34 
NEW FLOWERS YOU 
SHOULD KNOW 
F. F. ROCKWELL 
House & Garden 
The closest approach to a truly red aster 
is Sensation, a really hrilliant sort that is 
excellent for cutting as well as in the 
garden 
H OW many flowers less than five years 
old did you have last year ? 
You haven’t gotten into a rut, have you—a 
rut of flowers, to be sure, but nevertheless a 
rut—and made use only of the things which 
you tried and found satisfactory years ago ? 
In these pages I have repeatedly advised 
against dropping the satisfactory old for the 
untried new, particularly with vegetables. 
But one may easily go to the other extreme, 
especially in the case of flowers, of which 
dozens are produced each year which are 
decidedly different from anything we have 
had in the past. A few of them are dis¬ 
tinctly worth while. 
This is not a plea for the new versus 
the old. I have no sympathy with the nov¬ 
elty hunter who endeavors to get the latest 
of everything simply because it is the latest; 
but when a thing of real value and dis¬ 
tinctive charm appears, the sooner one can 
have the pleasure of utilizing it the better. 
Finding the Worth-While 
New varieties of the commercial flowers, 
such as roses, carnations and chrysanthe¬ 
mums, which are exhibited at the shows and 
given publicity by “the trade,” are soon 
known and have an opportunity to stand 
or fall on their intrinsic merits. But many 
of the common annuals and perennials— 
which as a matter of fact have a wider 
range of appeal—are given little or no help 
and have to make their way into popular 
knowledge and favor as best they may. 
Photos by Courtesy of Dreer and Burpee 
Take as an example lobelia Tenuior. This 
is entirely distinct in habit from the older 
varieties, being almost twice as tall and of 
upright, compact growth, with much larger 
flowers borne on slender stems well above 
the foliage. It is a gem not only among 
lobelias, but among all blue flowered an¬ 
nuals. So far as I remember, I have not 
seen it mentioned anywhere, and only two 
or three catalogs list it. There are dozens 
of equally striking improvements among the 
minor flowers usually grown from seed 
which have been similarly neglected. 
But how, you ask, is one to know about 
those things? I can only suggest again a 
little more definitely what I have before 
intimated in these pages: every gardener 
should devote one bed or section of the 
garden every year to the trying out of the 
most promising of the new things. Both 
the expense and the work necessitated by 
such an undertaking are very slight. A 
packet of seed of each variety will be ample. 
In fact, in most cases a packet will be more 
than enough to give you all the plants you 
will want for trial, so there is no reason 
Astermums somewhat resemble chrysan¬ 
themums, although they have no family 
connection with those plants. This one is 
Rose 
why, with some of your flower-loving 
friends, you should not order a fairly com¬ 
plete list of these new things and divide the 
expense and the seed. They will cost, on 
the average, not over ten to fifteen cents, 
with possibly a few at a quarter a packet. 
When you have tried them one year and 
found what effects you can achieve with 
them, it will be time enough to buy larger 
quantities for the future. 
There is probably no flower that has come 
into popular favor more rapidly during the 
last few years than the gladiolus. Bulbs 
of this beautiful flower, comparatively little 
known a few years ago, are now sold by 
the million and are so eagerly sought by 
enthusiasts that the choicest of new varie¬ 
ties sell for several dollars apiece. 
Gladioli, Hollyhocks, and Tritom as 
FROM Seed 
The most remarkable development within 
recent years in gladioli is the creation of the 
new type or race known as Fordhook Hy¬ 
brids. These are fully equal in beauty to 
the best varieties of the Lemoine, Childsi 
and Gandavensis, from which on one side 
they are descended, and in addition inherit 
from their other parent. Gladiolus Prsecox, 
the capacity for remarkably rapid growth 
and early flowering. I saw the first blooms 
of these remarkable hybrids displayed at an 
October exhibition a few years ago and at 
first I could not believe the attendant’s 
statement that they were grown from seed 
sown in a frame that spring, and trans¬ 
planted to the open. I took pains, however, 
to verify his statement, and as I grew some 
The King aster 
reaches a height of 
1% feet and blooms 
from August until 
frost. Several worth¬ 
while colors are 
available 
Bright yellow single 
flowers with crimson 
centers characterize 
the marigold Legion 
d’Honneur 
Whether you call it 
gypsophila or Baby’s 
Breath, this new 
double flowering sort 
is charming 
