May 20. Ifill 



HOKTl CULTURE 



743 



PHALAENOPSIS RIMESTADIANA. 



This is one of the richest and most 

 impressive of the Phalaenopses. It is 

 listed by Roehrs, who grows it in 

 quantity, as a geographical form of P. 



amabilis, from Java, flowers pure 

 white and much larger than amabilis. 

 It is a spring bloomer and a house of 

 it in flower is a sight not to be for- 



gotten. In the cut flower market thei'e 

 is almost no limit to the uses and de- 

 mand for pure white orchid blooms 

 and this Phalaenopsls has few rivals. 



with it only in a small way, and have 

 paid no attention to it. It could no 

 doubt be controlled by spraying with 

 Bordeau.K mixture. Where the buds 

 blight, it is well to cut them off and 

 burn them up. The stem wilt is a 

 fungus blight, but it does not live 

 over winter. Plants affected one year 

 may be unaffected the next. 



Paeonies which are called Japaness 

 paeonies, or Imperial paeonies by the 

 Englishmen, have their ups and 

 downs. They seem to go all to pieces 

 some years and do nothing at all for a 

 year or two. They do not seem to 

 be of good constitution. These kind 

 of paeonies grown from seed here in 

 America may be more vigorouh. 

 There are some other of the regular 

 paeony roots which go to pieces also 

 when they are divided. They are 

 weak. Most of Richardson's seedlings 

 do not recover after division for 

 three or four years. I only have a 

 few of these varieties that I can count 

 on for sure. These are Harry Wood- 

 ward or Grandiflora as I think it was 

 originally named — Rubra Superba — 

 and Milton Hill. All my English Im- 

 perial paeonies went to pieces after 

 division, and lots of the others. 



Cutting the Flowers. 



There are many positions in which 

 paeonies can be planted to be effec- 

 tive. Their blooms are large and 

 their colors carry well long distances. 

 As hedges, I would use solid colors. 

 For borders and beds use mixed 

 colors. Borders and beds are best 

 used where one wants to cut flowers 

 for the indoor rooms. The sun fades 

 the flowers out very quickly. The 

 most chaste and delicate colors will 



change in a forenoon in the sun. To 

 get these fresh and delicate colors 

 for your vases indoors, I advise cut- 

 ting when the buds are only half-open 

 and putting down cellar — then when 

 they are brought up they will quickly 

 open retaining all their beautiful 

 colors and fragrance. 



Raising From Seed. 



To grow from seed is interesting. 

 Gather the seed as the pods open in 

 August and September, and sow the 

 seed at once. I sow in drills about 

 as you would peas. Some come up 

 the first year — some in two years and 

 some not until three years after 

 planting. After they have grown a 

 year in these rows I transplant and 

 give room to leave them in one place 

 until they bloom so you can see 

 which ones to try out. These are 

 taken out and put into the trial 

 grounds where they will not have to 

 be moved for three or four years. 

 No one can tell what a paeony will 

 amount to until it has been set about 

 three years and got established. The 

 first blooms will be imperfect. Some- 

 times they will be single but show 

 signs of coming double. The sta- 

 minas will be turning to petals and 

 next year they may become doubles. 

 One writer says they wabble — but 

 this is only true in that the form 

 changes. The color is the same at 

 the very start. Don't name them 

 when they first bloom. Try them out 

 three or four years first. You cannot 

 grow paeonies from seed with any 

 satisfactory success unless you are 

 possessed with lots of patience. 

 Good Varieties for Cutting. 



Now a word to the florists. There 



are about a half dozen whites on 

 which you can count for money mak- 

 ing blooms. They will give you 

 blooms that are choice and will 

 always go when any paeonies go. 

 Festiva Maxima, Mme. de Verne- 

 ville, Baroness Schroeder, Marie 

 Lemoine, Eugenie Verdier and Harry 

 Woodward. These run early, medium, 

 late and very late. There are lots of 

 pinks. The first pinks for me with 

 flowers for weddings come from 

 Umbelotta Rosea or Sarah Bernhardt 

 (Dessert) as it was first called; 

 Edithe Lyttleton and Polyphemus. 

 These were all two days ahead of 

 Edulis Superba, — In fact they were 

 the first fiowers in all the grounds 

 for sale. I could not give a list of all 

 the pinks which would be good for 

 florists' use. There are many and all 

 shades. In reds or crimsons there Is 

 not much to choose from. To get 

 best blooms, disbud. Some only set 

 the terminal, others many buds. In 

 cutting paeonies, it is best not to cut 

 more than half the foliage away. I 

 mean if a clump has twenty stalks 

 and all the stalks have blooms, r 

 would not cut more than ten stalks. 

 Do not cut the stems down close. 

 T>eave at least one leaf stem on the 

 stalk. It is really better to leave two 

 where you can. Some have ruined 

 their roots by cutting all the stalks 

 and also cutting close. That is the 

 way to kill anything by cutting it 

 down when in full leaf. It is of more 

 importance to keep your roots vigor- 

 ous and growing than to sell every- 

 thing out one year and ruining your 

 roots. If your customers insist on 

 long stems or nothing, then sell them 

 the clumps, by charging what they 



