October, 1919 
the trade. That is why the new varieties 
are so expensive ; unlike a new Rose or car- 
nation, which in a few months can be in- 
creased to an unlimited supply through cut- 
tings. It takes years to acquire a few plants 
from a Peony, and even today some of 
the old varieties are still scarce. 
The professional grower cannot afford to 
wait so long for results. So most of the 
work with the Peony has been done by those 
whose love for the flowers themselves, and 
the fascination of watching them grow, has 
been their chief incentive. Here is an ex- 
ample of your real Peony lover: Two or 
three years ago I visited your Mr. Fewkes, 
whom all us Peony people have come to re- 
gard in such high esteem. After we had 
enjoyed the Peonies in his garden we went 
inside, where in a vase he had three of the 
most wonderful blooms I have ever seen. 
They were Lemoine’s La Lorraine and Des- 
sert’s Therese and Rosa Bonheur. As we 
stood admiring them he remarked, “ Do you 
know? it almost seems to me as if it is worth 
a year of a man’s lifetime, just to be per- 
mitted to look upon a thing so beautiful !” 
Truly the Peony is an aristocrat. 
— 
Single Peonies. 
People come to my patch, see a string 
of single Peonies down the row, “How 
perfectly lovely !” run to examine, re- 
turn with long and disgusted faces. 
“They’re not pretty at all ; they’re only 
single.” It seems to be contrary to the 
rules, especially with country people, 
to admit that a single flower can be 
pretty, but, you take my word for it, 
their first impression was the correct 
one. The single Peonies have dainty 
colors and are as large as the doubles, 
with vastly more grace. They stand 
up, they nod to the breeze, and their 
petals wave jauntily as those, of the 
stupid doubles cannot. They do not 
pound themselves in the mud in a 
storm, nor drag the plant down out 
of shape. For decorating they are just 
as effective and better adapted. 
The doubles have their good points, 
though. 
B. C. Auten. 
Fragrance in Wild Flowers. 
A new angle in the fragrant wild flower 
situation has been developed by a note from 
Dr. A. F. Blakeslee in Science. He found 
two forms of garden verbena, one of which 
was fragrant to him and one of which was 
not. Happening to call the attention of an 
assistant to the flowers, the latter reported 
B the odorless one fragrant and the fragant 
one without odor, so far as he was con- 
, cerned. This led to further experiment 
with the result that out of a considerable 
number of people tested, some found one 
form fragrant and some the other. The 
subjects were tested blindfolded so that no 
color suggestion vitiated the results. If this 
condition is found to exist with regard to 
other flowers, we may have to have new 
tests to decide which flowers are fragrant 
and which are not. We have repeatedly 
suggested that all flowers may be fragrant 
to the insects that visit them and here, at 
least, we have evidence that even fragrant 
flowers may be odorless to noses that can 
distinguish fragrance in other forms. It is 
likely that those who can smell at all would 
not disagree in the case of such strongly 
scented flowers as pink azalea, wild crab, 
wild grape and arbutus, but in flowers re- 
puted to be only faintly fragrant, the ques- 
tion now arises, are they fragrant, or is our 
own nose at fault? — American Botanist. 
t3l)e Slower (Brower 
Cultural Hints on Hyacinths. 
By Bertha Herbert Hammond. 
[li'ritten expressly for The Flower Grower.] 
In reply to the queries in the June 
and July issues of the The Flower 
Grower, I venture to state that if one 
is possessed of a great fund of patience, 
Hyacinth bulbs of blooming size may 
be grown from seed. The Hyacinth 
seed, like that of the Peony, should be 
sown immediately after it has matured. 
In cold latitudes some protection 
should be given to the seed-bed during 
the severest weather, but this mulch 
should be removed early in the spring. 
To raise Hyacinth bulbs from seed is a 
very slow method of propagation as it 
requires from four to five years for the 
resulting bulblets to mature, and as 
blooming sized bulbs are quite inex- 
pensive, excepting as an interesting 
pastime, it is scarcely worth while for 
the average amateur to attempt the 
experiment. 
If Hyacinths of varying colors are 
grown together, the seeds from such 
plants may not come true, due to the 
cross-fertilization brought about by vis- 
iting insects or other causes. Expert 
Hyacinth growers usually obtain their 
bulblets for propagation by a method 
of skillfully cutting crosswise, espe- 
cially selected bulbs. When these cut 
bulbs are treated in the heated, glass- 
covered propagating house, clusters of 
bulblets form along the incisions. When 
of proper size, these bulblets are re- 
moved from the parent bulb and 
planted out until they become bloom- 
ing size bulbs. They are then har- 
vested and dried off as salable bulbs. 
