10 



The Weekly Florists^ Review^ 



Mabch 26, 1908. 



M. A. Patten and C. S. Strout captured 

 the prizes, all showing Victory. Lady 

 Bountiful, from S. J. Goddard, led in 

 whites; second, C. S. Strout with White 

 Perfection; third, S. J. Goddard, with 

 White Perfection. Variegated, first, 

 Backer & Co., with Mrs. Patten; second. 

 Patten, with variegated Lawsou. 



Edward MacMulkin had the best six 

 azaleas, Mrs. E. M. Gill and Mrs. A. W, 

 Blake the best forty-eight pansies. For 

 100 double violets, H. F. Woods won with 

 Campbell; second, H. F. Calder, with 

 Campbell. For 100 single, William Sim 

 was first and second and Estey Bros, 

 third. For two vases, 100 spikes each, 

 of sweet peas, William Sim was in the 



clear during the show. The attendance 

 was larger than ever and visitors from a 

 distance were numerous. 



W. N. Craig. 



POT ROSES FOR EASTER. 



[A paper by Robert Craig, of Philadelphia, 

 read before the American Rose Society at 

 Chicago, March 25 to 27.] 



The principal obstacle in the way of 

 having fine specimen roses at Easter 

 lies in the difficulty of obtaining suffi- 

 ciently strong plants. In roses of the 

 Crimson Rambler and Wichuraiana types, 

 strong canes can be had by planting out 

 in the open ground in heavy soil, well 

 manured, and leaving the plants out at 







Farquhar's Gold Medal Group at the Boston Spring Show. 



lead with magnificent Florence Denzer 

 and Christmas Pink. Mr. Sim also 

 staged a superb collection of other Zvol- 

 anek varieties. Of these W. W. Smalley 

 and Mrs. Alex Wallace received first- 

 class certificates. For twelve camellias, 

 Miss J. M. Sears was first. 



Other miscellaneous exhibits included 

 Carnation Afterglow from William Nich- 

 olson and Carnation Bay State from A. 

 Roper, each awarded a silver medal. 

 Elijah A. Wood received a certificate 

 of merit for his scarlet seedling, Mrs. 

 George A. Frost. W. A. Manda was 

 awarded honorable mention for his dark 

 pink seedling Xo. 24 and the same award 

 for Asparagus elongatus. F. C. Green 

 received honorable mention for pink Ro- 

 man Hyacinth Excelsior; W. W. Rawson 

 the same for Lobelia Kathleen Mallard, 

 M. H. Walsh for new rose Celeste, H. A. 

 Dreer for Marguerite Blush Queen Alex- 

 andra, and W. W. Rawson for Anchusa 

 Italics Dropmore. 



.T. E. Rotlnvoll had a splendid display 

 of cut orchids, filling 200 bottles. M. H. 

 Walsh received a silver medal for his 

 new rambler rose, Arcadia, and a first- 

 class certificate for Excelsa. Mrs. E. M. 

 Gill had a nice general display. William 

 Downs received a cultural certificate for 

 yellow antirrhinums and H. L. Smith 

 a similar award for Nephrolepis Bar- 

 rowsii. T. D. Hatfield had half a dozen 

 nice plants of the golden yellow chrysan- 

 themum. Evening Star. R. T. Kimball 

 showed fine antirrhinums and Lager & 

 Hurrell their usual interesting table of 

 orchids. In the vegetable department 

 F. E. Cole received a silver medal for 

 a^display of forced vegetables. 



The weather was cold but generally 



least one winter. When they are left 

 out for two winters they make extra 

 strong plants, with long, strong canes, 

 suitable for training into large speci- 

 mens. 



Best Varieties. 



Magna Charta, which is undoubtedly 

 the best of all the hybrid roses as an 

 Easter pot plant, may be treated in 

 like manner. This also applies to Clo- 

 thilde Soupert, which is deserving of spe- 

 cial mention on account of its fi'eedom 

 of bloom, distinct color, and above all, 

 its good keeping qualities. It may be 

 kept, in a cool house, for two weeks in 

 full bloom, which cannot be said of many 



of the varieties. Among other good 

 Easter hybrids for pots (I know of but 

 few) may be mentioned Mrs. John 

 Laing; Ulrich Brunner (of fine color, 

 but a poor keeper), Rodocanachie, Mile. 

 Gabriel Luizet, Gen. Jacqueminot and Kil- 

 larney. If sufficiently strong canes of 

 the latter can be had it is one of the 

 most attractive, but these varieties do 

 not make strong plants on their own 

 roots in the open ground, especially in 

 the northern states. 



Importing Stock. 



For such varieties as cannot be ob- 

 tained from nurserymen in this country, 

 recourse must be had to importing the 

 strongest plants possible from Europe in 

 the fall, preferably from England or 

 Ireland, budded low on Manetti. Those 

 from Holland are generally budded too 

 high on the stock to make attractive pot 

 plants. 



Plants which are packed for shipment 

 should have their roots surrounded by 

 damp moss, and should be exposed to the 

 air as little as possible from time of lift- 

 ing until they are potted. Many fail- 

 ures result from lack of this precaution. 



The plants should not be lifted until 

 they have had some frost to thoroughly 

 ripen the wood. In the latitude of Phila- 

 delphia this is usually from the middle 

 to the latter part of November. I have 

 never been able to get, however, plants 

 uniformly strong enough to force them 

 the first season after importing. The 

 plants are not graded into sizes and 

 many sent are too small to make suitable 

 plants the first season after importing. 



It is our custom to take only the 

 stronger plants, and the others are win- 

 tered over as cheaply as possible in cold- 

 frames or houses, to be grown in pots the 

 following summer, which treatment great- 

 ly benefits them. 



Pot Culture Preferable. 



The Crimson Rambler, if carefully han- 

 dled, will make as fine plants the first sea- 

 son from open ground, but the other 

 varieties will bloom more freely if grown 

 in pots one season. 



The cost of wintering imported plants 

 in frames is about $50 per thousand, and 

 the cost of growing them through the 

 summer about $50 per thousand addition- 

 al, but the improvement in the character 

 of the plants fully justifies the expense, 

 for Easter purposes. 



Air should be given during the winter 

 whenever the weather is mild enough, and 

 every precaution taken to prevent the 



Bulbous Stock at the Boston Spring Show. 



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