10 



The Weekly Florists' Review: 



May 24, 1906. 



variety, Keizerskroon, is being used very 

 largely in England for some really grand 

 bedding effects, and it is probably the 

 finest bedding tulip we have. I saw the 

 other day, in the west of England, this 

 variety used in conjunction with Yellow 

 Prince and red polyanthus and an excep- 

 tionally fine effect was produced. Being 

 struck with the exceptionally tall growth 

 of Keizerskroon and dwarf growth of 

 Yellow Prince, I made inquiries and 

 found that extra large bulbs of the for- 

 mer were used, and second-size bulbs of 

 the latter. They were planted alter- 



nately. 'I'ne Keizerskroon gave the bril- 

 liant red anu yellow effect some two feet 

 from the ground; the Yellow Prince 

 gave the bright yellow effect some nine 

 inches up the stems of the former, while 

 the polyanthus gave the red ground 

 effect, and the leaves quite covered the 

 ground with green. I also learned that 

 some of tne foliage of the tulips had 

 been broken off so as to prevent an over- 

 crowded appearance. The effect Oi the 

 whole was very pleasing, and well worth 

 copying by private gardeners and park 

 people. J. B. 



Vases and Veranda Boxes. 



Although it is nearly midsummer, yet 

 such is our climate that it is scarcely 

 stife to put out tender plants. May 19 

 coleus outdoors received a chill that made 

 them shrivel up. The subject I want to 

 discuss may seem rather late, vases and 

 veranda boxes, but there will be more 

 filled after June 1 than before that date. 



For years there has been a good deal 

 of humbug and disappointment connected 

 with the vases that go to our cemeteries, 

 many of them to be exposed to the blaz- 

 ing sun and fierce winds and not always 

 receiving the best of care. I notice there 

 is a good deal of sameness in the vases 

 in our beautiful Forest Lawn, as it is 

 the only kind of decoration allowed in 

 this fine cemetery. 



It is not easy to introduce much vari- 

 ety. A white iron vase is filled witli 

 Nutt geraniums. This is so prevalent 

 that it has become monotonous. After 

 all, this sameness is better than a tat- 

 tered and torn vase, with the so-called 

 vines blown to shreds, which we call a 

 mixed vase. 



Geraniums for Vases. 



First of all you must fill the vase as 

 your customer desires, but many of these 

 good people discreetly may be talked 

 into ordering what you know is best for 

 the place the vase is to go. If it is a 

 decidedly shady situation, the geranium 

 is not the thing, but begonias of the 

 Vernon type and the tuberous section 

 make a fine show. In sunny and ex- 

 posed situations there is no equal to the 

 zonal geraniums and S. A. Nutt, because 

 of its healthy growth and free flowering 

 qualities is one of the very best vari- 

 eties; that is why its use is overdone. 

 There are others. Semi-doubles are much 

 the best because heavy showers do not 

 spoil their blooms. Beaute Poitevine, 

 the fine salmon, has every requisite for 

 such a purpose, and so has the fine pink, 

 Francis Perkins. John Doyle, a fine 

 scarlet, is another largely used. Castel- 

 lane is a grand scarlet, Gloire de France, 

 a beautiful combination of carmine and 

 white. La Favorite, a fine white, which 

 is a very agreeable relief to so much 

 scarlet and crimson. All of the above 

 are fine for vases. A fine pink for pots, 

 Jean Viaud is of little use either as a 

 bedder or for vases. In the former it 

 goes all to foliage without flower and 

 in the vase it starves to death. 



If you will analyze the plants in a 



mixed vase you will find you could not 

 buy the plants at wholesale prices and 

 get your money back, but this is not the 

 case when it is all filled with 4-inch 

 geraniums. You will get at least $2 a 

 dozen for them, none too much for the 

 labor, soil and moss used and the cart- 

 ing. 



Vines for Vases. 



Now a word about the vines. With a 

 very few exceptions they are very dis- 

 appointing. They may be pretty and at- 

 tractive when they leave the greenhouse, 

 but a month later they look like a 

 farmer's whiskers as shown on the 

 *' funny" page of the Sunday paper. 



There is considerable variety in the 

 plants that are used on the edges of 

 vases. I have more than once mentioned 

 them, but I know of none that will en- 

 dure the drying winds and more or less 

 neglect, except English ivy and Vinca 

 major. The true ivy will be there all 

 summer, just, as you put it in, but the 

 vinca is the more graceful. The varie- 

 gated forrii is the favorite with most 

 people and, if associated with pink 

 geraniums, is to be preferred, but with 

 the crimson and scarlet geraniums, the 

 stronger growing green form, which I 

 think is known as Harrisonii, is much 

 better. 



