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DREER'S 



HARDY PERENNIAL PLANTS 

 SPRING FLOWERING BULBS 



The Fall is an excellent time to set out Hardy Perennial Plants, 

 \'ines, Shrubs, Roses, etc. We make a specialty of these plants and grow 

 in large assortment. A complete list will be found in our AUTUMN 

 CATALOGUE, also Spring-flowering Bulbs which must be planted this 

 Fall for blooming next Spring. 



A copy mailed free to anyone mentioning this publication. 



HENRY A. DREER 



714-716 CHESTNUT STREET, 

 PHILADELPHIA, - PA. 



TALL BEARDED IRIS 



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Plow deep, and pulverize the soil. When 

 transplanting keep the plants out of the 

 sun. 



The slems as well as the roots should 

 be kept damp to prevent evaporation. 

 Broken or withered leaves and branches 

 are removed from the plant as it is 

 planted. 



Plants should be set deep. They have 

 a better chance to absorb moisture when 

 set deep and have a better root system. 

 Firm the soil well around the plant. This 

 will prevent evaporation. — Farm Life. 



A SOUTH AFRICAN FLOWER. 



Flowering ai the Cape of Gnod Hope 

 all through the Winter is one of the most 

 beautiful flowers in the world, which has 

 been called the queen of the Suutli .\frican 

 flora. 



This is Strclit::ia, with leaves like those 

 of a small banana and flowers so magnifi- 

 cent in coloi", form, and size that soon 

 after its discovery it became one of the 

 wonders of the flower world. It is along 

 the river banks of southeast Cape Colony 

 that it may be seen at home, standing up 

 some four feet among the grass and scrub 

 thai clothe the edges of the water. Open 

 glades are also sometimes ornamented by 

 scattered tufts some way from the valleys, 

 but nowhere else in the world is it truly 

 wild. So it is an endemic. The flowers 

 spring one after another all through the 

 season from the beaklike summit of the 

 stem. In each there are three deep yellow 

 sepals 4 to 6 inches long which stand up- 

 right like the crest on the head of a parrot. 

 Among tliem are the dark blue petals com- 

 bined together around the stamen into the 

 shape of an arrow. The whole bears a 

 striking resemblance to the head of a large 

 and gorgeous bird with its blue and yellow 

 crest erect au(l_ its beak pointing forward. 

 The likeness "is further helped by the 

 flower stalk, which curves like the neck of 

 a swan. The stamen is normally complete- 

 ly hidden by the petals, but it is revealed 

 when a honcv gatherer visits it, as they 

 open down the middle when pressed from 

 above, closing again to protect it as soon 

 as the weight of the visitor is removed. 

 Rather more weight is required than that 

 of a bee, and it has been noticed that these 

 flowers are visited and pressed open by the 

 little sugar-birds and sunbirds. — Exchange. 



'■When one admires, late in May 

 or early in June, the gardens of 

 those few people who have had 

 their places planted under the di- 

 rection of good landscape garden- 

 ers, one sees pictures made up 

 largely of three types of flowers: 

 Irises, peonies and Darwin tulips. 

 These are the types that have the 

 greatest piclure-making possibili- 

 ties among the easily grown hardy 

 perennials, and so they are utilized 

 by experts in landscape picture 

 making." — Clarence Moores West, 

 writing in The House Beautiful for 

 Septendier. 1919. 



.\ complete descriptive catalogue, 

 listing distinctly and accurately, 

 several hundred varieties, includ- 

 ing all the finest of the old .and 

 most of the finest, newest and rar- 

 est of recent American and Euro- 

 pean origin, is now ready. Write 

 at once to secure a copy. 



Address: 



Growing in the Exhibition Grounds of the Tile \ an ^erl Iris Gardens 1 

 \ an Wen Iris Gardens West Main St., Van Wert, O. I 



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FLOWERS WITH EXTRA PARTS. 



.\ correspondent writes that a Chicago 

 iris grower has a plant of the form known 

 as Madam Chcrcau with four parts in each 

 whorl, instead of the conventional three and 

 asks how such multiplication of parts is 

 brought about. In reiilv. it may be said 

 that plants of this kind arc "sports" and 

 may occur in practically any species with a 



dclinite number of parts in a whorl. The 

 trilliums are often found in this condition 

 and in the editor's grounds a race of four- 

 parted Darwin tulips has been bred up from 

 a single bulb that produced flowers with 

 this characteristic. How to produce such 

 sports is difiicult to say. Those in com- 

 merce are commonly the result of chance 

 finds and were not the object of experiment 

 by the breeder. If one deliberately sets out 

 to produce such "freaks" lie would be most 

 likely to succeed if he varied the surround- 

 ings of his plants as much as possible. No 

 plant is perfectly adapted to its locality. It 

 does the best it can under the circum- 

 stances. When it is brought into a new 

 region, therefore, it naturally begins to 

 adapt itself to the new conditions, and in 

 this effort sports are often produced. In 

 general, any change in the plant's environ- 

 ment — air. soil, water, light, or tempera- 



ture — is likely to result in more or less 

 definite responses of the plant which may 

 be sufficiently strong to make noticeable dif- 

 ferences in its form. — .liiirriiaa Botanist. 



HOW NATURE PLANTS TREES 



The reprodiictinn of trees is an interest- 

 ing study. While many species are easily 

 and inoie quickly grown from sprouts or 

 cuttings, yet the natural method, the way in 

 which our forests originated and are main- 

 tained is by seeds. .\s a rule all trees bear 

 seeds and "witliin the seed the tree in 

 miniature already lives." The seed falls to 

 the ground and if conditions are favorable, 

 in due time germinates ; first the tiny root- 

 le' reaches downward into the earth, then 

 a slender shoot pushes upward into the light 

 and air. Such is the beginning of tree life, 

 and slowly or rapidly, according to its kind. 



