1901 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



485 



SOMETHING ABOUT THE FLOWERS IN THAT 

 LITTLE GREENHOUSE. 



Quite a few have been wonderirg if I was 

 not going to have something more to say about 

 "posies." Well, dear friends, I have had a 

 lot in mind to say ; but this world is so ex- 

 ceedingly full of wonderful things our journal 



with mixed colors (unnamed) for only 20 cts. 

 each, or 3 for 50 cts. I sent for three of them, 

 and along in March they began to bloom. I 

 had no idea these little bits of plants would 

 blossom the first year ; but I was greatly sur- 

 prised — yes, agreeably astonished — to see 

 what even one little azalea could do. I car- 

 ried one of them all around the factory, and it 

 made about as much excitement (just because 

 it was so little) as the big one did. I asked 

 Ernest to take a photo of it as it stood in the 

 greenhouse in one of the beds. Below is the 

 picture. 



A 20-CENT AZALEA, FROM JOHN LEWIS CHILDS, FLORAL PARK, N. Y. 



is not half large enough to even hint at them 

 all. A year or more ago I told you about 

 some azaleas growing in pots that I carried 

 around the factory, and made such a breeze 

 among our people, and especially among the 

 girls and women. The azaleas I then men- 

 tioned cost about 50 cts. each. They general- 

 ly sell, in full bloom, for 75 cts. up to $1.00. 

 Well, last fall, when I got John Lewis Childs' 

 catalog, I was pleased to note that he had 

 azaleas as low as 25 cts. each ; yes, and some 



Ernest threw his handerchief over some of 

 the other plants so as to make a background 

 for the azalea. The pot is a three-inch one. 

 The plant has very little foliage, as you will 

 see ; and what there is, is almost hidden by 

 the immense flowers. I think there were four 

 on the one little plant. They are larger than 

 a good-sized rose. The delicate coloring and 

 penciling, it seems to me, outrivals the most 

 beautiful rose, and they remain in bloom from 

 ten days to two weeks. I do not know of a 



