22 



The Florists^ Review 



Sbftbubbb 30, 1020 



J. J. HesB, of Hess & Swoboda, Omaha, 

 Neb., was filling a large basket to be 

 used as a centerpiece for the store 

 window in honor of the Labor day 

 parade, which soon after passed along 

 the street. The fact that many pa- 

 raders hobbled somewhat excited the 

 remark that many greenhouse men some- 

 times suffered from sore feet, "but," 

 added Mr. Hess,* 'when they can produce 

 such stock as you see here from our 

 houses, conditions are encouraging, the 

 more so when prices are as satisfactory 

 as at present." Stock especially re- 

 ferred to included the trio of roses sent 

 out by A. N. Pierson, Inc., which are 

 considered here the best yet sent out 

 in distinctiveness and productiveness. 

 Hoosier Beauty is also fine and sold 

 as high as $12 per dozen last Christmas. 

 Carnations and chrysantherums also 

 look promising. Just then the phone 

 rang. Party wanted a bride's bouquet 

 of orchids. "Cannot supply it," re- 

 sponded Mr. Hess, "but we can make a 

 handsome one with Sweetheart roses, 

 even more appropriate." The sale was 

 made. "It's all in the way one handles 

 one's patrons," observed our resource- 

 ful confrere, who, by the way, antici- 

 pates positive things to happen at the 

 meeting of the publicity committee 

 which precedes the F. T. D. gathering 

 at Indianapolis in October. 



• • • • 



Lewis Henderson, Louis M. Rogers and 

 the Arnold Flower Shop, Omaha, all 

 had special decorative windows for 

 Labor day. 



• • • • 



Oliver Lorenz, of the Guthrie-Lorenz 

 Co., Des Moines, la., was making up a 

 fine spray of gladioli and asters. He 

 observed that, with the help enjoying 

 a vacation, the boss had to take hold 

 and 'tis well when he can show his 

 ability as being equal to the best, which 

 the majority can do, having risen from 

 the ranks, as it were. "All business is 

 a gamble and none more risky than 

 ours," continued Mr. Lorenz, "owing to 

 the perishable nature of most of the ma- 

 terial used. Yet when the volume of 

 trade done is taken into consideration, 

 how small is the percentage of loss! 

 Take the telegraphic branch, for ex- 

 ample. We have not lost one account 

 during the time our card has been run- 

 ning in the Pink Section of The Review, 

 which, by the way, has paid us many 

 times over in both direct and indirect 

 business. ' ' A combined flower and seed 

 business is successfully carried on in the 

 same store, which is of ample width. 

 When it is mentioned that one and a 

 half tons of blue grass alone was sold 

 last season at retail, some idea of the 

 extent of the seed department may be 

 obtained. A line of insecticides and 

 poultry supplies is also carried. The city 

 dweller has the opportunity to indulge 

 in a free flower show while making a 

 purchase of bug powder. This in itself 

 creates a desire to possess and often 



results in a purchase. 



• • • • 



Geo. L. Kurtzweil, of the Iowa Seed 

 Co., Des Moines, la., reports a steady ad- 

 vance in all branches, seed, flowers, 

 birds and goldfish. A window arranged 

 with every known variety of grain seed 



attracted much attention during the 



week of the annual state fair. 



• • • • 



J. S. Wilson returned to Des Moines, 

 la., from the convention in due season 

 and has entertained the stay-at-homes 

 with a full description of the happen- 

 ings at Cleveland. Mr. Wilson thinks, 

 and evidently with good reason, that 

 Des Moines, being accepted as the con- 

 vention city of Iowa, can well take care 



of the S. A. F. 



• • • • 



Both stores of the Ophelia Floral Co., 

 conducted by J. S. Wilson, Jr., at Des 

 Moines, report good business. The Kirk- 

 wood Floral Co. is in the same healthy 

 state. The arrival of a new regiment 

 at Fort Des Moines has opened the sea- 

 son for parties and created a call for 



floral decorations. 



• * • • 



The Andrew Bather Co., Clinton, la., 



reports a busy season, unusually so in 

 funeral work, and looks for the usual 

 call for floral work with the first frost 



and social gatherings. 



