28 



The Florists' Review 



April 27. 1922 



vent additional nominations from the 

 floor at the general meeting. 



The officers and members of the soci- 

 ety desire to thank Mr. Nicholas for his 

 work in securing a booth for the Eose 

 Society at the national flower show. 



The meeting was then adjourned until 

 later in the season, the time and place 

 to be determined by the executive com- 

 mittee. John C. Wister, Sec 'y. 



ASPAEAGUS FAIXJATUS. 



A plant of the asparagus family which 

 is particularly well adapted to decorative 

 work and which is characterized by F. 

 W. Fletcher, Orlando, Fla., as a "useful 

 addition to the asparagus family," is 

 Asparagus falcatus. This plant is one 

 of the climbing varieties and is a quick, 

 strong grower. One 3-year-oId specimen 

 has been known to cover more than 100 

 square feet of surface. The dark green, 

 lustrous foliage stands up well in floral 



work and it is as good a shipper as A. 

 plumosus. It came to Florida from 

 Natal. The plant is probably of a too 

 rampant growth for general culture un- 

 der glass, but it is well adapted to out- 

 door growth. Grown in Florida and 

 shipped north, the plant should prove 

 valuable in high-class floral arrangements 

 and the vines, from twelve to twenty- 

 five feet in length, would be especially 

 new and striking in large decorative 

 work. 



The plant is not extensively cultivated 

 in the south, and most of the stock ap- 

 pears to be concentrated in the hands 

 of a few growers. Reasoner Bros., pro- 

 prietors of the Eoyal Palm Nurseries, 

 Oneco, Fla., state that they have had this 

 plant in use in their florists' department 

 for several years, and both the long 

 sprays for basket work and the shorter 

 terminal branches for the edging of 

 designs have proved themselves most 

 satisfactory. 



origin, and for this reason I have intro- 

 duced them under the name of Marinelli 

 carnations." 



LARGE-rLOWERINO CARNATIONS. 



Marinelli Describes Origin. 



So many diverse statements have ap- 

 peared concerning large-flowering carna- 

 tions of the remontant type in this coun- 

 try that some remarks by H. B. Mari- 

 nelli, originator of several well-known 

 varieties of the type, may prove enlight- 

 ening. 



"Large-flowering carnations," he 

 states, "have been traced back, in 

 French horticultural literature, as far as 

 1675. They were grown then near Paris, 

 in Amiens, Compiegne, etc., and created 

 at that time a lot of comment. It has 

 not been possible to follow their trail 

 exactly until 1857, when Mr. Laine ob- 

 tained Souvenir de la Malmaison. 

 Since then this type has undergone enor- 

 mous changes by recrossing, and enor- 

 mous progress has been made in Europe. 

 France doubtless leads as far as types, 

 colors and number of varieties are con- 

 cerned. 



"In 1914," says Mr. Marinelli, "I 

 started my hybridizing in New Jersey 

 at the point where Europe .stood at its 

 best at that time, as far as any of the 

 large-flowering type of carnations was 

 concerned, and used over .300 of the then 

 best existing varieties as a foundation 

 to work upon. The result was a huge 

 flower, forming a perfect ball, with all 

 its petals firmly established at their base 

 (and not falling like a split), on stems 

 tietween eighteen and twenty-four inches 

 long and strong enough to give the 

 flower a graceful bend; free from dis- 

 ease, prolific in bloom, an easy grower, 

 having lasting and shipping qualities 

 .ind fragrance for commercial ])urjjoses. 



"In order to make sure that I was not 

 mistaken in this sticcess, in 1919 I 

 sliowed and sold blooms at 50 cents eacli. 

 wholesale, in New York to one store 

 (inly, for a period of four montlis. Tlie 

 result was a revelation. In view of this 

 inijiression created, I did not liesitate to 



build immediately additional green- 

 houses. In 1920 I showed my carnations 

 for the first time at the international 

 flower show, in New York, at the Grand 

 Central Palace. There the success was 

 repeated. In appreciation of my en- 

 deavor and work, I was awarded a gold 

 medal and a certificate of merit. Before 

 receiving any award at all, I set my 

 price and sold cut flowers at 50 cents 

 eacli wholesale and $12 per dozen retail. 

