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Mabch 10, 1910. 



The WecHy Florists' Reviem 



15 



The Rich Northern G)Iors. 



This marvelous color pbeDomenon, 

 manifested with equal distinctness in the 

 flowers of all our summer annuals, is 

 variously attributed to the moderate 

 average summer temperature, the cool 

 nights, and, along the seacoast line, the 

 beneficent influence of the sea atmos- 

 phere. In the interest of all future 

 progress, I cannot emphasize too strongly 

 that a liberal amount of care in the 

 preparation and fertilization of the soil, 

 timely irrigation, weeding and cultivating 

 are not less important, whenever first- 

 class results are desired. 



Some years ago I read an article on 

 new amaryllis hybrids and their magnifi- 

 cent outdoor effect in Florida gardens. I 

 can easily imagine that a mass of them in 

 full bloom must be a floral revelation to 

 the eye; still, I cannot believe that they 

 ever can vie with the splendor of hue, say, 

 for instance, of a well assorted bed of 

 Japanese iris. It is not necessary to go 

 into any further details on color ques- 

 tions, for Bar Harbor, for years past, has 

 witnessed veritable floral color carnivals 

 in peonies, phloxes, irises, and, in fact, in 

 all hardy flowering plants, both perennial 

 and annual. This remarkable clarity in 

 tints and shades has hereabout elevated 

 many varieties to the rank of salable cut 

 flowers, which ordinarily, as such, find no 

 market at all. 



I fear this brief recapitulation of 

 facts, to those of you who have been for 

 years familiar with them, may seem a 

 mere waste of time. Still, just this 

 familiarity is apt to make us near- 

 sighted, and, by giving up our thoughts 

 entirely to cultural and other particulars, 

 we lose the right viewpoint of the mat- 

 ter as a whole. We may, as professional 

 floriculturists, comprehend and take care- 

 ful advantage of our opportunities as 

 growers, but we should not at present, 

 under any circumstances, misunderstand 

 the hitherto mainly evolutionary character 

 of the situation. Northern outdoor flori- 

 culture, in spite of its great productive- 

 ness, would ha^^e no future without a mis- 

 sion, 



A Business Point of View. 



Last fall one of my customers, when 

 leaving orders for spring planting, sum- 

 med up by saying : ' ' Now, please be sure 

 to see that my little garden and my 

 piazza boxes are again well attended to, 

 for, you know, they help to rent my 

 cottage" — a brief, clear-sighted state- 

 ment, touching the matter from a sober, 

 businesslike point of view. It pays a 

 city, by the agency of floriculture, to 

 beautify its squares and boulevards, for 

 it helps to bring up the value of adjacent 

 property and in turn increases the tax 

 receipts. It pays house owners along 

 residential city and suburban streets and 

 ivenues to call on the floriculturist and 

 brighten up the summer aspect of their 

 small front lawns, for concerted efforts 

 in that direction will aid in giving the 

 locality that air of refinement which at- 

 tracts cultured people of means. It is a 

 wise policy for the intelligent native 

 population of northern seacoast districts 

 to study and to avail themselves of orna- 

 mental shrubs, perennial and annual 

 flowers, because the summer resort calls 

 especially for neatness and beauty of 

 home grounds. 



There is, however, another mission of 

 northern floriculture, which, it seems to 

 me, is of a higher order than the one 

 just mentioned. That host of flower 

 lovers, who, as a health-preserving out- 

 door exercise, take delight in doing things 



J. 



A-'- ' 



Richard Rothe. 



themselves, can find no better opportunity 

 than the invigorating summer climate of 

 the north offers. To our cottage in- 

 habitants there seems hardly a more en- 

 joyable pastime than that of outdoor 

 floriculture. After the large city mar- 

 kets have regaled them during the win- 

 ter with the floral output of acres under 

 glass, they find in their summer homes, 

 amid the pines and spruces of Maine, 

 conditions altogether reversed. Here the 

 northern-grown perennial and annual are 

 supreme, and Iceland poppies, foxgloves 

 and Canterbury bells have their innings. 

 The change is as radical as it proves 

 agreeable, and amateur flower growing 

 has become a strong feature of northern 

 summer-resort life. 



Educating: the Public. 



As gratifying, however, as the ready 

 popular response is, and as much as the 

 present activity along this line may en- 

 courage us, we should not overlook our 

 next task, which is, as much as possible, 

 to educate our patrons on the ways and 

 modes to use our plants with the best ef- 

 fect. Since Bar Harbor from the start 

 has taken a leading part in the develop- 

 ment of outdoor floriculture, and its 

 floral garden effects are known to repre- 

 sent the best artistic examples, it is nat- 

 ural that the north will, more and more, 

 look to this locality and this society for 

 competent council. 



In my opinion, the time is at band to 

 give this problem more careful thought 

 than we have done so far. As a north- 

 eastern outpost, situated far away from *< , 

 most of the nation's business centers, it 

 is not likely that' we shall see great ex- 

 ploits in elaborate landscape architecture 

 in the near future. Summer residences 

 on Mount Desert, the opposite mainland 

 shore-lines and adjacent islands,. as dwell- 

 ings, are all of a more or less temporary 



character. The native vegetation and 

 sceneries themselves are extremely at- 

 tractive and beautiful. These conditions 

 naturally limit extension and outlay on 

 private grounds. The future will see a 

 steady increase of all sorts of flower 

 growing, and attempts at gardening on a 

 small scale, with the local professional 

 in demand for intelligent advice. The ex- 

 cellence of the home-grown hardy plant 

 material alone should prompt us to di- 

 rect the present private activity, by de- 

 grees, into those channels which lead to a 

 higher standard of effect in outdoor ar- 

 rangements. 



We are also face to face with the neces- 

 sity of giving careful study to color har- 

 mony. Furthermore, the infinite varia- 

 tion of ground surface and the ever- 

 changing character of our native vegeta- 

 tion will demand thorough familiarity 

 with the material, and especially with the 

 habit of growth and with singular as 

 well as mass effects of hardy perennials. 



Ktigged New England Landscapes. 



During my whole thirty years' prac- 

 tical career, I have not found a single 

 locality offering by nature so many rare 

 and unique propositions . for high-class 

 miniature work in landscaping as does 

 the north, and above all. Mount Desert 

 Island — problems which would inflame in- 

 genuity to enthusiasm and put mediocrity 

 at once out of commission. To the 

 trained eye a mere glance at some of our 

 rugged granite ledges and their pictur- 

 esque, wild vegetation, discloses ideal 

 natural conditions for the rock garden, 

 and yet, the flower-loving lady is apt to 

 turn a deaf ear to all our suggestions and 

 decide on heliotropes and poppies, or a 

 nasturtium bed may be the final out- 

 come. Occasional disappointments on ac- 

 fount of lack of understanding should, 

 liowever, not in the least discourage us in 



