12 
COLONIAL GARDENS 
A Message to Friends and Customers 
Please read before consulting ratings on following pages. 
HERE are two major innovations in this, our 1935 catalog. 
First, you will notice that we have cut down our list from 500 to 200 varieties. We did this be¬ 
cause we found that 98% of our business came from less than 200 sorts, so that it did not pay to grow 
and catalog 300 additional varieties. If one thing is certain in the glad world, it is that the fans want 
only the best. In cataloging these 200 varieties we are offering only the cream of over 3,000 named 
varieties now in commerce. We have tested over 1,000 varieties some years in our own garden. My 
partner, Mr. Carl Fischer, and myself manage to see several of the leading shows each season and 
often visit the plantings of other growers. As a result we are familiar with practically all the glads 
in commerce. In selecting the Hundred Finest Glads and the Second Hundred, we have tried to 
exercise the strictest impartiality. 
However, it is impossible for all fans to agree on the Hundred Rest, or the Second Hundred be¬ 
cause some fans give greater emphasis to size, some are sticklers for performance, and still others 
are willing to pamper a variable sort if it is supremely beautiful in color and form. So here is where 
our second innovation comes in: we have made it possible for every fan to select his own first hundred 
by showing him just how each variety rates in each of the three factors of beauty, performance, and 
size. This analysis is explained more fully on the next page under the dark red class. 
Mr. Fischer and the writer also wish to take this opportunity of thanking friends and patrons 
for the large number of appreciative letters sent us, which along with the flowers themselves, consti¬ 
tute the principal source of pleasure to those engaged in the gladiolus business. 
A further explanation of this catalog is contained in the following key: 
KEY 
All ratings are based on beauty, performance, and distinctiveness. Our choice of super glads (the 
“First Hundred”) is indicated by heavy capitals. The “Second Hundred” is indicated by light capitals. 
We have adopted the following five-fold classification as to size: 
Exhibition (Ex.), .for giant glads like Heritage , IF. H. Phipps, Marmora. 
Large Decorative . (L. D.). .for large glads like Betty Nuthall, well grown Bennett or Minuet. 
Medium Decorative (M. D.)..for medium sized glads like Ave Maria, or Margaret Fulton. 
Small Decorative . . (S. D.)..for glads with about five four-inch florets open at one time, as 
Sweetheart. 
Small Flowered . (S. F.). for distinctly small varieties, usually of primulinus origin. 
Frequently varieties listed as large decorative may be grown to exhibition size by special culture. 
Again exhibition varieties when not well grown will rate no larger than large decorative. Medium size 
bulbs of exhibition varieties will also give blooms of large decorative size. 
We have not considered form at all in making our size ratings: primulinus grandiflorus varieties 
like Aflame and Picardy are listed as exhibition sorts on account of their great size. 
The substance, or thickness of petals, is indicated by “A” for extremelv heavy petals, “B” for 
moderately heavy petals, and “C” for rather thin. 
Unit price means for one young No. 1 bulb. This column is included along with the ratings for 
the convenience of customers. Ordering should be done from the complete price list at the end of 
this catalog. 
The scale of blooming dates is as follows: Early = 50-70 days from planting; Early-Midseason = 
70-80 days; Midseason = 80-90 days; Midseason-Late = 90-100 davs; Late = over 100 days. 
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