April 7, 1906 



HORTICULTURE 



4ii3 



EASTER PLANTS. 



(Eobert Craig Before the Florists - Club of 

 Philadelphia.) 



On April 9, 1888, just eighteen years 

 ago, I read a paper before this club, 

 in which I alluded to the Easter plant 

 trade as having become the most im- 

 portant of the whole year. I recited 

 the fact that there had been a great 

 advance in the quantity of plants 

 grown as well as in the increased va- 

 riety from the time, only a few years 

 back, when callas, geraniums, mig- 

 nonette, violets, etc., were the chief 

 staples. In that year, 1888, I men- 

 tioned L. Harrisii, L. longiflorum, hy- 

 drangeas Otaksa and Thos. Hogg, 

 azaleas, deutzias. genistas, Astilbe 

 Japonica and hybrid roses as the chief 

 staples. All of these are still grown, 

 only in larger quantities, and the gen- 

 eral culture is better; finer specimens 

 are grown. Since that time we have 

 had several notable additions to the 

 list of Easter plants. I think the 

 Crimson Rambler may be mentioned 

 as the most important; it is still a 

 very valuable plant; the much herald- 

 ed Baby Rambler, while very valuable 

 as a bedding rose, is not so good for 

 Easter purposes, especially in large 

 specimens. Dorothy Perkins, the pink 

 Rambler, is fine, and has come to stay. 

 In the same class may be mentioned 

 several of Mr. Walsh's new hybrid 

 climbers, particularly Lady Gay, which 

 is a superb thing. A German rose 

 called Leuchtstern, a single pink with 

 ring of white inside and the centre yel- 

 low, which I saw in New York the 

 other day, impressed me very favor- 

 ably; the foliage was fine and the 

 blooms pretty and abundant, and it 

 seemed to be a good keeper, not easily 

 shaken off. A few other varieties of 

 roses are fine for Easter; chief of these 

 is Magna Charta. Mrs. John Laing; 

 Frau Karl Druschki promises to be a 

 good white, although it has hardly had 

 a fair trial yet. 



A very desirable new plant is the 

 Marguerite Queen Alexandra; it makes 

 a fine pot plant. 



In the spiraeas we have had several 

 improved varieties; the best one, all 

 things considered, is Gladstone. 



Bougainvillea Sanderi is another 

 very valuable Easter plant and if the 

 wood is properly ripened will flower 

 most profusely in all sizes of plants 

 from those in four-inch pots, suitable 

 for basket work, up to very large 

 specimens. 



Cineraria stellata, of the improved 

 compact growing, fine colored varie- 

 ties, is a very showy plant but still 

 capable of further improvement by 

 careful selection of seed from those 

 varieties most suitable for store use. 



A plant which I have not seen with 

 the Philadelphia growers, but which is 

 well done in New York, is the boronia, 

 which bears its globular pink-purplish 

 flowers in great profusion. 



Another plant worthy of culture is 

 the Lilium speciosum rubrum and 

 album, which are valuable either for 

 cutting or as pot plants; they are 

 easily obtainable at Easter from cold 

 storage bulbs. Another plant deserv- 

 ing of culture is the Deutzia Lemoinei, 

 which was tried and discarded several 

 years ago by several of our growers as 

 inferior to Deutzia gracillis, but which 

 is now proved to be valuable by sev- 

 eral growers, particularly as to the 



BOSTON FLORIST LETTER CO. 



M anufactur ers of FLORISTS' LETTERS 



This wooden box nicely stained and 

 varnished, 18x30x12, made In two sec- 

 tions, one for each size letter, given 

 away with first order of 500 letters 



Block Letters, z% or 2 inch size per 100, $2. 



Script Letters, 3. Fastener with each letter or 

 word. Used by leading florists everywhere and 

 for sale by all wholesale florists and supply dealers 



N. f . MCCARTHY, Manager 



66 Pearl Street, BOSTON, MASS. 



REED ®. KELLER 



122 West 25th St., New York 



Florists' Supplies 



We manufacture all our 



Metal Designs, Baskets, Wire Work &Noveltie: 



and arrr dealers in 

 Glassware Decorative Greens and florists' Requisites. 



durability of its flowers, which do not 

 drop as easily as those ot Deutzia 

 gracilis; the chief point in the culture 

 being the lifting by first of August or 

 before, so as to have the pots full of 

 new roots before cold weather; this 

 method is necessary also with D. 

 gracilis. 



There has been introduced to this 

 country this year a valuable new 

 azalea named Julius Roehrs. This will 

 undoubtedly become a leading standard 

 variety: it is of the same genera! 

 character as Madame Vander Cruyssen, 

 but of a richer, brighter color. Rhodo- 

 dendrons are now largely grown, the 

 best new one that has come to my 

 notice is Red Camille de Rohan. 



As we have had from time to time 

 valuable additions to the list of Easter 

 plants, so we may continue to expect 

 them. We are promised a new pink 

 spirjea for next year, of a lovely shade 

 of color, for the stock of which one 

 thousand pounds is reported to have 

 been refused. 



The growing of plants for Easter in- 

 volves much extra work in the moving 

 from house to house as the weather 

 changes, so as to have everything "just 

 right" at the one time, the compensa- 

 tion for this extra work being that 

 there is generally a demand for all 

 yood plants at a fair price. 



Inclosed is check for $2.00; please 

 enter two subscriptions to HORTI- 

 CULTURE both to commence with the 

 superfine issue of last week, the 

 special Rose Number, for which please 

 accept our hearty congratulations and 

 our request to keep it up, we enjoy it 

 and appreciate it so thoroughly. — 

 D. B. 



SAMUEL MURRAY 



Florist 



Coates House Conservatory 



1017 BROADWAY, KANSAS CITY, MO. 



Both 'Phones 2670 Main 



Florists 



Out of 

 Town 



Taking orders for delivery In 

 New York City or Vicinity can 

 have them filled in best manner 

 and specially delivered by 



Thomas Young, Jr. 



41 W. 28th Street, New York 



ALEX. McCONNELL 



546 Fifth Ave.. New York City 



Telegraphic orders forwarded to any 

 part of the United States, Canada, and 

 all principal cities of Europe. Orders 

 transferred or entrusted by the trade to 

 our selection for delivery on steam- 

 ships or elsewhere receive special 

 attention. 



Telephone Calls, 340 and 341 38th St. 

 Cable Address, ALEXC0NNELL 



DETROIT 



John Breitmeyer's 

 Sons^es- 



Cor. MIAMI and GRATIOT AVES. 

 DETROIT, MICH. 



Artistic Designs 

 Higjh Grade Cut Blooms 



We cover all Michigan, points and good 

 sections of Ohio, Indiana and Canada. 



Geo. H. Cooke 



FLORIST 



Connecticut Avenue and L Street 



WASHINGTON. D. C. 



FRED C. WEBER 



FLORIST 



OLIVE STREET ol. LUUlo, I'll). 



Established 1873 

 Lone Distance Phone Bell Lindell 676 



Albany, N. Y. E^YRE^S 



Flowers or Design Work 



DELIVERED IN ALBANY AND VICINITY ON 

 TELEGRAPHIC ORDER. 



11 NORTH PEARL ST., ALBANY, NY 



OllOt BBO* (O 

 rUQRISTS 



WASHINGTON, 

 D. C. 



GUDE'S 



