ORCHID MARVEL (Jack ’47) 566 (EM). Milton Jack’s finest origina- 
tion, in our opinion. A lovely shade of orchid lavender with a faint cream 
line on lip petals. Makes really beautiful spikes with from 7 to 9 big round 
flowers open at once, slightly ruffled. A fine grower and good propagator, 
making good bulbs here. My personal favorite among the many fine varle- 
ties in somewhat similar shades. 
L 50, M.30, S 2—.30, Bulblets 4—.20, 10—.40, 100—$3.00 
ORPHEUS (Roberts ’48) 423 (E-EM). Not a very tall grower, but a glad 
of most unusual coloring. A clear salmon orange with an orange-red spear 
on the creamy-yellow throat. Opens up to 8 five-inch flowers on fair spikes. 
Strictly a novelty and fancier’s flower. 
L .50, M.35, Bulblets 4—.20, 10—.40, 100—$3.00 
PACTOLUS (K & M, Holland 47) 417 (E). One of the top gladiolus to 
come out of the Netherlands in recent years, Pactolus is an extremely 
showy variety. The bright yellow buff is attractively offset by a bold red 
blotch; a contrast well-liked by almost everyone. In addition, it is one of 
the first glads to bloom. Almost too early for most shows, altho it did 
pick up some blue ribbons at 1950 shows, including the Reserve 3-spike 
Champ award at Waterloo, Iowa. 
L .35, M.25, S 2—.25, Bulblets 10—.20, 100—$1.75 
PARTHIENA (Hitchcock ’49) 566 (EM). A prize-winning dark lavender 
or light purple that has made a fine show record from coast to coast. It 
makes a very impressive spike with its many (7 to 9) open flowers on 
tall spikes with long flowerheads. It doesn’t stand the heat too well if 
opened in the field; cut with one or two out and opened inside it is fine. 
Attachment fairly good, altho calyx extends further from the stem than 
is desirable for easiest handling. Probably not a commercial type, but a 
deluxe exhibition sort. Continued its winning record with the following 
1950 awards: Grand Champion spike at Northern California; Best 3-spike 
and Champion Giant single spike as well as Hall of Fame winner, Boston- 
NEGS; Reserve Champion, Oneida, N. Y.; plus a rating of 84 points at 
the Rhode Island trial gardens. 
L .50, M.35, S.25, Bulblets 4—.25, 10—.50, 100—$4.00 
PASTELINE (Kolb °49) 440-540 (ML). A real giant of the gladiolus 
world. Our spikes from No. 3 bulbs towered above almost everything else 
in our plantings last year. Also the flowers are among the largest; cer- 
tainly should be reclassified from 440 to 540 if our spikes last summer 
were typical of the variety. As we use no fertilizer on our bulbs except 
a cover crop, our spikes of most varieties do not average as large or tall 
as those grown by many others; however, we believe our spikes of Pastel- 
ine would have been contenders for Championship at any show. Since it 
blooms fairly late in the season it should be planted early to hit most of the 
August shows. Its color is a beautiful soft pink, shading a little lighter 
toward the center. Nicely rounded, slightly frilled florets; 6 to 8 of these 
huge flowers are open on very long stretchy flowerheads. It is not often 
that we see size and height combined with such lovely pastel coloring as 
is found in Pasteline. We predict that it will be immensely popular when 
better known. Should be planted deep or well hilled up with dirt around 
the stems, as the giant flowerheads may tip the plants over in a wind- 
storm. 
L $1.00, M.60, S .40, Bulblets 4—.25, 10—.50 
“Your descriptions mean more to me than those of any other cataloguer. 
I have used your catalogue as a source book of information in deciding 
what varieties to stock for next year.” 
Carl Fischer, Noweta Gardens, St. Charles, Minn., 1949 
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