26 



The Florists' Review 



APBIL 21, 1921 



and tied with white lace and ribbon. 

 The bridesmaids carried bouquets of 

 French blue hydrangeas and white 

 lilac, tied with blue and orchid-tinted 

 chiffon. The matron of honor carried 

 peachblow sweet peas and Ophelia roses 

 tied with chiffon and blue ribbon and 

 the maid of honor carried a bouquet 

 of pink and lavcnder-bluc sweet peas 



tied with blue and pink chiffon. A re- 

 ception in the home followed the cere- 

 mony. The window boxes were filled 

 with pink and blue hydrangeas, with 

 side groups of bamboos, and the boxes 

 in the side windows were filled with 

 pink hydrangeas. On each side of the 

 fireplace were stationed two tall, slender 

 silver vases filled with pink roses. 



H. J. H. 



COMMERCIAL BOSES. 



As the Wliolesaler Sees Them. 



As a commercial flower, the rose 

 stands head and shoulders above every 

 other flower grown today and, so far as 

 one can sec now, there is nothing in 

 sight to supplant it. In the commercial 

 roses we can go back probably fifty or 

 sixty years, wlicn there were only a few 

 varieties, with a new sort added now 

 and then. Interest has steadily in- 

 creased until today we have more than 

 one rose enthusiast devoting all his 

 energies to giving the rose world some- 

 thing better each year. 



Killarney, a European introduction 

 of several years ago, was so much easier 

 to grow .lud bloomed so much more 

 freely th:it, before the growers realized 

 it, they were overdoing it. A store 

 man would buy mostly Killarney, pink 

 and some white, as there was little else 

 to buy. Some markets, of course, had 

 more variety than others. One year in 

 particular the Philadelphia market was 

 especially overworked with Killarneys. 



Tliis is a situation that the growers 

 today need to guard against with Co- 

 lumbia and Premier. If a customer 

 comes into a retail store and finds just 

 two or three varieties of roses, there 

 is certainly not the encouragement to 

 purchase tiiat would exist if there were 

 a large variety to choose from. 



Who's Who in Boses. 



Hotli (Johiinbia and Premier are fine 

 roses — there's no question about it — 

 wonderful flowers, with fine foliage, 

 good growers; roses that give splendid 

 satisfaction. Columbia, for the year 

 around, is probably the better of the 

 two, but Premier, during the midwinter 

 months, forges ahead with its wonder- 

 ful foliage and large, well shaped buds. 



We have I'ilgrim, which, when it first 

 came on the market last summer, was 

 not received with quite the favor that 

 was hoped. However, as the season 



Article on "C'oniinprci.il Roses as n Wholesaler 

 Sees Them." contributed liy Samuel S. I'ennock, 

 of I'liiladelphia, to the American Hose Annual 

 for 1921. 



progressed and the weather became 

 cooler, it became more of a favorite, 

 until it is now one. of our best roses. I 

 believe it is a splendid rose for about 

 nine months of the year, but not a par- 

 ticularly good hot-weather rose, al- 

 though the growers may be able to 

 grow it during the hotter parts of the 

 year so that it will do better. It is a 

 good keeper, holds its head up, and has 

 an attractive color. The 2-tone color 

 gives it a class by itself. 



American Legion, which is to be 

 called Legion because of an objection 

 by the organization of that name, is 

 coining out this year and seems like an 

 attractive rose; but every new rose has 

 to be tried out before it can be deter- 

 mined whether it will be a success. I 

 like it personally, but whether, from 

 a grower's standpoint, it will equal or 

 be better than our present roses will 

 have to be determined. 



Varieties: Going and Coining. 



Dunlop, here in the east, has not 

 proved the success that was hoped. It 

 seems to be better in warm than in cold 

 weather. 



It was thought Crusader would super- 

 sede Hadley, but it has neither the 

 color nor the holding qualities of Had- 

 ley, although it is a larger rose and, I 

 understand, is a better and easier 

 grower. It will turn dark after it is 

 cut a day or two, which is enough to 

 condemn it among retailers. It may be 

 that this could be improved upon by 

 the grower, as some roses have been in 

 the past. Meteor, for instance, was 

 found to be a success in a warmer tem- 

 perature. 



