December 23, 1911 



HORTICULTURE 



893 



Oriental Poppies 



If asked which is the showiest and, above all, the most 

 intense-colored hardy perennial for near and distant 

 effect, I believe I would unhesitatingly say, the Oriental 

 Poppy. There is nothing brighter than the vivid 

 orange-red of a mass of huge flowers of Papaver orien- 

 tate standing out boldly against the green leafage of 

 shrubs or trees, with a swaying surface of lawn as fore- 

 ground. Seeing the same large flowers on a herbaceous 

 border and beholding the silky-lustered petals surround- 

 ing the almost black center at close range, the whole, in 

 character, is bound to impress us as a veritable revela- 

 tion of beauty, irresistible even to the dullest eye. Cer- 

 tainly, we have seen this beauty since the earliest days 

 of our vocation, and yet, it exerts its charm anew every 

 ensuing season. As a true representation of that mar- 

 velous, but fleeting beauty of the Orient — the land of 

 the wonders of Arabian Nights, of gay colors in apparel 

 and flowery language, we love and cherish Papaver ori- 

 entale. The sudden bursting forth of glory and its 

 quick vanishing away is the inside feature which, per- 

 haps imperceptibly, intensifies our admiration. 



We have been freely planting Oriental Poppies and 

 we shall more so continue in the future as soon as we 

 keep abreast of the times and do not any longer over- 

 look the fact that during recent years a number of new 

 garden hybrids of merit have come to the front. Most 

 conspicuous among those introductions are the salmon 

 pink shades, represented by these varieties: Princess 

 Victoria Luise, Salmon Queen, Silberblick, Queen Alex- 

 andra, Lady Roscoe and Mary Studholme. Of the scar- 

 lets Goliath is the most robust growing one, with im- 

 mense flowers on extraordinary long, erect and stiff 

 stems. Other large flowering varieties of similar shade 

 are: Duke of Teck, Rembrandt and Royal Scarlet. 

 Mahogany bears dark crimson maroon flowers, while 

 Prince of Orange and Brightness appear in shining 

 orange red. 



The general attitude of American society toward 

 these novelties has been most favorable. Especially the 

 delicate salmon pink shades have met with keen inter- 

 est and unreserved approval. They are, indeed, acqui- 



Oriental Poppies 



Papaver orientate, Princess Victoria Luise 



sitions of value. Landscape gardeners and garden ar- 

 chitects, when making their plans for new herbaceous 

 plantations cannot afford to omit the new garden hy- 

 brids of Oriental Poppies. 



Flowers of poppies need careful handling, when used 

 for indoor decoration. They should be cut early in the 

 morning, while just beginning to burst open. If kept 

 out of draught, they will fully develop in water and 

 stand up for at least two days. 



In the garden the foliage is to be removed from the 

 plants, as soon as it commences to dry off. New leaves 

 appear then again during August and September to 

 stay until the frost comes. 



Northeast Harbor, Maine. 



Seasonable Notes on Culture of Florists' Stock 



ACALTPHA8 



These plants are very ornamental and can be used 

 for mixed borders or subtropical bedding and they also 

 can be grown into excellent pot specimens suitable for 

 using in a good many ways. Where you have some old 

 plants they can be cut back to good wood, some of the 

 old soil shaken out, and then repotted into fresh soil. 

 Place them in a temperature of 65 to 70 degrees and 

 keep well syringed, with a moist atmosphere, and in a 

 few weeks they will be covered with young growth which 

 will be just the thing for a batch of cuttings. These can 

 be placed in a strong bottom heat in sand and kept quite 

 close with some shade and they will soon root. When 

 they have rooted move them into 3-inch pots, give them 

 some good loam, leaf mold and well-rotted manure as a 



compost and keep them in the same temperature until 

 they have become well established, when they can be 

 grown in from 60 to 65 degrees at night and these will 

 make by spring very serviceable stock for either deco- 

 rative or bedding use. 



CYilBIDITJMS 



It is always better with these orchids to do any re- 

 potting or top-dressing just when they show signs of 

 making new growth. When potting it is well to do it 

 in such manner that they may go without any more 

 potting for two or three years or longer, as they grow 

 into finer specimens and flower more freely when th« 

 roots are not disturbed so often. They succeed in a 

 compost, one-half of fibrous loam, in which all the finer 

 particles have been screened out and the other half 



