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JUI-T 6, 1922 



The Florists^ Review 



31 



fore January 15. A few flowers may be 

 had in March, but in April and May 

 they are at their beSt. A cool, airy, light 

 house suits them, and as plants a year 

 old or less will throw stalks five to six 

 feet high, give them ample head room. 

 Other blue flowers of value for cutting 

 are forget-me-nots, Nemesia strumosa, a 

 charming annual which can be flowered 

 beautifully in February and March from 

 seed sown the previous September and 

 grown cool; Nigella Miss Jekyll, 

 with cornflower-blue flowers, commonly 

 known as "love in a mist"; Salvia 

 farinacea, lavender blue in color, a far 

 better keeper than the omnipresent scar- 

 let variety, splendens, also a good bed- 

 ding plant, though not suflSciently appre- 

 ciated. Then there is salpiglossis, a 

 charming annual; the violet blue color 

 might please you. Blue sweet peas you 

 undoubtedly have. Didiscus csrulea 

 has came into some favor of late; it is 

 lavender blue in color and cultural di- 

 rections will be found elsewhere in this 

 issue. Last, but not least, a few pans 

 of giant blue verbenas should be grown. 

 Treat them well and you will get stems 

 eighteen to twenty-four inches long in 

 spring, far ahead of any grown out- 

 doors. Four or five small plants in an 

 8-inch pan or three in a 6-inch pan will 

 provide you with fine cutting material. 

 Some of the foregoing blue flowers, all 

 of which the writer has grown or is now 

 growing, may interest you. C. W. 



DIDISCUS CiERULEA. 



Can you give me full cultural direc- 

 tions for Didiscus ca?rulea? H. J. — Pa. 



This interesting and pretty plant has 

 been commonly called Queen Anne's 

 lace flower, the blue lace flower, the wild 

 carrot and several otlier names. Grown 

 for the New York market, it became 

 quite popular at some of the more ex- 

 clusive stores and its fame has spread 

 to many other cities. From my ex- 

 perience with it, I doubt if the aver- 

 age country florist will make much, if 

 any, money out of it, but it is an in- 

 teresting as well as pretty subject, and 

 adds variety and a pleasing color to the 

 flowers in spring and early summer. It 

 can be flowered indoors in late fall and 

 winter, but does not respond as it does 

 in spring. Few annuals arc suecessful 

 winter bloomers, sweet peas l)cing jicr- 

 haps the most notable excejition. All, 

 however, do well in spring, and outdoors 

 the didiscus does nicely, if sown thinly 

 in rows any time between April 2.1 and 

 •July 1, keeping the soil well cultivated. 



Didiscus, or, to be botanieally cor- 

 rect, Trachymcne cajrulea, is an Aus- 

 tralian annual and a member of the 

 natural order of umbellit'ora". There 

 are some twenty-five species of traehy- 

 niene; the hulk come from the antip- 

 odes, but others are found in TJorneo, 

 New Caledonia and the Celebes. T. 

 ca^rulea is the only species grown in 

 America and the only one of any real 

 value floricnlturally or commercially. 



All members of the umbellifera; fam- 

 ily are rather difllcult to trausjilant. 

 They usually make top roots and few 

 fibers and for that reason you should 

 either sow them in beds or benches 

 whore they arc to flower, doing any nec- 

 essary thinning when the plants are of 

 sufficient size, or else sow them in small 

 pots and transfer from the pots to the 

 bench or outdoors. You will never have 

 mu^chi success in pricking off this plant 

 as you would asters or zinnias. The 



WILLIAM J. BAKER. 



HERE'S something worth while, something that you could not get for love or 

 money — William J. Baker sowing the seed of patriotism. Observe the charac- 

 teristic wave of the thumb and the Grand Army uniform. There is no photographer 

 in America who could catch the colonel in a more natural pose and garb. But you 

 say, "What has all this to do with flowers?" Much, I assure you, for William J. 

 Baker is the pioneer wholesale florist of Philadelpliia. lie flourished in tlic days 

 when it took courage and fine stock to advance carnations from ."jO cents to 75 

 cents a hundred. He has retired now. His business is in the hands of the junior 

 partner, but the kiddies will tell you that the colonel, as he is affectionately termed, 

 is every inch a man. I'hil. 



thing cannot be done, but if they are 

 planted in pots they do well. 



A winter temperature of 45 to 50 de- 

 grees at night and careful watering are 

 necessary. A well drained and rather 

 open soil must be provided. If at- 

 tempted as a winter-flowering subject, 

 great care is necessary to prevent 

 damping off, and the best success is to 

 lie had from seeds started from January 

 to March. It succeeds well in from four 

 to five inches of soil, enjoys plenty of 

 fresh air and full sunshine, and should 

 never bo sjirayed over. 



For bou(|uet work Didiscus ca^rulea is 

 charming, and a separate vase of it is 

 ■■ilso most pleasing. This color appeals 

 to many critical buyers. Ladies, espe- 

 cially, are fond of it, and in a moderate 

 way I should say this interesting plant 

 nnght be grown by many florists, but 

 not as a shipping subject, except for 

 nearby markets. C W. 



NEWPORT, R. I. 



Horticultural Society's Show. 



The annual June show of the Newport 

 Horticultural Society was held in the 



iliiiing hall of the First Presbyterian 

 ciiurch a week ahead of schedule. 

 Although somewhat smaller than shows 

 of former years, it ]»r(>sented select 

 specimens of a wide variety of blooms. 

 Among the j)ri/e-winut'rs wer(> William 

 Gray, gardener for Princess Anastasia. 

 of Greece; J. Robertson, gardener for 

 Mrs. T. O. Richardson; Andrew Dor- 

 ward, gardener to T. J. Emery; A. W. 

 Potter, gardener to Mrs. H. I). Auchin- 

 closs; .1. T. Allan, gardener to Mrs. .folin 

 R. Drexel, ami James Hooper, gardener 

 to Mrs. T. K. Gibbs. 



The exhibition was under the direc- 

 tion of the executive committee, con- 

 sisting of J. T. Allan, B. Butterton, 

 Frederick Carter, Andrew Dorward, 

 Richard Gardner, William Gray, James 

 Hooper, William MacKav, Alexander 

 McClellan, Andrew S. Meikle, James 

 Robertson, W. S. Smith, J. B. Urquhart, 

 V. A. Vanicek and W. G. Taylor. 



The judges were John T. Allan, Alex- 

 ander .Mc('lel]an and J. B. Urquhart, all 

 past-presidents of the society. 



Various Notes. 



Alfred T. Bunyard, the New York 

 florist who had a. Newport branch for a 

 number of summers, is convalescing at 