Iloosier Beauty is still grown by some, 

 but not nearly so much as in the past. 

 Some growers call it a money-maker. 



Milady is and has been grown more 

 extensively in the west than in the east. 

 While it is not a recent introduction, 

 some of the eastern growers are taking 

 it up again, and it looks as if it were 

 coming back. From the standpoint of 

 a producer, there is nothing in the red 

 rose line to touch it. 



Eussell is still a favorite, and I see 

 no decrease in the plantings of those 

 who do it well; in fact, most of the 

 successful Russell growers in the east 

 are increasing, rather than decreasing. 

 This, for an all-year-round rose, is the 

 best in its class today, although most 



growers claim it does not bloom well in 

 winter. 



Francis Scott Key is a wonderfully 

 fine warm-weather rose, in a class by it- 

 self. It has large, fine flowers on good 

 stems, but goes absolutely to sleep dur- 

 ing the wintertime and a great many 

 growers, on that account, feel it is un- 

 profitable. I am sorry not to see it 

 grown more extensively. In the fall 

 some wonderful flowers are produced. 



Call a Yellow. 



Mrs. George Shawyer is now little 

 grown and, apparently, will soon be a 

 rose of the past, although it has many 

 good points. 



My Maryland is still favored by a 

 number of growers and is grown suc- 

 cessfully by those who go into it whole- 

 heartedly and use it as a bread-and- 

 butter rose the year around. It has its 

 place. 



Richmond is grown by few and more 

 for a Christmas crop than anything 

 else. 



Sunburst I am sorry to see almost 

 out of the market. A new yellow rose 

 is needed badly, tfor we today do not 

 have a good yellow variety that is 

 grown extensively. Neither Ophelia 

 nor Butterfly fills the place of a yellow. 

 Let us hope that some of our enthusi- 

 asts in rose breeding will come along 

 with a good commercial yellow rose; 

 something on the Sunburst color and 

 shape of bud, with Pilgrim stem. 



It is regrettable to notice the tend- 

 ency to drop Ophelia. It is a splendid 

 rose, and one that I should be sorry 

 to sec the growers discard. Some say 

 Butterfly will replace it, but it seems 

 to me there is room for both roses. 

 Butterfly is so distinct from Ophelia 

 that they could be sold by any up-to- 

 date retail store without one interfering 

 with the other. 



Mrs. Aaron Ward also seems to be 

 passing. It was a great favorite — a 

 beautiful little rose, which probably 

 made as much of a sensation when it 

 was first put on the market as any rose 

 we have ever had. 



The Lone White Bose. 



The only good, first-class white rose 

 that we have available today, commer- 

 cially, is Double White Killarney. It 

 is still holding its own, although An- 

 gelas may supersede it. I do not know 

 much of Angelus, only having seen it 

 in an exhibition way, when it certainly 

 impressed all present. The old few- 

 petaled white is not nearly so satisfac- 

 tory from a dealer's standpoint as are 

 the double roses. 



Kaiserin Augusta Victoria is still a 

 wonderfully good summer rose, but, un- 

 fortunately, tlio growers have almost 

 entirely dropjiod it, claiming that it 

 was not profitable, by reason of its 

 season being too short. 



Jonkhoer J. L. Mock is another rose 

 that is passing. It is not a winter rose 

 and bruises easily. Mainly on that 

 account, the growers have dropped it. 

 It is an excellent grower and good 

 keeper, barring its bruising habits. 



Among the little, or debutante, roses, 

 Cecile Brunner and Old Gold still hold 

 their own. A number of other small 

 roses have been tried, but, after the 

 first year or two, are discarded, and I 

 believe few, outside of these two, are 

 grown successfully. 



Last, but not the least, we come to 

 American Beauty, which has been on 



iConcliiiled on paitc ■_",•. 1 



