The Florists' Review 



Decembbr 29, 1921 



The florists whose cards appear on the pages carryhitf this head, are prepared to fill o rders 

 ** ' from other florists for local delivery on the usual basis. ' " " 



For 



K 



ansas 



Cit 



y 



Let your orders 

 go to an up-to-date 

 establishment where 

 modern facilities 

 insure excellent 

 service, and whose 

 prestige is a guaran- 

 tee of quality and 

 complete satisfac- 

 tion. 



Member 

 F. T. D. 



Eleventh and McGee Streets 



LEADING SUMMER FLOWER. 



A. E. Kunderd Talks on Gladioli. 



The gladiolus is fast becoming recog- 

 nized as the most universally adaptable 

 and useful of all summer flowers. Its 

 possibilities as a florists' flower, not 

 only for outdoor growing, ])ut for green- 

 house use, are almost unlimited and 

 just beginning to be realized. It is not 

 an ornamental plant, like a canna or 

 coleus, and yet it adds great charm 

 cither to the border or among roses, 

 shrubbery, etc., and is unsurpassed as a 

 garden attraction and as a cut flower. 

 The story of its cultivation, handling, 

 storage, etc., is too long for me to dis- 

 cuss here and I take it that most of 

 you are as well posted on that line as 

 I am. 



I want to refer you to a few books 

 that will prove useful to the professional 

 grower as well as to the amateur. The 

 best American book on the gladiolus 

 of which I know is "The Gladiolus," 



Address of A. E. Kunderd before the Wisoon- 

 Kin State Horticultural Society, at MartiHon, Wis., 

 December 16. 



by MatthewCrawford and Dr. Van Fleet. 

 Allen's "Bulbs and Tuberous-Rooted 

 Plants" is also good. There is consider- 

 able literature on the gladiolus pub- 

 lished abroad and some by the New York 

 experiment station and elsewhere. 1 

 must not forget to mention the Flower 

 Grower, of Calcium, N. Y. The Flower 

 Grower is issued monthly and is devoted 

 to the interests of the dahlia, iris, peony 

 and other flowers, as well as to the 

 gladiolus, and in its columns much valu- 

 able information is published from 

 month to month. 



History and Improvement. 



Now I come to the subject of the 

 gladiolus, its history, past and present, 

 and its imjirovcment and possibilities of 

 still further improvement, or change. 

 There are of what is generally known as 

 species perhaps 200 varieties or more 

 known at the present. These are native 

 mostly in central and southern Europe 

 (what is left of it), central and south- 

 ern Africa, Persia, the Caucasus and 

 Byzantium. The best of the species 

 are mostly natives of southern Africa. 

 I am fortunate in having a sister living 



in South Africa (not that I am glad 

 that she is so far away), for her hus- 

 band, Dr. Hall, brought me last year 

 some fine new, almost unknown species. 

 One of these you will want to know of, 

 as I expect a great deal from it in my 

 work of crossing. I have other collec- 

 tors seeking for still other yet unknown 

 species in the wilds of Africa; so you 

 can imagine what may yet come from 

 this wonderful flower and see that the 

 work is not yet all done. 



The particular species I have just re- 

 ferred to has tall, slender and graceful 

 foliage and stem. It has on the main 

 stem upwards of forty blooms and 

 four of its branches have more than 

 thirty blooms each, giving from one 

 spike about 175 individual flowers. 



Variations Many. 



When you consider that almost end- 

 less combinations can be made from our 

 ten numerals, you will realize what vast 

 possibilities of combinations are yet 

 contained in the many species of gladio- 

 lus. Do you wonder that I am fasci- 

 nated with my work? Do you wonder 

 that I am impatient when I hear that 

 there are too many new kinds of gla- 

 dioli? Of course,not all of them are good, 

 but only by new introductions and com- 

 parison of new varieties can we advance 

 in improvement. When I hear people 

 say that only self-colors, or light and 

 delicate tints are desirable, I wonder if 

 they know what they are talking about. 

 I live on the main line of the Lincoln 

 highway, 108 miles east of Chicago. 

 There are six parallel railway tracks. 



