Keep these Flower 
TPFfFi TRm 
Send a Copy of 
Name-Stories 
-JL 111 i ^ J J \ ▼ 
Iris News 
For Reference 
From the World’s Largest Iris Farm of 
A. B. Katkamier Macedon, N. Y. 
to Your Friends 
1 
Here is your new copy of the Iris News. We will be 
glad to hear how you like the flower-name stories. 
Free to Every Customer 
With every order for plants we include free of all 
charge a worth while plant of some variety that will 
prove a valuable addition to the beauty of your garden. 
If your order amounts to $3 you are given extra a root 
of Albright the new orchid Iris. If your order amounts 
to $5 you are given extra a root of the new fragrant 
plicata Iris New York. Satisfied customers make busi¬ 
ness a pleasure. 
Choice Varieties Chrysanthemums 
Cavalier — Single, large, deep red .20 
Crimson Splendor — Speaks for itself.20 
Early Bronze —One of the very best...20 
Glomero —Orange, early, free flowering.20 
Golden Apricot — Name describes color.20 
Granny Seaville —Warm coral bronze.20 
Grenadier —Crimson, bronze suffusion. .. .20 
Indian Maid —Deep orange, terra cotta.. . .20 
Irene —Dwarf white.20 
Moonbeam —Beautiful pink .» .20 
Persia — Deep rosy carmine.20 
Philadelphia—Deep lilac .20 
Provence — Early light pink.20 
Red Flare — Makes a fine appearance . 20 
Sunflower — Superb yellow .20 
These fifteen Chrysanthemums are outstanding among the newer 
varieties. They all possess desirable qualities and merit a place in 
your garden. You may select six varieties for $1. 
Korean Varieties: Apollo, red; Ceres, bronze; Daphne, pink; • 
Innocence, white; Mars, crimson. Each.20 
I was greatly pleased that so many customers 
ordered the Memorial Iris to place in perpetual 
remembrance on the graves of their departed 
loved ones. 
Of all the plants in the floral kindom, the Me¬ 
morial Iris i£ best suited for cemetery adornment. 
It does not: interfere with the lawn-mower, nor 
become unsightly but it presents an evergreen 
appearance iboth winter and summer, and often 
may be seen with its sword-like leaves reaching 
up through several inches of snow. 
In this locality the Memorial Iris is usually in 
bloom for use on Decoration Day. Its rich, royal 
purple color is in pleasing contrast with drab 
shades usually predominating in cemeteries. 
The Memorial Iris does not spread—the clump 
simply increases slowly in compact form and if 
desired it may be divided every four years. 
One plant Memorial Iris, 50 cents; three 
plants $1. 
Extra Extra 
These field-to-customer collections of perennial 
flowering plants are priced for good buying for 
fifty years to come. They are selected from my 
radio talks and are the best collections to furnish 
the greatest amount of potential permanent 
beauty for the least money. 
Order today, tomorrow or anytime. 
IRIS 
Alphabet Collection—Twenty-six named varieties Iris, hardy, 
colorful, and fragrant, labeled and postpaid only one dol¬ 
lar. Afterglow, Bluet, Claret, Dorothy, Eldorado, Fairy, 
Gertrude, Helge, Ivorine, Juniata, Kaleidoscope, Lohen¬ 
grin, Mithras, Nibelungen, Opera, Pocahontas, Quaker 
Lady, Ramona, Steepway, Toreador, Ute Chief, Valery 
Mayet, Wyomissing, Xenophon, Yeoman, Zwanenberg. 
PERENNIALS 
Popular Collection—Ten perennial flowering plants, hardy, 
cut-flower varieties, labeled and postpaid only one dollar. 
Artemisia Lactifolia, Aquelegia long spurred, Aster Hardy 
Mauve Queen, Basket of Gold, Dreams of Beauty Del¬ 
phinium, Doronicum—Mother’s Day Golden Daisy, Golden 
Coreopsis, Hybrid Colorful Lupine, Long Blooming Gaill- 
ardia, Turtle Head Physostegia. 