Miscellaneous MateriaL 



Many people insist on a center plant 

 of more height than the geraniums, and 

 for this purpose there is one plant pre- 

 eminent, Dracaena indivisa. It not only 

 lives under these unfavorable conditions, 

 but actually grows and improves. 



A few people, who are carried away 

 with the idea that they musii have a 

 drooping plant around the edge, will be 

 satisfied with a row of the little, com- 

 pact Mme. Salleroi or Abutilon Savitzii, 

 It looks well and will always be neat and 

 thriving. 



There are a few other plants that can 

 be used alone in a vase, particularly if 

 it is of generous size. Dwarf, free-flow- 

 ering cannas and Caladium esculentum 

 make an agreeable change, or even a 

 mass of one variety of coleus is pleasing. 

 A single small specimen palm is a great 

 relief to the eye among so much color, 

 but most of your palms are unsuited for 

 the purpose. The phoenix is the best, for 

 it takes a lot of neglect to burn it. 



Many people look upon these grounds 

 as melancholy places, but the writer does 

 not, and no one should. A cemetery 



should be as beautiful as our best parks, 

 and if we could abolish the headstones 

 and iron vases they would be. Make 

 them beautiful gardens, keeping as near 

 to nature as is possible and with as little 

 of the artificial as is consistent with the 



use. 



Veranda Boxes. 



Now the veranda box conditions are 

 entirely different. They usually receive 

 faithful care. In many cases there is 

 some shade from the lovely and patient 

 trees and ,a host of plants that starve to 

 death in a cemetery vase will thrive in 

 a veranda box. "We heard last summer 

 a good deal from some trade journals 

 about window boxes in our large cities, 

 and we read from the travels of globe- 

 trotters of some continental European 

 cities where streets would be bare and 

 hideous if it were not for the wealth of 

 flowers cultivated in window boxes and 

 converting the narrow streets into bowers 

 of beauty, or at least of blossom. 



This may be all right in a street where 

 the inhamtants can indulge in no other 

 kind of ornamental gardening, but where 

 the residence stands back fifty to 100 feet 

 and there is a beautiful lawn and flower- 

 ing shrubs surrounding the house, boxes 

 of flowers at every window would look 

 very much out of place. You can over- 

 do the use of flowers, as you can jewelry, 

 perfume or highballs, not to mention the 

 wretched coffin nails called cigarettes. 



Buffalo for forty years took the lead 

 in veranda boxes, many people having 

 100 lineal feet of this style of garden- 

 ing, and it made many of our residence 

 streets most beautiful. Nearly every 

 plant that is used in flower gardening 

 will do for veraiida boxes, dwarf cannas, 

 caladiums, fuchsias, geraniums, coleus, 

 acalypha and, above all, a good sprinkling 

 of the Boston fern. So good is this pop- 

 ular fern for the purpose that last year 

 we filled several long boxes entirely with 

 it, but only in exceptional cases do we 

 recommend filling with one kind of 

 plant. 



Drooping Plants Needed. 



Now, the chief beauty of veranda 

 boxes is in the drooping plants, which 

 should entirely obscure the face of the 

 box. Here, where watering can be at- 

 tended to daily, there is a great variety 

 of material to choose from, for they are 

 seldom exposed to sun and wind, as are 

 the vases in bleak sections of cemeteries. 

 The ivy geranium, senecio, lobelia, nas- 

 turtium, the money vine, variegated gle- 

 choma, vincas and many others are good. 

 We once, years ago, grew two drooping 

 vines that were splendid for this purpose, 

 but indifference or neglect let them die 

 out. The first was Pilogyne suavis and 

 the other was Ipomsea Mortonii. They 

 each made a perfect veil of greenery. 



Build Cypress Boxes. 



This business has taken a decided drop 

 with us in this city, and largely because 

 the boxes made of pine a dozen years ago 

 have decayed, and the owners do not care 

 to have new ones made. It is not a case 

 of avoiding expense, but the old man 

 grunts when Henrietta says, "Alphonse, 

 our veranda boxes are worn out." He 

 replies, ' ' Oh, let them slide ; don 't bother 

 about them this year," forgetting that 

 this inexpensive embellishment has made 

 our avenues famous for their beauty. 

 We did not know enough years ago to 

 have these boxes made of cypress; if we 

 had, they still would be with us and we 

 should be reaping the benefit of their 

 endurance. 



