Septeubbb 10, 1914. 



The Florists' Review 



17 



are splendid in floral designs. A. Queen 

 Charlotte, with semi-double flowers, rich 

 pink, four inches in diameter, is a love- 

 ly variety. A. Kriemhilde, semi-double, 

 with narrow rose-pink petals, is also a 

 desirable variety. Japanese anemones 

 are among the few perennials which are 

 liable to die out if fall planted. They 

 are easily propagated by cutting the 

 thicker roots in short pieces and plant- 

 ing these closely in a propagating bed, 

 potting them off singly when they are 

 making leaves and roots and gradually 

 hardening them off. 



Hardy Sunflowers. 



The hardy sunflowers, helianthus, are 

 among the more prominent of the ro- 

 bust perennials now flowering. H. mul- 

 tiflorus plenus is useful for cutting. It 

 is somewhat tender in some locations, 

 and, unless in a warm, well drained 

 location, it is safer to lift and store 

 the roots in a cellar before the ground 

 freezes up. H. orgyalis, the willow- 

 leaved hardy sunflower, grows seven to 

 nine feet high. It is seen at its beat 

 when grown to single stems, which are 

 then covered with flowers almost their 

 entire length. H. rigidus Miss Mellish 

 is still the finest deep yellow single va- 

 riety, and H. mollis the best of the 

 pale lemon sorts. H. Maximiliani will 

 not be in bloom for some time yet; it 

 is usually at its best during October. 



Tritomas and Goldenrods. 



The tritomas, or kniphofias, common- 

 ly called red-hot pokers, are now mak- 

 ing a grand show of their stately 

 spikes. These are fine for the decora- 

 tion of florists' windows at this season. 

 T. Pfitzeri, orange scarlet, three to five 

 feet high, is the best of the whole fam- 

 ily, although T. uvaria grandiflora is by- 

 no means a -back number. The tritomas 

 are not hardy in northern sections un- 

 less it be in sandy, well drained land. 

 They do better if lifted and stored in 

 sand over winter in a cold pit or cellar. 



The value of the solidago, or golden- 

 rod, is not half so much appreciated 

 here as in Europe for use in the herba- 

 ceous garden. Nothing is of easier cul- 

 ture, makes a better show while in 

 flower or is more useful for cutting. 

 One or two really fine border sorts are 

 S. vivipara, immense heads; S. Golden 

 Wings, five feet, fine, and for a dwarfer 

 variety S. Virgaurea nana, only fifteen 

 inches in height, deep yellow. 



INSIST ON THE PLANT EATE. 



Will you kindly inform me through 

 the columns of The Review as to 

 whether the twenty per cent discount 

 from regular express rates on potted 

 plants out of pots still is allowed by 

 the express companies? I have been 

 informed that since last February this 

 discount has been withdrawn and that 

 rrom that time potted plants are 

 charged for at regular merchandise 

 rates. If this is true it looks as though 

 we are obliged to pay higher rates now 

 inan before on this commodity. 



W. B. S. 



When the companies put into effect 

 jne new express rates as prescribed by 

 I A ^°*"state Commerce Commission it 

 ended the "general specials," as they 



In ? ^^^^^^ ^^^^^ *^® °^^ classification, 

 nstead, the new classification provides 

 ;?r various classes, first, second and 

 loi A , ^® ^""^^ ^'»88 "n*ier the present 

 «f fk ^'icludes the merchandise class 

 "I the old schedule. The second class 



George Burton. 



includes the articles that were known 

 as general specials in the old classifica- 

 tion. The rate on second class com- 

 modities is seventy-five per cent of the 

 rate on first-class commodities. 



Not in many years has there been 

 such a plant rate as twenty per cent 

 discount from the merchandise rate. It 

 is true that when plants first were 

 given a special rate the discount was 

 twenty per cent, but many years ago 

 this was changed, . the general special 

 rate, which included plants, being 

 thereafter an arbitrary figure and not a 

 percentage of some other rate. For 

 many years the plant rate was any- 

 where from eighteen to thirty-five per 

 cent less than the merchandise rate, 

 but since February 1 it has been an 

 exact twenty-five per cent reduction 

 over what articles of the first class, 

 cut flowers for instance, would pay for 

 the same haul. 



Florists everywhere should insist that 

 plants properly packed be carried as 

 second class. The official classiflcation 

 says: "Plants, growing, not in pots 

 or tubs, placed in boxes, the sides and 

 ends of which are as high or higher 

 than the plants, and slats nailed over 

 the top, completely protecting the 

 plants," are second class. "Plants 

 growing, in pots or tubs, plant and re- 

 ceptacle crated," are first class. 

 "Plants, growing, in pots or tubs, not 

 crated," are two times first class. The 

 classification requires that plants be 

 refused when in pots or other recepta- 

 cles completely boxed. 



there is a canna that comes nearer be- 

 ing a pink? It grows two and one-half 

 to three feet high and blooms about 

 three weeks before any other varieties 

 I have. The plant is always full of blos- 

 soms. It was a scarlet last year, but 

 this year the blooms all came pink and, 

 if it will not go back, I think I have a 

 good canna. T. N. 



The flowers were pretty well faded on 

 receipt. The odor is good and the plant 

 should be retained and propagated 

 from. If it does not revert, it will be 

 an acquisition. There are several good 

 cannas of pink shades on the market. 

 Some of these are C. rosea gigantea, 

 Venus, Chamois, Mrs. A. F. Conard and 

 Salmon Queen. C. W. 



A PINK CANNA. 



I have sent you, under separate cover, 

 a canna bloom. Can you tell me if 



A PROGRESSIVE PHILADELPHIAN. 



To disprove the popular idea of 

 Philadelphia's somnolency, among the 

 first who might be advanced from the 

 florists' trade is the coming president 

 of the Philadelphia Florists' Club, 

 George Burton. If he felt the want 

 of a middle name, "Progressive" 

 would fill the bill to the dot. He is 

 always on the move, and each year 

 finds him ahead of the year before. 

 For instance, last year he was elected 

 vice-president of the Philadelphia club; 

 this year he is the sole nominee for the 

 office of president, equivalent to elec- 

 tion. In business he follows the same 

 lines, and the Beauties from his ranges 

 at Chestnut Hill are always in the front 

 of the procession. A little over a year 

 ago he took over the range of his fa- 

 ther, John Burton, but the assumption 

 of greater responsibility did not at all 

 slacken his forward tendency. 



