76 
Z3b<£ JHower (Brower 
July, 1918 
MRS. AUSTIN’S TALKS 
= [ H r ritten expressly for The Flower Grower. ] 
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 ■ 1 1 
Roguing the Glads. 
ALL OF US are now ea- 
gerly watching for the 
early Gladiolus blooms 
and our happy anticipation 
almost equals the joy of 
realization, but sometimes 
there are unexpected sur- 
prises in store for us. If 
the New Beginner has that 
row in his garden planted to 
the lavender pink America, wouldn’t 
he be surprised some fine morning 
to see a bright scarlet nodding at 
him as much as to say : " Here I 
am and I’m glad of it for I am beauti- 
ful enough to be grown in your garden 
even ifjyou do prefer pink,” and the New 
Beginner might possibly be perfectly 
delighted with it because he would 
have a " start ” in another color and 
perhaps would say to himself that he 
would mark that flower some day be- 
fore it faded. Now, Mr. New Beginner, 
if you think you will ever want that 
variety, don’t tie a little string on it 
and then leave it. Go at once and pro- 
cure a stout stake, sharpen one end of 
it so that you can drive it into the 
ground deep enough to stay and tie 
that Gladiolus to it in such a way 
that it cannot get away. If you hap- 
pen to know the name of the variety, 
write it plainly so that it will not fade 
away with the summer rains and sun- 
shine. Make the entire marking of 
this variety so conspicuous that when 
that boy you hire to help dig them— 
when you are in a hurry and it looks 
like stormy weather— comes to that 
one he will call out : Hey, what’s this 
’ere one tied to a stake ? If all these 
things should happen, do not tell that 
boy to dig the bulb, go and do it your- 
self and if you should be digging with 
a fork or a spade just place it well un- 
der the bulb and raise it carefully, then 
slip your hand under and lift the bulb 
out being particular to gather all the 
increase of bulblets that may have 
formed at the base, and after marking 
a box or bag place in it the bulb and 
bulblets and whatever soil adheres to 
them and tie them up. Then, and only 
then will you have that dangerous bulb 
where it can do no harm, for that bulb, 
no matter how choice it may be, is a 
rogue. 
The right way to rogue your Gladioli 
whether the plot be a large field or a 
row in your small garden and you a 
professional or an amateur, is to get 
them out root and branch as soon as 
they show color or the first bloom 
opens. The quickest way is to pull 
them out but it is not the safest for if 
the top should break off leaving the 
bulb in the ground there remains the 
danger of some one, at digging time, 
getting that bulb into the basket. Of 
course the top does not always break 
off but it is the occasional one care- 
lessly left that does the damage, so go 
after that one with a trowel or knife 
(you should always carry a Gladiolus 
knife) or even a sharp stone 
and get the bulb out. As 
Gladioli are coming into 
bloom the bulblets are 
green, perhaps I should say 
white, and do not break 
off easily, but after the 
flowers are gone they make 
their growth and will sepa- 
rate quickly from the parent 
bulb and there is always 
danger from loose bulblets. 
When an old timer has bought plant- 
ing stock at a good round price and 
rogues begin to show, he shakes his 
head in sorrow for he knows that 
trouble is in store for him, and per- 
haps for someone else also. 
Now, let’s suppose that just one 
bulblet from that scarlet variety, that 
Mr. New Beginner wishes to save 
might get into the basket with the 
pink ones. The chances are that it is 
a variety that increases rapidly. If it 
grows well it will probably bloom the 
second year, but under adverse con- 
ditions it may not until the third year, 
but whenever it does you will begin to 
realize the importance of careful rogu- 
ing of stock when in bloom, for the in- 
crease of bulblets of at least one year, 
and two if it is a variety that is slow 
in coming into bloom, are in with the 
planting stock, and the choice pink 
that you had wished to keep pure, 
becomes only mixed stock to be eventu- 
ally closed out at a low price to some 
one who can use it as a mixture. 
I sometimes wonder how many miles 
I have walked in my lifetime work 
among Gladioli, watching for rogues. 
Up and down the long rows from the 
time the crop begins to bloom until 
the season closed, and I am justly 
proud of a voluntary testimonial which 
states that from ten bushels of bulblets 
purchased from us there were only two 
rogues when they came into bloom. 
