Culture of Antirrhinums 



]\Iy experience with the culiure of Antirrhinums un- 

 der glass dates back about lit teen years, writes F. W. 

 Fletcher in an interesting booklet just issued. At that 

 time we grew the best sorts obtainable, and the best 

 at that time were mighty poor. Probably you remem- 

 ber that old type. The height, under glass, was usu- 

 ally about five feet, the colors were mostly of unde- 

 sirable shades, and the flowers small and so sparsely 

 placed on the spike as to gi\e the impression that the}- 

 had never been properly introduced. It was necessary 

 to stake each plant, and a dafty tying was the price of 

 a good spike. If 3'ou missed a day you got a crooked 

 stem. 



I was interested, nevertheless, for there was always 

 a demand for passably good flowers, and it seemed to 

 me there was a place for a showy, decorative flower, 

 to fill the gap between the 'mums and the coming of 

 paeonies, gladioli, etc. But to fill that place properly 

 it was necessary to greatly improve the then existing 

 varieties. It seemed to me that the desirable qualities 

 to be worked for were: A plant not to exceed three 

 feet in height. There is little call for flowers with 

 longer than 36-inch stems, and few people have vases 

 that are adapted to anything longer. A stem sufli- 

 ciently stiff to properl_\- support itself, with little or 

 no staking. A spike of larger individual flowers, com- 

 pactly arranged, but not so close as to look crowded 

 or "squatty." Clean, bright colors. 



With this general idea of what I thought was 

 wanted. I went to work. It must be confessed that 

 the progress made in the first five years was so slow 

 as to be decidedly discouraging. The pesky seedlings 

 all seemed determined to show the faults of both par- 

 ents, but none of their good points. I never men- 

 tioned snapdragon to florist visitors at the green- 

 houses. I had nothing to show. My attempt to put 

 a little snap in snapdragon looked like a fizzle. 



But about this time I saw advertised in an English 

 catalogue a new type — nanum grandiflorum. There 

 were, I think, four named varieties, mostly pink, or 

 combinations of yellow and pink, according to the de- 

 scriptions. We procured seed of all the varieties listed, 

 carefully planted the same, and hoped. From this 

 seed we raised something over 400 plants and, when thev 

 flowered, found we had ujjwards of 300 quite distinct 

 varieties, in many shades of pink, yellow, red and 

 white. Only about twenty per cent, showed what I 

 now know to be the grandiflorum type. 



In view of our experience with seed of these named 

 varieties, and since with many others, the claims of 

 some recent advertisers of new varieties give me a 

 feeling of inexpressible lassitude. Put a tack in right 

 here: you will find it just as profitable to grow your 

 carnation stock from seed as to depend upon seedling 

 antirrhinums to fill your greenhouse benches. 



Although this seed of named nanum grandiflorum 

 gave but few plants true to type and color, it did give 

 the material I had been looking for. In fact, it pro- 

 vided an embarrassment of riches. There were all 

 types of flowers and almost all types of growth ; dwarf 

 plants, tall plants ; large flowers and flowers not so 

 large, but of thick, leathery texture ; hooded flowers, 

 open flowers, some round, some twice as wide as deep, 

 and some with the depth double the width. With these 

 and some of the best of my own seedlings I proceeded 

 with a regular "spree" of pollenization. 



That was six years ago. Since then, we have grown 

 several hundred cross-bred seedlings each year. And 



each year we have come a little nearer to what I be- 

 lieve an ideal snapdragon. My real ideals I never ex- 

 pect to realize this side the "pearly gates." Three 

 years ago we commenced selling the flowers of the 

 silvery rose-colored variety now named Nelrose. Its 

 success was pronounced, and as it was an unequaled 

 producer of first-grade flowers and was not at all 



NEW AXTIKKUINU.MS "XELROSE." 

 Courtesy of F. W. Fletcher. 



"fussy" in its requirements of culture, we gave it more 

 and more room on the benches. 



This spring (1913) it was exhibited for the first time. 

 At the spring show of the Massachusetts ?Iorticultural 

 Society in Boston, it easily won first, in strong compe- 

 tition. Some of those interested in the International 

 Show to be held in New York, suggested that we ex- 

 hibit it there, as they believed there was nothing in 

 sight that could beat it. The idea was a little stagger- 

 ing at first. The exhibition game was a new one to 

 me, but I did know that .\ntirrhinums had no standing 

 with those who controlled our exhibitions. ■ This results 

 simply from the fact that up to the present time there 

 have been few. if any. varieties worthy of exhibition or 

 of notice. Finally I mustered up sufficient courage 

 to write and make an entry. We entered it for the 

 best cut-flower novelty. AND WE WON. 



Loudon, in his Encyclopedia of Plants, published in 

 1866, lists four v;:rieties of Antirrhinum majus. and 

 also four other species. Majus is a native of England; 

 siculum, orontium, Asarina and molle are respectively 

 natives of Sicily, Britain, Italy and Spain. It is prob- 

 able that our modern varieties are mostly descended 



