506 



HOETICULTUEE 



October 14, 1916 



to do this for several years. But do 

 not treat perennials as left-overs from 

 spring sales and expect to make a pro- 

 fit; because if you do you will be dis- 

 appointed and apt to say "Oh. I don't 

 see anything in growing perennials!" 

 Give them the same attention that you 

 do your field-grown carnations, asters, 

 vincas, ivies or other plants from 

 which you expect to make a profit. You 

 know if you do not give the necessary 

 attention to carnation plants in the 

 field you will have very few Beacon 

 to retail at $2.50 a dozen on December 

 24th. I believe perennials will pay 

 you as well as asters have paid you — 

 this year, at any rate — but you took a 

 chance on the asters, prepared the 

 ground for them, kept them cultivated 

 and clean. Why not plant a piece of 

 that ground to paeonies or delphin- 

 iums now; and when the asters are 

 going off at the neck and the beetles 

 are busy next summer, you can go 

 out and cut belladonna or other del- 

 phiniums on three-foot stems, and you 

 will find that your customer will take 

 them, and also, in many cases, leave 

 an order for plants at least a quarter 

 each time. 



Do you know that on August 20th 

 this year some spikes of delphinium 

 were sold in New York market at $2.00 

 a dozen? They were fine spikes, I 

 admit, but did you get the same price 

 for speciosum lilies at the same time? 

 I have had phone calls from the whole- 

 salers in this town; also trom Atlan- 

 tic City, offering me $25.00 for 250 

 spikes of belladonna, which convinced 

 me that the demand was there, wait- 

 ing to be supplied. I replied that we 

 were not in the cut flower business, 

 and diligently set to work to harvest 

 all the seeds possible, so that you 

 could have a chance. I read with in- 

 terest the items discussing whether a 

 four-inch geranium can be sold profit- 

 ably at ten cents straight or a dollar 

 a dozen. Sow digitalis and campanula 

 about a month earlier than you put 

 your geranium cuttings in, get them 

 into 31/2 inch pots by fall, keep them 

 in a frame all winter, with a few dry 

 leaves over them as a protection for 

 the foliage, give them air early in the 

 spring, keep them nice and stocky and 

 hand them out to your customers at 

 $1.50 a dozen— they will get a lot of 

 satisfaction and you will get a better 

 profit. Get acquainted with some of 

 the plants I shall mention, and make 

 your customers feel you are giving 

 them in.telligent advice when they ask 

 for suggestions. Your customers are 

 taking a greater interest in outdoor 

 gardening than they ever did before. 

 They are not going to Europe in such 

 large numbers every year, and manv 

 of them are using the time to beautify 

 their own grounds. 



Look up some of the magazines de- 

 voted to outdoor life and country pur- 

 suits and note the number of Garden 

 Clubs that have been formed. See the 

 number of demonstrating lessons that 

 are being given actually in the gar- 

 dens of the members. Result? I will 

 venture to say that many of the 

 stocks of hardy plants in the larger 

 nurseries are lower at the present 

 time than they have been for manv 

 years. If you do grow a few more 

 hardy plants than you dispose of in 

 the spring, plant them out; they will 

 give you flowers that will be accept- 

 able before the newly-planted carna- 

 tions have begun to bloom and when 



the first crop of roses opens up too 

 quickly on you. They will also give 

 you a greater variety — and one sale 

 leads to another. 



In the autumn you will have noted 

 the flowers that have been in demand. 

 Increase your plantings by division in 

 October or early spring. To-night I 

 am to speak only for tall flowers, but 

 a good plant catalogue and your own 

 good judgment will suggest plants 

 that you can profitably use all through 

 the summer months. 



During the past few weeks, I have 

 noted the following hardy plants, in 

 addition to those already mentioned, 

 and most of them are suitable for cut 

 flowers or decorations. 



Aconitum Wilsoni is a strong, 

 stately plant, growing five feet high, 

 with large violet blue flowers and is 

 the latest flowering Aconite. The new- 

 Anemone Hupehensis, a recent intro- 

 duction of merit from China, grows 

 one foot high and produces flowers of 

 a pleasing pale mauve rose one and 

 one-half inches in diameter, from 

 August until late autumn. The beauti- 

 ful Artemesia lactiflora. four feet high, 

 clothed with elegantly cut dark green 

 foliage and terminated by panicles 

 of hawthorn-scented creamy-white 

 spiraea-like light and graceful flowers, 

 is unlike any other plant in bloom at 

 this time. The native Boltonias, with 

 single aster-like flowers, give a showy 

 effect in the fall and produce literally 

 thousands of flowers. The Buddleia 

 (or Butterfly Bush, as it is called) is 

 deservedly popular with the florist. 

 This shrub, from a young plant set 

 out in May. will mature to full size 

 the first season. It produces long, 

 graceful stems which terminate in 

 tapering panicles of beautiful lilac- 

 colored flowers that are of miniature 

 size and borne on a flower head which 

 is frequently ten inches long. The 

 second year it generally commences to 

 flower in June and continues until 

 nipped by severe frosts. I venture to 

 predict that the Buddleia will be- 

 come one of the most popular plants 

 ever introduced. 