It is a satisfaction to have clean 
stock in the field and to furnish it to 
your customer and it is worth some- 
thing to have the reputation of having 
pure stock. 
Watch out for the rogues. 
Mrs. A. H. Austin. 
New Hybrid Water Lilies. 
Climatic conditions in St. Louis during 
the summer are admirably adapted to the 
growth of tropical Lilies. Within the last 
four years the aquatic collection at the Gar- 
den has been greatly augmented and the 
area of water devoted to this fascinating 
branch of floriculture considerably extended. 
Water Lilies may be divided into two 
groups: (1) diurnal flowering, representa- 
tives of the two sub-groups, Anecphya and 
Brachyceras, and (2) nocturnal flowering, 
more commonly called the “ night bloomers,” 
which are representatives of the Lotus 
group. During a bright August day flowers 
of the diurnal Lilies will be open between 
7 A. M. and 7 P. M., but if the weather is 
dull and rainy they remain closed. In the 
night bloomers the flowers open at sunset and 
stay open until about 10 o’clock the following 
morning. However, if the weather is in- 
clined to be cloudy, they will remain open 
during the entire day, acting the reverse of 
the diurnal type. 
The blossoms of the nocturnal Lilies are 
considered by many far superior to those of 
the diurnal, or “day bloomers,” and thus 
many visitors coming to the Garden during 
the Water Lily season, are disappointed. 
With this in mind, a number of experiments 
are being carried on in an effort to improve 
and fix the few types of day bloomers, the 
present-day plants having resulted largely 
from insect pollination, especially the Brachy- 
ceras representatives. 
The Nymphaea capensis and its varieties, 
commonly found in gardens, are far from 
the typical species. They are the crosses 
resulting from insect pollination, between 
the blue and rose, and possibly the Egyptian 
N. caerulea, until we find gradations of 
color from the darkest blue to deep pink. 
These, being self-pollinated, result in a 
breaking up into blues, pinks and dark 
pinks. 
One method of selecting the color of Lilies 
to be planted out is to examine the under 
side of the young leaves, the color which ap- 
pears here usually giving some indication of 
the ultimate color of the flowers. This 
somewhat haphazard method undoubtedly 
eliminates the tedious work of preparing the 
flowers for pollination, but is not to be ad- 
vocated, as the true identification of the 
parents is always lacking in hybrids of this 
nature. 
Pollination. — Probably the best month for 
experiments in pollination is August, when 
the plants have usually attained their maxi- 
mum growth and are producing their best 
flowers. Intercrossing must be done at a 
time when the concave stigmas of the flow- 
ers are well filled with nectar, as without 
this fertilization cannot be accomplished. 
Experience has shown that the hours be- 
tween 9:00 and 11 A. M. are best suited for 
this process. 
Plants are selected which will produce the 
desired qualification in the progeny. The 
pistillate parent, or flower which is to bear 
the seed, is carefully emasculated in the bud 
stage. This should be done the day before 
opening, when the stamens are easily broken 
off and no sign of pollen has appeared. The 
bud is then allowed to close. The next 
essential factor is the total exclusion of all 
insects by enclosing the bud in fine cheese- 
cloth and tying below the ovary. The 
staminate parent, or flower which is to sup- 
ply the pollen, is then selected, also in the 
bud stage, and is protected in the same 
manner as the emasculated flower. Pollen 
should never be removed from anthers which 
have been exposed to the insect's trail, be- 
cause of the possibility of foreign pollen be- 
ing left behind. The second day the act of 
pollination is accomplished by the aid of a 
camel’s-hair brush, the pollen readily adher- 
ing to the brush, especially if it is passed 
over the anthers with an upward movement. 
The pollen thus obtained is then deposited 
on the stigma which is filled with nectar, 
the nectar immediately changing to a light 
yellow color. The flower is then rewrapped, 
securely fastened to a stake, and a label at- 
tached indicating the cross. Within three 
weeks the seed will be ready for collection. 
— Missouri Botanical Garden Bulletin. 
The month of June has been a very 
cold and backward one, not living up 
to the promise made by the last two 
weeks of May. However, Gladioli and 
other plants had such a good start in 
May that the month of June has not 
seriously retarded them although we 
learn of damaging frosts in some locali- 
ties. Gladioli are not injured by light 
frosts. 
