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10 



The Weekly Florists' Review* 



Jdm 27, 1911. 



BUBBANKITIS. 



The horticultural world is threatened 

 with another epidemic of Burbankitis, 

 the "wizard" of Santa Rosa having 

 published a pamphlet charging that ex- 

 perts in the United States Department 

 of Agriculture, "through ignorance or 

 worse," are sending out tons of "just 

 as good as Burbank" spineless cactus, 

 which in reality is ' ' ancient trash, 

 such as the builders of the pyramids in 

 Egypt might have cultivated." Bur- 

 bank fires a whole broadside of sarcasm 

 and scorn at the government experts 

 and speaks of his own achievemeats as 

 * * the most valuable improvements in 

 vegetable life during the centuries, 

 fully equal in importance to the dis- 

 covery of a new continent. ' ' Experts 

 in the government service at Washing- 

 ton are called "low-browed, narrow- 

 gauged, and pinheaded employees, who 

 have to keep shouting to hold their 

 places, and who are largely responsible 

 for the trash free seed and the trash 

 so-called spineless cactus distribution." 



Now, everybody shoot back, and let 

 the battle go to the one whose vocab- 

 ulary contains the greatest reserve of 

 the adjectives of vituperatioH. 



HYDRANGEA ARBOBESCENS. 



How well Hydrangea arborescens alba 

 grandiflora succeeds in Canada is shown 

 by the accompanying illustration, sent 

 from Windsor by Stephen Lusted, who 

 writes: "This clump of native hy- 

 drangeas, planted three years ago, has 

 attracted some attention here because 

 of the abundance and purity of the 

 blooms or trusses, and I have thought 

 that possibly you might deem the pic- 

 ture worthy of reproduction in The 

 Review as an illustration of what may 

 be accomplished with this shrub with 

 unskillful treatment. Because of rose 

 bushes standing in the way, the camera 

 could not be placed so as to secure the 

 best show of bloom, br the picture would 

 have been better." 



NOTES ON HARDY PERENNIALS. 



Hemerocallls or Day Lilies. 



The hemerocallis or day lilies at pres- 

 ent fill an important place in the herba- 

 ceous garden. The common H. fulva, 

 were it more difficult of culture, would 

 be more appreciated. The flowers are 

 tawny yellow in color, with darker shad- 

 ings which deepen toward the center. 

 The spikes attain a height of four to 

 five feet and the flowers are produced 

 all through the month of July. This 

 hemerocallis makes a fine subject for 

 the wild garden and will even thrive on 

 dry, gravelly banks. In Massachusetts 

 it is commonly seen along roadsides and 

 in fields, where it has escaped from cul- 

 tivation. There is a double form, H. 

 fulva fl. pi., but the single is the best. 



H. Thunbergii was at its best in the 

 middle of July, but will persist for some 

 weeks longer. It grows four feet or 

 more in height and its spikes of lemon- 

 yellow flowers are splendid for cutting. 

 This is probably the best yellow per- 

 ennial we have in the month of July. 

 H. aurantiaca and H. aurantiaca major 

 carry large flowers of a neutral orange 

 color. The last named is a weaker 

 grower than the former and is not 

 hardy, requiring the protection of a 

 coldframe over winter in New England. 

 The flowers of aurantiaca major are, 

 when well grown, six inches across and 



the rich Indian yellow color is a taking 

 one. 



One good hybrid that is still flowering 

 at the date of writing this, July 20, is 

 H. riorham. It is a strong grower, 

 with golden yellow flowers and orange- 

 coldred markings. One good feature 

 about the hemerocallis as border plants 

 is the fact that they hold their foliage 

 green until the end of the season, and 

 do not cause unsightly gaps by dying 

 down. 



