22 



The Florists' Review 



OCTOBBtt 18, 1917. 



HARDY PERENNIALS 



THE AUTUMN KINGS. 



Anemones. 



Tho Japanese anemones are among the 

 most beautiful of all hardy herbaceous 

 perennials and are at their best from 

 mid-September until early November, 

 but many growers fail to succeed with 

 them. The requirements for successful 

 culture are deop, well manured and 

 drained soil and a generous winter mulch 

 when the ground starts to freeze; a soak- 

 ing of water during droughty spells in 

 summer will also materially benefit them. 

 The planting should be done in spring, 

 and too much should not be expected 

 the first autumn. Tlie second year, how- 

 ever, spikes four to five feet high should 

 be carried, and the flowering season 

 should continue many weeks. The 

 single, pure white A. japoniea alba still 

 is, I think, the finest of the whole 

 family. Kriemhilde, with delicate rose, 

 semidouble flowers, is a great acquisi- 

 tion. Queen Cliarlotte, semidouble pink, 

 is still one of the best. Geante Blanche 

 is a large, new, pure white sort. Anem- 

 one hupehensis, from China, attains 

 a height of two feet and its flowers, 

 which are similar to those of the A. 

 japoniea type but much smaller, are 

 freely produced. 



Others in the Front Rank. 



Some other plants that make a good 

 display in the hardy garden are: Del- 

 phinium Belladonna, a persistent bloom- 

 er and one of the twelve finest perenni- 

 als in commerce; Senecio clivorum, a 

 Chinese ])lant usually classed as a water 

 plant,, but which succeeds well in the 

 hardy border, carrj-ing large, round 

 leaves and large heads of deep yellow 

 flowers; Artemisia laetiflora, sometimes 

 erroneously called A. latifolia, is a 

 scented hardy plant carrying large, 

 creamy white spira-a-like heads of 

 flowers. It attains a height of five to 

 six feet and is perfectly hardy in a well 

 drained border. Tritomas nobilis, 

 Pfitzeri and grandiflora abundantly pro- 

 duce their rich scarlet and yellow spikes. 

 In the colder states during the winter 

 it is safer to lift and store the roots of 

 these in a cellar or frame, ])acked in 

 sand or loam. Redum spectabile and 

 the variety Brilliant, with crimson 

 flower heads, growing eighteen inches 

 in height, is a fine and easily grown 

 fall-blooming ])erennial. 



Phloxes, Goldenrods, Pompons. 



The panicled phloxes are still quite 

 eflfective, while the hybrid forms of 

 Hibiscus Moscheutos, with their im- 

 mense flowers, give the border an almost 

 tropical appearance. Some of the ve- 

 ronicas, such as spicata and longifolia 

 subsessilis, give a good showing of blue 

 spikes, as does tlie hardy blue salvia, 

 azurea grandiflora. The tall and hand- 

 some Solidngo altissima is one of the 

 handsomest of the goldenrods, with big 

 heads of flowers. Ilelenium autumnale 

 superbum is indispensable in any hardy 

 border. It has largo heads of golden- 

 yellow flowers. H. Riverton Beauty has 

 lemon-yellow flowers with a black cone. 



The hardy pompon chrysanthemums 



in some cases have been flowering for 

 weeks. Varieties of these are many, but 

 a limited few are reliable in the colder 

 states. Of these Seven Oaks, yellow, 

 is our earliest and one of the best. 



Some of the Smaller Fellows. 



Other plants of lower stature, which 

 at this season 'are dependable, are: 

 Viola cornuta in variety; Tunica Saxi- 

 fraga, a low-growing tufted plant with 

 light pink flowers, good for a bordering 

 or in the rockery; Papaver nudicaule, 

 the Iceland poppy, flowers freely. Plum- 

 bago Larpenta;, with deep blue flowers, 

 has been blooming well. It needs well 

 drained soil and some winter covering. 

 Iberis gibraltarica, the lavender-flow- 

 ered hardy candytuft, is a perpetual 

 bloomer; so is Campanula carpatica, 

 the Carpathian bellflower, and C, rotun- 

 difolia, or Scotch bluebell. 



Silene Schafta, forming carpets six 

 inches high of rose-pink flowers, is a 

 good late bloomer. Two composite 

 ])lants. Coreopsis grandiflora and Gail- 

 lardia grandiflora, are free bloomers, 

 and the various myosotis are quite blue 

 with flowers. The autumn crocus, Col- 

 chicum autumnale, gives a welcome 

 touch of coloring as the season wanes, 

 and the plumy bleeding heart, Dicentra 

 formosa, blooms as freely as it did 

 months ago. 



These are not by any means all the 

 late fall-flowering perennials. Anyone 

 ])ossessing a mixed border is sure of a 

 beautiful showing at this season, and let 

 it be remembered that he need not lie 

 awake nights and Avorry about this 

 hardy brigade, which, when cut down 

 in late fall and given a winter mulch, 

 is sure to provide us with flowers next 

 season from the time the late snows 

 <lisappear until King Frost again seals 

 the ground. 