When grown in a well-drained, sunny 
bed under the most favorable condi- 
tions, it is advisable to leave Hyacinth 
bulbs undisturbed in a permanent bed, 
until (because they are devoting their 
energy to the reproduction of bulblets) 
they become non-blooming. The new 
bulblets may then be reset. If Hy- 
acinths are planted in a shady, moist 
situation, in poorly drained, tenacious 
soil, the bulbs if left in the ground are 
liable to decay, particularly after a wet 
season. 
In sections where the climate in the 
late fall is fairly mild, Hyacinths may 
be started into growth too early, push- 
ing forth their flower buds that may be 
later injured by a cold wave. In locali- 
ties where such conditions are apt to 
prevail, it is safer to lift and dry off the 
bulbs as soon as they have ripened and 
store them in paper bags in a cool, well 
ventilated place, bedding them out late 
in the following autumn. On account 
of mild weather conditions, it is rather 
difficult to succeed with Hyacinths in 
the far south. 
In New York State, Hyacinths may 
be planted any time from late October 
until the end of December. If by any 
chance your shipment of bulbs arrives 
after the ground is frozen but before 
the new year, they may still be suc- 
cessfully planted on top of the frozen 
ground, if you are fortunate enough to 
have in reserve some unfrozen ground 
or can obtain some manageable soil 
from some sunny hillside. I keep in 
the cellar some earth for just such an 
i63 
emergency. Place the bulbs in posi- 
tion on top of the soil, cover very 
firmly with about three or four inches 
of earth and add a generous top layer 
of stable litter which will not only pro- 
tect these bulbs from the effects of 
alternate freezing and thawing, but 
will assist in creating the conditions 
conducive to the making of good root 
growth. This litter unless very coarse 
need not necessarily be removed in the 
spring. 
Naturally, such late planted bulbs 
will not bloom as early as those planted 
previously, but they will bear as good 
flower spikes and extend the season 
of blooming. 
Flowers for the Sick. 
A wounded soldier, whose leg was in 
a cast, suspended higher than his head, 
asked an acquaintance who visited him 
for a red Rose and when it was deliv- 
ered he requested that it be put in a 
slender glass vase and strapped to his 
leg that he might see the flower all the 
time. 
It has been brought out during the 
war that flowers in the sick wards 
lower the patient’s temperature, 
smooth out the creases between the 
eyes and hasten recovery. 
To all wounded soldiers flowers have 
a deep significance. The expressions 
on the faces of the wounded soldiers 
when they receive a Carnation or a 
Rose are such that their emotion can- 
not be put into words. 
Sending flowers to the sick is not 
merely sentiment, but a very practical 
expression of love and respect and also 
a very practical way of helping the 
sick one recover. 
The Oleander. 
Among the many classes of plants whose 
merits are totally overlooked at the present 
day must be included the Oleander, of which 
there are several varieties in cultivation, 
but, except occasionally in some old-fash- 
ioned garden, none of them are ever met 
with; and though to a limited extent kept 
in stock by a few of our nurserymen, there 
is really no demand whatever for them. 
Notwithstanding this, the Oleander is a 
really beautiful shrub, that will flower year 
after year with but little attention. Grown in 
pots or tubs, it may be wintered in the 
greenhouse or conservatory, and during the 
summer can be placed out of doors in a 
sunny spot. Such conditions are favorable 
to the production of blossoms, which ex- 
pand about July, the plant then being par- 
ticularly attractive. When in flower they 
may be allowed to remain out of doors or re- 
moved to the conservatory if they are needed 
at that period. A loose, opengrowing shrub 
it naturally is and any attempt to alter its 
character in this respect will only end in 
failure. If a specimen is cut back, at least 
one year’s crop of blossom will be sacrificed. 
The cultural requirements of the deader 
are in no way exacting, for cuttings strike 
root very readily either in soil, sand or water 
if they are kept close for a little while, and 
they grow away freely in any ordinary pot- 
ting compost. In commencing with young 
plants the tendency to run up tall and naked 
should be particularly borne in mind, and to 
obviate this they must be freely stopped 
during their earlier stages, as in this way 
the foundation of an effective specimen is 
laid. — Gardening Illustrated. 
