J 34 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



JANUARY 5, 1S99. 



which he will fill this hall next au- 

 tumn. 



FERNS. The fern that has invaded 

 every household and delighted its pur- 

 chasers perhaps more than any other 

 plant is certainly the Boston Fern. 

 How quickly it has become popular is 

 well known to you. It was raised near 

 Boston and sent to Kew for a name. 

 Nephrolepis Bostoniensis was suggest- 

 ed and adopted. It is one of the very 

 few things of which there was not 

 enough to go around on Christmas. Or- 

 ders for hundreds of plants in li-inch 

 pots at $1 each could not be filled. It 

 is much more graceful than the old 

 Nephrolepis Exaltata, which, however, 

 it closely resembles, and seems to 

 stand rough treatment even better. It 

 seems good for a few years to come, 

 and I hear it is to be grown even more 

 extensively than at present. 



You will soon learn of a new Giant 

 Nephrolepis from Washington, the 

 stock of which is now in possession of 

 Mr. N. Studer and Mr. John H. Ley, 

 who will put it on the market next 

 spring. It is to be called "Washing- 

 toniensis." Its proportions are enor- 

 mous, the fronds growing to a length 

 of eight feet, and a foot in width. It's 



going to come high, like , 



but I guess we'll have to have it. As a 

 fine large leaf for decorative purposes 

 it is likely to prove useful and valua- 

 ble. 



ASPARAGUS SPRENGERI, by some 

 called Emerald Feather, which I be- 

 lieve I helped to introduce, is another 

 most welcome addition to the list of 

 plants that you cannot well do with- 

 out. Some big asparagus growers said 

 it would not take, and perhaps they 

 are not growing it yet; but it is safe to 

 say that half a million plants have 

 been raised from the seed alone this 

 year. Being so handy for many pur- 

 poses and not liable to go back, even 

 in the hands of inexperienced persons, 

 it will continue to be grown very ex- 

 tensively. Many new seedlings of it 

 have appeared lately. 1 know of six 

 very distinct ones, all of which have 

 merit. One is an almost erect grower; 

 another is of drooping habit with sec- 

 ondary branches growing upwards, or 

 rather backwards; still another is 

 nearly pure white. 



BEGONIAS. Begonia Gloire de Lor- 

 raine is the best commercial begonia 

 introduced within the last decade. It 

 is very difficult to propagate in winter, 

 because it produces none but flowering 

 wood. But in spring it sends suckers 

 from the base, which are readily root- 

 ed and grow freely during the hot 

 summer months. They begin to flower 

 in great abundance when the weather 

 becomes cool in the fall. As a Christ- 

 mas pot-plant it has no superior. Spec- 

 imens grown in 7-inch pots, 18 inches 

 by 18 through, sold readily at $30 per 

 dozen, and in some cases at $48. That's 

 pretty good for plants grown in sum- 

 mer and without much cost for fuel. I 

 believe it has come to stay. 



Duke Zoppelin is a most useful and 

 attractive tuberous variety, and will 

 become a favorite for bedding. It 



stands the sun better than any other 

 begonia I know of, is very dwarf in 

 growth, and is not approached by any 

 other in brilliancy of its color. It is a 

 dazzling scarlet and very double. It is 

 a German variety, introduced by the 

 Dreer Company. A new double-flower- 

 ing Begonia Vernon is soon to be 

 placed upon the market. Its color is 

 very bright and the flowers are of fair 

 size. 



While on the subject of begonias I 

 should mention that some superb Rex 

 varieties have been offered recently, 

 notably Princess Charles of Denmark; 

 but unfortunately this class has been 

 attacked by a fungoid disease which 

 destroys the leaves and frequently 

 kills the plant. The disease is common 

 in many sections of this country and 

 in England. 



A plant which has apparently es- 

 caped your notice is Campanula Mira- 

 bilis, of which the English journals 

 speak in most enthusiastic terms as a 

 free-blooming pot-plant. The Bell- 

 Flowers have been considered hard to 

 grow, at least in the east, but I don't 

 know what Mr. Thorpe would have 

 done without them at the World's 

 Fair. It is to be hoped that some of 

 our energetic members will give this 

 variety a chance. The seed is offered 

 by Dreer and by Michell. 



