ILEX, IMPATIENS 409 



ILEX 



A great majority of florists become acquainted with Ilex only 

 around the Midwinter holidays when the cut Holly sprays are used 

 as Christmas decorations. Ilex opaca is one of the hardy American 

 Hollies. Its beautiful glossy green leaves and red berries are 

 known to us all, and we find it in its native state all the way from 

 the Louisiana coast along through to the Eastern States. We 

 find Hollies of different species in Florida and along the western 

 coast, and some, more on account of their showy berries than the 

 quality of their foliage, find their way to the middle western and 

 northern markets where they find a ready sale, because local climatic 

 conditions are not favorable for the growing on of any of the Hollies. 



Ilex aquifolia, or the European Holly, is a beautiful evergreen 

 shrub and so is Ilex crenata. When we behold either of them as 

 specimens on lawns or growing in tubs, we feel badly because we 

 cannot get the same results at home. But as in the case of palms, 

 Dracaenas and other plants, I have seen in the West Indies enormous 

 specimens growing in soil we would have considered worthless in 

 the potting shed. Climatic conditions have to suit the plants if 

 they are to thrive, and so it is with the Ilexes. I look forward to 

 the time when more of these beautiful plants will be handled by 

 the florist at a reasonable price. It is as plants full of berries in pots 

 and tubs (which every florist can use to advantage during Winter) 

 that these Hollies mean the most to us. 



IMPATIENS 



If you sell bedding stock you will have to carry Impatiens, for 

 there are always some of your patrons who have shady places 

 around their homes where Geraniums, Salvias or Petunias fail on 

 account of the shade. In such cases you can't recommend anything 

 better than Impatiens, and if there are objections to the red colored 

 ones, you have sorts with beautiful shades of light and dark pink 

 as well as white ones. All do equally well and, except in the pitch 

 dark, will be masses of bloom until frost stops them. 



It takes just about three good sized 5-in. pot plants in the 

 Fall to work up a stock of one thousand or more of 2j/- and 4-in. 

 pot plants in full bloom by the following May. Once in awhile 

 you have call for plants in bloom during the Winter months but 

 there are other plants than Impatiens to choose from. This is not 

 to say that Impatiens doesn't make a good house plant, but I am 

 sure that every florist can dispose of a good number during the 

 Spring months. It might even pay you to grow on a few extra 

 heavy 4- and 5-in. pot plants to be used for the filling of window 

 boxes in shady places. 



