274 FRITZ BAHR'S COMMERCIAL FLORICULTURE 



Most of these Azaleas are natives of the Southern Alleghanies 

 and the Blue Ridge Mountains. Azalea calendulacea (Flame Azalea) 

 brick red, yeUow and orange-colored, A. arborescens, a fine, June- 

 flowering white, ^.roseum (canescens) a sweet-scented, May-flowepng 

 pink, and A. Vaseyi, the Blue Ridge Mountain pink variety, are 

 all desirable. 



BACHELOR BUTTON 

 See Centaurea 



BAPTISIA (FALSE INDIGO) 



Bapti&ia australis, while not quite hardy with us and requiring 

 a heavy covering over Winter, is nevertheless a fine perennial and, 

 with its pea-shaped blue flowers, is very attractive. The plants grow 

 about three feet in height.- You don't want many in the hardy 

 border, but five or six specimens planted in a group wiU add to your 

 assortment. 



Baptisias can be grown nicely from seed sown in- the green- 

 house during January, or you can sow fresh-gathered seed outdoors 

 in a frame where the seedlings will appear the following Spring. 



BEGONIAS 



The retail grower can greatly increase his assortment of flowering 



plants by paying more attention to the many beautiful sorts of flowering 



Begonias, among them some of the old favorites of long ago, which, of 



late years, we have partly discarded. 



When we mention Begonias we usually have in mind either 

 Gloire de Lorraine or the beautiful introductions of J. A. Peterson 

 of Westwood, Cincinnati 0., who has given us several that are today 

 among our showiest Christmas plants. These sorts have almost 

 put all other Winter-flowering sorts out of business, for when well- 

 grown and in fuU bloom you can't compare any others with them. 

 But it takes a specialist to grow a specimen Cincinnati Begonia, 

 and you want a house fuU in order to do it right. The average 

 retail grower can make more money by purchasing his requirements 

 for the hoUdays, ready grown, than by attempting, with all his other 

 work, to grow them on from cuttings. There is bound to be a time 

 during the nine or ten months it requires to grow them when the 

 plants wiU get a setback. There are other Begonias the smaller 

 florist can grow, and do it nicely, though not altogether for Christ- 

 mas, for he needs plants in flower all through the year. There are 

 many beautiful ones to select from, not only for their flowers, but 

 for their foliage as well. Among our customers there are stiU many 

 who remember the sorts of yesterday and the fine house plants 

 they made. 



Besides this, we have today splendid sorts for bedding purposes, 

 which the retail grower should push. Some will require a little shade 