ROCK GARDEN PLANTS 
Sensible Collection—Ten Rock Garden Plants. These varieties 
do not spread to smother out other plants. They are also 
desirable for the border. Labeled and postpaid only one 
dollar. Golden Yellow Achillea, Pink Arabis, White Hare¬ 
bell, Blue Globe Daisy, White Evergreen Candytuft, Red 
Coral Bell, Sedum Sieboldi, Silver Leaf Veronica Incana, 
Scented Garden Pink, Fragrant Double Russian Violet. 
CHRYSANTHEMUMS 
Colorful Collection—Ten Early Hardy Chrysanthemums, lab¬ 
eled and postpaid only one dollar. These flowers will beau¬ 
tify your home when but few others are obtainable. 
Adironda, Argenteuillis, Barbara Cummings, Daybreak, 
Early Bronze, Firelight, Murilla, Mary Pickford, Pink 
Cushion, Vivid. 
PEONIES 
Prize Peony Collection—Four outstanding varieties labeled 
and postpaid only one dollar. Karl Rosenfeld, Red; Frances 
Willard, White; Grandiflora, Pink; Edulis Superba, Rose. 
The above groups are $1. each or the five groups for $4. 
A. B. Katkamier, Macedon, N. Y. 
The Plants I got from you two years ago are all doing fine and 
bloomed delightful last summer. Mrs. P. D., Brookside, Mont. 
Interesting Items 
“The kiss of the sun for pardon 
The song of the birds for mii-th. 
One is nearer God’s heart in a garden 
Than anywhere else on earth.” 
The most direct route to your friends’ heart is through flowering 
plants. 
Flowers which combine well in a bouquet will always combine 
well in a garden. 
Iris and other flowering plants set out before winter closes the 
ground, will be quite certain to bloom the following season. 
Your consideration is invited to the many practical offers of flow¬ 
ering plants listed in this copy of “The Iris News.” Let us help you 
enjoy your beautiful gardens. 
Vegetables are material things to satisfy the stomach. Flowers 
are spiritual things to satisfy the soul. What a glorious thing it is 
to have a garden in bloom with flowers. 
When in a flower garden we can learn to handle plants as a painter 
learns to handle colors and a poet learns how to handle words, 
then we will make the earth a paradise of beauty. 
Iris plants will be sent dry packed. Then they will come through 
safely. Moisture and heat induces rot. Iris rhizones should be dry 
before being packed and then packed in dry exeelsior. Plants for¬ 
warded in this manner should reach customer O. K. any time of the 
year. 
We cannot all be sculptors, or painters, or writers, or orators. 
But we all have creative energy and it can find universal expression 
in working out the details of a flower garden and painting a fascinat¬ 
ing landscape by using nature’s colorful flowers in their multitude 
of varieties and time of blooming. 
Here is a good hint. The presence of white always brings the plant¬ 
ing nearer to the eye. Blue retires the planting so that where the 
effect of space is to be increased, as in small gardens, it will be wise 
to plant the white and bright colors near the front of the garden, 
using such colors as lavender, mauves, and especially blues for the 
rear beds or back portion of the borders, as this will make them 
I appear farther away and so increase the apparent size. 
The exciting process of building a flower garden will come this 
spring to many new and many former lovers of gardens. New homes 
have been built in localities which give more or less ground space for 
the cultivation of flowers and an appreciation of their beauty which 
so greatly enriches life. And many former lovely flower gardens were 
so distressfully damaged by last year’s drouth and hot weather that 
it seems advisable to reconstruct them with new designs and replace¬ 
ments of desirable plant material. 
Blue is the color of heaven. It is the most beautiful of all colors, the 
most intangible and the most difficult to get. A ftlue rose is like a 
blue moon—non existant. There is no satisfactory blue gladiolus. 