 The fact that Laddie, which was most 

 heavily advertised and put on the mar- 

 ket the same year, was sold at from 5 to 

 20 cents per flower, is more than sufii- 

 cient proof of the commercial value of 

 my then unknown carnation. 



"That the Marinelli carnations are 

 not shown more frequently is simply due 

 to the fact that I have sold my rooted 

 cuttings so far, with a few exceptions, 

 to the private trade only and in small 

 (juantities. Besides, there is yet no class 

 established in carnation exhibitions for 

 any large-flowering carnation, as I have 

 l)een the only grower and therefore with- 

 out competition, except from the persons 

 to whom I have sold my cuttings. 



Not All Malmaisons. 



"At the time of my recent exhibits at 

 the flower shows in New York and In- 

 dianapolis, the general impression seemed 

 to gain ground that all my carnations 

 were Malmaisons, which is not quite cor- 

 rect. Merveille Francaise lias some of the 

 Malmaison blood in its type, but was per- 

 fected, grown and cultivated in Park 

 Hidge, N. .T. The same is true about my 

 other varieties, such as Koger Marinelli, 

 Sarah Bernhardt, Olga Petrova and 

 from ten to fifteen other v.-irieties which 

 riia\estill under oljscrvat ion and are not 

 named .'is yet. All have originated from 

 and are subvarieties of Merveille Fran- 

 caise. Le Miracle is not of this type, 

 but is a hybrid, like many others on 

 which T ;im still ex])eriinenting. It 

 would tlicret'ore be misleading and er- 

 roneous to cl.'iim that all tliese large 

 tiowerinir varieties are of Malmaison 



CARNATION STEM-ROT. 



Some of my carnations are affected 

 with stem-rot. I have already lost 

 about 500 young plants. The stems of 

 the plants rot off where they emerge 

 from the soil and the plants die. How can 

 this trouble be overcome or checked? 



F. F. C— 111. 



This carnation stem-rot is difficult to 

 combat. It is suggested that, inasmuch 

 as you will be planting your young car- 

 nations in the field shortly, you will 

 examine the stem of each plant care- 

 fully and save only those which appear 

 healthy. Any stem that appears dis- 

 colored or has splits in the bark should 

 be discarded. Any rupture in the bark 

 of the stem will allow the fungus to 

 enter and, sooner or later, destroy the 

 plant. Grow your plants cool and wa- 

 ter carefully, but not too sparingly. 

 Set the plants firmly when planting in 

 the field, but do not set too deep in 

 the ground. There is really no cure for 

 a plant that shows the effects of stem- 

 rot, as the plant is usually too far gone 

 by the time its presence is manifested 

 to permit a cure. We have always con- 

 sidered the Bordeaux mixture and simi- 

 lar preparations effective in combating 

 this fungus, but that theory seems to 

 be discounted by some of our leading 

 scientists. A. F. J, Baur. 



SEEDLING CARNATIONS. 



I am sending you a carnation flower 

 from a seedling which we grew twO' 

 years ago. Please examine this flower 

 and tell me whether or not you know of 

 a variety of carnation which resembles 

 this one. It is a prolific bloomer and the 

 best color and grower among the seed- 

 lings. A. F. H.— la. 



The bloom submitted was too badly 

 withered to give any idea as to its gen- 

 eral appearance. We could see that it 

 was pink and that was all. If it looks 

 good to you, grow a number of plants 

 next year and then bring a few blooms 

 to one of the exhibitions, to compare 

 them with existing varieties. 



A. F. J. Baur. 



PANSIES ROT. 



Sometimes during a warm, moist 

 spell of weather the blooms of my 

 pansies will rot from, apparently, ex- 

 cess of moisture. I grow an acre of 

 them. Is there a remedy for this? 

 Would brushing off the moisture help? 



C. A. P.— Me. 



This trouble is probably caused by 

 using fertilizer too rich in ammonia. 

 This will cause a soft growth. Brush- 

 ing the moisture off would do more 

 harm than good. Charles Frost. 



HOW TRUE TO COLOR? 



Can you tell us what percentage of 

 seedlings of Delphinium Bellaniosa 

 should come dark blue in color? 



W. G. P.— Cal. 



We find that Delphinium Bellamosa 

 will come about ninety-five to ninety- 

 eight [per cent true to color. 



Carl Hagenl)urger. 



