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Slower (Brower 
| WAYSIDE RAMBLINGS | 
= [ Written txprtssh for The Flower Grower .] § 
ORIGIN OF GLADIOLI. ASTERS AND SUNFLOWERS. 
In the matter of origin of certain Gladioli, 
I give below all the information I can locate 
at this time: 
Alice Carey— Credited to E. Y. Teas by J. 
K. Alexander and Willis E. Fryer, probably 
same as Snowcrest of Livingston Seed Co., 
and much like Snowbank of Cowee. 
Black Hawk— Named by G. D. Black who 
obtained it intermixed with Kunderd’s Cardi- 
nal King. 
Fire King— Introduced by John Lewis 
Childs of Flowerfield, L. I. 
Hohenzollern — Understand this to be a for- 
eign name given to the variety called Balti- 
more which was originated by Cowee and in- 
troduced in 1910. Salmon Queen is another 
synonym of Baltimore. 
Mrs. Jas. Lancashire— Named by B. Ham- 
mond Tracy, but is said to be a synonym of 
Fairy originated by E. E. Stewart of Brook- 
lyn, Mich. Originally exhibited in 1909 under 
the name of Fairy Queen and later changed 
to Fairy in 1913. 
Dominion— Originated by H. H. Groff, Sim- 
coe, Ont. Said to be synonymous with Red 
Emperor named in Holland, but of which 
stock was probably obtained in America. 
Red Emperor— According to Gladiolus 
Studies III, Cornell Extension Bulletin 11, a 
variety named by Vos of Holland Meteor, 
owing to the fact that there were already 
two Meteors on the market was renamd by 
the Harlem Floral Committee Red Emperor. 
It is possible that Vos raised this from seed 
and named it before he saw our Dominion 
with which it is undoubtedly identical. This 
variety appeared sometime about 1906. 
Summer— Originated by Hoeg of Decorah, 
Iowa. 
White Cluster— Originated and named by 
Mrs. A. H. Austin of Wayland, Ohio. 
White Excelsior— Called so by Velthuys of 
Holland. Is a synonym of Reine de l’ Anjou 
(not Lemoine’s). Originated by Barre, and 
also has the following synonyms: Reine 
Blanche, Le Radium, Jeanne d’Arc and Schnee- 
witchen. 
Chas. E. F. Gersdorff. 
There are now so many of the Michael- 
mas Daisies, including the Novas-Angliae 
and Novi-Belgii types that one can enjoy 
their beauty from June through November. 
The latest Aster to bloom at Hillcrest is 
the beautiful, tall Tartarian. It comes into 
blossom just as the other Asters are curling 
up their rags. The violet blossoms are in 
clusters at the top of a stalk five feet or 
more in height. With us it blooms in the 
shade of our wood road, also in the sunshine 
of our wild garden where it grows between 
two boulders. It has proved hardy with us 
as it was in the ground through the severe 
winter of 1917 and 1918. 
Another flower which we have enjoyed 
this autumn is a Helianthus which was sent 
us from Arkansas by the Bureau of New 
Plant Introductions in Washington with the 
following description : “Helianthus Augusti- 
folius, from Dr. David Griffith, Arkansas. 
A selected variety of the native wild flora 
Perennial plant of pleasing habit, with flow- 
ers somewhat resembling Cosmos, and nar- 
row drooping glossy foliage. The main stem 
and branches are long and graceful, each 
bearing six or more flowers on long arching 
flower stalks. Will stand cutting. May be 
used much as the Cosmos is for cut flowers 
and for tall mass effects.’’ 
With us this Sunflower blossomed late in 
October, too late for the blossoms to ripen 
into seed, but we found it easy to propagate 
by root cuttings. It was hardy in the rich 
soil of the flower garden where it got a good 
start for the coming year. Those which we 
tried in wild planting did not do so well. We 
brought one of these into the greenhouse 
and a dozen or more plants were made from 
it which we set out in our garden this spring. 
Its late blossoming has made it very beau- 
tiful in our garden this autumn when the 
trees are dropping their leaves and the flow- 
ers are bidding us good-by. A frost on the 
sixth of November made the blossoms droop, 
but the next night came a hard rain so that 
it is blooming bright and beautiful to-day, 
November 8th. M. R. Case. 
SHALL WE CUT TOPS OFF PEONIES 
AND IRISES IN THE FALL ? 
The “Glad Philosopher” wrote me the last 
of October that then was the time to cut tops 
off Peony plants, and also the Iris. I replied 
and told him that I was “from Missouri,” 
that up in this country the tops left on 
would serve as a winter protection to 
hold the snow. He writes back and says 
that if the tops are left on they sprawl, 
and lie flat on the ground, and in the spring 
it is much harder to remove them and more 
dangerous ; for if Peonies are pulled off they 
are likely to break down in the ground and 
come up with one or two blooming stalk 
buds attached to them. He also says that 
it is pretty general custom to cut off the 
tops, and if they are needed for a mulch they 
can be cut and spread over the roots for that 
purpose and removed in the spring much 
easier than if left uncut. I know from ex- 
perience that Peony tops especially are a 
tough proposition to remove in the spring ; 
difficult to pull off and difficult to cut off 
with pruning shears, but it really seems to 
me that the tops left on over winter make a 
fine protection to catch the snow which pre- 
vents alternate freezing and thawing and 
this keeps the frost from damaging the roots. 