But there are many Irises that are blue—and evtry shade of blue. 
: In fact more colors may be found in the Iris thaii in all the other 
species of (lowers .combined. It is said that artiste in mosaic work 
make use of more than sixty thousand colors, tints! hues, and shades. 
Thy could find all these colors, tints, hues, and shades in the more 
than four thousand named varieties of Iris. We look into the sky 
at night and think we can see many thousands of stars, but in the 
northern hemisphere we can see with the eye less than four thousand 
stars, a named Iris for each star. 
Scientists claim that blue flowers are the oldest in the evolution 
| of Nature, yellow next, then white, while red flowers are the newest 
j development. 
Dorothea V 
j The accounts of the martyrdom of the youthful. . esarian Christian 
j maiden Dorothea differ somewhat but the follow sel; is a fair recital 
j of the accepted incidents surrounding her speeuftular death three 
hundred years after the crucifixion. ;pin 
Trials of the Christians were being held in tip . <urt of Sapricius, 
the governor of Cappadacia, north of Palestine. -g>philus, a young 
office holder and friend of the governor was sly listening to 
the questions and answers. One after another UBS Christians had 
refused to deny their faith and were sentenced to die. 
“Who next?” asked the Governor. “Dorothea, a maiden from 
Caesaria,” was the reply. 
There came a hush over the people as there was brought before the 
\ court a fair and beautiful girl just entering womanhood. Her lovable 
! personality attracted the attention of Theophilus. “What a pity,” 
i he thought, "if this fair Christian should die.” 
She answered the usual questions simply and with unfaltering voice. 
“Do you fear nothing, neither pain nor death ?” she was asked. 
“I have no fear of death,” she answered, “for it will take me to 
Him whom I love.” 
; “Who is it you love?” demanded Sapricius. 
Dorothea gladly answered, “Christ the Son of God.” 
“Where is this Christ?” continued the questioning Governor. 
I “He is everywhere,” said the girl in her magnetic voice. “In His 
I humanity He is on earth, in His divinity he is in Paradise. He waits 
i for me.” 
| “Dorothea, earth itself is Paradise,” said the listening Theophilus. 
“Think of its trees and flowers and birds. How can you bear to leave 
them ?” 
1 “In Paradise there are yet more wonderful beauties and joys than 
were ever on earth. Trees and grass are always green, apples like 
globes of gold glisten in the leaves, lilies and roses never die, their 
1 fragrances never cease, and rippling brooks flow with the water of 
■ life eternal.” 
The thrilling eloquence of the maiden rebuked the Governor. 
“Enough of this,” he said. “You shall go to your beautiful Paradise 
at once. Lead her to execution,” he commanded. 
Theophilus, who had been idly passing the time waiting for an 
evening banquet he was to attend, said to Dorothea as she moved by: 
j “Young believer in Christ, if what you say is true, send me some 
; fruit and flowers from Paradise.” 
“I will, Theophilus,” promised Dorothea. 
I At the banquet that night, Theophilus made merry with his friends. 
I They drank and feasted and sang and each told a tale of what had 
happened to him that day. At last Theophilus said to them. “These 
are common things you speak of. Today a miracle has been promised 
me.” With boisterous shouts and laughter he was asked: “What has 
happened to you today?” 
“At the trial of the Christians in the court of Sapricus this day a 
' lovely damsel told me she was going to Paradise, and promised to 
send me fruit and flowers from heaven.” 
'j Then all was hushed for a strange thing happened. In the banquet 
i hall appeared an angelic child arrayed in white robes. The little angri 
' clasped three apples in its right hand and three roses in its left hand 
| and presented them to Theophilus, saying to him “Dorothea, who 
i has just entered Paradise, sends these to you." The gift was accepted 
and the angel vanished. 
“Who next,” cried Sapricius the next morning when more Christ¬ 
ians were being tried. 
“Theophilus ’of Cappadocia,” he was told. 
