Spring, 1953 
WHITE FLOWER FARM, LITCHFIELD, CONN. 
Ah oat the Vbryed?- as Comparative 
Shopping 560-0 ed, Ordering Early 
W. like to think of White Flower Farm as the place 
where out-of-ordinary plants can be bought. This doesn’t 
necessarily mean new ones—we are slow to offer new 
varieties until they have been grown and tested to our 
own satisfaction. We mean unusual plants. Right this min- 
ute we mean Frais du Bois. Those who have been to 
France and eaten these Strawberries of the Woods (with 
clotted sweet cream) wonder why on earth they can’t buy 
them here. There are several reasons: most Americans 
like the biggest strawberry they can get (these are the 
smallest); they like to pick a bushel in half an hour (you 
can’t do that with Frais); and because demand is so low 
strawberry growers don’t grow them. So we do. Plants 
will be ready for shipment this fall: $6.00 a dozen for 
the runner types; $7.20 a dozen for the upright kinds, 
which, by the way, make a charming border plant. There 
won‘t be many available so you’d better reserve some. 
We will mix varieties satisfactorily for you. 
By unusual we also mean Miniature Gladiolithere’s 
a long list of these appealing and completely useful 
flowers which the Gladioli hobbyists leave strictly alone 
in their search for bigger-than-giant spikes. 
No, this isn’t a Lilliputian flower bazaar—we do have 
the biggest, fattest Tuberous-rooted Begonias that have 
ever come down the pike in the Camelia-Rose form. Each 
produces a bush. Also, we’re offering named varieties in 
this form of Tuberous-roots. As we said, they are unusual 
and you can’t pick them up around the corner. 
Still more unusual are Cymbidium Orchids—for those 
who have patience and a cool room. Cymbidiums do not 
like high temperatures and require nothing special in 
soil. They are wonderfully rewarding. Ours are named, 
non-florist fancy varieties and for those patient gardeners 
who will wait for one bulb to grow into three bulbs and 
a flowering stalk the third year—well, there’s nothing 
quite so satisfactory and the resulting plant will be quite 
valuable, too. 
Friend of ours told us he’d been comparing our prices 
with prices in other catalogues. “What did you find?” 
we asked. “Well,” he said, ““you’re higher on some.” We 
allowed that was possible. “But,” he added, “you're lower 
on some, too. It’s right confusing.” 
It may seem confusing, but you can’t compare mere 
prices in catalogues; you must have the plants in hand. 
You need to compare packing methods, you ought to 
know when the plants were lifted from the field (ours are 
all shipped the same day) but the most important test of 
all—grow the two side by side under the same conditions. 
To be sure of quality we make these comparative tests 
constantly and seldom indeed is The Farm’s stock beaten. 
In the instances where our prices are lower and our 
quality high it is always with varieties that reach optimum 
size quickly and cheaply. Dicentra Eximia is one plant 
of several in this category. We ship three for $1.35 which 
is enough for this easily produced plant, but it is hard 
to find it priced for less than $1.65. If you’ve been won- 
dering about the differences in price in nursery cata- 
logues maybe this will help clear it up. 
Now to our annual plea for early orders. Item: We 
have to dig and ship everything within a few short spring 
weeks. Item: The paper work on your order must be 
processed and this work should be done in January 
through March, so that nothing stands in the way of our 
highly personalized preparation and shipping from April 
on. Item: An early order insures getting it on time regard- 
less of weather here in Litchfield, and, if we are out of 
stock and can’t ship a plant, we are able to notify you so 
you have a chance to get it elsewhere. 
Oh well, no more items, but it is a fact that we’re right 
popular locally and after May Ist the place is jammed 
with nice but very firm gardeners who care not a hoot 
what's going outside of Litchfield. So...if you want to be 
popular with our hard working staff and get extra, un- 
ordered and valuable tidbits in your package—order 
early. 
The Partners of White Flower Farm 
P. S. Be sure to see the test plantings of Daffodils and 
Tulips in April-May—over 4,000 Tulips and 2,000 Daffo- 
dils. It’s quite a show. 
Marjorie Tonkin, Business Manager 
Twenty-five Cents 
INDEX 
Almond, Flowering ...... 14 
Altheaixite. ee 12 
Alyssuin fx cca:eeccercerees 1 
Anchusal--cocesceoe 1 
Aquilegia ................5 1 
ASt@TS Bak esrdccntancte 1 
Astilbesncee ne oon 9 
Azaleast=..5..canee 12 
Baby’s Breath .............. 4 
Balloon Flower ............ 7 
Beauty Bush 
Begonias=:-..----....- 
Bleeding Heart .......... 4 
Buddleiaitit..=.nane 13 
Butterfly Shrub ............ 13 
Campanula ................ 1 
Caryopteris <:.........-... 13 
Christmas Rose ............ 16 
Chrysanthemunss ......... 2 
Chrysanthemum 
Maximum ................ 3 
Clethra Alnifolia.......... 13 
Columbine =n ae 1 
Goral)Bells enone nes 4 
Cotoneaster 
Crabs, Flowering 
Cydonidyeeee neaees 
Daphne .... 
Day Lilies 
Delphinium ................ 3 
Deutzialaececace cece 14 
Dianthusise, see 4 
Dicentralies.cs ee 4 
Dogwood ......5:8-s05...00. WW 
Evergreen, Broadleaf ..11 
Evergreens 
Needle Types .......... 10 
Evonymus ................005 14 
Forsythia ............0000. 14 
Gadgets ............:c00008 16 
Gaillardia .................. 4 
Gladioli==. = 6 
Gypsophila ................ 4 
Hawthorn ...............005.- 11 
Helleborus ....... 
Hemerocallis .............. 5 
Hemlockinssee oon 11 
Herbs ee 9-10 
Heucherea .................6 4 
Hibiscus .... sale) 
Holly®axx. See WW 
Honeysuckle .... 14 
Hydrangea .... 14 
Hypericum ...... 13 
Iberis ........... ea) 
Hextet tesa eer eke 11 
[ris ected ako hse tan wee 4 
Kalmiaicsee 11 
Laurel itiesse ee 11 
Liatrus $2.4 os 7 
Lilacs 24. eos 15 
Lonicera nee 14 
Lupine isco: 5 
Magnolia .................... 12 
Mallowiseoee eee 15 
Maple2ce ees 11 
Michaelmas Daisies .... 1 
Mockorange ............... 15 
Mountain Andromeda..11 
Orchids geeee eee 4 
Oriental Poppy.............. 7 
Ornamental Trees ...... 11 
Peach, Flowering ........ 11 
Peonies...ci.vacccscesseescoces 
Pepperbush ................ 13 
Philadelphus .............. 15 
Phiox tee 7 
Platycodon ................ if 
Polemoniunmn ................ 9 
Potentilla ................5 15 
Pyracantha ................ 11 
Pyrethrum ..............05 if 
Quince 2s eee 13 
Rhododendron ............ a 
Roses .............. . 8 
Salixte eee 15 
Shasta Daisy .............. 3 
piraea ........... 9-15 
Thymus ..... 9-10 
ritomejeeecees reer 16 
Veronica ..... ak? 
Viburnum ...................- 15 
Viola Aes: 16 
Pen & Ink IIlustrations by Nils Hogner 
