WHITE FLOWER FARM‘s advertising usually addresses 
a Mrs. Richards and we have been asked who this lady 
is and where she lives. Mrs. Richards, a fine gardening 
girl (though a figment of imagination), resembles no one 
gardener — and all good gardeners. She chooses well, 
spends wisely and considers the outside of her house as 
important as the inside. When she splurges inside with 
a new rug, chair or what not, she invariably evens things 
up outside by planting some rare specimen she’s wanted 
for a long time. 
She has a successful lout of a husband, who spends all 
his spare time in the basement turning out abominations 
of furniture which she is forced to admire and use. This 
problem she solves by giving them to admiring members 
of his family who hope they are in his will. We think, 
though, that he may turn out to be a pretty good fellow 
after all—this spring he bought a couple of dozen roses 
(she’s a perennial and flowering-shrub gardener) and 
when the Jap beetles started to work on them he came 
running to The Farm for a remedy. He said no (obscenity) 
Jap beetle was going to get his roses, and we warmed to 
him a bit even though we couldn’‘t tell what his motives 
were. Was he simply out after Jap beetles that bothered 
him or out after them because they bothered the roses? 
You'll find these letters to Mrs. Richards cover lots of 
subjects. We told Mrs. Richards about the new building at 
our Sales Center and about our usual difficulties building 
buildings. Parts arrived late and some didn’t arrive at all. 
It’s finished and you and Mrs. Richards are invited to 
look it over. 
She wasn‘t told, but now we tell her about the selec- 
tions of Daffodils, Tulips, Lilies and other flowering bulbs 
in this issue. It isn’t the largest selection of bulbs, but in 
keeping with White Flower Farm’s basic policy, it offers 
the finest of the new, popularly-priced material. For the 
first time (we know of no other, anyway) you can get a 
whens Whos. (Kirst 
collection of six white Daffodils, truly remarkable and 
little known in this country. There are eight pink trumpet 
Daffodils, all of the new John Evelyn hybrids, the best 
of Jan de Graaff’s new lilies, and Grullemans’ (of Hol- 
land) remarkable giant hybrid Amaryllis. The tulip list 
covers the whole range and to help Mrs. R. with color 
selections we’ve grouped the Darwins by shadings. 
She knows about our small but distinguished selection 
of flowering shrubs and small flowering trees. In fact she 
has some White Flower Farm Lilacs—the new French hy- 
brids with substance and colors that surprise even lilacs. 
Fact is, this shrub list represents the best and hardiest 
varieties that we could find in the U.S., France, Holland, 
England and Japan. They aren’t terribly cheap but they 
are not awfully expensive either. They are simply priced 
in relationship to size and rarity, and what earthly differ- 
ence does two or three dollars make in an investment 
that will be around for 15 to 25 years or more? 
Mrs. Richards knows that White Flower Farm will not 
sell roses in the fall. The reason is easy enough—it’s not 
a good idea in this climate to plant roses in the autumn. 
The things must be kept dormant and invariably we get 
a week of Indian summer in late November. This, to a 
rose planted November 10th, is anathema, and, anyway, 
it’s no way to treat a rose. 
ONE THING that’s bothered Mrs. Richards and us for a 
long time is the lag between seeing a certain plant in 
bloom and the time it can be safely moved. An iris in 
bloom in June can’t be moved until August, and when 
it’s ready to move, bare-root, it takes at least two seasons 
to establish it. Peonies are worse—they’re June bloomers 
which can‘t be dug until after frost and the three to five- 
eye roots usually delivered sometimes don‘t bloom for 
three to five years. Other plants, like Gypsophila and 
Lupine, usually must be transplanted from three-inch pots 
and they have an Old Nick’s time getting started in the 
border. So it would be just wonderful to move a mature 
plant, in bloom—then you‘d know the color was right and 
the plant big enough to compete with already established 
plants. 
Well, sir, you can do just that now. 
We are growing specimens of practically everything 
in their own ample tarpaper pots. They have tremen- 
dously strong root balls and a peony, iris, shrub or even 
a small flowering tree can be whipped away from The 
Farm and planted anywhere and never know it’s been 
moved, This growing system is called ‘‘Easimove.” Of 
course, these plants cannot be shipped and are avail- 
able only at the Sales Center, on Route 63, three and 
one-half miles south of Litchfield Village. 
WE'D LIKE to tell Mrs. Richards and you now that The 
Farm is deeply indebted to Nils Hogner, a fine muralist 
and artist residing in Litchfield, for the delicate flower 
drawings that illustrate this catalogue. A Hogner mural 
can be seen in the entrance to one of Litchfield’s banks 
and they are treasures in the homes of many Eastern 
families. She, of course, knows of the beauties of Litch- 
field Village, a New England gem which should be pre- 
served forever. 
Now if there is anything else you’d like to know about 
Mrs. Richards (or White Flower Farm) we’d be delighted 
to tell you. 
The Partners of White Flower Farm. 
