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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lSg2. The American Florist. 237
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NYMPHiSa. GREY^. consfield Trimardeaus are equally remark- able for their clear blue. This feature will be of special interest to the trade, since the sale of pansies seems to become larger year by year, and it is materially increased by the improvement in the flowers. The abundance of bloom at this season of the year is worth noting. A peculiar and interesting vine, trained on a wire netting against the wall in the main building is Aristolochia ornithoceph- ala, one of the most singular of this odd family. The flower is said to look like the head of a hawk and the beak of a heron, with the wattles of a Spanish fowl. It is a stove climber from Brazil. A large quantity of vines will be needed to cover the interior space with green and all manner of quick-growing plants will be used. One difficulty to be con- tended with is the poverty of the soil; some of it is black in color, but it is ex- tremely light and sandy, very deficient in plant nutriment, and a good many lacking elements must be added before it is fit for horticultural use. The plants for the dedication are now a glorious show. The cosmos is lifted into tubs, and is covered with bloom, so are the salvias, marigolds and cannas. Madame Crozy is making a fine display in tubs; it is certainly an admirable thing for conservatory decoration. The bridges across the lagoon to the island are now nearly completed, so Chief Thorpe will not be obliged to risk his life on a frail flat-boat much longer in his trips to the herbaceous garden. Nymphaea Greyae. This is a beautiful new hybrid nym- phsa, a cross between N. scutifolia ma- culata gigantea and N. gracilis, the latter being the seed-bearing parent. It is de- scribed as follows: leaves large, twelve to fifteen inches in diameter, dentate, in young state sparsely spotted with crim- son underneath; the upper surface of ma- ture leaves bronze green. The flowers, which are borne on stout stems fifteen to eighteen inches above the water, have bright rose-pink petals; the stamens are of the same shade, tipped with purple. The inside of the sepals is the same as the petals, while the outside isabright green, with a few elongated crimson marks. The flowers were exhibited at the Sep- tember show of the Mass. Horticultural Society, and were much admired, receiv- ing a first-class Certificate of Merit. It was named in compliment to the wife of the raiser, Benj. Grey, by the members of the flower committee, in response to are- quest for a name. It is certainly a grand acquisition, being one of the most vigorous of all the nymphaas, and the flowers of a unique shade, wliich is re- tained in nearly full brightness until they fade, or for about five days. Under trial this summer it has proved to be the freest of its class for outdoor cultivation. From its parentage it should prove half hardy in this section, and a little further south it should stand as well as N. scutifolia, which it much resembles in habit. It is believed to be the first hybrid nympha;a raised in America. S. Coal Oil Emulsion for Mealy Bugs. For the benefit of florists who are troxibled by mealybug, I wish to give my experience with a cheap and effectual remedy during the past season. Through the press of spring work one house of small pot roses became completely in fested with the pest, and while we have kept them down in a small way with Fir-tree oil and Gishurst Compound, it seemed like a large and expensive under- taking to do a long house full of small roses, so we tried a copious syringingwith coal-oil emulsion. Two doses at an interval of a week almost entirely cleaned them out; a third dose completed the work, by clearing out the late hatched ones and what few had escaped before. The plants, wood-work of benches, and the surface of the soil all received a liberal sprinkling, and no dam- age is apparent. The cost for material, soft-soap, and coal oil, was about ten cents all told, and the mixture was applied with an ordinary hand syringe with the fine rose on.

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