'W*w: 



■'';fr-i7:'wy 



Fbbruaby 27, 1908. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review^ 



Zonal Geranium Paul Crampel^ a Good Christmas Plant. 



REFLECTIONS OF A GROWER. 



To-day, as I labored with trowel and hose 



To grow. In perfection, the beautiful rose, 



As I looked on Us beauty and quaffed Its per- 

 fume, 



I thought, alas! of Its ultimate doom. 



When Its beauty and fragrance have vanished 

 away, 



Its purpose Is served, though It be but a day. 



Then I think, can It be that I've labored in 

 vain? 



Has my toll brought only personal gain? 



I reflect again. Ah, happy thought! 



Perhaps to some life It has happiness brought; 



Perhaps at some bedside Its beauty was shed. 



Or Its purity some life to better things led; 



Perhaps graced the altar, while vows were 

 made. 



Or on the grave of some loved one 'twas laid. 



It may have done good in a thousand ways 



With Its Influence spread, like the briglit sun's 

 rays. 



Life's dreary pathways it may have brightened; 



Life's many cares It has surely lightened. 



Ah, truly my labors have not been In vain: 



The thought gives me cheer and courage again. 



Though the dally wage be ever so small 



And the calloused hands much toll recall. 



Ah, be happy, O toller 'neath roof of glass. 



Be not discouraged or lightly pass 



The beantlful chance that Is offered you 



To happiness cause, and much goo<l do 



By life's pathways with roses strewing. 



Ah, be not weary in well doing. 



W. A. BRENNEKE. 



PRIMULA OBCONICA. 



Despite the fact that Primula obcouica 

 is one of the most useful plants for the 

 retail grower, one can find many placea 

 •without them. What other plant adapts 

 itself to so many uses, in places where 

 blooming plants are wanted from Novem- 

 ber until Easter f From what other plant 

 <5an one cut flowers during this period, 

 that make as good material for de- 

 sign work, and only too often at times 

 when roses and carnations are bringing 

 high prices! If ever any one flower 

 should be called ' ' Cut and come again, ' ' 

 it is the obconica. Few of them are 

 seen at the wholesale houses. It is not 

 a flower one would look for there. Only 

 the out-of-town grower who conducts a 



retail place can fully appreciate its 

 value. 



It grows in almost any soil, so long as 

 it is in a temperature a few degrees 

 higher than Primula Chinensis, is not 

 allowed to get too potbound, and is not 

 neglected with watering. For early flow- 

 ering, sow now. If the seeds are not 

 too old, every one will germinate. 



There are now advertised a number of 

 varieties, or which Primula obconica gi- 

 gantea is perhaps the most beautiful as 

 far as habit and size of flower are con- 

 cerned, yet for free blooming Primula 

 obconica grandiflora is by far the best. 

 The flowers are twice as large as the 

 type, over which • it is an improvement 

 in this respect. There is a rose or pink 

 variety which is good; also a red or 

 crimson one, which, however, is far from 

 being either, as there is too much purple 

 in it. The white is the best. F. B. 



ZONAL GERANIUMS. 



Excellent Christmas Plants. 



It is satisfactory to note a growing de- 

 mand for zonal geraniums, or pelargo- 

 niums as they are more properly called, 

 for winter flowering. As yet they are 

 less grown commercially than their 

 beauty and comparative ease of culture 

 entitle them to be. For winter blooming, 

 singles of the English round-flowered sec- 

 tion are decidedly preferable to doubles 

 for Christmas sales. Nothing could be 

 better than some of these splendid varie- 

 ties, the individual florets on such sorts as 

 J. M. Barrie and Duke of Bedford aver- 

 aging two inches and a half to three 

 inches in diameter. While plants would 

 not stand shipping long distances, for 

 local trade and near-by markets they offer 

 great attractions. 



The illustrations show a few plants, 



mostly grown in 6-inch pots, as they ap- 

 peared a few days before Christmas. Cut- 

 tings rooted by the first of March and 

 grown along will produce similar plants 

 if properly cared for. More explicit cul- 

 tural directions will be found in the last 

 two paragraphs of this article. 



Paul Crampel is a magnificent bright 

 scarlet, as good for bedding as for pot 

 culture. It is a very compact grower, 

 dwarf and vigorous. Trusses are of im- 

 mense size and as brilliant in coloring as 

 poinsettias. This unique sort should dis- 

 place others of its color now in general 

 use. 



Duke of Bedford is a beautiful crim- 

 son, with immense florets. It has a small 

 white eye as a distinguishing feature.- 

 The habit is excellent and a plant carry- 

 ing several of the huge trusses of bloom 

 would sell on sight. 



Gertrude Pearson is a well-known vari« 

 ety, with peach pink colored flowers. It 

 has an ideal habit, and while the trusses 

 are somewhat smaller than in some of 

 the newer sorts, they are produced with 

 groat freedom. It is equally good for 

 bedding and for pot culture. 



Anna Defeuillet is the finest of all the 

 pink varieties. The color is a clear sal- 

 mon pink, which is beautiful under nat- 

 ural light and even finer under artificial 

 conditions. This, I believe, is one of M. 

 Lemoine's seedlings. It is certainly a 

 gem, but is listed by very few growers. 



Ian Maclaren is not a new variety, and 

 while scarcely so deep an orange shade 

 as Emile Zola, one of Lemoine's finest 

 productions, it is remarkably effective as 

 a pot plant, having a sturdy habit, and 

 the large trusses of salmon orange flow- 

 ers are produced on stout stalks. For 

 outdoor culture this variety is less re- 

 liable. 



A few first-class Christmas varieties in 