“What idle tale is this?” the Governor frowned. 
! "This is no jest,” answered Theophilus. “I come to confess Christ, 
j in Whom I believe. Dorothea taught me.” 
And Theophilus was sentenced to Paradise by the Governor. 
This name-story of Dorothea and Theophilus seems especially or 
| propriate for “Dorothea” means “the gift of God” and “Theophilus 
' means a “lover of God.” 
Plants of Dorothea Iris are ten cents each; twelve plants, $1. 
When the name Taj Mahal 
by Miss Sturtevant, she made a 
Ij'is with the immortal story of 
tin e—Shah Jehan of Agra in N 
wives but when he married the. 
her so alluring that she became 
Shah Jehan was grief stricken. 
Love and beauty ever go han 
termined to build the most beau 
his greatest architect, Ustad 
mausoleum in memory of Munt: 
Taj Mahal 
beautiful white Iris 
which linked the 
_ of all 
India. 
Princess, Arjemhnd, 
's favoij^e. W.hen the Empi 
A: 
rhhajWQrld. He called 
Jded/hQri a 
mausoleum in memory of Muntfz MahaJ. “Make it as IWauiflyrf,/ saicU 
the Emperor, “as she was beaiJifufr ‘a£d<2Ucate, as graceful. Make 
the image and soul of her lovelN**^/^ 
And Ustad Isa dreamed of a finishe^PTftiFHwia], majeslic, 
a symbol of the regal beauty of Arjemand, and an $*i>*e$4qn of' 
adoration of Shah Jehan for his queen. 
^ ord was sent to all countries for the most skilled workers in goldT 
silver and precious gems. Artisans from everywhere who could work 
with mosaics and marbles. The best architects were bidden to furnish 
their most exquisite designs. The world was searched for the best of 
all materials. When all was ready the work began and twenty thousand 
workers labored incessantly for twenty-one years to complete the 
masterpiece. Hundreds upon hundreds of artist-slaves perished as they 
worked and when the incomparable structure had been finished there 
was issued a decree that not one of the workmen should ever see 
again, lest some other potentate, jealous and envious, might attempt to 
build a structure as handsome in some foreign land. 
Like the New Jerusalem, twelve manner of stones garnished it; Cor¬ 
nelian from Bagdad, turquois from Thibet, garnet from the Ganges, 
Chrysolite from the Nile, Jasper from the Punjab, diamond from 
Panna, Coral from Ceylon, onyx from Decan, and alabaster, lapis- 
lazuli and malachite, with pearls from the ocean-carved marble as 
filmy as Venetian lace throughout the interior decorations. Wrought 
into flowers, scrolls and wreaths these gems and marbles glow 
and glisten with exquisite colors. 
Around the windows are scrolls and garlands of flowers made of 
jasper, malachite, amethyst, mother-of-pearl, coral and lapis-lazuli, 
a single setting of which may contain more than a hundred colors. 
Bishop Heber said: It would be as easy to tell how the birds sing 
or the lilacs smell as to describe the Taj. 
The principal parts of the building are overlaid outside and in 
with white marble, while the sepulchral apartment and dome are 
ornamented by exquisite and skillfully laid mosaic work. The dome 
reaches to a height of 243 feet. The entire cost of the Taj was more 
than thirty-five million dollars. One of its carpets, 20 feet by 20 feet, 
contained fifty-seven million knots and took the constant work of 
several slaves nearly eighteen years. 
A bronze lamp of rare design and workmanship inlaid with silver 
and gold is suspended by a golden chain just where it will shed its 
soft light over the tombs. It took the unceasing work of the most 
skilled artisan in Egypt two years to make the lamp. 
Just beneath the center of the dome is the screen surrounding the 
tombs of Shah Jehan, the emperor, and his wife, Arjemand. The screen 
is considered one of the most flawless pieces of decoration in existence. 
It is a mass of marble lacework set between columns as exquisitely 
made as the most perfect Florentine mosaics. 
