V 



DslCEMBEtt 12, 1912. 



The Florists' Review 



35 



Three Attractive Ways o( Offering Ardisiat for Christmas Gift Purpoies« 



soil with, preferably, a northern slope. 

 We have experimented with a few 

 plants in each of a great many different 

 situations and are sure we are right in 

 this. 



Some Good Varieties. 



Now a few words about the best cut 

 flower varieties here: 



Urutoii has not been surpassed by 

 any of the newer yellows. Golden Age 

 is a deei>er yellow, a freer bloomer 

 and a prettier flower, but it has shorter 

 stems and does not have as good sub- 

 stance. <'atherine, a pompon variety 

 discarded years ago and tried again this 

 year, has proved the best colored, best 

 formed, longest-stemmed yellow we had. 

 We shall grow more of it next season 

 and believe it is going to be the best 

 yellow for this climate. It is not a 

 l)ompon in size here. Mrs. Lafollette is 

 the best yellow peony-flowered variety 

 we have seen, although it is a shy 

 bloomer here. 



In whites, Storm King, Flora and 

 Snow have done the best here. Snow- 

 clad is a mass of pompon bloom, but has 

 no stems. Grand Duke Alexis has been 

 a failure both seasons. Queen Wilhel- 

 mina, the popular white peony-flowered 

 sort, is a shy bloomer here. 



In pinks the best all-round variety 

 we have is Fascination. It never fails 

 to sell and is first-class in every way. 

 Neither Kriemhilde nor Nymphtea 

 makes good here. F. L. Bassett, Eureka 

 and Blue Gbed, although none of them 

 quite j)ink, are all better here than we 

 have ever seen them elsewhere, and are 

 all good sellers. Nothing could give 

 more long-stemmed flowers than these. 

 Mrs. Roosevelt is great, although too 

 shy here. Queen Emma sells on sight 

 and is a winner, but we have an un- 

 named seedling sent us by G. D. Black, 

 of Independence, la., that is similar to 

 it and of better color; also, it produces 

 three times the bloom on better stems. 

 When introduced this should make a 

 sensation. 



Black Prince is the best grower and 

 freest bloomer of them all in this cli- 

 mate, it is a popular cut flower of 

 large size. Countess of Lonsdale is the 

 freest cactus dahlia here and the best 



seller. Jack Eose, Mme. Van den Dael 

 and Catherine Duer all do well here 

 and are first-class cut flowers. 



But the sensations of the entire field 

 as cut flowers were Cuban Giant and 

 Souv. De Oustave Doazon. It was easy 

 to get 3-foot stems on these, and they 

 are about as large as the best peonies, 

 with such coloring as was never seen in 

 this flower. 



That size is not a necessary qualifica- 

 tion for a popular dahlia was proved 

 by the pompon variety, Bijou. It is 

 not more than an inch and a half in 



We had just one tuber of a variety 

 named Alfer. We do not remember 

 where we got it. We grew three plants 

 of it. It is a bright ruby red, or pos- 

 sibly a little deeper, is about six inches 

 in diameter and has long stems. In 

 shape it is different from anything we 

 have ever seen, being, as nearly as we 

 can describe it, halfway between a 

 decorative and a cactus. We consider 

 it the best dahlia of any type or color 

 we have ever seen, and are not alone 

 in our opinion. Everyone who saw it 

 in bloom agreed that it would easily 

 lead all others as a cut flower if we had 

 it in quantity. Floyd Bralliar. 



Cincinnati Begonia in Willow Basket. 



diameter, rarely two inches, but is of a 

 warm, bronzy orange that is hard to 

 describe. It has been a mass of bloom 

 frsixn the earliest to the latest, every 

 flower being held on a long stem well 

 above the foliage. It attracted the 

 most attention and was the most in de- 

 mand both for cut flowers and for tu- 

 bers for planting next year of all the 

 2.'>(> varieties. 



THE WESTERN ASSOCIATION. 



On account of the busy season, the 

 executive committee of the Western 

 Dahlia and Gladiolus Association has 

 postponed the annual meeting and bulb 

 show at Chicago until the following 

 month of January. Pull information 

 will be given in Bulletin No. 4, soon to 

 be issued. The success of the bulb 

 show last December showed the plan 

 to be a good one and all growers are 

 requested to bring out their best. The 

 program feature will be greatly en- 

 larged and everyone is invited to give 

 his best ideas regarding the outdoor 

 plants, from the bulb to the flower. If 

 you do not receive the bulletin, drop 

 the secretary a card and one will be 

 sent promptly. 



E. S. Thompson, Sec 'y. 

 Benton Harbor, Mich. 



Pontiac, Mich. — Mrs. L. C. Lewis 

 has added two new houses to her range 

 and Harry S. Pearce has added a new 

 boiler room, 40x60, and set two new 

 boilers, 18x72. He purposes erecting 

 two new greenhouses 30x275 early in 

 the spring. 



Warsaw, Ind. — W, W. Dederick has 

 returned from Argos, where he pur- 

 chased the greenhouse of the Argos 

 Floral Co. Mr. Dederick is shipping the 

 greenhouse to Warsaw and will place 

 it on his lots north of Warsaw on the 

 interurban line, where he already has 

 several houses. 



