496 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



FEBRUARY 17, ISflS. 



loving public. It has charmed me in 

 the same way. for had it not been for 

 ihe color I would have discarded it the 

 first season of its blooming, as my de- 

 scription of this variety will show. 



The first bloom that appeared on the 

 seed plant showed up fine, l)iit pos- 

 sessed a weak stem and had a slight 

 inclination to burst the calyx. All the 

 rest that followed went hopelessly to 

 pieces, but that cheerful color seemed 

 to influence me to give it a second 

 year's trial. The second year showed 

 a very marked improvement, the 

 rather compact habit changed to a lit- 

 tle more spreading, the flower stems 

 appeared stronger, and about half of 



And now appears a fault in the habit 

 that is rather provoking. Strong 

 branches, pulled over by their weight, 

 break off completely when switched by 

 the wind or handled carelessly in top- 

 ping or lifting. This appears when 

 stem and branches become woody. It 

 seems the branches increase in thick- 

 ness without increasing in adhesion to 

 the stem. Careless handling and 

 storms often cause severe loss, but 

 when once safely housed all danger of 

 breaking is over, and, strange to say, 

 with the softer inside growth the 

 branches seem to adhere better. 



The foliage is strong, hard and 

 heavy, and of that dark bluish color 



^ ■ > 



Mrs. Geo. M. Bradt. 



the blooms did not burst. These non 

 bursting blooms were of somewhat 

 larger size than the others; that is, 

 the petals grew longer and lost some 

 of the crowded and twisted appear- 

 ance. This improvement in the set- 

 ting of the petals seemed to save the 

 blooms from bursting. 



The bursting blooms still produced 

 did not deter me any longer from giv- 

 ing it further trial, and my expecta- 

 tions were surprisingly fulfilled. The 

 bursting blooms disappeared almost 

 altogether, the stems gained in 

 strength, the blooms showed a marked 

 improvement in size and form, by ex- 

 panding the petals more freely, and, 

 best of all, it assumed a freer disposi- 

 tion to bloom. 



Now let us look at the plant as it 

 appears to-day. The young plants in 

 the field assume a rather upright 

 growth, but the weight of the strong, 

 heavy branches will soon spread them. 



indicating health and resistance to dis- 

 ease. Exposed to rust, where other va- 

 rieties susceptible to this parasite 

 would soon be affected, this variety re- 

 mained free. Now, I will not maintain 

 that it is rust proof, for I have said be- 

 fore that I consider such an assertion 

 absurd, but so long as it receives a cul- 

 ture conducive to health, it has ten 

 chances to one of remaining free from 

 this disease. It seems comparatively 

 free from other diseases, save in iso- 

 lated cases, which is the case with al- 

 most every variety. 



I have said once before that this va- 

 riety is entirely free from cropping. I 

 repeat it again, and in this respect it 

 possesses a property not equaled by 

 any other variety, to my knowledge. 

 It commences to bloom early, and when 

 once fully established on the bench, 

 there is not a portion of the plant that 

 can be called unproductive. The young 

 shoots, not over numerous, mature 



quickly and produce a bloom; there are 

 no idle shoots lingering on the plant; 

 all is business. Therefore the plants 

 are never seen full in the body, like" 

 other varieties, and for this same rea- 

 son cuttings appear scarce, and never 

 in large numbers at one time. This va- 

 riety blooms now for the fifth year, and 

 for the last three years it has proven 

 the same even bloomer, producing 

 flowers of the same quality from early 

 to late, slightly increasing in produc- 

 tiveness as the plant gains in size. In- 

 ferior blooms are very scarce on our 

 benches, which was likewise the case 

 in former seasons. We kept careful 

 count of our cuttings last year from the 

 1st of November to the 1st of May. 

 and it shows nearly an even number 

 for every week, slightly increasing up 

 to April, when it dropped off on ac- 

 count of the cuttings taken from the 

 plants lor propagating purposes. Its 

 character is set, and I believe there is 

 ro danger of deterioiation, unless when 

 mistreated or neglected. 



F"'rom the al)Ove one might infer that 

 I wish to say that this variety is one 

 of the freest bloomers in cultivation. 

 True, it is very free in its way, but 

 numerically, to make a comparison. 

 Scott will furnish about double the 

 number of flowers to a plant. These 

 large blooms take longer time to de- 

 velop, and the smaller number of larger 

 flowers per plant is equal to any other 

 variety in weight. 



There is one unfavorable point to 

 mention, and this is. the disproportion 

 between stem and the matured bloom. 

 Strong and heavy as the stem appears, 

 carrying the nearly open blooms erect, 

 when fully grown these very large and 

 full blooms become too heavy, and 

 often the stem has to bend under its 

 full weight. But the improvement in 

 this line has in the past years been so 

 marked that more can be expected in 

 the future. The calyx is an inheritance 

 from its parent Albertini. Fragrance 

 is slight, often hardly perceptible. The 

 general form and setting of the bloom 

 is original and not found in any of its 

 ancestors: it there is any fault to men- 

 tion, it is the fullness of the blooms; 

 anthers and pollen are rather few; pis- 

 til is of a peculiar form, branching 

 often like an elk's horns. 



There is yet a rather agreeable fea- 

 ture to mention, and that is its inclina- 

 tion to sport to a solid scarlet, the 

 color of the stripes. These scarlet 

 blooms of the same form and finish ap- 

 pear often here and there, and are of 

 considerable interest. I will try to ob- 

 tain a few of the scarlet variety this 

 season, if that color can be set and 

 made permanent. The free appearance 

 of these sports gives me the impression 

 that it may as easily revert to the orig- 

 inal and not prove constant, but it is 

 always worthy a trial, as these scarlet 

 blooms have so far attracted a great 

 deal of interest. Everybody who grows 

 this variety has the chance to make the 

 trial, as they are as likely to appear in 

 a dozen plants as in a hundred. 



Not without faults, this variety is 



