DECEMBER 15, 1S98. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



51 



Vas; of Dahlias. 

 [Mainly Cactus Varieties.] 



basket with growing ferns (often using 

 the Boston fern), arranges a few ardi- 

 sias in between, and trims the handle 

 with sprays of holly and mistletoe tied 

 with red ribbon. This arrangement 

 talces well and sells at from $5 to $10. 



Quite a large number of pans filled 

 with primulas are sold here at Christ- 

 mas. The pans are 8 to 12 inches 

 in diameter and are filled with from 

 four to six primula plants, sometimes 

 with Roman hyacinths arranged 

 among them. The Romans used are 

 bulbs lifted when in bloom from flats. 

 Sometimes the pans are covered with 

 green or red crepe paper, tied around 

 the pan with ribbon to match the flow- 

 ers, and sometimes they are placed in 

 basket covers made to order of a size 

 to flt the pans. These sell at from 

 $1.50 to $3.00 each, and are very pop- 

 ular with tho.e desiring something at 

 3. moderate co.t. They grow from 500 

 to 600 primulas for Christmas sales. 

 The seed is sown the latter part of 

 June. They aim to close them all out 

 .at the holidays and find no money in 

 growing them for later blooming. Cy- 

 clamens are also used in the pans and 

 baskets mentioned. 



American Beauty roses are almost 

 invariably used only in tall vases in 

 decorations. Violets seem more popu- 

 lar than ever, the double sorts being 

 in much better demand than the sin- 

 gles, as the singles do not last well 

 enough. 



The demand for specimen chrysan- 

 themum flowers seems to grow strong- 

 er as the season for them closes. By 



the time the people get educated up to 

 appreciating them they are unobtain- 

 able. Roses seem to sell well right 

 through the chrysanthemum season, 

 especially Beauties. 



That the florist could sell more 

 made-up arrangements at the holi- 

 days is unquestioned, but he can't 

 spare the time to make them up and it 

 is therefore fortunate that so much of 

 the call is for loose flowers, but at 

 the same time this is not so well for 

 the florist at other seasons, there be- 

 ing little made-up work in which he 

 can use his second grade flowers to ad- 

 vantage. Probably one cause of the 

 increased sales of plant arrangements 

 is that they can be put together a lit- 

 tle in advance of the rush, and another 

 factor is that they are more lasting 

 than arrangements of cut flowers. 



Only a few hundred yards of bou- 

 quet green wreathing are handled 

 here. This is made specially heavy for 

 a few particular customers and a good 

 price charged. There is little profit 

 and much worry in handling any quan- 

 tity of it under present conditions. 

 Wild smilax is rapidly passing into the 

 same class. The price is figured too 

 closely to allow a fair profit. 



Quite a lot of bushy drooping plants 

 of English ivy were noted. They were 

 in 4-inch pots and were on a narrow 

 shelf just under the edge of the main 

 bench in several houses, the vines 

 drooping to the walk. They are large- 

 ly used in decorations to hide the pots 

 of palms and other large plants. Pot 

 covers are used on the large plants. 



but the desire is to have these covered 

 as much as possible. Ornamental ped- 

 estals are now rarely wanted. The 

 common iron ones are used and hid- 

 den by foliage, the ivy being very use- 

 ful for this purpose. 



When plants are taken out in very 

 cold weather they are packed in large 

 boxes, two of which just fit side by 

 side in the wagon box. Though the 

 wagon is heated this is considered 

 necessary, as the plants always have 

 to be carried some little distance from 

 the wagon to the house and unless so 

 protected the plants are sure to suffer 

 in severe weather. 



DAHLIAS. 



The photograph from which the- ac- 

 companying engraving is made .was 

 taken under diflJculties. Quite a high 

 wind blowing at the time knocked 

 over and spoiled my first arrangement 

 and broke some of my finest flowers. 

 And it was taken early in the season, 

 when the flowers were just coming out 

 and were rather scarce. 



A number of very fine varieties, 

 mainly of the cactus type, are seen in 

 the picture, including Starfish (the 

 dark fiower at the right near the base), 

 orange scarlet; Miss Webster (the 

 light colored flower in the center at 

 the base), pure white; Cannell's Gem 

 (the one at the extreme left in the up- 

 per part of the picture), a small flow- 

 er of good form, color soft red shaded 

 orange; J. E. Frewer (at the extreme 

 right in the upper part of the picture) 

 a fine large flower, color Vermillion; 

 Ensign (at the extreme left at the 

 base), also a very large and perfect 

 fiower, color bright carmine; Grand 

 Duke Alexis (the large white in the 

 center), a very fine flower. The pom- 

 pon at the right at the base is Lady 

 Jiilanche. 



1 now have one of the flnest collec- 

 tions of dahlias to be found anywhere, 

 including about fifty varieties of the 

 true cactus, besides a number of the 

 decorative type. Notable among the 

 sorts not shown in the picture are Fan- 

 tasy, very different from all others in 

 that the petals curve inward, also Mrs. 

 Moore, which is one of the finest, very 

 much like the preceding in form of 

 petals, the color being a velvety crim- 

 son streaked maroon. These last two 

 are very fine keepers. 1 have had them 

 keep and look well tor a full week. 



I have sold quite a lot of dahlia 

 flowers, as they have been very freely 

 used here the past summer for eve- 

 ning wear. But the season was a bad 

 one for dahlias and sweet peas, owing 

 to the great amount of rain. With me 

 sweet peas went up about ten feet and 

 some of the dahlias over eight feet. 



I grow all my dahlias to the single 

 stalk as they take up so much less 

 room that way and do very well. Be- 

 sides the cactus dahlias I have the 

 show, fancy and pompon sorts, and for 

 two years have taken the first prize at 

 the exhibition at Halifax, N. S. 



G. H. HASZARD, 



Charlottetown, P. E. Island. 



