234 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



May, 19 09 



in several shades, as pure white, soft pink, 

 lavender, scarlet, and crimson. 



Here also may be included some of the 

 newer creations of the foreign growers, 

 such as Merry Widow, deep scarlet flowers, 

 borne on graceful stems, which often meas- 

 ure fifteen inches and longer. The plants 

 grow only three feet high, but are so com- 

 pletely covered with blooms during the 

 season that a single plant makes quite a 

 showing from a distance. 



Most interesting, and perhaps the most 

 remarkable dahlia in existence, is the 

 variety Chameleon. The big flowers, pro- 

 duced in profusion, differ so greatly from 

 each other, on one plant that it is hard to 

 find duplicates. From one specimen the 

 following distinct colors were gathered 

 at one time last year: pink, scarlet, white, 

 yellow, and, in addition, a number of 

 remarkable variegations, as one petal red, 

 one petal white, half the flower red, and 

 so on. 



Coronata is a larger-flowered single, 

 recently introduced from Europe. The 

 plant forms a compact little bush eigh- 

 teen inches in height, and throws up stems 

 often exceeding two feet, which are crowned 

 with a cup-shaped bloom of dull red. 

 Report further says that the fragrance is 

 that of honey. I had the pleasure of admir- 

 ing just one bloom on one plant, and there- 

 fore cannot speak for its free-blooming 

 qualities. 



In collerette dahlias I find Maurice 

 Rivoire, deep maroon with white collar, 

 to be the best; the flower lasting longer 

 than any of the other varieties. The petals 

 are very thick, and the stem quite stiff. 

 The first of this type was President Viger, 

 deep scarlet, with a white collar. There 

 are fully fifty varieties of this type, 



Counteee of Lonsdale; pink. The most useful, all- 

 round decorative variety 



and among them are some beautiful color 

 combinations. I grew about twenty-five 

 varieties last season, and of the number 

 the one that appealed to me most, on account 

 of its coloring, was Corbeille de Feu, entirely 

 scarlet. Another remarkable variety is 

 Signorina Rosa Esengrini, garnet-red, tipped 

 yellow, the smaller petals canary-yellow. 



THE BEST DECORATIVES 



Among the decoratives we have a gar- 

 den dahlia of which I can hardly say too 

 much — Kaiserin Augusta Victoria. The 

 plant grows only thirty inches high, and 

 branches immediately above the ground; 

 consequently it does not require any staking. 

 The snow white flowers, which usually 

 measure from four to five inches across, 

 are borne on straight stiff stems fully 

 fifteen inches long, in masses from the open- 

 ing of the season until frost. This is one 

 of the most free-blooming dahlias in exis- 

 tence, and in England has been used for 

 landscape effect by massing in the fore- 

 ground of shrubbery. It can easily be 

 had in bloom by the end of July, and with- 

 out pruning it will remain in bloom until 

 the very last of the season. Similar to the 

 above, but producing only small flowers 

 of a most peculiar deep orange salmon, 

 is Camellia, also very effective for bedding. 



Among the newer introductions, Mrs. 

 Roosevelt, delicate pink, on long, wavy 

 stems, and very abundant, is particularly 

 resistant to disease, and during the last 

 season was one of the most satisfactory 

 varieties with me. A delicately colored 

 variety, and free-blooming, is W. W. Rawson, 

 white, softly overlaid with amethyst — 

 the nearest approach to lavender in the 

 dahlia. The flowers often keep for a week 

 after being cut. In bright pink there is 

 Delice; in deep pink, Jeanne Charmet. 

 The best yellow and most free-blooming 

 is Mme. Victor Vassier. 



In a bright scarlet, Papa Trey ve ; and in a 

 crimson, Wm. Agnew, quite an old variety, 

 but it has held its own right up to now. 

 Jumbo is a little deeper in shade, and enor- 

 mous flowers are borne in the greatest pro- 

 fusion on stems often exceeding two feet. 



The latest introduction in this class 

 this year is an American one called Jack 

 Rose, which seems to outrival anything in 

 that shade so far known. Its further dis- 

 tinctive qualities are that the flowers are 

 borne on straight stems measuring two feet 

 and over, in the greatest profusion, quite 

 early, and remain quite late. In a deep 

 maroon, there is Papa Charmet, a very 

 prettily formed flower of good lasting quali- 

 ties. Flora is an additional free-flowering 

 white, and so is Perle du Pare de la Tete 

 d'Or, usually called Perle de la Tete d'Or. 



La France, pink, is distinct in shape. 

 When the flower is open it resembles a 

 full-blown double peony, and is of the exact 

 shade as the La France rose. 



A very good scarlet is Catherine Duer, 

 one of the most popular for indoor dec- 

 orations in Newport, where it originated. 

 The flowers are borne on very erect stems, 

 and last very long after being cut. 



Gabriel, true cactus variety. Note the up-turned 

 tip of each ray. In the more modern development, 

 this up-turning is even more marked 



For delicate pink, with a white shading, 

 Mme. Van den Dael is my favorite. 



THE CACTUS TYPE 



Besides Countess of Lonsdale, already 

 mentioned, in a clear shade of soft pink, 

 we have Pink Pearl, which flowers very 

 early; Kriemhilde, very late, and therefore 

 very seldom seen in New England. 



In a white, Schwan; in yellow, Prince of 

 Yellows and Mrs. De Luca, both excellent; 

 in scarlet, Amos Perry, which carries its 

 flowers perfectly erect on stout stems, 

 quite unusual in the cactus type; in maroon, 

 James Robertson and Floradora. For 

 white, I would take Schwan, as a free flower- 

 ing kind, and Lawine for size. 



There are some wonderful and indefin- 

 able colors in the group, such as Wunder- 

 kund, a delicate salmon yellow, with shad- 

 ings of amethyst blue; Britannia, soft 

 salmon pink shade, and very free-blooming. 



For simply garden decoration and not 

 for cutting I highly recommend the Lilli- 

 putian cactus, growing about twenty-four 

 inches high, and literally covered with 

 flowers, measuring from three to four 

 inches. As these plants do not require 

 stakes they can be used for either solid 

 flower beds or as color effects between 

 shrubbery or perennial borders. They 

 appear now in all the shades, and as a good 

 selection I would recommend Edelweis, 

 pure white; Citronenvogel, clear yellow; 

 Puck, orange scarlet; Harzerkind, soft pink. 



FOR GENERAL GARDEN EFFECT 



The peony-flowered type is the best of 

 all for general garden effect. Some of the 

 best varieties are: Queen Wilhelmina, pure 

 white; H. Hornsveld, deep salmon; Dr. 

 W. van Gorkom, soft pink; Duke Henry, 

 deep red; La Riante, rose; P. W. Janssen, 

 orange yellow; Jan Kubelik, violet. 



