dieffenbachia, Philodendron, chrysanthemum, and cyclamen.

Powdery mildew—Powdery mildew is a fungal disease. Characteristic symptoms include a white dusty coating to leaves and flowers. Infected plants can become stunted. High humidity contributes to powdery mildew problems.

Pythium—Pythium is a fungal disease that attacks greenhouse plants under cool, wet conditions. It is one fungus that can cause damping- off. Damping-off is a term used to describe the early death of seedlings that have germinated. More mature plants can develop root and stem rots as a result of Pythium, particularly when growing medium has poor aeration.

Phytophthora—Phytophthora is a fungal disease similar to Pythium. It causes crown and stem rots in cool, wet conditions.

Rhizoctonia—Rhizoctonia is a fungal disease prevalent under wet and warm conditions. It is a common disease problem in the southeastern region of the country. Rhizoctonia causes damping-off, as well as, root and stem rots.

Thielaviopsis—Thielaviopsis is a fungus that causes root and stem rots. Problems caused by Thielaviopsis are favored by cool, moist conditions.

Virus—Tobacco mosaic and aster yellows are two common viral diseases associated with greenhouse crops. Symptoms of infection include discoloration of plant tissues, stunting of growth, and deformed growth. The spread from one plant to another is primarily by feeding greenhouse insects. Tobacco mosaic virus can be spread to the plants from the hands of workers who smoke.

PEST CONTROL STRATEGIES

For successful management of pests, the IPM program must be a year- round program. Also, IPM control measures for a specific crop, poinsettias for example, should begin before the plants enter the greenhouse. The strength of IPM is the combination of control measures used. Four broad areas of control include sanitation, cultural/physical control, biological control, and chemical control.

Greenhouse Sanitation

Many pest problems can be greatly reduced, if not eliminated, with greenhouse sanitation. Greenhouse sanitation is simply the efforts made to keep a greenhouse clean. Many modern greenhouse ranges have been built with concrete floors partly because they are easier to keep clean than gravel floors.

One aspect of greenhouse sanitation involves the removal of weeds from the interior of the greenhouse and the immediate area outside the greenhouse. The importance of weed control cannot be understated. Weeds harbor pests. Control measures applied to a crop fail to control pests that find safety on the weeds. After awhile, the pests migrate to the crop to cause damage. Only a few herbicides are labeled for use in the greenhouse.

Another important sanitation practice is the removal of plant debris and other debris from the floors and benches. Debris often houses disease organisms and pests. Severely infested or infected plants should also be removed and disposed of properly.

flower guide

The Freeze-Drying Method In Floral

Freeze drying is a commercial method of freezing the flowers first before drying them. Flowers are placed in large refrigerated vacuum chambers, which removes the moisture from the plant tissues. The flowers look very natural and hold their color. The cost of the chamber is prohibitive for most people.

DESIGNING WITH EVERLASTINGS (DRIED AND SILK)

Designers of dried or silk arrangements must employ the same principles and elements of design that are used with fresh flowers; however, some of the mechanics and specific techniques are slightly different. Designing with dried and silk flowers gives much flexibility to the designer. Stems can be lengthened or manipulated into various shapes. Materials may be glued, wired, and taped in a wide variety of ways that are not possible with fresh materials. A diverse range of containers can be used, including those that do not hold water. In many ways, designing with dried or silk flowers is much easier than with fresh flowers; because, wilting is no longer a concern. Designs will not need water added; wilted petals or leaves do not need to be removed. Care should be taken to avoid sunny or humid areas.

Stem Techniques

Many flowers or leaves are dried without any stems at all. Both dried and silk flowers may need stems to be lengthened or strengthened. The methods used will depend upon the flower type and stem thickness. New or added stems should be taped with floral tape in the appropriate matching color before using them in a design.

To create a new stem, a heavy wire can be glued (with pan melt glue or glue from a glue gun) and secured to the flower. Another method is to use the daisy hook wiring method.

To lengthen or strengthen stems, several methods are available.  Pick machines attaches a metal pick or stem to single or clustered silk or dried flowers to add length and strength. A wooden pick, a narrow, pointed piece of wood with a wire attached at the top, can add stem length. Stems can be lengthened or strengthened by wrapping the wire on the pick around both the stem and the wooden Stem length can be added for a short flower by placing it into a hollow stem, removed from another flower. Tape the flower to secure it. A designer can tightly tape a short flower or leaf to a longer stem without wire or glue or hollow stem. This method is quick but the taping must be very secure to keep Hot glue can attach a longer stem to a short flower or leaf

To operate a pick machine, begin by loading the metal picks into the slot at the top of the machine. Next, the handle is pulled forward to feed the pick into the front of the machine. The stems of the dried materials are placed over the top part of the pick. The stems should be thick enough to allow the pick to grasp them; if too thin, the stems will slip out of the pick. Then, the handle is pushed downward with a firm, steady grip. The prongs on the pick close over the stems of the dried materials, clamping the stems tightly. The dried material is ready to use in a design.

To shorten designing time, several flowers, fillers, or leaves may be attached to one stem and placed into a design adding several small filler flowers on the same metal or wooden pick or hollow stem shortens the design time and gives a full look to the design. Larger flowers can be wired and taped to quickly add color, depth, and fullness to a design.

To secure silk flowers and leaves, some silks may need to be removed from their stem, hot glued, and reattached to the stem. Before designing with silks, determine if this step is necessary with a gentle tug on a silk flower or leaf. If the parts come off easily, gluing is essential to secure them.

To shape silk flowers, use the wired petals, leaves, and stems and position these parts in a natural way. Unfurl the petals and stage the flowers to look partially to fully open; position the leaves to appear growing and not wilted; the stems may be slightly curved to look "real"

Designing Tips

Floral foam created specifically for silk and dried flower arranging is available. The foam should be securely attached to the container or wreath frame by gluing or wiring. To keep the wire from cutting through the floral foam, moss can be added before wiring. Moss is also used to conceal the floral foam and other mechanics. Wooden picks can also be placed at the foam edges to keep the wire from cutting through the floral foam.

When designing, each stem may be glued before placing it into the arrangement. Experienced designers can use this technique as they design; novices may want to glue the stems of the finished arrangement.

Designs with everlastings should not appear flat. Layering, the technique of placing some flowers deeper than others within an arrangement, will add fullness and avoid a flat look. Some flowers and fillers will appear quite "leggy" and layering avoids the see-through appearance. Display finished designs away from direct sunlight and high humidity. Sunlight will fade the colors and humidity will "wilt" dried flowers.

Dried and silk materials are long lasting and low maintenance. These types of designs will need occasional cleaning by dusting with a lightweight feather duster, spraying with a commercial spray designed for cleaning dried and silk flowers, or a quick dusting with a hair blow dryer on a low setting.

flower guide