*.>» . , - 



December 29, 1904. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review^ 



309 



SOME POINTS ON PHLOXES. 



For year8 I have raised seedling 

 phloxes and have been delighted vyith the 

 results, often finding those equal if not 

 superior to the foreign ones. Last year 

 I found the key to success and have been 

 filled with delight at the result. One of 

 the largest and best of our importations 

 is the Crepuscule. It has a flower some- 

 times larger than a silver dollar. It is 

 white with a violet shading and an eye 

 of carmine purple. It has a rather 

 dwarfish stem and puts all its vigor in 

 the blooms instead of wasting it in wood. 

 It has aiso a full orbed head and con- 

 tinues a long time in bloom, so you see 

 it has all the points of excellence, and, 

 besides all this it is a variety that im- 

 presses itself on its neighbors. 



I planted this in the center of a 

 group of other choice ones and last fall 

 planted the seeds and thus have secured at' 

 least twenty new kinds which have been 

 the delight of. florists. Among those 

 near was the French Coquelicot. This is 

 bright orange scarlet, very striking in 

 ■color, but nearly worthless in the west 

 because it lacks robustness. It is not 

 bealthy and sunburns fearfully and yet 

 crossing this with its neighbor, the Crep- 

 ■uscule, gave the same brightness of color 

 which was its chief merit, a more robust 

 constitution and flowers double the size of 

 the parent, Coquelicot. In short the French 

 variety seemed to have a tremendous in- 

 fluence on all the neighbors, often im- 

 proving the color and increasing the size. 

 A florist came to see some of my new 

 creations. Taking a silver dollar he laid 

 it on one flower and, measuring care- 

 fully, said : " It will take just about $1.35 

 to cover the whole. ' ' In color some were 

 much like the seed parent, others deep 

 red, some maroon and a marvelous vari- 

 ety of tints which came from the for- 

 tunate blending. 



There is this in seeking gems among 

 the phloxes: You find out in eight to ten 

 mDnths just what you are getting. Save 

 the seed just before the pods burst. Place 

 them in a box with a cover for they will 

 pop out when they open. This is a pro- 

 vision- of nature to have them extend 

 their area as far as possible. Plant the 

 «eed In the fall ; let it lie in the slush anu 

 «now. If planted in the spring better plant 

 under a screen and see that the seeds do 

 not dry when germinating. Get the larg- 

 est and finest phloxes you can find; those 

 that have full symmetrical heads, plant 

 near together and save the seeds. I have 

 secured Antonin Mercie, enormous white 

 flower bordered with clear lilac; Bac- 

 chante, very large, in color rosy carmine 

 Tvith purple eye; Daniel Leseuer, violet 

 edges and center of petals white, and 

 many others and I am sure of apli^ndid 

 results. C. S. Harrison. 



Belleville, III. — A. S. Halstead, of 

 the St. Clair Floral Co., has had a busy 

 fall and winter with the new carnation 

 plant recently constructed. 



QuiNCY, III. — Gentemann Bros, report 

 the Christmas business as far and away 

 better than heretofore. They sold out of 

 both blooming plants and cut flowers. 



Richmond, Ind.— G. E. Cause says: 

 "Christmas business with us was fully 

 fifty per cent ahead of any previous 

 year; carnations in the lead, with roses 

 a close second; green moss wreaths and 

 holly sold well. Boston ferns were also 

 in demand. Prices about the same as 

 last year." 



Seedling Phloxes Raised by C S. Harrison, York, Neb. 

 (Plants In full bloom November 1, after several severe frosts.) 



PHILADELPHIA. 



The Christmas Market 



The business done in cut flowers and 

 in plants at Christmas was larger than 

 ever before. The quality of the stock sold 

 was excellent and for choice cut blooms, 

 carefully graded, prices were higher than 

 in 1902 and 1903. The demand for 

 flowers of the Christmas color was ex- 

 ceptional. The supply was large but in- 

 sufficient. Beauties and Liberty roses, 

 Flamingo, Crane and Adonis carnations, 

 euphorbia, poinsettla, and red bouvardia 

 were all valuable stock, the quality bring- 

 ing fancy prices. The figures quoted as 

 possible in this column last week were 

 practically correct. Fancy Beauties 

 brought $15 a dozen. Fancy Liberties 

 were very few, bringing $6 to $9 a dozen. 

 Flamingo $2 a dozen. Crane and Adonis 

 $6 to $10 per hundred. Good Maids 

 were scarce at $20 to $25. Prosperity car- 

 nations brought $12 to $15. Enchantress, 

 with far larger sales, brought $10 to 

 $12. Double violets brought $1.50 to 

 $2, single violets 75 cents to $1. The 

 weak stocks on the list were white 

 flowers. Brides lagged behind Maids. 

 Romans and Paper Whites were not 

 wanted. Carnations never sold better 



at Christmas. The crop was immense 

 and the quality fine. 



The weather, excepting on Friday, was 

 mof:t unfavorable. The large supply 

 and generally good quality reflect much 

 credit to the growers, as does the skill- 

 ful and systematic manner in which the 

 wholesalers and retailers sold and de- 

 livered the product. The stormy day 

 Saturday was bad for transient business, 

 violets suffering especially, but the tele- 

 phone made up for the weather in many 

 cases. The plant demand, especially for 

 blooming stock, such as Lorraine be- 

 jronias. azaleas, poinsettias, buttercup 

 primroses, etc., was very heavy, one 

 firm, Pennock Brothers, "having to se- 

 cure an extra supply as late as Satur- 

 day. 



Pickling was a less serious evil than 

 in past years. I^t us hope that this 

 senseless and wasteful practice will 

 soon be a thing of the past. Some of 

 the car^tation- ^fow«r«, h ow e v e r ^ 4ost 



money by allowing their flowers to stay 

 too long on the plants. 



The retailers, as a rule, had just as 

 much business as they could possibly 

 do with all their skilled and extra help. 

 They showed their appreciation of the 

 superb lines of supplies off'ered them by 

 investing heavily. The public saw, ad- 



