720 



The Weekly Florists' Revie\^. 



N(ivi;ml;i;i; i' 



1 900. 



White Cloud. They shrug their shoul- 

 ders slightly when looking at their Law- 

 sons and shrug them a little more when 

 they mention the Marquis, but I beg to 

 prophesy that they will be well pleased 

 with both a little later. They smile 

 when looking at Crocker. It will do. 

 Crane is magnificent and so is Gomez 

 and Maceo. The former they think is a 

 great carnation for profit. Their blush 

 pink is a beauty. Many did not buy Gen- 

 evieve Lord last year and in that they 

 missed it. It has proved at Flatbush 

 a most wonderfully good grower, loaded 

 with buds, in fact as free as Scott. 



They don't smile — the brothers just 

 stand calmly embalmed in a halo of sat- 

 isfied bliss when near Prosperity (the 

 famous No. COO). It is a grand carna- 

 tion in every way you look at it. In 

 habit, stem, fiower, size and health it is 

 a beauty, and all will grow Prosperity. 

 I don't quite like the name. It has four 

 syllables, but it is much better than a 

 personal name. These gentlemen also 

 grow chrysanthemums, just as they 

 should be grown, and get the best price 

 for firat-class flowers. They say Trainor 

 L. Park is the best mid-season yellow. 

 Walter Molatsch is an early Lincoln. 

 And for the comfort of those old-fash- 

 ioned people who still grow Lincoln and 

 Maud Dean, I will say they find them 

 indispensable. " W'.M. Scott. 



HARDY FLOWERS FOR FLORISTS' 



USE. 



By c. C. Sandeks. 

 [Re;i(l before the St. Louis Florists' Club]. 



In the endeavor to prepare a paper on 

 above subject I will have to admit my 

 inability to do the subject justice, as it 

 must necessarily lake liie onto a field in 

 which I have had very little experience, 

 viz., among herbaceous and perennial 

 plants. It has not been my fortune to 

 have been among a right good collection, 

 and to my mind they have always been 

 associated with a weedy border of" plants, 

 and when you wanted some of them you 

 were unable to find them, or if you "did 

 find something you were not certain it 

 was what you wanted. 



This, of course, only exposes my igno- 

 rance in the matter and does not signify 

 but what there can be, and, no doubt, 

 are many desirable things among them. 

 There are many extensive collections of- 

 fered by the different floral firms, which 

 is evidence that they are in demand or 

 they would not be grown; and any thing 

 that the florist can handle and make 

 something at must be a useful article 

 either as a cut flower or plant. 



Out of the many varieties now in cul- 

 tivation I will mention a few that I 

 know to be good, although from my ob- 

 servations the staple cut flowers oiitsell 

 them. A majority of the people still 

 stick to roses, carnations, etc. Probablv 

 the most useful among the hardy flowers 

 is (,ho paeonia, that is, I think "the most 

 money changes hands on its account, the 

 cultivation of which consists of placing 

 a piece of root with one eye in the 

 ground; good soil and sunshine will do 

 the rest. Locally the paeonia is simply 



a paeonia, a flower that comes, lasts 

 awhile and goes. No special attention is 

 paid it, and we have seen the few pro- 

 duced around here overstock the market. 

 East and North of here, however, it is 

 dift'erent. Large fields, acres in extent, 

 arc devoted to its culture. They are cut 

 in the bud, papered up to prevent open- 

 ing, and kept in cold storage and very 

 highly prized as a commercial flower and 

 used by the tens of thousands. They arc 

 especially valuable where decoration 

 trade amounts to something, as their 

 season is always near that time. 



We think probably the Lilium candi- 

 duni should be placed next on the list. 

 It is a most beatrtiful 'and . fragrant 

 flower, though our experience with it of 

 late has not been very satisfactory, as it 

 seems to be diseased. Our last planting 

 only came up good the first season, (he 

 few" that came up later were deformed 

 and with no substance, and that was the 

 last of them. In years gone by we re- 

 member them as something that could be 

 depended upon for a good crop of flowers. 

 The poet's narcissus is a sweet little 

 flower that peeps early in the spring 

 about the time we are tired of roses, ear- 

 nations, etc. Its very stiff stems are 

 rather against it, for try as you will you 

 cannot get it to look graceful. A little 

 patch of it should be grown, for if space 

 is limited other things could be planted 

 between the rows when they are through 

 flowering. 



Heliantlius and Kudbeckia are very 

 useful and productive, with golden-yel- 

 low flowers in midsummer, when that 

 color is scarce, and nothing can beat the 

 Eudbeckia in the garden, especially the 

 Golden Glow-. It multiplies very fast 

 both by spreading and self-sow-n seeds. 

