March 20, 1920 



HORTICULTURE 



341 



THE BEST FLORISTS' DAHLIAS. 



J. K. Alexander Gives the Result of 

 His Experience. 



With constant improvement in the 

 form of the dahlia, it is gaining rapidly 

 as a florists' flower, and proves to be 

 one of the most reasonable for the 

 florist to produce. 



They blossom iu the tall, wlu'n most 

 other flowers have ceaseil to l)loom, 

 and the newer creation seems to take 

 well for home deroration. and makes 

 up well in pieces. 



"Maude Adams" of the old double 

 form, seems to be the most popular 

 from every stand point, producing its 

 blossoms in great abundance, and 

 being a verj' popular color, pure 

 snowy white, daintily overlaid a clear 

 delicate pink. 



"Madonna" seemed to take among 

 the best in the Boston market last fall, 

 it being entirely different from the 

 double type, with long quilled and 

 curling petals. It is not pure white, 

 but the touch of delicate lavender- 

 pink adds greatly to its value in floral 

 work. 



The finest scarlet on the market is 

 "Mina Burgle," a perfect decorative 

 dahlia, with good stems, good habit, 

 and the brilliant crimson-scarlet one 

 wants in a good bright color. It is tar 

 superior to the well known "Lynd- 

 hurst," being more brilliant, larger, 

 and more abundant with its blossoms. 



In Hybrid Cactus Dahlias "Bianca" 

 seems to be a marvel, giving us stems 

 of length and stiffness, which has pre- 

 vented the Cactus Dahlia from being 

 anything exceptional as a cut-flower. 



It is a rose-lavender with a shading 

 towards white in the center, the first 

 impression being soft lavender-pink. 



Another good Hybrid Cactus Dahlia 

 that comes from Holland, and is the 

 best white of the new varieties is 

 ".Mrs. Warnaar," a large Peon.v-Cac- 

 tus. bate in the season it shows the 

 beautiful golden yellow center. 



"Storm King" will always be the 

 popular white double, and leads all the 

 others: although White Swan and 

 Robert Broomtleld are still considered 

 good by many florists. .Ml three are 

 reasonable in price, making them 

 popular. 



On the salmon-pink and autumn 

 shades, that seem to be so popular 

 "Hortulanus Fiet" is one of the most 

 desirable among the giant decoratives. 

 It has won a favorite place in many 

 gardens already, and promises to have 

 a great future. 



For an early blossoming variety 

 "Frank A. Walker" seems to lead them 

 all. It is a new decorative, of laven- 

 der-pink, and has been my first dahlia 

 to blossom for several years. It is not 

 only an early but a continuous bloom- 

 er, and has good long stems. 



Among the true Peony-flowered 

 dahlias the fluffy pure white "Queen 

 Wilhelmina" is a continuous bloomer, 

 and in pink "Rose Gem" which is new, 

 promises to he fully its equal. 



FLORISTS IN BRAZIL 



A banquet will be held at the Parker 

 House next Wednesday evening at 6 

 o'clock, to be attended by people in- 

 terested in horticultural matters who 

 are called to Boston by the spring 

 show at Horticultural Hall. Mr. Wil- 

 son of the Arnold Arboretum will pre- 

 side. The tickets will be $.5.00 each. 



show Dahlia Helen lloUiii 



Greenhouses Are Just Being Intro- 

 duced in That Country. 



.\ writer for the Horticultural Trade 

 .lournal, the English paper, has been 

 making a trip through Brazil and 

 writes entertainingly about conditions 

 in the flower industry there. Among 

 oilier things he says: 



"Last but by no means least I must 

 mention the Flower Trade. Where 

 there is wealth there is luxuiT. and 

 where there is luxury there are flow- 

 ers. There is no doubt about the 

 wealth of Brazil and this seems re- 

 flected in the love of flowers. The 

 whole culture of flowers is in the open. 

 |)ractically no gla.ss is at present found 

 in Brazil. One or two of the most 

 up-to-date men are, however, just mak- 

 ing the discovery that they have to 

 go in for glass if they wish to keep 

 ahead of their competitors, and I think 

 the next few years will see a great 

 change in the mode of cultivation. 

 There appears to be no wholesale 

 growers as we understand the term, 

 the smaller florist sells his goods at 

 home or at the stalls of a small flower 

 market, which is to be found in the 

 largest cities, but where the bulk of 

 the business is retail. 



"All the larger growers produce 

 flowers for their own shop or shops 

 exclusively, and as their aim seems to 

 be to grow enough to satisfy the de- 

 mands on exceptional days, they ap- 

 pear to have a lot of waste on sale 

 on ordinary days. The prices charged 

 are, however, such that they can stand 

 a lot of waste and yet do handsomely. 

 Much money Is spent for floral work 

 in times of joy as well as sorrow. 



"I happened to be at San Paulo for 

 ".\11 Saints Day," when there is not a 

 grave left without its flowers, and 

 when there is not a florist in the coun- 

 try who does not work overtime, most 

 of them pegging away the last 36 

 hours at a stretch. In this town I 

 also saw many designs executed in ex- 

 quisite style, of which some of our 

 best florists need not be ashamed. The 

 flowers grown are in the order of 

 their respective Importance, as fol- 

 lows: Roses. Carnations, Gladiolus. 

 Orchids, Watsonia, Lilium longiflorum. 

 Callas. Violets. Dahlias, Chrysanthe- 

 mums, Hydrangea hortensis. Gar- 

 denias, Scabiosa (Annual), Shasta 

 Daisies, Amaryllis, Camellias, Stocks. 

 Asters, and various other things in 

 smaller quantities: Asparagus plum- 

 osus, Sprengeri and Lutzii as well as 

 .\diantum are grown in quantity also, 

 the last shaded in lathe-sheds." 