The "fin de siecle" novelty was 

 thought to be Acalypha Sanderi; and 

 no more interesting plant could be de- 

 sired. Although it is now said to have 

 been known and described under four 

 or five different names years and years 

 ago, Mr. Sander, of St. Albans, should 

 be given great praise for re-introduc- 

 ing it. No other plant has created 

 such a sensation here or abroad. It 

 seems to take the fancy of the public 

 as well as of the grower. Its success is 

 assured, and I know positively that or- 

 ders for 5,000 lots had to be refused, 

 even for future delivery. This ought 

 to be a pointer to those who have a 

 stock of it. Few of you may know that 

 it is a climber, reaching a height of 8 

 to 10 feet. Its drooping flower-spikes 

 of "floral tales," as some have called 

 them, must then be very attractive. Its 

 proper name is Acalypha Hispida, but 

 some think a popular name is required. 

 One party has suggested the Crimson 

 Cat's Tail or the Cat's Crimson Tail, 

 which is about as bad as "Caturus 

 Caudatus," under which it was known 

 years ago. 



Among the plants that will be of- 

 fered as new this year are many that 

 will be found worth growing even by 

 florists. Not the least important is 



PRIMULA FORBESI, or "The Baby 

 Primrose," which has suddenly become 

 a favorite and in great demand. Per- 

 haps you have all seen it lately, and 

 yet you may not realize what a very 

 good thing it is. When I tell you it 

 begins to bloom while small enough to 

 grow in a thimble, blooms ten months 

 a year in succession, fills six-inch pots 

 in about four months, or large pans in 

 about six, and then carries 50 to 100 

 flower spikes at one time: when I say 

 that this week I saw some flowers 



which were cut Thanksgiving day and 

 were not wilted yet, that $2 per 100 

 has been paid for the sprays, that it 

 can be grown in a cold-house or in 

 frames where Marie Louise violets will 

 bloom, then you will not wonder that 

 I am enthusiastic about it. The man 

 who has a houseful of it by Easter 

 ought to coin money. , It can be 

 benched closely and makes an elegant 

 pot plant, salable at any time while in 

 bloom. 



Another good pot plant is RUEL- 

 LIA MACKOYANA, a Belgian novelty 

 recently exhibited at Ghent. It is a 

 fine plant for growing in shady places, 

 where others would die. Its dark, vel- 

 vety, olive-green foliage, veined with 

 white, is quite ornamental, and its car- 

 mine red flowers appear during nearly 

 the entire year. It has been twice 

 color-plated in Europe, an honor ac- 

 corded only to good things. It will 

 soon be offered by the thousands. 



It will surprise many of you gentle- 

 men to learn that some fifty new seed- 

 ling crotons raised by Mr. Lonsdale 

 promise to outshine many of the finest 

 European importations. You will hear 

 of them in the near future, and they 

 will create special interest, as they are 

 American grown. A new variety from 

 Europe, named "Aigsworth's Gem" is 

 also said to be a veritable treasure. 



HIBISCUS PEACH BLOW, a beauti- 

 ful double pink sport from a double 

 scarlet, is now being worked up by 

 Messrs. Robert Craig & Son. It is a 

 fine thing, making dwarf, dense, bush- 

 like plants; an excellent bedder, very 

 freely covered with blooms during the 

 entire season. 



A really new thing is CHILDSIA 

 WERCKLEI, a native of Costa Rica, 

 named at Kew and to be offered this 

 year by Mr. Childs. of New York. This 

 "Treasure Vine" is a rapid and early 

 climber, bearing large orange-scarlet 

 flowers closely resembling a Cosmos. 

 To me it is a very interesting and 

 beautiful plant. 



Almost identical to the above in the 

 form and color of its flowers is the 

 new, early-flowering, COSMOS KLON- 

 DIKE, a Mexican plant improved upon 

 by Mr. A. W. Smith, of .\mericus. Ga., 

 for whom it blooms as early as May 

 15th. If it would only do to here, the 

 florists would have something flue to 

 cut early. The flowers a:e quite large- 

 and a bright orange. Tl e foliage is 

 substantial and the stems long. 



It is easy to recognize that only the 

 very best plants remain popular for any 

 length of time. Among those may be 

 classed the Otaheite Orange — and, by 

 the way, I am sure that the Japanese 

 Kumquat, if taken in hand by Mr. Har- 

 ris and others, would prove even more 

 popular, as it bears a greater number 

 of fruits, which, although smaller, are 

 delicious to eat and can be ripened on 

 plants not over a foot high. Others 

 that will remain popular are: Bougain- 

 villea Sanderiana, Carex Japonica, 

 Phrynium variegatum, Livistonia ro- 

 tundifolia, Abutilon Savitzi, Justicia 

 flava and volutina and even Solanum 

 Wendlandi — and the grand Clematis 



