n-;' T^'J^y 



May 18, 1911. 



The Weekly Florists* Review. 



«7 



Eichardson 's seedlings do not recover 

 after division for three or four years. 

 A few of these can be counted on, 

 such as Harry Woodward — or grandi- 

 flora, as I think it was originally 

 named — Kubra superba and Milton Hill, 

 The others seem to be weak. 



All my English imperial peonies 

 went to pieces after division, and many 

 of the English varieties of the regular 

 peonies. 



There are many positions in which 

 peonies can be planted to be efifective. 

 Their blooms are large and their colors 

 carry well long distances. In hedges, 

 I would use solid colors. For borders 

 and beds, use mixed colors. Borders 

 and beds are best used where one wants 

 to cut flowers for the indoor rooms. 

 The sun fades the flowers out quickly. 

 The most chaste and delicate colors 

 will change in a forenoon in the sun. 

 To get these fresh and delicate colors 

 for your vases indoors, I advise cutting 

 when the buds are only half open and 

 putting them down-cellar; then, when 

 they are brought up, they will quickly 

 open, retaining all their beautiful col- 

 ors and fragrance. 



Growing Them From Seed. 



To grow peonies from seed is inter- 

 esting. Gather the seed as the pods 

 open in August and September, and 

 sow at once. I sow in drills about as 

 you would peas. Some come up the 

 first year, some in two years, and 

 some not until three years after 

 planting. 



After they have grown a year in 

 these rows, I transplant them, giving 

 them room enough so I can leave them 

 in one place until they bloom, so as to 

 see which ones to try out. These are 

 taken out and put into the trial 

 grounds, where they will not have to 

 be moved for three or four years. No 

 one can tell what a peony will amount 

 to until it has been set about three 

 years and -has become established. 



Seedlings will not give characteristic 

 flowers in less than two or three years. 

 They are like divisions of old roots. 

 I have had divisions produce single 

 blooms the first year, and after two or 

 three years the full doubles came. Some 

 think they "wabble," but it is not 

 80. I never knew the color to change. 

 The form alters; that is all. Do not 

 name a seedling until you have flow- 

 ered it three or four years in a perma- 

 nent place. You can not grow peonies 

 from seed with any satisfactory success 

 unless you possess lots of patience. 

 Some Kellable Varieties. 



Now a word to the florists. There 

 are about a half-dozen white or nearly 

 white vari«ties on which you can 

 count for money-making blooms. They 

 will not disappoint you when any one 

 has blooms. They will always be 

 choice and bring the top figures. These 

 are Festiva maxima, Mme. de Verne- 

 ville, Baroness Schroeder, Marie Le- 

 moine, Eugenie Verdier often sold as 

 Pottsi alba, and Harry Woodward. Two 

 of these are early, one is midseason, 

 two are medium late, and one is the 

 latest bloomer of all. 



There are lots of pinks and flesh 

 colors. The first pinks for me came 

 from Umbellata rosea— or Sarah Bern- 

 hardt, as it was first called— Edith 

 Lyttleton and Polyphemus. These were 

 all two days or more ahead of Edulis 

 superba. In fact, they were the first 

 blooms for weddings or receptions that 

 I had. The list of pinks is a long one. 



Lilium Hariisii at Colambia Farm, Smith's Island, Bermuda. 



(From a photograph made April 8, 1911, by Arthur T. BoddlnRton.) 



with all shades from those that start 

 with a blush to the deeper ones. 



In reds or crimsons there are only a 

 few. 



Disbudding and Cutting. 



To grow large blooms, you must dis- 

 bud. The blooms wanted to sell by 

 the dozen can all be disbudded. The 

 blooms wanted for decorative purposes, 

 where the varieties bloom in clusters, 

 should be left with all the buds on. 

 There are a number of varieties that 



Tbe Editor is pleased 

 \«rlien a Reader 

 presents liis ideas 

 on any subject treated in 



As experience is the best 

 teacher, so do we 

 learn fastest by an 

 excbangre of experiences. 

 Many valiiable points 

 are brouKbt out 

 by discussion. 



Good penmanship, spelling and 

 grammar, though desirable, are not 

 necessary. Write as you would talk 

 when doing your best. 



WK 8HAIX BK Q1.AD 

 TO HKAR FROM TOU 



open both the terminal bud and the 

 laterals at the same time; these make 

 a large show, giving a stalk with three 

 or four blooms. 



In cutting peonies it is best not to 

 cut more than one-half of the foliage 

 away. If a clump has twenty stalks, 

 I would not cut more than ten stalks. 

 Leave at least one leaf-stem on each 

 stalk; it is really better to leave two 

 when you can. Some have ruined their 



roots by cutting all the stalks and also 

 cutting closely. That is the way to 

 kill anything — cutting it down when 

 in full leaf. It is more profitable to 

 keep your roots vigorous and growing 

 than to sell everything out one year 

 and ruin your roots. If your customers 

 insist on long stems or nothing, then 

 sell them the clumps, charging what 

 they are worth added to the cost of 

 the flowers. 



I have not told you anything of the 

 new and superb varieties that are to 

 be had in peonies. Each year brings 

 out new ones. Some of them are, with- 

 out doubt, acquisitions to the existing 

 varieties. Their story is one by itself, 

 which I "will leave for another day. 



Treatment of Old Clumps. 



After your clumps become old and 

 the blooms are smaller, it is best to 

 feed them liberally each spring by 

 digging in bone meal about the roots. 

 A good potato fertilizer, which runs 

 4 — 6 — 10, is also good. If they then do 

 not grow good blooms, divide them 

 and set in new ground. This is advis- 

 able, anyway, once in eight or ten 

 years. 



You will all find that in growing 

 anything well, it will take your best 

 care and thought. It is not easy, and 

 you must not think of it except in this 

 light, that to do anything that is a 

 credit to you takes great pains. 



About all I have said to you has 

 been gained from practice, not from 

 observation. I tell it to you to help 

 you, to spur you on to do your best 

 with these noble flowers. To grow fine' 

 flowers is grand work, but to tell others 

 how to do it is grander and not nearly 

 so hard. 



BOSHS FOB THE COBONATION. 



Thomas Eochford & Sons, the large 

 British growers, are going strong on 

 rambler roses for the coronation. 

 Months ago they made their prepara- 

 tions to train plants as crowns, fans, 

 and even guns on wheels, and numerous 

 other designs, with Dorothy Perkins, 

 Hiawatha, etc., also hugh pyramids, 

 and quite a novelty for the coronation 

 decorations, Mrs. Flight, American Pil- 

 lar, etc., grown in baskets for suspend- 

 ing from balconies and other positions. 



