182 FRITZ BAHR'S COMMERCIAL FLORICULTURE 



ANNUALS FOR SUMMER FLOWERING 



It cannot always be said that to the retail grower depending on 

 a local trade annuals bring much of a profit in dollars and cents 

 when grown outdoors during Summer; yet, as there is a demand 

 for cut flowers every day and as we no longer consider dull Sum- 

 mer months unavoidable for the man who keeps on pushing and 

 carries a display cooler full of fresh flowers during July, August 

 and September, annuals ought to be grown. 



Your customers don't want Roses and Carnations during Sum- 

 mer for every purpose. For table and house decorations so-called 

 Summer flowers have the call. A basket or vase full of Summer 

 Larkspur, Salpiglossis or Scabiosa is often preferred to the best 

 Roses you carry, and either of these three can be made use of to 

 good advantage in a spray or a floral wreath, if you add a few sprays 

 of the annual Gypsophila. I fully realize that the country florist 

 meets with cases where if he doesn't use Roses, Lilies or some other 

 flowers grown under glass in a pillow or other design, some of his 

 customers who have plenty of Summer flowers in their own gardens 

 feel that they aren't getting their money's worth. Rut these cases, 

 after all, are only exceptions. 



Every florist should have a good-sized space on his grounds 

 devoted to annuals and have it a mass of colors all Summer. It's 

 a great way of advertising. It makes people passing by think of 

 flowers and that is what you want. Make your establishment a 

 show place, it doesn't matter so much what your annuals consist 

 of so long as they make a show and are planted or arranged for the 

 best effect. 



At present we grow only a small portion of the many different 

 varieties of desirable annuals and, at that, only the better known 

 ones. The average florist again sifts them down to a very few, 

 but of late years he has been adding more to the list which up to a 

 few years ago usually consisted solely of Asters and Sweet Peas. 

 There was a time when people didn't ask for anything else, but it is 

 different now. 



We will here mention some of the more important varieties 

 best adapted for cut flowers: Acroclinium, Ageratum, Antirrhinum, 

 Aster, Calendula, Calliopsis, Candytuft, Carnation (Marguerite), 

 Centaurea, Clarkia, Cosmos, Eschscholtzia, Globe Amaranth, 

 Gaillardia, Gypsophila, Helianthus, Helichrysum, Hunnemannia, 

 Larkspur, Lupine, Marigold, Nasturtium, Salvia, Salpiglossis, 

 Scabiosa, Schizanthus, Sweet Peas, Stocks, Zinnia. 



