





“1c Copy — 12 Issues $1.00 

PIONEER SEED COMPANY 
The Acidity Requirement 
el the Franklinia Tree 

+ Rarest of American flowering 
trees, until 1790 plentiful along 
_ Georgia banks by the peaty brown 
_ Alatamaha River, Franklinia eee 
saved from the unkind fate of th 
passenger pigeon by John Bart. 
yam of Philadelphia, and pam in 
“shar of his friend, enjamin 
“Fratklin, From a single cutting 
taken by Bartram on a botanical 
in ion of the back woods 
os h and transported via saddle 
to his Philadelphia garden, 
has it we are indebted for 
oe ancy and pleasure of this 
. flowering rarity. For, 
_ though men have sought the tree 
5 or, native haunts, it has vanish- 
= the complete disappearance be- 
_ ing one of our great plant myster- 




= Biaedy on Long Island, it is a 
ove tree immediately recognized 
oz Forest 
Paradise 
tr sae shave just received a letter 
a clipping from the Atlanta 




ournal, which says in part: 
_ & disabled Navy veteran of 
<= both ‘Wars and a one-armed Army, 
r- _ captain of World War I have set- 
= tied down near here in a wood- 
: paradise to listen to the sing- 
eae of Peach Stone shoais. 
"we 21 years in the Navy, 
‘Duke Howard, 49, found the land 
he hhad dreamed about at sea — 30 
; of woods, springs, and flow- 
ers. It runs two miles along South 
River, about four miles from Con- 
eS (Georgia) on State Highway 

“Together Duke and Capt. Ted 
Brown plan to clean out tne 
‘springs and wells on the 90 acres, 
“reopen the trails, and keep the 
_ woods as they are. On five acres 
- mountain laurel and wild azaleas 
bloom in thick clusters, sweet- 
shrubs have sprinkled themselves 
-across the path, and there are two 
~aeres of pure sand along the river 
_ “The holly trees rise almost 4s 
thick as the dogwood.” 
Mr, Duke has written asking 
suggestions for further planting 
“to add to the beauty of the place. 
Lacking familiarity with his cli- 
_-mate and soil, we can offer only 
long-range advice. Perhaps sonic 
of our readers will be interested 
in making suggestions, especially 
those who garden in similar cli- 
‘matie conditions. 
The beautiful woodland is open 
to the public, and Mr. Duke wiil 
welcome visitors. 
dl pe cos a 

STARTING SEED OF 
RHODODENDRON 
The seed of Rhododendron will 
inate in two to four weeks if 
planted in flats or pans containing 
an acid, sandy peat, or sand mixed 
; -puly decayed oak lit- 
will Geaiily respond 
ty. or fifty degree tem- 
e, or that of a cool green- 
I Beak also be started in 
he cold frame in April. 
Sow the seed on the surface of 
‘soil and cover with milled 
The containet should be 
glass and watered 















the tiny seedlings are 
“sages they should 
as uncommon, worth infinite care 
to insure its contentment and heal- 
thy growth in the small, cared for 
garden. Choose an “always in the 
eye” location for its planting, 
where jit may be visited and enjoy- 
ed at all seasons. 
Two six foot, matched specimens 
were received by the writer in Ap- 
ril, 1941, and planted in careuflly 
pre-dug holes by a small pool. 
Drainage was accomplished by a 
base of gravel, and a specially pre- 
pared soil mixture of humus, sand 
and peat moss used to fill in and 
cover the roots, 
Their sleek, smooth fitting grey 
bark has all the grace and appeal 
of a. conditioned, meticulously 
groomed thoroughbred: horse. The 
growth of leaf buds was slow, with 
warm springy days, however, came 
the color effective eruption of’ pin- 
point crimson leaf buds, burtsing 
to unfold vivid green lustrous leaf- 
lets, Mature leaves are large and 
subject to damage from driving 
spring rains and strong winds. The 
whorled arrangement of leayes 
along the length of new growth is 
perfect for effective display of the 
blossoms, which make their ap- 
pearance in early August as tiny! 
green cooled white marbles. 
mid-August, the curious guard pet-; 
al relaxes to allow the unfolding of 
the splendid carrara bowl with its 
(Continued on Page 21) 
By| 

OVER 4,000 
SPECIES & VARIETIES 
FEBRUARY, 1950 
In The Mail 
Our catalog has been delayed a 
month this year due to the late ar- 
rival of several hundred different 
flower seeds, which has been ex- 
pected for some time, The failure 
to make delivery in many cases, 
cauess considerable expense in 
handling orders, not to mention the 
disappointment and delay with our 
customer; therefore, this short de- 
lay in getting the catalog out this 
month should prevent many of the 
“short” items. 

No Names « 
Quite often orders and letters 
arrive without the name or again 
without an adress. Mrs._Nathalie 
R. Cook, sends in an order in May 
without an address and we presume 
she is wondering why we don’t 
mail her her seeds. Names in our 
files come first under states, then 
the cities, so you see when only 
the name is given, its impossible to 
locate the customer. Write us Mrs. 
Cook. 
Liberty Hyde Bailey 
We were very pleased to have 
Dr, Bailey call upon us in the 
fall. The writer considers him the 
outstanding*botanist of the present 
time and no one has accomplished 
so much. His Hortus II, we use 
every day in the year. Dr, Bailes) 
THE SAIER CATALOG OF 

ARE ano POPULAR FLOWER SEEDS — 
VEGETABLE ano GRASS SEEDS 
GARDEN BULBS- ALL KINDS 
GARDENER’S SUPPLIES 

DIMONDALE, MICHIGAN, U.S.A. 

