December 1, 1921 



The Florists' Review 



35 



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WHAT SOUTH CAN GROW 



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PERENNIALS IN THE SOUTH. 



By FLOYD BRALLIAR. 



An Opportunity. 



For the last ten years we have been 

 carrying on a series of experiments in 

 the growing of bulbs and perennials in 

 the south. Our operations have been 

 confined largely to the vicinity of Nash- 

 ville, Tenn., and Chattanooga, Tenn., 

 but we have had under observation 

 much of the remarkable work of the 

 Baunis at Knoxville. They have done 

 their work wholly from the standpoint 

 of the commercial grower, while our 

 work has been done partly as an educa- 

 tional proposition, but we have always 

 kept in view the financial side and have 

 steadily refused to consider any work a 

 success that did not pay financially. 



Our work has covered the growing of 

 several thousand varieties of bulbs and 

 perennial plants, sometimes by the thou- 

 sand and sometimes by the dozen or 

 hundred. At one time we had over 

 100,000 of the so-called Dutch bulbs 

 growing pn our grounds. Our experi- 

 ence leads us to believe that there is no 

 reason in 'the world why Tennessee, 

 North Carolina and Georgia should not 

 produce all of the worthwhile bulbs that 

 are required in this country. 



Multiplication. 



All varieties of tulips do not multiply 

 as readily here as they do abroad, but 

 there are enough of the best varieties 

 in each color and class that do multiply 

 well here to meet all requirements. Ex- 

 periments conducted under my direction 

 near Douglasville, Ga., about twenty 

 miles from Atlanta, lead me to believe 

 that tulips cannot be successfully grown 

 much farther south than the northern 

 border of Georgia, unless it be in the 

 mountain districts. For no apparent 

 reason, they refused to multiply prop- 

 erly and after three or four years gradu- 

 ally disappeared, although given abun- 

 dance of proper fertilization and good 

 culture. On the other hand, all of the 

 narcissi grow and multiply abundantly 

 anywhere in the south and, if given 

 fertile soil, will make as fine bulbs as 

 can be imported. We had several grow- 

 ers test some of our home-grown bulbs 

 for forcing purposes and, while the 

 bulbs furnished were not so large as the 

 mother bulbs from Holland that were 

 used for comparison, in every test our 

 bulbs produced more flowers and 

 bloomed from ten days to two weeks 

 earner. 



We have had difficultv in growing the 

 polyanthus varieties of narcissi in the 

 vicinity of Nashville, as they suffered 

 severely from the winter, but both at 

 KnoxviUe and Chattanooga they with- 

 stood the winter readily, probably due 

 to the difference in the soil in these 

 places. We grew Paper Whites readily 

 at Aashville by giving them good pro- 

 tection over winter and succeeded in 

 getting mammoth bulbs from the small- 

 Ki °^^*^*^ ^" one year. We never were 

 f^ble, however, to overcome the fact that 

 perhaps twenty per cent of these bulbs 

 were blind. We expect to experiment 

 lurther with this, however, as we believe 



the fault lies in the fact that they were 

 given too rich a soil and hence made 

 their growth too quickly. We believe 

 that if they were given two years to 

 mature instead of one they would come 

 100 per cent good. 



Hyacinths and Lilies. 



We have had more difficulty with hy- 

 acinths than with any other bulbs, not 

 because they do not multiply rapidly, 

 for they do, but because moles and mice 

 are so fond of them and because they 

 suffer badly from soft rot if exposed 

 too much to the hot sunshine at digging 

 time. Fortunately, L 'Innocence, Ger- 

 trude, La Grandesse, Queen of the Blues, 

 Robert Steiger and a number more of 

 our best varieties suffered less from this 

 difficulty. Home-forced bulbs forced 

 well indeed, always making good spikes 

 and flowering even earlier than the spe- 



The Editor is pleased when 

 a Reader presents Itis ideas 

 on any subject treated in 



As experience is tiie best 

 teacher, so do we learn 

 fastest by an exchange of 

 experiences. Many valuable 

 points are brought out by 

 discussion. 