MOTT IN KANSAS CITY. 



A Visit with Samuel Murray. 



"What promised to be important 

 l)usiness prevented my attending the 

 meeting of the F. T. D., " observed Sam- 

 uel Murray, of Kansas City, Mo. "I 

 fully intended being there, considering 

 it the foremost factor in the develop- 

 ment of the retail flower business. The 

 subject of separation from the S. A. F. 

 should be thoroughly weiglied before 

 being acted on. Personally, I am of the 

 opinion that they should not lie di- 

 vorced, as I fear it would tend to weak- 

 en both, whereas we need to strengthen 

 them. Tho question of responsibility, 

 as advocateil by Patrick O'Mara, is an 

 essential. Those who, like ourselves, 

 have been taken advantage of will be 

 glad to see speedy action taken on this 

 \ital subject." 



Business was healtliy. A wedding 

 order of a bride's and four bridesmaids" 

 bouquets was in the making by Miss 

 Tlayden and her sister. The bride's bou- 

 <|net was com])osed of valley and cat- 

 tleyas. Each of those for the maids was 

 distinct, round and shaped by hand with 

 a lace finish. Ward, Ophelia and Kil- 

 larney Brilliant roses, and delphiniums 

 and double gypsophilas were noted. The 

 latter are grown extensively and are 



cut, dried and stored in a cool place. 

 Covered with paper, they are ready for 

 use^ all winter and are invaluable for 

 floral work of every description. A fine 

 assortment of helichrysum was noted. 

 It was grown in California and is ex- 

 cellent for baskets, now so much in de- 

 mand. Splendid blooms of chrysanthe- 

 mums from the same source filled the 

 icebox and formed part of the window 

 display, banked with Adiantum glorio- 

 sum. By the way, a silver cup offered 

 by the Kansas City Post for the best 

 florist's window was won and added to 

 the adornment. 



Something out of the ordinary was an 

 outside wall space at the right-hand 

 side of the entrance, covered with a flat 

 banking of English ivy with Aralia 

 elegantissima interspersed. The passer- 

 by could not help but be struck with 

 this, which is one of the many clever 

 ideas originating with Miss Hayden. 

 Echoes of the unique decoration in 

 which real grapes were used are still 

 heard. There were five vines with a 

 total of fifty bunches hanging on tri- 

 pods so that each guest could cut a 

 bunch of luscious Black Hamburgs. The 

 arrangement was around an oval table 

 with an electric fountain in the center. 



' ' Yes, ' ' continued Mr. Murray, ' ' there 

 is money in the business, and the one 

 who lends his best endeavors to its ad- 

 vancement will make oil, not such a 

 gusher, perhaps, as we get at our Kan- 

 sas oil fields now and then, and in which 

 I am to some extent interested, but a 

 steady flow." 



The many greenhouses are examples 

 of what can be produced with old-style 

 houses with low roofs and hot water 

 heat. Col. Sharp takes pride in show- 

 ing the begonias growing from 4-inch 

 pots to 11-inch cedar tubs. He predicts 

 that the variety Mrs. J. A. Peterson will 

 eclipse all when it can be supplied at 

 lower prices than now. Poinsettias and 

 cyclamens complete the trio of leaders. 

 Some extra fine types of Cattleya labi- 

 ata, also Oncidium varicosum and 

 splendidum are seen. Equally proud^ibut 

 in another sense, is the colonel of his 

 title, bestowed while he was at the 

 head of a regiment of Missouri sharp- 

 shooters, and he regrets that the age 

 limit now^ bars him from seeing active 

 service. 



Arthur Newell on Business. 



Arthur Newell had just arrived at the 

 store from the handsome home he re- 

 cently built and in reply to my ques- 

 tion, "How is business?" said: "We 

 are sending the overflow down to Broth- 

 er Murray, who tries to take care of it 

 for us." 



Just below and across the street is 

 the store of the W. L. Rock Flower Co., 

 which had a fine autumnal staging in a 

 deep window. Mr. Rock had not re- 

 turned from the F. T. D. meeting when 

 I called. 



The Alpha Floral Co. is also the 

 Omega in publicity, both in elaborate 

 store decoration and signboards about 

 the city. 



R. S. Brown, hale and hearty and 

 owning up to having passed the eighty- 

 third milestone on life's journey, was as 

 busy as ever making cuttings of pelar- 

 goniums, a specialty with him. 



W. J. Barnes had some fine begonias 

 and cyclamens, the latter in 8-inch pans 

 for the holidays. He is experimenting 

 with Bougainvillea Sanderiana to bloom 

 at the same time. I'lants are forward 

 and if too late for the holidavs will 



