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Jdnb 13, 1907. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



LATE-FLOWEEING TULIPS. 



A Neglected Ckis. 



Florists, while they buy heavily of the 

 ordinary early tulips, such as La Reine, 

 Yellow Prince, Kaizerskroon, Cottage 

 Maid, Chrysolora, and similar varieties for 

 forcing or bedding purposes, strangely 

 neglect the Darwins, Byblooms, Gesneri- 

 anas and other handsome late-flowering 

 types. It is pleasing to note that on private 

 estates there is a growing demand for the 

 latter class, and it is to be hoped that 

 commercial growers will take them in 

 hand more than they have done in the 

 past. Many of the best sorts are inex- 

 pensive. The bulbs do not deteriorate 

 from year to year, as do the bedding va- 

 rieties. In fact, I know of clumps of 

 Darwins ten years old which continue to 

 bloom finely, and one other good point 

 about them is that the stems are long 

 and stiff, averaging from eighteen to 

 thirty inches, making them invaluable for 

 cut flower purposes. 



Their special value commercially lies 

 in the fact that they can be had for Me- 

 morial day in ordinary seasons. The 

 year 1907 is an abnormal one and some 

 of our Darwins were hardly open May 

 30, but even in ordinary seasons we find 

 that if the flowers are a little in advance 

 of the time when they are needed, they 

 can be cut before fully expanded and 

 kept for a week in a cold cellar. Flowers 

 this season were scarce for Memorial day 

 and any florist who planted these late 

 tulips reaped a good harvest. Certainly 

 a bunch of twenty-five Gesneriana, or 

 any of the scarlet, rose or pink Darwins, 

 with two feet of stem, would be chosen 

 by most of our customers in preference 

 to the same number of carnations, or 

 most of the roses now procurable. 



Darwin Tulips. 



The Darwin tulips constitute one of 

 the most magnificent classes in the whole 

 line of hardy bulbous plants. Their 

 stems are long and stiff, breaking little 

 in even heavy storms of wind and rain. 

 We have seen these two and one-half feet 

 in height, and they can be had two feet 

 high in any good garden soil. If some 

 of these average higher in price than 

 the common bedding tulips, they more 

 than counterbalance this by the higher 

 price the flowers will bring and the fact 

 that the bulbs last for more than one 

 season. 



A few good varieties of Darwins are: 

 Lord Duncan, bright scarlet; Edmond 

 Rostand, rosy scarlet; Gretchen, soft 

 rose; Glory, brilliant scarlet; White 

 Queen and La Candeur, both nearly pure 

 white, and Fire King, carmine scarlet. 



Cottage Tulips. 



Many of what are commonly called 

 in Europe the late-flowering cottage tu- 

 lips are of great value commercially, al- 

 though they are rarely seen in the mar- 

 kets, nor are they to be met with except 



casually even in our parks and public 

 gardens. Like the Darwins, nearly all of 

 these have long stems and they embrace 

 many exquisite shades, some of which are 

 unknown among the earlier and dwarfer 

 bedding tulips. 



A few varieties worthy of the atten- 

 tion of florists are: Bouton d'Or, also 

 called Ida and Golden Beauty, clear 

 golden yellow; retroflexa, light yellow 

 with graceful reflexed petals; Isabella, 

 also known as Shandon Bells and Blush- 

 ing Bride, cfream, turning carmine rose; 

 elegans, brilliant scarlet; Golden Crown, 

 yellow turning to crimson ; Golden Eagle, 

 golden yellow ; Picotee, also called Maid- 



They are inexpensive and may be had 

 either mixed or in separate shades. Those 

 with white grounds are marked with pink, 

 rose, red or scarlet, while others are 

 striped or marked with purple, blackish 

 maroon or lilac. 



In addition to their great value for 

 cutting, all the late tulips are good for 

 mass effects in shrubberies or herbaceous 

 borders. They look best in circular or 

 oval clumps of from fifty to 250 bulbs 

 each, when they are very telling. The 

 Darwins and late cottage tulips are all 

 excellent for bedding and a separate bed 

 of Vitellina, Gesneriana, Picotee and such 

 Darwins as Gretchen, Lord Duncan and 



Late Tulip Gesneriana Spathulata. 



en's Blush, white margined with rose 

 and turning pale crimson, a beautiful va- 

 riety; and Gesneriana spatulata (major), 

 brilliant scarlet with a bluish eye, proba- 

 bly the finest of the whole cottage tulip 

 class for Memorial day trade, height two 

 feet, stems stiff, a superb variety for 

 bedding or planting in clumps along 

 shrubberies. Vitellina, color sulphur yel- 

 low, is a beautiful variety, a little higher 

 priced than others named. 



Other Late Tulips. 



The Bizarre class has flowers with yel- 

 low ground striped or feathered with 

 white, purple or dark crimson. They are 

 purchasable in separate colors at quite 

 low rates. The bulbs of these have great 

 lasting qualities. I have in mind clumps 

 in a Massachusetts garden planted nearly 

 fifteen years ago which are still blooming 

 well. 



The Byblooms, or Bybloomens, are an- 

 other, excellent late-flowering section. The 

 color is less brilliant than in the case of 

 the Darwins, but for mixed bouquets or 

 large clumps they are quite effective. 



Glory will outclass in effective display 

 any of the early tulips. 



It is very satisfactory to note that 

 many American bulb merchants now 

 carry in stock a good variety of these 

 late tulips and I think there is a mag- 

 nificent future before them on commer- 

 cial establishments as well as on private 

 estates. W. N. Cbaiq. 



RECOMMENDED HYACINTHS. 



Segers Bros., Lisse, Holland, say that 

 they especially recommend single hy- 

 acinths; they are preferable to double 

 ones, as they produce larger spikes and 

 force more easily. They recommend 

 these sorts as follows: 



Cavaignac, extra fine salmon pink, 

 large full spike, keeps very long in 

 forced state. This variety is found in 

 every collection for exhibition, where it 

 draws the attention. 



Charles Dickens, beautiful pink, fine 

 formed large spike. This is decidedly 

 one of the finest pink hyacinths. It 

 forces easily and always gives satisfae- 



