Title: The American florist : a weekly journal for the trade
Identifier: americanfloristw06amer (find matches)
Year: 1885 (1880s)
Authors: American Florists Company
Subjects: Floriculture; Florists
Publisher: Chicago : American Florist Company
Contributing Library: UMass Amherst Libraries
Digitizing Sponsor: Boston Library Consortium Member Libraries

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r8g2. The American Florist. 6i
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YUCCA GL0RI03A.. seem to have some element of discord in their constitution; many are weak grow- ers, some start oft' as if they alw.-iys in- tended to climb and never bloom, others seem strong and robust, but generally the flowers are not as large as those of either parent. Roses can be crossed at almost any time except perhaps duringthe short win- ter days. Seed should be sown as soon as ripe and will germinate in from three weeks to three months. Seedlings from teas crossed will bloom when a few months old; those from teas hybridized will take from a few months to several years. I have some lour years old that have not bloomed and they don't look as though they intended to. Carnations are easily grown from the seed; a large proportion will be double with a great variety of colors, shades, markings. In every lot of seedlings there is almost sure to be a few equal to some of the named varieties, but we want something better and they come up scarce. The best time for crossing carnations is in March or early part of April; later the sun makes the houses hot and the seed does not set as well and insects are more apt to interfere. When ripe pick and put away. Sow soon after the middle of January, keep moderately wet until they germinate, then stop watering, do not give any more until the plants are large enough to pot; never mind the soil look- ing dry, it will not hurt them at that season and if watered they are liable to damp off. After potting treat the same as rooted cuttings and they will begin to bloom early in July. Those that do not bloom before it is time to house them are not apt to be as free as the earlier bloomers. There has been some discussion as to which parent seedlings most resemble; the majority seem to think that the male has the dominating influence, but as this is an open question we will take a walk among the seedling carnations now be- ginning to bloom and see if any are ad- vanced enough to help give light on the subject. There are 18 plants of Anna Webb crossed with Portia, 13 of them have the Portia foliage, while in 5 it is intermediate, only 3 in bloom, 2 scarlet, one crimson. Next, seven plants from Portia crossed with Anna Webb, two with foliage resembling that of Anna Webb, five with distinct Portia foliage, one in bloom of a crimson color. Then, nine plants of Hinze's Improved crossed with Buttercup. (Hinze's Improved is a seedling resembling Hinze's White, but with a somewhat stronger stem). Five have foliage like Buttercup,the remainder intermediate, three in bloom with light yellow flowers and good stems. Next, eight plants of Hinze's Improved crossed with Lamborn, all likeLamborn in foliage and full of white bud and bloom, n8ne averaging over a foot in height, both parents appear to be represented in the flowers, but until cooler weather it is hard to tell much about it. This makes 42 plants, the foliage in 30 of these re- semble that of the male and 12 that of the female parent. Have crossed a single white petunia with a colored double one and the results have been both double and single flowers, ranging in color from white through dull lilac to full red; but the division of color does not often run so uniform between the parents. Some seem to assert them- selves no matter which side they are on. Take the Wootton rose for example, cross it with Bon Silene and the result is a red rose looking like extra poor Woot- tons; cross it with Madame Hoste, red roses again, reverse the cross but the results are similar; all the seedlings take after the Woottou in foliage, form and color of flowers. The most remarkable seedlings I ever had was about 100 strawberry plants, every one was prolific and all except two or three bore large to very large berries. This set was produced by crossing Cres- cent with Sharpless, selecting a fine berry from the seedlings and crossing it with Parry. Have thought of trying these crosses again to see if the results would be similar, for it is such a strange experi- ence to have nearly all the berries large when usually they run small with per- haps a few of a fair size in the set. Should any one wish to grow some seedling strawberries be sure to*take for seed the first berry that ripens on the selected plant, for it will give the best results, and the last berry ripe the poorest. It can be said that our path is literally strewn with flowers, but, for all that, we are not exempt from thorns. Difficulties known and unknown stand in the way; unremitting attention is necessary to attain any degree of excellence, though so much has been done in the way of im- provement of plants the work is only in its early stages of development. The field of possibilities spread out before us is greater than that of Columbus when he discovered the New World, or of Ponce de Leon when searching for the fabled "Fountain of Youth." Yuccas. Although Yucca is not an extensive genus of plants, some of the species are very well known in gardens, Y. filamen- tosa in our outdoor gardens in midsum- mer, and Y. aloifolia among fine-leaved plants in our greenhouses. The genus Yucca is strictly American and ranges from Central America through the Southern States of this country, ex- tending north in the case of Y. angusti- folia to Dakota. Engelmann recognized fourteen species, and Baker, of Kew, made half as many more out of what Engel- mann considered mere varieties. One of these varieties, namely Y. baccata var australis, has now, by general consent, been raised to specific rank with the specific name filifera. Brandegee has added Y. valida from Mexico; and Baker has added Y. Hanburii, which is said to come from the Rocky Mountains. This gives us seventeen species.

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