RIVERVIEW GARDENS , ST. PAUL , MINN. 
7 
Robert, the First, has given a wonderful performance, winning the 
blue ribbons in its classes at the Minnesota State Fair and the Minne¬ 
sota Gladiolus Society Show. Minuet is still the finest of the lavender 
varieties. Mme. Schumann-Heink is a variety that must be seen to be 
appreciated. At a short distance, it resembles an orchid, markings and 
all. It is a Diener variety that has been in commerce for some time, 
but is still very scarce. In the dark violet class, nothing is more ex¬ 
quisite than Pelegrina, although Blue Admiral is running a close sec¬ 
ond. Union Jack, on the Marmora type, but a little lighter, has found 
a place in our Gardens. It carries all of the good qualities of Marmora 
and, in addition, a bright red blotch. 
A great favorite among the fans who like smokies, is Mother Ma- 
chree and Prince of India. They are both very unusual colors. Our 
Selection must also be mentioned in this class, a variegated smoky that 
has special value as a novelty. 
There are many new varieties from Australia and New Zealand 
being introduced into this country each year. We have grown and 
tested quite a number of them; of course, some are very promising 
and others not so promising in this climate. We are listing only the 
best of these foreign varieties and a few of them are Blonde, D. A. Hay, 
Miss New Zealand, Union Jack, Camelot, Edith Robson, Ivernia, Jessie, 
and Lucifer. The Mair’s in Scotland, have introduced some very 
fine varieties, and a new lot is coming out each year. We are looking 
forward to blooming more of them in our test gardens this coming sea¬ 
son. The new Pfitzer varieties are all wonderful and you cannot go 
wrong on any of them. 
A new Glad, to get near the top today, must be a Glad for all gen¬ 
eral purposes. It must satisfy the florist as well as the garden lover; 
it must be fine enough to exhibit in the show room; and it must have 
substance and vigor to endure all of the different variations of tem¬ 
perature and environment under which it will be grown. The price 
does not always show the merit and beauty of any variety. When there 
is a quantity of stock in any variety, the prices drop as with any other 
commodity. New varieties are high only because of their scarcity. Of 
course, some may drop more rapidly in price than others as they in¬ 
crease faster, while those that are poor increasers usually drop very 
slowly. 
According to the latest Symposium of the American Gladiolus So¬ 
ciety, it seems that many of the new varieties rise comparatively rap¬ 
idly towards their highest rank, with only few exceptions. After a 
variety has reached its maximum place, the trend is then more or less 
slowly downward, giving way to the new varieties being introduced. 
The following list of Glads, according to the latest Symposium of 
the American Gladiolus Society, is the favorite and most popular va¬ 
rieties. In the order of tabulation, the ranking is as follows: Picardy, 
Minuet, Marmora, Mr. W. H. Phipps, Betty Nuthall, Dr. F. E. Bennett, 
