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December 16, 1909. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review^ 



39 



POLYGONUM BALDSCHUANICUM. 



Polygonum is from the Greek, polys, 

 iiiuny, and gonu, a knee joint, or many- 

 i,,inted, and the common name is joint- 

 \v ed or knotweed. Indeed, many poly- 

 i; nums, and there are 150 to 200 species, 

 ;i c weedy plants and of little value if 

 i,..( like the smartweed, which is a poly- 

 i; iium, a veritable pest. But among the 

 s all proportion of species that are of 

 II rit for cultivation it is of interest to 

 ,) te one is of special excellence and de- 

 p ving of far greater attention than it 

 1. s received. This is Polygonum Bald- 

 s. uanicum. 



Though first described by Eegel in 

 1 54 and grown to a considerable extent 

 ii, Europe, Polygonum Baldschuanicum 

 i atill comparatively rare. It was first 

 o;;ered by Henry A. Dreer in 1900 and 

 ai Kiverton it is considered one of the 

 nsist interesting and showy of hardy 

 cj inbers. Attention is directed to it 

 airesh by the return from Europe of 

 (j.'orge C. Perkind, of Jackson & Perkins 

 Co., Newark, New York, bringing the 

 photograph reproduced herewith, taken 

 in August in the nursery of Charles 

 Dctriche, at Angers, France. In speaking 

 of the things of interest encountered on 

 hia trip, Mr. Perkins said : "I especially 

 admired Polygonum Baldschuanicum, a 

 climbing plant with bronzy white flowers, 

 product in great abundance all through 

 the late spring and the entire summer. 

 When I was across last year, I saw it in 

 full bloom in May, and this year, during 

 the latter part of August, it was a mass 

 of flowers. I am told that it is hardy, 

 it plainly is of strong, vigorous growth, 

 and it seemingly would make a valuable 

 addition to our climbing flowering 

 plants. ' ' 



Polygonum Baldschuanicum is a na- 

 tive of Bokhara and, while it is listed in 

 few of the catalogues published in the 

 United States, it is described in many of 

 the books issued for the American trade 

 by European plantsmen. It is a tall per- 

 ennial climber, going sometimes twenty 

 feet hi^h. It becomes woody at the base. 

 The leaves are cordate-oval or hastate, 

 acuminate, slender-petioled. The flowers 

 are small but extremely numerous, in ter- 

 minal panicles, erect or drooping, by 

 some described as white, bronzy white, or 

 by others as rose-colored. It is said to 

 be not only hardy but vigorous in growth 

 and strikingly decorative. 



It will be of interest if those who have 

 grown it in this country will tell what 

 their experience has been, for it seems 

 remarkable that with so many people on 

 the lookout for new plants of merit this 

 should remain so comparatively little 

 known. 



MILWAUKEE. 



TheMai^et 



I'he inclement weather during the last 

 w»"k, no doubt, was the cause for the 

 >n activity of the flower business in this 

 lo'iiiity. Por a whole week, since De- 

 ce' iber 5, the mercury was down around 

 th ■ zero mark, even dropping to seven be- 

 loy, Tuesday night, December 7, thus 

 ci ting receipts considerably. But its 

 ^' lack of sunshine, for it has been 

 cl idy for two weeks straight, that is 

 ^' !ig more regretted than anything else, 

 bf ause in many cases, it will retard a 

 g' d many buds, which, with favorable 

 j^ ther, could be had for the holiday 

 "^ ^e. Stock, which of late showed the 

 ^^ '^cts of the moderate weather, is brae- 



■+- 



Polysonum Baldschuanicum. 



ing up nicely since the cold weather set 

 in. 



At every turn now the topic of dis- 

 cussion is the Christmas trade. From 

 present indications it looks as though 

 everybody will get his share. There are 

 more flowering plants than in former 

 years, which may come in handy should 

 the supply of cut flowers be inadequate. 

 The holly, which has arrived thus far, is 

 of good quality. 



Vaxfout Notes. 



Koy Currie, speaking for Currie Bros. 

 Co., says that the demand for holly 

 wreaths is good, considering the early 

 date; also, that they have an exception- 

 ally fine lot of azaleas among their stock 

 of pot plants, which consists of a larglB 

 variety. 



William Zimmermann is authority for 

 the statement that, mainly, violets and 

 sweet peas were used in corsage bouquets, 

 worn at the recent charity ball. In 

 speaking of funeral work, he said that 

 there was none to speak of during the 

 last week. 



The C. C. PoUworth Co., which also 

 grows a variety of pot stock besides 

 roses and carnations for the wholesale 

 trade, says that the sale of poinsettias 

 and Begonia Gloire de Lorraine has been 

 brisk. Their salesrooms are well filled 

 with florists' supplies. 



The Holton & Hunkel Co. is kept busy 

 these days booking advance orders, which 

 are running way ahead of expectations, 

 especially in carnations. Says Fred Hol- 

 ton, "If we can only get the stock, then 



we'll be happy." They have a house 

 27x150 filled with poinsettias, mostly in 

 pans, at their Humboldt avenue place, 

 which is a grand sight at this -time and 

 of which they can justly feel proud. 



The Edlefsen, Leidger Co., which al- 

 ways does a big plant trade for the holi- 

 days, again has its usual supply of stock 

 in better shape than in former seasons. 



Chas. Schnell, of the L. S. Donaldson 

 Co., Minneapolis, Minn., was with us the 

 fore part of the week, looking for Christ- 

 mas stock, not only at the wholesale 

 houses, but also visiting some of the 

 growers. He expressed himself as well 

 satisfied with aU he saw. 



Mrs. B. E. Miller, of the Racine Floral 

 Co., Bacine, Wis., and J. Bourgaise, 

 Eacine, Wis., came up to do some of 

 their Christmas buying and ordering. 



It has just leaked out that an unsuc- 

 cessful attempt was recently made to 

 burglarize the oflSce of the Holton & Hun- 

 kel Co. The party or parties gained en- 

 trance through a window at the rear of 

 the store. A mess of working clothes, 

 belonging to the store help, was found 

 in front of the safe and a lock at one 

 of the desks had been tampered with. 

 They undoubtedly were disturbed at their 

 work, for they left, failing to take some 

 money which had unintentionally been 

 left on the desk. Although there was no 

 loss, it serves as a warning to all to take 

 extra precautions, especially during a 

 holiday rush, as two other burglaries 

 were committed in the immediate vicin- 

 ity on that same night. -,E. O. 