 Once started you are not likely to run 

 out of it. Think it will supersede the 

 helianthus which with us has a way of 

 dying ofl' soon after it has been planted 

 out, which we do not understand. For 

 the past two seasons we have lost neaily 

 all we planted out, including those sold, 

 and their going back is certainly against 

 them. 



The new Japan iris with their gor- 

 geous orchid-like flowers are of consider- 

 able value, and often called for as plants, 

 and some are used as cut flowers, and 

 when the ease of cultivation and propa- 

 gation is considered they are well worth 

 carrying in stock. For a grand garden 

 flower the perennial phlox cannot be 

 beat, theri! is an almost endless number 

 of varieties, of all shades, and they make 

 a splendid show during midsummer. Un- 

 fortunately they are of little value as a 

 cut fiower unless for immediate use, as 

 they will not keep long after being cut. 

 Old plants taken up and started the lat- 

 ter part of the winter are easily propa- 

 gated from cuttings and will bloom the 

 first season. 



Hollyhocks in past days were highly 

 esteemed, but in these days of long- 

 stemmed flowers they are of little value 

 when cut except in design work, and then 

 they are rather stiff looking. Their 

 chief beauty is in the garden. Among 

 the several kinds of Funkia or day lily, 

 the alba is the most valuable for cutting. 



or indeed for any purpose. It is exceed- 

 ingly handsome and can be used to good 

 advantage in any work. The balance of 

 them are good reliable garden plants re- 

 (juiring no attention, and increase by 

 spreading into large clumps. The old 

 lemon lily has lo.ts of friends and it is 

 deserving of them, for with its bright 

 color and delicate perfume it is well 

 worthy of a place in every collection. 

 Once started it takes care of itself. 



The Adiilleas, especially the Pearl, is 

 a very useful thing to grow, good for 

 .sinnmer cut flowers. By judiciously cut- 

 ting them back the flowering season can 

 be prolonged and a succession of crops 

 obtained. For dainty beauty tlie gyp- 

 tophila stands high. Its grace is its chief 

 characteristic, as the individual flower is 

 not very striking, it is quite hard to 

 work up a stock of this as it is rather 

 delicate in its growth. 



The old perennial pea is a very nice 

 thing to grow. It is lasting and ef- 

 fective in any work. The Clematis pani- 

 culala will answer a double purpose, 

 that of beautifying the home of the flor- 

 ist and of furnishing a dainty and val- 

 uable cut flower for many kinds of work. 

 It is particularly adapted for sprays. It 

 is very hardy and blooms in great pro- 

 fusion in our hottest month, August. 

 Every florist should have it. Same can 

 be said of a native variety commonly 

 called Travelers Joy and in former years 

 I remember making good use of it. 



Uelphineura (larkspur) and aquilegia 

 (columbine) are both necessary for every 

 complete border, and may come in handy 

 for cut use at almost any time, as there 

 are many people who delight in the old 

 ffarden ilowers when obtainable. 



The platycodons are a very hardy and 

 free flowering border plant, but of little 

 value as a cut flower, being of an unde- 

 cided color and of no special beauty, and 

 a flower must have beauty or fragrance 

 these days to be of use as a cut flower. 

 Anemones have alwa.ys ranked high In 

 this class of flowers and very deservedly 

 so as they are certainly among the best 

 of fall blooming hardy plants. The Ja- 

 ponica alba is one of the best, though the 

 new ones are said to be of great merit. 



We have a very partial feeling toward 

 the old garden pink. They are not as 

 plentiful as in former years, that is, the 

 old clove-scented kind our mothers used 

 to have, being driven out by the newer 

 kinds, that have names, and are sup- 

 posed to be better and finer, but accord- 

 ing to my way of thinking not nearly as 

 good. You will often have calls for this 

 old favorite, and we arc sure a little bed 

 of them will pay you. 



A comparatively new thing in a blue 

 fall blooming plant is the Careopteris 

 niastacanthus. This we have found will 

 produce a very fine lot of flowers in Sep- 

 tember, about the color of the ageratum. 

 It lasts well and might be useful as a 

 cut flower in its particular shade. Cer- 

 tain it is that it is a good border plant 

 and will, no doubt, be popular when bet- 

 ter known ; it is sometimes called the 

 blue spiraea. 



The Anthemis tinctoria is another ex- 

 cellent thins in a hardy yellow. It looks 

 about like the yellow marguerite, but it 