Good penmanship, spelling and 

 srammar, though desirable, are not 

 necessary. Write as you would talk 

 when doing your best. 



WE SHALL BE CLAD 

 TO HEAR FROM YOU 



cially prepared Christmas-flowering 

 bulbs shipped from abroad. 



Our experience with lilies has been 

 confined to the various hcmerocallis, 

 tiger lilies, the native Turk's Cap, ru- 

 brum, giganteum, multiflorum, eandi- 

 dum, and a few tenuifolium. All of 

 these lilies multiply readily, indeed, in 

 this southland of ours and produce first- 

 class bulbs both for forcing and outdoor 

 planting. Of course, as yet only a few 

 hundred of these bulbs have been 

 forced, but results have been so uni- 

 formly good that it seems safe to say 

 that they are a success. So confident 

 am I in this matter that I have pur- 

 chased land just outside of Chattanooga 

 and am planting bulbs of all of these 

 classes by the thousand. Lilium tenui- 

 folium is best propagated from seed 

 sown in the early spring. These bloom 

 the second year. Tiger lilies are prop- 

 agated from the bulblets that grow in 

 the axils of the leaves. These are 

 planted in July and bloom in two years. 



We doubt if there is any part of the 



world where so many varieties of iris 

 succeed or where any of them succeed 

 better than they do in this district. True, 

 all of the irises except the Spanish and 

 the English prefer clay soil and must 

 have an abundance of lime, but with 

 these conditions even those that are rc- 

 jjorted a failure in most parts of the 

 country multiply amazingly and bloom 

 freely. I have a few Spanish irises that 

 have been growing and multiplying for 

 ten years and, if they do any better in 

 Europe than they do here, they must be 

 a weed there. 



We have never been able to make a 

 success of growing freesias, as we are 

 not able to get them through the winter 

 in good shape. Grape hyacinths and 

 similar small bulbs almost grow wild in 

 places and seem perfectly indifferent as 

 to their location and requirements. 



When it comes to growing the plants 

 that are commonly spoken of as hardy 

 perennials, we had more difficulty, un- 

 less we were prepared to give a little 

 irrigation, or to shade them with lattice. 

 Hollyhocks, all of the helianthus, the 

 coneflowers, gaillardia, Shasta daisies 

 and similar sturdy-growing plants do 

 not require any of this attention. They 

 can be grown in any ordinary soil under 

 ordinary conditions. Foxgloves, cam- 

 panulas and delphiniums require either 

 deep, fertile soil, a partial shade or some 

 irrigation, in order to succeed as readily 

 as they should. If one is prepared to 

 give any of these things, they grow like 

 weeds. Columbines, gypsophila, Mich- 

 aelmas daisies and similar plants are 

 abeut halfway between the other two 

 classes given. Sometimes I have suc- 

 ceeded admirably with these and pyre- 

 thrum without any special attention, but 

 more often it has been necessary to give 

 close, attention to these details in order 

 to get results. 



Other Flowers Tried. 



We have never liad any success with 

 Iceland poppies. They come readily 

 from seed and bloom freely the first 

 year, but there is the end of the matter. 

 We have never been able to carry a sin- 

 gle plant through the winter. Oriental 

 poppies and their hybrids, however, 

 are successful under the same conditions 

 as foxgloves and delphiniums. 



In no place can pansies be grown more 

 easily than in the south, but thev should 

 not be sown before the middle' of Sep- 

 tember, and usuallv the first of October 

 IS better. The seeds, should be sown in 

 fertile soil and given an abundance of 

 moisture, with shade from burlap or 

 some similar material stretched over a 

 lattice a couple of feet above them, 

 until they have the second pair of 

 leaves. After this tlie work is easy, 

 but they must be either carried through 

 the winter in coldfranies or abundantly 

 mulched witli liglit straw. They will be 

 heaved out and badlv iniured, if not 

 killed, by the constant freezing, which 

 occurs practically everv day for sev- 

 eral weeks. Most perennial seeds can 

 be sown at the same time and treated 

 in the same w.iy as pansies and will 

 make blooming plants by spring. We 

 like to sow most of' our perennial seeds 