The shrubby Caryopteris mastacan- 

 thus (or Blue Spiraea) is a handsome 

 plant, about three feet high, carrying 

 its rich lavender-colored flowers the 

 whole length of its branches. Chelone 

 Lyoni. with heads of purplish flowers 

 and the white variety, are both useful. 

 The free-flowering Shasta daisies, and 

 the varieties Arcticum. Alaska and 

 Vermorense are among the freest 

 flowering plants of September and 

 October. The dense white spike of 

 Cimicifuga simplex is appreciated, and 

 when cut lasts in perfection a long 

 time. 



Coreopsis lanceolata. with its rich 

 golden-yellow flowers, is invaluable for 

 cutting and succeeds everywhere The 

 globular deep metallic blue heads of 

 Echinops Ritro remain attractive a 

 long time in a dry condition; and the 

 finely-cut spiny foliage and beautiful 

 amethystine blue heads of the Sea 

 Holly are most ornamental. Eupa- 

 torium ageratoides. a strong free-grow- 

 ing plant, with minute white flowers 

 in dense heads, is splendid for cut- 

 ting; and the pretty Eupatorium coe- 

 lestmum. with light blue flowers, simi- 

 lar to ageratum is in flower from 

 August until frost. The common na- 

 tive purpureum maculatum (or .Toe 

 Pye weed) is useful in low ground. The 

 gorgeous colored Gaillardia grandiflora 



succeeds in any soil, in a sunny posi- 

 tion, and is in flower all the time from 

 June on. 



The ornamental grasses can be used 

 with telling effect in autumn borders. 

 Erianthus Ravennae grows ten to 

 twelve feet high, and throws up 

 numerous plumes, resembling pampas 

 grass, and does not need the same win- 

 ter protection. Eulalias, planted sing- 

 ly where the soil is rich and deep, 

 take care of themselves, and grow 

 rapidly into large specimens. All the 

 grasses do best in a heavy soil, enrich- 

 ed with manure and an abundant sup- 

 ply of water. Among the small grow 

 ing kinds, Festuca glauca has no equal 

 and the giant reed Arundo donax will 

 grow 12 to 20 feet high. 



Similar in general habit to the 

 Helianthus. but commencing to flower 

 earlier, are the Heliepsis. They rarely 

 exceed three feet in height and are 

 very valuable for cutting. Pitcheriana, 

 scabra, zinniaflora and the new variety 

 excelsa are some of the best varieties. 

 The golden yellow Hypericum Moseri- 

 anum is a most desirable border plant 

 of graceful habit, with stems drooping 

 apparently from the weight of the 

 flowers and buds. The new variety 

 Hypericum patulum variety Henryi 

 promises to be a very desirable ad- 

 dition to our yellow-flowered shrubs. 



Lobelia cardinalis and syphilitica 

 hybrida (a selection of our native lobe- 

 lia) it planted in a moist, deep loam, 

 are effective in September. Lythrum 

 alatum. a compact plant, with crim- 

 son purple flowers, has just finished 

 blooming. Montbretias are amongst 

 the brightest of the late summer 

 flowering bulbs, and deserve to be 

 planted extensively and protected in 

 winter. Platycodons (blue and white) 

 with cupped, star-shaped flowers, are 

 closely allied to the campanulas, and 

 when they are established each plant 

 will have ten or twelve stalks of lovely 

 flowers and remain in flower a month. 

 PjTethrum uliginosum, the Giant 

 Daisy, has flowers of glistening white 

 on stems four to five feet high, and is 

 most useful for cutting. The Golden 

 Glow are about gone; but Rudbeckia 

 purpurea, and the new variety tubi- 

 flora, with their peculiar reddish 

 purple flowers with remarkably large 

 cone-shaped centers of brown are still 

 in their autumn glory. 



The Rocky Mountain Salvia azurea. 

 with sky-blue flowers, and the much- 

 admired variety Pitcheri, which has 

 larger flowers of a rich gentian-blue 

 color, also the new Salvia Uliginosa, 

 a stronger grower than the previous 

 ones (growing five to six feet high 

 and producing freely flowers of a corn- 

 flower blue, with a white throat) are 

 all splendid acquisitions in the au- 

 tumn border. The carmine-colored 

 flowers of Salvia Greggi (a native of 

 the mountains of Texas) are particu- 

 larly bright from August on. 



Senecio pulcher forms a neat tuft of 

 foliage, from which spring up — from 

 July to October — stems carrying clus- 

 ters of rosy purple flowers. To those 

 of you who have grown the large 

 round-leaved senecios of heavy stem 

 and have, after a trial, consigned them 

 to the hog. or the border of a lake. I 

 would recommend this variety. Sil- 

 phium perfoliatum, with its large 

 single yellow flowers, is a good subject 

 for the shrub border. Solidago (or 

 golden rod) has finished blooming. I 



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