50-16 
As Issued — Number 
The Penstemon Hirsutus 
New Gladwyne Varities 
About fifteen years ago I started 
growing Penstemons. The opopr- 
tunity came when Dr. Pennell gave 
me ~seeds from his herbarium 
sheets. 
The members of this family are 
indeed a fascinating tribe to grow; 
there is much beauty and great 
variety in the different speciaes. 
With the war years, I, and indeed 
many others, lost many of our rar- 
er and more difficult plants 
through unwilful neglect. Maybe 
the lesson was a severe one, but 
in many cases it served to show 
where true value lay. Of over a 
hundred species of Penstemons, 
only about twenty-five remained. 
Penstemon hirsutus stood every 
kind of neglect and indeed seemed 
to thrive on it, a rare trait for a 
Penstemon. The | beautiful color 
forms that I had collected a few 
years previously in Pennsylvania, 
not far from my home, greatly in- 
creased their numbers. Self-sown 
seedlings appeared all over my trial 
garden. Best of all they throve in 
heavy clay, in sandy peat and in 
the crushed limestone section, This! 
awakened me to their great value. 
For about ter years naw I have 
was planni 2 upo) makine og crip Teen making selectons wntil these} 
to Africa on Palm diseases the } 
British were having in their palm 
(Continued on Page 27) 

bright and beautiful colors come 
quite “true” from seed. There are 
deep plum-purples, vivid blues, 

New 

California Giant 
Raise Your Own Iris From Seed 
Of the hundreds of species and 
forms of Iris (not counting named 
varieties of the bearded and “Jap- 
anese” types) only a small per- 
centage can be obtained as plants, 
eyen from the Iris specialists. Yet 
many of these, icluding some of the 

very choicest, are frequently offer- 
ed as seed which has been gathered 
in the garden of some amateur en- 
thusiast. 
The gardener who wants a really 
fine collection can by examing the 
fine coltection of examing the seed 
othewise unobtainable, and with 
very little trouble (and only a rea- 
sonable amount of patience) raise 
them to flowering size in one to 
three years. In many cases, es- 
pecially that of the beautiful but 
(Continued on Page 27) 

— 
many enchanting shades of 
and an occasional crimson. 
The foliage of P. hirsutus, al- 
ways good, takes on new and hand- 
some purple and crimson tints in 
these color forms, especially in 
winter. 
I will be very happy if P. hirsu- 
tus “Gladwyne varieties” gives to 
others as much pleasure as they 
give to me. 
Mary G. Henry, Gladwyne, Pa. 
In the past this particular strain 
of Penstemon hirsutus has not 
been definitely named in seed lists 
but we ‘are now glad to know that 
Mrs. Henry has decided to call 
them “Gladwyne Varieties” and we 
will in the future list this beautiful 
and valuable strain under this 
name, Those of our readers who 
have not yet tried this strain have 
a surprise in store for them; you 
will find it listed in the Penstemon 
(Continued om Page 27) 
pink 
Amaryllis 
Germinating 
Mr) Clava Bangs writes abou 
her success with Amaryllis and her 
remarks on germinating them may 
be of interest to many of our 
readers. 
She writes, “I have learned an 
easy way to germinate Amarylis 
seed. A package of seed which I 
forgot to plant in the fall, was 
used in December when I was put~- 
ting slow type Lily seed into glass 
jars-containing vermiculite; I put 
the Amaryllis seed into one, just 
to see what it would do. 
Yesterday, Jan. 4th, (30 days 
after) I was surprised to see some 
had sprouted, so I sifted out the 
vermiculite and planted the seed 
in a mixture of the vermiculite and 
soil, with a layer of the vermicu- 
lite over the seed and this morn- 
ing some are up thru it and I be- 
lieve all the seed is now ready to 
sprout.” 
She states she also is trying 
Hemerocallis and Iris, but we 
would think the latter would be 
best if planted in soil outdoors. 
RAISING HERBACEOUS AND 
ALPINE PERENNIALS FROM 
SEED 
In the numerous group of per- 
ennials, such as the Delphiniums 
and the herbacious Paeonies, 
which do not bloom the first year 
from seed, little is gained by 
starting them under glass, and es- 
pecially is this true of the slow 
germinating perennials such as the 
Paeonia. 
However, those whose seed may 
lose their vitality quickly or 
where the vitality is suspected due 
to the age or other causes, to be 
below average, it may be an ad- 
vantage to start the seed indoors. 
This is also true of expensive seeds 
~ those which are in very small 
quantities. One is more liable to 
raise a larger percentage, when 
handled under glass. 
There is also a class of peren- 
nials such as many of the Penste- 
mons, the late blooming Phlox, 
some Salvias and many others that 
will bloom the first season if 
started early under glass. A year 
would be saved in this class if 
started indoors early in the spring. 
And again, when only limited 
quantities are wanted, the best 
way may be to start them under 
glass. 


