July 9^ 1908. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review. 



n 



ly by one who knows. Try an under- 

 study in a civil engineer's oflSce to do 

 this lettering for you. You will find this 

 temporary label a "joy forever" and 

 pleasant to look at, and all visitors to 

 your grounds while the peonies are in 

 bloom will rise up and call you blessed. 

 And then, again, it gives you more time 

 to study your pets, with the pocket edi- 

 tion of your records containing all the 

 necessary data and a legible label giving 

 the name in full standing out plainly 

 and well above the foliage. It is a great 

 pleasure to inspect a field of peonies un- 

 der such conditions. 



The Proven Ground. 



To one who has grown peonies and loves 

 them, how well do they regret the years 

 they do not see them give normal bloom 

 by reason of having to dig and divide 

 the plants to get the increase! To over- 

 come this, Mr. Welsh has a pcoven field 

 that is left undisturbed; this planting 

 contains as well the discarded varieties 

 as those that are accepted as worth grow- 

 ing; in other words, this proven plot is 

 a permanent planting of every variety, 

 planted high above frost to insure their 

 blooming each year and used as an ob- 

 ject lesson. What a pleasure they are! 



It is usual in writing about the peony 

 that the good kinds are lauded but noth- 

 ing said about the worthless sorts, of 

 which there are many. To my mind a 

 record of the poor varieties of peonies is 

 just as valuable as a record of the good 

 varieties, hence the proven plot contains, 

 * ' lest you forget, ' ' every variety pur- 

 chased, and reminds you to keep away 

 from certain kinds, while of others it 

 says, ' ' Get all you can. ' ' 



Then, again, the Perennial Gardens 

 have a permanent planting for cut flow- 

 ers well up on the side of a hill, with a 

 forest for background; this to be out of 

 the way of frost. I saw a block of Fes- 

 tiva Maxima, from which 8,000 blooms 

 had been cut one morning, and after 

 cutting the plants gave the appearance 

 of a bank of snow. Flowers were shipped 

 as far as Oklahoma and Canada with 

 good results. 



The florist who gets some of the best 

 varieties in the different colors will have 

 a useful cut flower coming in when he 

 needs flowers badly and in addition can 

 reimburse his exchequer by the sale of 

 roots, but by all means know what you 

 have. Do not be satisfied with the local 

 term "F. L. A. pink" (first, last and 

 all the time), for the grand variety, Liv- 

 ingstone; better call it "Old Liv." 



I am unqualifiedly in favor of a good 

 local name to sell either flowers or plants 

 by, but I should consider myself a back 

 number were I not familiar with the 

 proper name of a flower I was growing 

 when same could be determined. 



John M. Good. 



PEONY QUEEN VICTORIA. 



Queen Victoria and Whitleyi are re- 

 garded as synonymous names, but Queen 

 Victoria is the one now generally recog- 

 nized, although Whitleyi has a claim of 

 priority. It is specially interesting to 

 note that this variety was introduced ex- 

 actly 100 years ago. The name Queen 

 Victoria first appeared in 1830, which is 

 some little time before the horticultural 

 trades in America had attained their 

 present development. Who introduced 

 Queen Victoria, or if different varieties 

 were sent out by that name, is not settled. 

 The peony check-list published at Cornell, 

 where the American Peony Society has 

 its trials, states that Queen Victoria was 



Peony Queen Victoria. 



introduced by Kelway. C. W. Ward says 

 it was originated and distributed by Gue- 

 rin. The peony check-list says the French 

 sort, Reine Victoria, is quite different. 



However, the variety shown in the ac- 

 companying illustration is so generally 

 recognized as possibly the best cut flower 

 peony that it has become one of the most 

 widely grown in the United States and a 

 planter is practically sure of getting the 

 right thing wherever he orders Queen Vic- 

 toria or Whitleyi. The flower is not one 

 of the largest, but it has a well-filled 

 center, creamy white, with pure white 

 outside petals. Its popularity with flo- 

 rists lies in the fact that it is such an 

 excellent keeper and shipper. It is prob- 

 able that for the Chicago market, where 

 the cold storage of cut blooms of peonies 

 was first practiced and is now carried on 

 to a greater and more successful extent 

 than in any other market. Queen Vic- 

 toria comprises nearly half of the total 

 number of blooms stored. 



Queen Victoria is not only one of the 

 best sorts for florists for cutting, but is 

 so plentiful that prices are down to 

 where it is among the cheapest. 



PEONY MME. FUETADO. 



Mme. Furtado is one of the old sorts 

 that is, perhaps, not so well known as 

 it should be. It is a Guerin variety and 

 was, so far as records go, first described 

 in 1863, by the Bevue Horticole. It is 

 a strong grower and profuse bloomer, as 

 will be seen by the accompanying illus- 

 tration. The color is rosy purple, the 

 center rose-tipped purple. The period of 

 blooming is midseason and the flower is 

 fragrant. It is a sort not listed by 

 many dealers and only three of the test 

 collections at Cornell contain it. 



find hew inserted in the benches? Can 

 they be made at any time of the year 

 when runners are available? 



A. D. Z. 



This query probably refers to the run- 

 ners of nephrolopis, and the usual prac- 

 tice is to allow the runners to remain 

 on the parent plant until they have 

 formed some roots and also begin to 

 throw up fronds, after which the young 

 plants are cut away from the parent 

 iind potted into 2Vj-inch pots. 



The newly potted young plants should 

 he kept moist and also protected froiii 

 the sun until thry become established. 

 In order to get a good crop of runners, 

 the old plants should be planted out on 

 ;i bench, and in a light and airy house 

 w ill soon produce a good crop of sturdy 

 young plants. W. H. T. 



SOWING SMILAX SEED. 



Please let me know the best time and 

 way to sow smilax seed. L. V. 



The best time to sow smilax seed is 

 from Christmas to the end of March. ■ 

 Soak the seeds for about twenty-four 

 hours in lukewarm water, then sow . in 

 trays, cover the seeds one-quarter to one- 

 half inch with well enriched soil, water 

 thoroughly and set in a warm house near 

 the glass. Keep the boxes covered with 

 paper until the seedlings appear above 

 the ground. Albert F. Amling. 



FERNS FROM RUNNERS. 



I would like some reader to give the 

 method of rooting ferns from runners. 

 At what stage of growth should they be 



KENTIAS FROM SEED. 



Please let me know how to start Ken- 

 tia Belmoreana from seed. State the 

 kind of soil, treatment, etc. 



H. H. P. 



When growing kentias from seed in 

 quantity, they are usually sown in a 

 .shallow bench in a warm house, using 



