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April 20, 1911. 



The Weekly Florists' Review* 



17 



House for Grafted Roses of A. N. Piersoo, lac, Cromwell, Conn. 



BOSTON. 



The Market. 



Easter has demonstrated with addi- 

 tional force that pot plants are what 

 the public wants for this great floral 

 festival. The sale of them was tre- 

 mendous, breaking all previous records. 

 On the other hand, cut flowers were a 

 secondary consideration. A few sorts' 

 sold well, but others were a per- 

 fect glut and hard to move. The 

 days preceding Easter presaged a poor 

 cut flower market, as supplies were 

 heavy and demand light for a week, 

 with little animation, even April 15. 

 Weather conditions were almost ideal, 

 the temperature well above freezing 

 and no wind, rendering much wrapping 

 quite unnecessary. 



Lilies, of course, were the leaders in 

 plants, and, contrary to some predic- 

 tions, there were enough to go around. 

 The quality was fairly good, prices 

 being $10 to $12.50 per hundred buds. 

 Probably nine-tenths were giganteums. 

 Azaleas were seen in great numbers 

 and sold well, especially the white and 

 light pink varieties. The deep pinks 

 moved more sluggishly. Azalea mollis, 

 when well flowered, sold well. Eoses of 

 the rambler type had a big sale. Tau- 

 sendschon was immensely popular. Dor- 

 othy Perkins also sold heavily. White 

 Dorothy was seen in considerable num- 

 bers and cleaned out well. Hiawatha 

 was the most popular single scarlet, 

 while Paradise, Lady Gay and other 

 varieties were seen. Mignonette, Clo- 

 thilde Soupert, hybrid perpetuals, such 

 ^18 Frau Karl Druschki and Brunner, 

 and Beauties all had a good sale. Crim- 

 ■^on Rambler was little seen, and the 

 i'ed Baby Bambler sold poorly as com- 

 pared with the pink and white. Genis- 

 jas had quite a call. Acacias were chief - 

 y armata. In ericas, cupressina and 



melanthera had the lead. There were 

 also some good yellow ones of the 

 waxy type. Boronias at $5 to $10 each, 

 retail, had a fair sale. 



Bougainvilleas, both large and small 

 plants, had an excellent sa)e. In spi- 

 raeas, Gladstone and astilboides were 

 the favorites. A limited number only 

 of Queen Alexandra appeared. Mar- 

 guerite Queen Alexandra was a favor- 

 ite. For bulbous pans the demand was 

 strong. Geraniums in 4-inch and 5-inch 

 pots, carrying two or three trusses, 

 sold in considerable numbers. Ehodo- 

 dendrons of light shades, especially 

 pink and white Pearl, went quickly. 

 Hydrangeas were extra fine and sold 

 better than a year ago. H. hortensis 

 in blue, pink and white proved a favor- 

 ite. Apart from flowering plants, the 

 demand was not great. Small ferns, 

 palms, nephrolepis and colored-leaved 

 stock, such as crotons and dracsenas, 

 were somewhat neglected. All in all, 

 Easter business in plants was good, 

 both for growers and retailers. 



Coming to cut flowers, the report 

 must be less favorable. Never during 

 Easter week have we seen business so 

 dead. An advance in prices did mate- 

 rialize in a few lines, but as a rule 

 even prices of a week previous were 

 not maintained. It was the same old 

 story — those who marketed their flowers 

 each day are feeling much happier than 

 those who held back supplies until Fri- 

 day and Saturday and then flooded and 

 demoralized an already jaded market. 

 Roses were in heavy supply and prices 

 ruled lower than usual. Killameys 

 were favorites. The higher priced 

 grades were less wanted than more 

 moderate priced ones. Beauties were 

 good; so were Wards, Bon Silenes and 

 Saf ranos. Carnations were surely never 

 in such a deplorable condition at 

 Easter. Some realized $3 per hundred. 



but many went at $1 and some less, 

 or not at all. Bulbous flowers sold 

 better than carnations, but were over- 

 abundant. Sweet peas in pink, white 

 and lavender of good quality sold well, 

 realizing $1 per hundred. Such single 

 violets as appeared made $1 to $2; 

 doubles also sold out well. Valley 

 moved moderately well, as did Eng- 

 lish primroses, marguerites, yellow and 

 white, and Spanish iris. Cut lilies had 

 a good sale, and L. candidum, if of 

 good quality, sold well. 



There were few cattleyas, but the 

 demand was light, while gardenias 

 were largely neglected. Stocks and 

 antirrhinums were each druggy, al- 

 though of excellent quality. Panaies 

 were overabundant. Callas sold well. 

 For Asparagus Sprengeri and plumosus 

 the demand was good. 



Easter with the Setailers. 



Arnold & Petros did an excellent 

 business. They had extra good Tau- 

 sendschon roses, azaleas, lilies and pans 

 of bulbous stock and are well pleased 

 with their first Easter business. 



J. J. Casey, at the Rosary, on Claren- 

 don street, had a great call for yellow 

 marguerites and English primroses. 

 His specimen bougainvilleas and large 

 pans of Easter lilies were noteworthy. 



F. H. Houghton had excellent white 

 camellias, a grand lot of dwarf azaleas,- 

 kalmias, rhododendrons, Erica cupres- 

 sina and an excellent lot of pot plants. 



Carboj e 's store, as usual, was a de- 

 light to walk through — the arrange- 

 ment is so artistic and so different fron^ 

 that of the regular flower store. Stand- 

 ard ramblers, basket trained ramblers, 

 ericas in variety, cyclamens, Ghent aza- 

 leas and genistas were all extra fine. 

 Tausendschon was the favorite rose. 

 We noted fine vases here of the peren- 

 nial delphiniums, both light and dark 

 blue. 



