December 13, 1913 



HORTICULTUEE 



817 



TWO USEFUL GARDEN PERENNIALS, 



LUPI>US POI.YPUYLLUS ROSENS. 



Lupinus polyphyllus roseus Is a fine 

 pink flowered form of the well-known 

 dark blue lupin of the gardens. The 

 picture shows the stately beauty of 

 the plant when in bloom in mass effect 

 and the characteristic digitate foliage 

 which is attractive at all times. These 

 lupines are of the easiest culture and 

 perfectly hardy. 



Iris siberica is, as its name indi- 

 cates, a native of northern Asia and 

 one of the hardiest. The forms are 

 many as to color, the type being lilac 

 blue and pale violet. A rich, deep and 

 moist soil and abundant sunshine are 

 to its liking and what may be expected 

 of it under such conditions is well 

 shown in the accompanying illustra- 

 tion. 



Iris Siberica. 



CHRYSANTHEMUMS. 



A papef Cead \<y C. W. Johnson, Secretar.v 

 of the Chrysanthemum Society of Amer- 

 ica, before the Minnesota State Flor- 

 ists' Association. 



The chrysanthemum both from a 

 commercial and exhibition standpoint 

 is a very important factor to the flor- 

 ist, whether he be a grower, a retailer, 

 or a commission man. The young 

 plants and rooted cuttings are also a 

 leading feature with most of the whole- 

 sale plantsmen. 



The Commercial Standpoint. 

 In presenting an article of this char- 

 acter to a body of florists, the feature 

 of first importance is to take up the 

 subject from a commercial standpoint. 

 The commercial qualities of chrysan- 

 themums are looked upon from slight- 

 ly different angles by each branch of 

 the trade. The growers' point of view 

 is that the variety must be a good 

 grower, easy to produce from, that it 

 will develop a double flower of good 

 color from each bud section; not so 

 heavy in foliage that it will require 

 extra space to grow it; it must be 

 medium dwarf and 99 per cent, of the 

 flowers come perfect. The flowers 

 should be pure in color tone and not 

 susceptible to damping or spotting of 

 the petals, and, last but not least, they 

 must have a good substance and keep- 

 ing qualities so as to travel long dis- 

 tances without damage. A close, com- 

 pact flower is considered to be of 

 greater commercial value than a loose, 

 ragged one. The commission man 

 does not have the question of habit or 

 growth to contend with. His main 

 point of view is the selling value and 

 the keeping qualities of the variety. 

 These are also very telling points with 

 the retailer, but color is one of his 

 main considerations. Every man who 

 sells flowers knows the value of a 

 pleasing shade of color. It must have 

 life enough in its tone to harmonize 

 with the different furnishings that are 

 used in decorative work. White, yel- 

 low and pink are the colors most in 

 demand, but the light bronzes and 

 maroons are beginning to be used 

 more and more each year for special 

 work or occasions. 



Growing Commercial Blooms. 

 I will now take up the growing of 

 commercial cut blooms. Let us start 

 with the end of a chrysanthemum sea- 

 son, or the latter part of November. 

 Select tor the stock plants the strong- 

 est and cleanest of the stools that do 

 not show any signs of leaf disease. If 

 a bench is available in a light house 

 where the temperature can be held 

 around 4.5 degrees at night, and where 

 abundant ventilation can be given on 

 every favorable occasion, it is the best 

 place that can be had to carry over 

 the stock plants. When a bench as de- 

 scribed is not at your command, then 

 the stools should be put up into shal- 

 low flats, working plenty of soil down 

 between each stool, so that the roots 

 will have something to work on to 

 produce abundant cuttings. We some- 

 times see the stock plants put up in 

 flats and set underneath the benches 

 for three months or more. This is a 

 serious mistake, because under such 

 conditions the stools cannot possibly 

 throw up anything more than a spindly 

 cutting, beside being nests for wood- 

 lice and many other insects. It is just 

 as important to give your stock plants 