There are many buildings that have color of stone, purity of out¬ 
line, faultlessness of form, delicacy and richness of decoration, but 
theY do not possess that bewildering thing about their beauty that 
fas/inates the mind and stirs the soul as does the sight of the Taj 
Mafial with its romantic story. 
In this beautiful mausoleum a loving heart speak to all mankind, 
for the Taj Mahal is the most lovely, enchanting and enduring monu¬ 
ment ever built to honor the feminine beauty and fascination of an 
adored woman. 
Plants of Taj Mahal Iris are 19 cents each; 10 for $1.50. 
Veronica Incana 
I know of no flower that has more of religion, romance, supposed 
medical properties, folk-lore and poetry surrounding its name, than 
does Veronica Incana. 
John Burroughs, America’s greatest nature lover, found it blooming 
on the grave of the immortal Carlyle, and called it the prettiest flower 
he saw in England. 
The Chinese Artists, unique in their conception of beauty, call its 
lovely shade of blue the “sky after rain.” 
The following name story of Veronica is fashioned on incidents 
taken from the Bible, religious traditions and medical history. 
The beloved disciple St. John in describing the events of the cruci¬ 
fixion of Jesus said: “and they took Jesus, and led him away. And he, 
bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull.” 
According to tradition the procession passed the home of a certain 
Jewish maiden and she saw the Christ toiling toward Calvary bearing 
his heavy cross, and ran to him to wipe the drops of agony from his 
brow with her linen veil. This kindly and sympathetic act seemed 
to merit a special miracle for when the maiden reached home and 
unfolded the cloth she beheld that the outlines of the face of Jesus 
had been supernaturally imprinted on its folds. 
In time this portrait, held in such supreme veneration was called 
vera iconica, the “true likeness,” which, to touch, contributed to 
cure disease. 
Flower lovers of the middle ages, with active imagination, stimu¬ 
lated with a fancied resemblance of the outlines on the linen to the 
countenance of Christ, gave the name Veronica the “true likeness” 
to a plant we now know as Speedwell or Veronica, because of some 
image-forming suggestion. 
Being considered a holy object, endowed with miraculous curative 
powers for those who could make the pilgrimage to Rome, the step 
was easy for those who could not go, to make use of the popular 
plant bearing the pitying saints name “Veronica.” 
The names Veronica and Speedwell are interchangeable on the 
plants which the great Swedish naturalist grouped under the family 
name “Scrofulariaceae,” for they were claimed to be an infallible 
remedy for all scrofulous diseases. Veronica officinalis was used in 
some countries as a “tonic, sudorific, diuretic and expectorant medi¬ 
cine.” The leaves of this variety of Veronica are also used in Sweden 
ana other Northern countries as a substitute for tea. 
Catholics and those who visit their Churches know that a picture 
of St. Veronica marks one of the stations of the cross. 
However we view the matter, the Jewish maiden seems to have 
been a real personage and Veronica is a lovely name by whomsoever 
borne. 
Veronica Incana is the loveliest of the speedwells. Its silver: 
foliage nestling close to the ground in loose rosettes is very attrac- 
ti e whether the plant is in or out of bloom. The flower stalks aver¬ 
age a foot in height, topped With a bloom spike several inchef long, 
otaing to a point and crowded with delicate bright sky-biue llov ers. 
H is an excellent subject for the hardy border and rockery and alon;. 
rhe garden path. Field grown plants of Veronica Incana are 1.5 een 
each or ten plants for $1. 
Join Our 
Name-Story Club 
iSvery customer for our flowering plants to tl*-* amount cf c . 
cl -Iar or over, automatically becomes a member f our .\*»ine-Sfer.* 
Club. This membership places your name on ouv ma ting list to re¬ 
ceive all of our .flower name stories free of all clcirgo. This is part 
0 / our-flowering plant service. 
.11 plants are sent postpaid d rect to your box. 
