

16 



The Weekly Florists' Review^ 



September 7, 1911. 



THE DAHLIA FABM. 



J. Murray Bassott and James Weller, 

 trading as Bassett & Weller, have 

 twelve acres of dahlias at Hammonton, 

 N, J. Their grounds are divided into 

 three farms, one at the residence of 

 each partner and a larger one midway 

 between. Their acreage shows an in- 

 crease over that of last season, when 

 J. Murray Bassett carried on the busi- 

 ness alone. This increase is based on 

 sound business, for not only is the 

 demand for dalilias growing, but the 

 firm has contracts outstanding that 

 make additional space under cultiva- 

 tion a necessity. These contracts are 

 for a specified number of roots of cer- 

 tain varieties, to be delivered in the 

 fall or spring, as the case may be. To 

 encourage this demand, the members 

 of the firm are taking extraordinary 

 ])recautions to avoid mi.xture. They 

 were much impressed by discovering 

 not less than seven varieties in a small 

 order for one variety of dahlia sent 

 out by a first-class house. To avoid 

 the possibility of such an error, a care- 

 ful system of detection and destruc- 

 tion of rogues has been put into opera- 

 tion and systematically pursued. The 

 result is most encouraging. Mr. Bas- 

 sett spoke with pride of the stock 

 being true to name, as he pointed to 

 the well grown fields that have been 

 safely carried through three successive 

 droughts into a condition of sturdy 

 growth conibined with unusual pro- 

 ductiveness. 



A discussion of varieties brought out 



in comparison with Lyndhurst, showing 

 points of improvement entitling them 

 to thorough trial. The striking fea- 

 ture of the pink class in commercial 

 dahlias is the improvement of Delice, 

 now considered as even better than the 

 great Kriemhilde, 



Two striking varieties are coming to 

 the front among the whites: Perle de 

 Lyon is a beautiful decorative variety, 

 possessing so many of the desired-qual- 

 ities that it is more highly prized than 

 the older Perle d'Or; Corona, some- 

 times styled the carnation dahlia, 

 sometimes the gardenia dahlia, is a 

 wonderfully productive variety, with 

 pure white flowers, highly prized for 

 every-day design work. 



Yellow Duke looked well in the fields; 

 it is seemingly more popular than the 

 older Mrs. (J. W. Bruton. The single 

 varieties in all colors — Century type, 

 of course — are extensively cultivated. 

 The plants were exceedingly vigorous 

 and full of bloom. This question of 

 bloom brought out an interesting point. 

 Storm King is so persistent a bloomer 

 that in order to get fine roots the 

 flower stems were all taken oflf — Storm 

 King being a variety that will bloom 

 itself to death, as the growers express 

 it; that is, it will bloom to the detri- 

 ment of the roots. 



The cooling room contained some fine 

 stock. In addition to the varieties 

 mentioned, were Arabella, Sylvia, 

 Lyndhurst and some others, too well 

 known to need description. 



Bassett & Weller have the prettiest 



Dahlia Perle de Lyon. 



Mr. Bassett 's fondness for Jack Eose, 

 justified by some superb flowers that 

 improve wonderfully in size and color- 

 ing under certain favoring weather 

 conditions. Two other scarlet dahlias 

 are worthy of mention in the crimson- 

 red class; one is a cactus variety from 

 the west, the other a decorative seed- 

 ling of their own; both are interesting 



greenhouse in Hammonton. It has just 

 been completed and was built by them- 

 selves, of King construction. It is 

 28x60, semi-iron, with concrete walls, 

 and 0^ best practical design, including 

 16x24 glass in sides and roof. It is 

 designed for the general market, but 

 may be used to further their dahlia 

 industry in the spring. Phil. 



HASDY PEB^lfNIALS. 



Attractive in Early September, 



In early September the herbaceous 

 borders are once more quite attractive. 

 The comparative dearth of good flowers 

 during part of July and early August 

 is now well made up, and while the 

 showing may not prove so interest- 

 ing as in June, there are many good 

 things now in bloom. The perennial 

 phloxes still make a gorgeous showing. 

 Late rains have wonderfully helped, 

 and where care was taken to cut the 

 heads off the early flowering varieties, 

 these are now giving a nice second 

 crop. Phloxes are, perhaps, the most 

 generally useful of all herbaceous 

 plants. There are now so many fine 

 varieties purchasable at low rates that 

 there is no excuse for clinging to the 

 old sour colored sorts, still too much 

 in evidence. 



Delphiniums and Aconitums. 



Delphiniums are sending up a nice 

 second crop of spikes and will flower 

 for some time yet. The aconitums are 

 still good. Those are superb peren- 

 nials, not half c';iough appreciated. I 

 have never seen them so well grown as 

 at Bar Harbor, Me., where they are a 

 feature in almost every garden, six to 

 eight feet in height. A. Napellus, dark 

 blue, is still one of the best. There is 

 also a white form, alba, and tricolor, 

 blue and white, which is striking. A. 

 autumnale is a fine dark purple variety, 

 and the new A. Wilsoni, from China, 

 light violet in color, is distinct. This 

 by no means exhausts the list of aconi- 

 tums. I counted fifteen or sixteen dis- 

 tinct forms a year ago at Bar Harbor, 

 in the Mount Desert Nurseries. 



Other Purples and Blues. 



Liatris pycnostachya, Kansas gay 

 feather, four to five feet high, carrying 

 bold spikes of purplish flowers, is grand 

 for massing. It flowers a long time 

 and is still effective. The button 

 snakeroot, L. spicata, and L. scariosa, 

 deep purple, are two other members of 

 the family still in bloom. All are of 



.easy culture and well adapted for cut- 

 ting. Statice latifolia, the great sea 

 lavender, with its great heads of small 

 blue flowers, still blooms. This is last- 

 ing and fine for cutting. I have seen 

 it used to good effect in funeral de- 

 signs. S. Tatarica, with purplish red 

 flowers, now flowering, is less attrac- 



^t^vethan S. latifolia, but makes varie- 

 ty, ^^okesia cyanea is a fine native 

 plant. Its fine sky-blue flowers, four 

 inches* across, are still being produced. 

 /This is sometimes called the corn- 



/flower, also Stokes' aster. A white 

 form of this is also now offered. 



Boltonias and Gtoldenrods. 



Boltonias are among the most valua- 

 ble of September blooming plants for 

 cutting. B. latisquama, pink tinged 

 with lavender, is the best sort. There 

 is a dwarf form of this, growing only 

 twenty-four inches high, while the type 

 attains a height of five to six feet in 

 good soil. B. asteroides, white, is also 

 a splendid perennial. 



Few gardens cultivate the solidagos, 

 as they are so commonly found in a 

 wild state. These are much appreci- 

 ated in Europe and make superb clumps 

 in -the borders here. Few hardy flow- 

 ers can be arranged more beautifully 

 in vases. Such varieties as altissima,' 



