

to 



The Weekly Florists' Review* 



August 8, 1007. 



House of Crotoos Grown by the Robert Craig G>., Philadelphia. 



it to be growing in favor. This second 

 general Decoration day takes place every 

 year the first Sunday after Labor day. 

 The following is the notice sent out to 

 lot-owners last year: 



"Third Annual Flower Sunday, Oak 

 Grove Cemetery. Our third annual flow- 

 er day will be held Sunday, September 

 9, 1906, to be observed by all those who 

 wish, as a day for a general remem- 

 brance, and the bringing of flowers for 

 the decoration of their lots." 



The quick response to the notices each 

 year is an assurance that the experiment 

 is passing into a custom which will stay 

 because the people approve of and wel- 

 come it. It goes without saying that it 

 means an increase of business to the 

 florists, although the season is one of 

 more or less abundance of garden flow- 

 ers. 



The Springfield Homestead has the 

 following to say of the last celebration 

 of the ^y: 



' ' All day Saturday many willing hands 

 were tenderly working over the graves 

 of their loved ones, but most noticeable 

 among them were the busy mothers. Old 

 ladies with whitened hair and tired faces 

 bent over the graves of children who 

 have been at rest for more than fifteen 

 years. The middle-aged mothers were 

 there, too, softened by a grief which 

 had lost its first pang, and then there 

 were the younger women who have just 

 tasted their first real sorrow, and to all 

 faces alike this act of lingering awhile 

 with the dead brought a sweetness pe- 

 culiar to itself. Although the decorating 

 of graves may not help the dead, to the 

 living it brings one of the gentlest in- 

 fluences of human experience. 



"Early Sunday morning, while the 

 dew was still heavy on the flowers, peo- 

 ple began to visit the cemetery. They 

 came and went all day, and at dusk 

 little groups were still scattered about, 

 quietly talking of those who were gone. 



"The conspicuous graves Sunday were 

 the undecorated ones, but there were not 

 many of these. Almost every grave in 

 the cemetery had its token of remem- 

 brance. Asters, dahlias, phlox, mari- 

 golds and huge clusters of hydrangeas 

 were scattered in autumnal profusion 

 among the handsome monuments, making 

 a brilliant bit of coloring quite in har- 

 mony with the warm September day." 



THE LATEST PLANT VRINKLES. 



A Visit to Robert Craig. 



Eobert Craig had an appointment with 

 Phil, made several weeks ago; Mr. Craig 

 did not remember it — great men never 

 do remember their appointments, it is a 

 sign of mediocrity — nevertheless he was 

 ready and gave his visitor 100 minutes 

 of his time; 100 minutes that were full 

 of pleasure and profit, though I fear 

 Mrs. Craig would not be human did she 

 not regret full fifty of those minutes 

 when dinner waited. 



First there were the cyclamens, per- 

 fect peaches in 6-inch pots in frames, 

 plants worth the trip in two trains to 

 see. Grown witn skill from especially 

 selected seed, they promise well. There 

 is a special cyclamen grower on the 

 place, an elderly man of rare ability, 

 who potters over and fusses with his 

 pets until they must be fine; they can- 

 not help it. His name, maybe, is Win- 

 ship. Under that name he personifies 

 painstaking care and skill. 



Then came the ferns. Five whole 

 houses of Nephrolepis Amerpohlii are 

 being grown by the Robert Craig Co. 

 for William P. Craig; a splendid stock 



in all sizes, from the original plant in 

 a 12-inch pan, a perfect specimen, to the 

 little runpers just potted into IV^-inch 

 pots. Last February it was freely pre- 

 dicted that this fern would not be ready 

 before 1908. Now it is evident that 

 the stock is here. The demand is here 

 also; merit is quickly recognized. Neph- 

 rolepis Todeaoides is also planted out in 

 quantity. Mr. Craig says it will replace 

 N. Piersoni, N. Elegantissima and N. 

 Barrowsii, but that it is not in the same 

 class with N. Amerpohlii. 



The crotons were next, two beautiful 

 houses of nicely colored plants in many 

 old and new varieties. A seedling of 

 Edwin Lonsdale's, a cheerful Christmas 

 red, is here in quantity. A pow-wow 

 was to be held at Girard College the 

 following afternoon at 2 by the clock, 

 to decide upon a name. 



Dracaena terminalis was even, clean 

 and well grown, a house to give pleasure 

 to any grower. By it was Dracaena Mas- 

 sangeana, grown in larger numbers since 

 Mr. Craig's visit to Haddon Hall, At- 

 lantic City, where plants of this variety 

 were thriving apparently with no special 

 care. 



Then came the specialty of the place 

 today, Ficus pandurata, an imposing 

 sight from the doorway of each house. 

 Long rows of these stately plants stretch 

 to the farther end, the living embodi- 

 ment of durable planthood. The largest 

 size was being planted into cedar, tubs 

 10x12 — buckets (^vested of their handles, 

 admirably adapted to the purpose. 



Chrysanthemums were next. First 

 came President Loubet, an early white 

 equal in size and finish to the best late 

 varieties. Mr. Craig is believed to have 

 the largest stock in the world of this 

 novelty. Another early white, Snowflake, 

 is a competitor of Polly Rose. Jeanne 

 Nonin has come out from behind a cloud, 

 the leaf disease to which this fine variety 

 is subject having been discovered to af- 

 fect the early and not the late struck 

 cuttings. Colonel Appleton and Major 

 Bonnaffon are still standard-bearers in 

 their color. A single of golden yellow 

 color, a daisy in appearance, is praised 

 as Kitty Bourne. Pompons, increasing in 

 popularity, are plentiful. Briolas and 

 Klondike, the former an improvement on 

 the latter, are the golden yellows. White 

 Lulu is grown for white. Returning to 

 the standard varieties, such as Ivory, it 







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Hooie of Adiantum Hybridum Grown by Robert Qaig Co., Philadelphia. 