C. Betscher, of Canal Dover, O., has 

 been hybridizing these hemerocallis for 

 some years, using such varieties as 

 flava, Dumortierii, Apricot, aureola, 

 luteola, aurantiaca, aurantiaca major, 

 Florham, fulva and Thunbergii in his 

 work. He has evolved a wonderful 

 lot of new things, some carrying flow- 

 ers seven to eight inches across and 

 flowering from the middle of May on- 

 ward, in colors varying from pale whit- 

 ish lemon to rich golden orange. Hem- 

 erocallis can be grown by everyone 

 and will not die out as do lilies. There 

 is a wonderful future for them in Amer- 

 ican gardens, as they withstand heat 

 and drought better, probably, than any 

 other perennials. 



Butterfly Weed and Plume Poppy. 



Ascl^ias tuberosa is now in flower. 

 Its umbels of bright orange flowers are 

 produced in profusion during July and 

 August, and it is oiie of our most satis- 

 factory native perennials. It is easily 

 propagated from seed. 



Bocconia cordata, the plume poppy, 

 is one of the most robust of perennials, 

 suitable for dotting along the backs of 

 herbaceous borders or scattering through 

 shrubberies, also looking well in bold 

 clumps on the lawn. It spreads rap- 

 idly, like the helianthus family, and 

 must be kept in place. The plant, un- 

 der good culture, grows eight to ten 

 feet high and the flowers are produced 

 in large panicles, which are creamy 

 white in color. 



The Chilean Lily. 



Alstroemeria auranti&ca, commonly 

 known as the Chilean lily, is one of the 

 flnest midsummer flowers for cutting. 

 The flowers are golden yellow to orange 

 in color, spotted crimson, and grow two 

 to three feet in height. This plant suc^ 

 ceeds best on a gentle slope, in light, 

 well-drained ground. On low lands, 

 where water stands, it will winter-kill. 



It is readily propagated by division of 

 the root in spring, or from seed, which 

 should be sown as soon as ripe. 



Everlasting Peas. 



The everlasting peas are fine sub- 

 jects for covering fences, arbors or trel- 

 lises and are now, in the third week of 

 July, blooming freely, Lathyrus lati- 

 folius, the type, is well known. Its 

 flowers are rosy carmine. Pink Beauty 

 is rich rose and latifolius albus is pure 

 white. What a splendid subject the 

 latter is for the florist 1 As the spikes 

 carry five to eight flowers each, occa- 

 sionally more, and have greater sub- 

 stance than sweet peas, they would seem 

 to have commercial possibilities. Some 

 day we may get a race with scented 

 flowers and in that case every grower 

 will want a hedge of them, as they 

 bloom freely for a couple of months. 



Lobelias. 



Lobelia cardinalis, the cardinal flower, 

 is always associated with moist • and 

 swampy locations and certainly it is a 

 beautiful object on the borders of 

 streams and ponds, but it is not gen- 

 erally known how well it does in the 

 ordinary herbaceous garden. The flow- 

 ers this season were opening July 12, 

 which is a little earlier than usual, and 

 clumps of them make a brilliant touch 

 of color in the garden. No plant is 

 more easily propagated from Seed. If 

 collected and sown at once, it will ger- 

 minate as thickly as mustard and cress. 

 The seed, however, loses its germinating 

 properties after a feW months. L. 

 syphilitica is another useful native 

 plant, attaining a height of thirty to 

 thirty-six inches, which is just about 

 to produce its spikes of blue flowers. 

 It is an excellent border subject. 



Fentstemons. 

 The various perennial pentstemons 

 can hardly be left out of any represent- 

 ative herbaceous collection. P. bar- 

 batus Torreyi flowers for a long time; 

 its graceful spikes of rich scarlet flow- 

 ers attain a height of four feet. P. 

 coTuleus is another July flowering form, 

 dwarfer growing than Torreyi and dark 

 blue in color. P. diffusus, violet blue, is 

 just passing, but P. Isevigatus is still to 

 flower. Of course, the bedding variety, 

 P. gloxinioides, is the grandest of th4 

 whole family, but is not winter 

 hardy in any but the warmest states. 

 This is one of the greatest bed- 



Hydraoeea Arborescens Alba Grandiflora. 