• • • • 



"Business is coming our way in fine 

 shape," is the report of Glenn Wilcox, 

 of J. F. Wilcox & Sons, Council Bluffs, 

 la. "Brother Boy also sends us flat- 

 tering accounts of his success in Califor- 

 nia. ' ' 



• • • • 



Edward Amerpohl, of the Janesville 

 Floral Co., Janesville, Wis., who was 

 prevented at the last moment from 

 making the trip to Cleveland, was doubly 

 interested in the report of the proceed- 

 ings there. The store has been remod- 

 eled and is filled with some fine stock 

 from the greenhouses to take care of 

 what is reported as excellent business. 

 « • • * 



The Alpha Floral Co., the Rockford 

 Floral Co. and Swan Peterson & Son, 

 Rockford, 111., where Camp Grant is 

 located, all report good business. 



• • • • 



The H. W. Buckbee Co., Rockford, 111., 

 recently had a fine window display, made 

 with large baskets of gladioli and other 

 flowers. W. M. 



::tfW^ffifflW^ffi?^fflWI»^fflfflBy^^^^ 



IBISES FOB CUT FLOWEBS. 



Gk)od for Local Sales. 



In the fall of 1918 we planted in our 

 lot of peonies an iris corm between 

 every two peonies in the row, in order 

 to economize on space. 



Our Memorial day crop of peony 

 blooms was short in the spring of 1919 

 and again in 1920, owing to cold 

 weather and too large a planting of late- 

 flowering varieties. There was an abun- 

 dance of iris blooms, however, and we 

 had a good retail trade on these, at 50 

 cents per dozen for the mixed irises and 

 75 cents per dozen for the pallida dal- 

 matica or Princess Beatrice. 



I would not advise planting irises for 

 the wholesale cut flower trade. We 

 have sold some of these for city trade 

 when other flowers were scarce, but the 

 flowers are so fragile that it requires 

 careful handling to pack them for ship- 

 ment. 



We send mail orders of these cut in 

 the bud. If cut right, they will open 

 the next day and the blooms are as good 

 as those that open on the plant. 



. Good Varieties. 



Celeste, azure blue, is a good variety. 

 There are usually five or six blooms 

 open on the same stalk at one time. We 

 used some of these in a floor vase with 

 Gypsophila elegans for an entertain- 

 ment. The hostess afterwards gave us 

 an order for enough roots of this va- 

 riety to plant a hardy border. 



Fairy is not a new variety, but is 

 still one of the best cream whites, tint- 

 ed with blue. It has an orange beard. 



Pallida Mandraliscse and Kharput are 

 good large-flowering purples. 



The old variety. Black Prince, is a 

 dark velvety purple, having a flower of 

 medium size. The color is valuable for 

 contrast in a mixed bouquet. 



Queen of May was much admired by 



those who had never seen a lavender 

 pink iris. It did not, however, prove to 

 be as good a seller as the blue shades of 

 lavender. 



Mrs. H. Darwin, white with purple 

 veins, is free-flowering, of dwarf habit. 

 It appears to disadvantage in the gar- 

 den, since the purple veining of the 

 petals causes the blooms to appear gray 

 from a distance. 



Pallida dalmatica is unquestionably 

 the best money-making iris we have ever 

 grown. It is a splendid flower wherever 

 you put it. 



Commercial Value. 



There is a question as to the commer- 

 cial value of irises. Pallida dalmatica 

 and many of the other varieties whieh 

 I have tested have produced twenty- 

 seven corms from one corm at the end 

 of the third year. This was only pos- 

 sible when the iris clumps were dug and 

 divided at the end of the second year 

 and replanted in good soil. 



The German iris has a tendency to 

 rot if the corms are planted in wet or 

 too rich ground. When the clumps be- 

 come so thick that the corms are under- 

 nourished some of them will die, espe- 

 cially if planted in the shade, where the 

 corms do not receive proper ventilation. 

 Perhaps because of a tendency to in- 

 crease so rapidly and to thrive»in full 

 sunlight under the most adverse condi- 

 tions, it has become one of the leading 

 perennials for beautifying large estates 

 as well as cottage gardens. 



For SCemorlal Day Trade. 



If the choicer varieties are selected 

 and only a few of each are grown by 

 the retail florist for Memorial day trade, 

 there is no reason why he should not 

 find them profitable to grow. 



Garden heliotrope, or valerian, is ef- 

 fective in an iris plantfng and a few 

 sprays added to the cemetery boaquet 

 give it a lacy appearance. 



. .Ai^MtfAAA^^. 



aartfc •■ * rf if ^' 1 . . 



