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| Lists of "Bests" |
This is a chapter my customers have, to a large extent, helped me write,
for it consists principally of my answers to the questions they most frequently ask. This summary must necessarily be generalized. If you have
some out-of-the-ordinary problem on which I have not touched in this
website, please feel free to write me about it. I will give you the best advice I can.
Best Kinds to Cut
One or two water-lilies floating in a large glass, silver or ceramic
bowl, with a lily pad for background, make an effective arrangement.
And, generally speaking, any water-lily that pleases you can be cut for
a table centerpiece or other decoration. Those hardies which seem to
hold up best indoors include Nymphaea odorata and rosea, Marliacea
rosea and chromatella, W. B. Shaw, James Brydon, and N. Robinsoniana. All of them are fragrant. Other good hardies for cutting
include N. Gladstoniana, Gonnere, Helen Fowler, and Pink Opal.
Among the best tropicals for cutting are the day-blooming Aviator
Pring, Blue Beauty, William Stone, August Koch, Mrs. C. W. Ward,
and Mrs. G. H. Pring; and the night-blooming Nymphaea dentata and
its varieties, N. Omarana, and Emily Grant Hutchins.
Choosing Cut Flowers
Most water-lilies, growing normally in a pool, open their blooms for
three consecutive days or nights. A few open four times, some only
twice. But practically all water-lilies will extend their normal performance by a day or two when cut and taken into the house.
Both hardies and tropicals make good cut flowers. To get the best
out of them, select newly opened blooms for cutting. If you have a small
pool, this will not be much of a trick. If you have a large pool, with
several dozen water-lilies blooming at once, you will have to learn to
recognize a newly borne flower. Look for a blossom in which stamens
are not yet curled or tangled, but still spread cleanly apart. Look for
plump, round anthers which have not yet begun to shed pollen, and
for a stigma with the tiny basin still holding a droplet of nectar.
Usually the hardies and day-blooming tropicals, after being cut, will
follow their normal habits and open their blossoms the same as if they
were still in the pool. The night-blooming tropicals, when cut, usually
follow their normal routine and stay open from about 7 p.m. until well
into the following morning. But not always. Sometimes a combination
of factors-temperature, humidity, and so on-causes blooms to fold up
into buds again.
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