Delphinium 
"We have a new Delphinium specialist in America. Mr. New 
Charles F. Barber of Portland, Oregon, whose "Hood Acres" Delphinium 
Delphinium are becoming justly famous. Specialist 
An illustrated article on these hardy Larkspurs which he 
wrote for the Flower Grower of July, 1921, attracted much 
attention. But before that our Mrs. Taft had been in touch 
with him and had written us most enthusiastically about these 
marvels of "Tiffany Glass" as she calls them. She urges us. to 
buy his seedlings Beatrice, at $5.00 a plant and well worth it too. 
Mr. Barber has made Delphinium his hobby for a number 
of years but he is now giving his whole time to their culture 
and sale. Although he grows many thousands of plants, the 
supply of his choicest named varieties is still somewhat limited 
because they must be propagated most carefully from the sprouts 
at the base of the clumps, as Delphinium do not seed true to 
name on account of cross-fertilization by bees. 
In a letter to Mrs. Taft he says: "I suppose you are aware 
of the inability of general dealers to supply named hybrid 
Delphinium. This is because they depend on the Holland 
growers to furnish their plants and those who obtained permits 
and imported, lost out because of the weakness of the plants 
upon their arrival in this country. (Red-tape or Quarantine?) 
Some of the varieties listed in collections I have found to be 
inferior and have eliminated from my lists. I shall be glad to 
co-operate with you in obtaining choice things in these flowers 
and will send you different kinds for exhibition as they appear. ' ' 
In a list of his twenty-nine named varieties the following are 
our old friends from England. We have not been able to get 
these for the past few years. 
Capri. True branching variety - 75 cents each 
Moerhemii. White - - - $1.00 each 
The Aldke. Deep purple. 
E. Augustus Bowles. Massive and dark, eye overspreads half the flower. 
Luella Ames. Violet-bordered blue - $3.00 each 
Sir. G. Newnes. Semi-double, long spikes - $3.00 each 
Queen Mary. Brightly silvered Venetian-blue white 
eye - - - $1.50 each 
Among his choicest seedlings are: 
Beatrice. Transparent blue faced with Lobelia-blue 
effect like Tiffany glass. Both 
plant and flower absolutely sym- 
metrical. 3 feet high and sturdy $5.00 each 
Black and White. 75 cents each 
Seedling No. 143. Soft Heliotrope, pencilled and backed 
with Venetian-blue - $2.00 each 
Selected seedlings from best Hybrids are - - $3.50 each 
Mr. Barber writes in the Flower Grower-. "Some of the 
features of the modern Delphinium are : large individual flowers 
running to three inches in diameter, many blossoms open at one 
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