288 FRITZ BAHR'S COMMERCIAL FLORICULTURE 



Fig. 114.— BuDDLEiA VARIABILIS. This is 

 also known as Summer Lilac and Butterfly 

 Bush. Even though not hardy everywhere, 

 it should be tried in every garden. A thrifty 

 3-in. pot plant bedded out in May will 

 bloom all Summer and furnish most useful 

 cut flowers 



Mignonette," one of our lady 

 patrons calls it. In habit the 

 flower spikes remind one of the 

 Buddleias that flower during 

 the Summer months, but they 

 are not so large. You use 

 them as you would Gypsop- 

 hila or Stevia, along with 

 other flowers ; there is nothing 

 finer for corsage bouquets. 



Buddleia blooms about the 

 end of December and through 

 the month of January. Any- 

 body can grow it. . The old 

 cut-down plants will break 

 during March in a 50-deg. 

 house and the cuttings will root 

 as freely as Geraniums. Grow 

 the plants on in pots during 

 the Summer, shifting them 

 from time to time so you have 

 them in 6- or 7-in. pots by 

 October, and keep them 

 pinched up to that time in 

 order to obtain bushy speci- 



mens. You can flower them in the pots or by September take the 

 4-in. pot plants and bench them in a Carnation house. Even with 

 plenty of Stevia on the place there is room for this little flower, 

 particularly as it comes into bloom around New Year's Day. 



Buddleia variabilis 

 The hardy Buddleias, while not hardy everywhere, should 

 nevertheless be planted far more extensively and be handled not 

 only by the nurseryman, but also by the florist. Best known by 

 the name of Butterfly Bush on account of the sweet-scented, bright- 

 colored flowers, they are also called Summer Lilacs partly owing, 

 again, to the fragrance of the lilac-colored flowers borne on graceful 

 spikes. 



If, in your locality they are not hardy, it is an easy matter to 

 overwinter the plants in a frame, or root softwooded cuttings during 

 early Fall and grow them on in pots over Winter. The plants out of 

 23^- or 33^-in. pots bedded out in May wiU start to bloom in July 

 and keep it up. They make fine cut flowers and are used by the best 

 florists in design work and corsages. The plants are most attractive 

 when three or more are planted in a clump. 



BUTTERCUP. See Ranunculus 



