Cake SDOnaUsse Ons DISTINCTION 3 


Oat VEO ERD 
MY 1950 CATALOG 1S presented for your approval and consideration. May I take 
this opportunity to extend greetings to all my loyal friends and customers, and to express 
my appreciation for the splendid business given me by them last season. 
In looking over my last season’s foreword, I find that I noted a very dry growing sea- 
son in 1948. During the present season, I believe we had even less rainfall as a whole, the 
blooming months of July and August being especially dry. Weather is something we can- 
not turn on and off and tho irrigation is of value still it cannot take the place of the God- 
given moisture from above. At this writing of September 1, fall rains are starting and 
bulblet growth was never better, tho general quality of blooms was not up to the standard 
of past years. 
This season I had promised myself to attend several out of state shows, but conflicting 
dates of our several Wisconsin shows and. Wisconsin State Fair again prevented. I missed 
the renewal of acquaintances which these afford, but was in part compensated by frequent 
visits of gladiolus lovers to my own garden. Once again I want to say that the latchstring 
is always out. 
The gladiolus are, in common with most industries, passing thru a period of readjust- 
ment, following an abnormal demand during the war and early postwar years. Problems 
will arise and are in fact arising, but like the threat to the industry by thrips a decade or 
so ago, they will be met in due time. Our experiment stations are doing a good work along 
this line and they will require the cooperation of every grower. I sometimes wonder what 
the floral industry would do without our gladiolus, for there is no other flower to take their 
place in season. 
The variety PICARDY, while conspicuous for its absence from the show table in recent 
years, will always be distinguished for the white sports which reverted from this variety. 
There was little to choose between LEADING LADY and SILVER WINGS, both being ex- 
cellent as usual. SNOW FLURRY may be a bit smaller in floret size but is a consistent 
performer. MORNING STAR is the whitest of this group, with possibly the largest floret 
size. LADY ANNE and TEXAS grow tall and large, with the added advantage of earliness. 
LEADING LIGHT is somewhat similar to LEADING LADY and has good growing habits. 
It should be more widely grown. The ruffled whites are becoming more in evidence. My 
favorite is still WHITE CHRISTMAS with strong runners-up in WHITE GODDESS, 
WHITE MAGIC and WHITE WINGS. One of the finest to come out of Canada is FLOR- 
ENCE NIGHTINGALE. I have yet to find a fault in this stellar variety. WAX MODEL 
is snowy white with a rosy lavender throat. WHITE CHALLENGE is one of the best to be 
offered in recent years and has real show calibre. It is usually found up among the win- 
ners. LA BELLE has a daintiness of ruffling rarely seen. Few glads perform better from 
the smaller sizes. The giant of whites is undoubtedly RELIANT and being late can be 
depended upon to be at its best in September, when cooler weather and fall rains combine 
to provide ideal growing conditions. I am proud to be one of the introducers of MISS 
ALBERTA, a glad of proven performance and a real addition to the white section. The 
fact that it received the highest awards in Trial Garden tests this season should commend 
it to the commercial grower. The lightly frilled white florets are enhanced by a pure 
lavender blotch on the two lower petals near the throat. I predict a great future for 
MISS ALBERTA. 
The chaste beauty of a basket of ORIENTAL PEARL still cannot be denied. A favorite 
cream could well be SPINDRIFT, opening as it does 8 to 10 beautifully ruffled creamy 
white florets. Two 1949 yellow introductions stood out foremost among the varieties in this 
color class, namely CYNTHIA and AUGUST MOON. CYNTHIA appears to be the best 
early light yellow. I shall never forget a basket of this variety, as shown at our Wisconsin 
Seedling Show 1948. Florists love it for make-up work and its good keeping qualities. 
AUGUST MOON gave me some of the largest and finest spikes. The color is pure light 
yellow and it is a giant in size). GARDEN GOLD from the same originator is a worthy 
contempory. JAVA also falls in the giant class with more depth of color. GLEAM and 
KATHY LEE appeal to those who favor the ruffled varieties. The smaller flowered ones 
still have their place and COLOR MARVEL with its tints of yellow, orange and pink has 
the unmistakable quality which we call charm. SPUN GOLD also falls in this size class. 
It does not attain great height but is early and is ideal for florists’ use. GOLD MEDAL 
combines the ultimate in size and ruffling. General impression is yellow but it classes as a 
buff and has an enviable record of winning wherever shown. A basket of SUNSPOT is 
something to behold. This variety is losing none of its well deserved popularity. From 