Would be glad to hear from those who 
have had experience with this subject. Some 
of these common things that are often over- 
looked are of much importance. 
Madison Cooper. 
TULIPS FAILING TO BLOOM. 
In regard to the discussion about tulips 
“coming blind,” your correspondent may 
have meant what happened to mine last 
spring. Many of them threw up one broad 
leaf, these being bulbs that had bloomed the 
year before all right. The Rev. Joseph Jacob, 
an English authority, in his book on Tulips, 
speaks of them as “throwing up one broad 
leaf, indicating no bloom but he neglected 
to say whether or not the Tulip would come 
back the following year. I referred this to 
one of the largest bulb importing houses in 
the country and their report was that my 
Tulips were all in. Another large importer 
said that possibly my soil was not rich 
enough and wrote that Tulips were gross 
feeders. I can hardly believe that they were 
not fertilized enough, as my rows are about 
forty feet long and in each row I incorpo- 
rated one and one-half pounds of bone meal 
and three and one-half pounds of sheep ma- 
nure. I have separated some of these non- 
blooming bulbs this fall and have fertilized 
them heavily and will watch results next 
spring with interest. The combination of 
bone meal and sheep manure worked nicely 
so far as I could see, and I used the same 
combination in my rows of Gladioli, and the 
bloom this year was fine. Owing to the late 
fall I picked some Gladioli on October 20th, 
and the tops were still green. 
W. J. Drew 
December, 1920 
MINNESOTA FALL WEATHER. 
September was warm and dry, but October 
was the warmest in my recollection. We had 
a hard frost the first of the month and a 
light one soon after, but from then until the 
22nd the wind was in the south nearly every 
day with August temperature night and day. 
One effect of this warm weather was to 
cause Oriental Poppies to bloom, and one 
thing that I never heard of before was to 
have Iris seed germinate in October. Last 
fall I planted a quantity of dwarf Iris seed, 
and all that grew were transplanted in July, 
but in October I had a much better stand 
from these same seed than I did in the 
spring. I often have a better stand the sec- 
ond season than the first, but never saw 
them in such a hurry before that they would 
germinate in October. 
I expected a snow storm on November 2nd, 
politically, and we did have a little real snow, 
but I did not think we would have such a 
whirlwind, and so general. 
Willis E. Fryer. 
CATALOGUING IRISES. 
Referring to Mr. Clute’s article on the Iris 
catalogue in the October number of The 
Flower Grower, I certainly think his point 
very well taken. We have for years issued 
a catalogue in harmony with his ideas. This 
arranges them by color in their order of 
blooming. Our next year’s list will have the 
exact date they began blooming this year in 
our nursery. The height of the bloom and 
exceptional features like unusual fragrance 
in Caprice and Fairy Iris are noted. We even 
have them tabulated by price so a purchaser 
can pick them out according to his pocket- 
book. We have had customers who have 
never seen many of the kinds we list that have 
bought Irises of us and have been able to ar- 
range their Iris beds harmoniously according 
to shade and have the taller ones in the rear. 
Wm. A. Peterson. 
IRIS WYOMISSING. 
I cannot agree with those who would dis 
card the Iris Wyomissing. It must be ad- 
mitted that among the pinks it is a quite ex- 
cellent distinct variety. It is distinct, how- 
ever, in having throat markings. I think 
that the color is at least good. There is 
more real pink in the flower than in some 
other so-called pinks. The time is coming 
when Wyomissing can be discarded ; but in 
my opinion I think that it is too early in the 
game to discard it now. 
H. W. Groschner. 
ORIGIN OF GLADIOLUS VARIETIES. 
Replying to an inquiry in the current num- 
ber of The Flower Grower relative to or- 
iginators of certain varieties of Gladioli, I beg 
to supply the following : 
Czar Peter, by Velthuys of Holland. 
Glory of Holland, by Alkemade of Holland. 
Hohenstaufen, by Pfitzer of Germany. 
Master Wietse, by Velthuys of Holland. 
Conspicuus, from Holland. 
Catherina, by Velthuys of Holland. 
Intensity, (syn. Scarlet Beauty) by Groff of 
Canada. Introduced bv Cowee of Berlin, 
N.Y. 
L’ Immaculee, from Holland. 
Liebesfeuer, by Pfitzer of Germany. 
Pride of Hillegom, by Velthuys of Holland 
Chas. E. F. Gersdorff. 
FRAGRANT IRISES. 
If your “Glad Philosopher” never smelled an 
Iris more fragrant than Florentina and Kochii, 
he has something to live for even yet. Next 
summer let him sniff a bloom of Gazelle and 
one of Fairy. 
B. C. Auten. 
