Evening star., 1951-12-30

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ers and vegetables have just beer
made, after trial and comparison
by panels of top judges who
award medals and honorable
mentions to the outstanding pro-
ducts in the parade of new-type
blooms and crops.
Four new flowers, 1852 all.
America selections, are led by
Fiesta cosmos, the, silver medal
winner. Honorable mentions 90
to Ballerina petunia. Persian Car
pet Zinnia and Globe mixed
phlox.
Fiesta is an early Klondyke cos
mos in the festival colors Of its
native Mexico, the royal colors of
Spa;n. This is the first cosmos
ia which scarlet appears, with
wide stripings Of scarlet and gold
lengthwise in each petal. Fiesta
is the earliest cosmos to bloom,
grows in sunny locations and is
a trouble-free garden subject for
cut flowers and border display.
Ballerina petunia delights us
with glowing salmon-pink blooms
from early spring until late fall.
Belonging to the dwarf, giant
fringed class, the large flowers
are daintily laced and ruff1ed. It's
hybrid vigor provides uniformity
in strong, compact growth and
steady production Of lovely, big
flowers.
Persian Carpet is most de-
scriptive name for the oriental
colorings in a new strain Of
Mexican hybrid zinnias. The
plants grow a foot or more tall,
with rather small flowers in COM
parison with the giant zinnias,
but the 2-inch flowers are fully
double, found In profusion over
long season and each plant
seems to produce flowers Of
magically different coloring-
oranges, purples, Colds, rich
browns and hennas woven into
the treasured rugs of Persia seem
to come to life in this new strain
of zinnia.
From Japan we have an en-
tirely unique shape OF annual
phlox plant. Globe mixed phlox
refers to the globe or dome
shaped plants. They are COW
cred with regular-sized flowers
although the plants are only
about 6 inches high. Dominant
colors are phlox red and white,
with some pink and salmon
present. 1t is not a bal
anced color mixture although
striking and rich.
Six new vegetables, for better
and better gardening are
being introduced this spring and
seeds are available through re-
liable seedsmen. Gold medals
are won by outstanding new all
purpose bush snapbean, Wade,
and the handsome, loose-leaf
lettuce, called Salad Bowl"
A silver medal goes to the most
productive. heat-tolerant spinach,
America. Bronze medals are
merited by an extra early sweet
bell pepper. Vineland, region
ally recommended for the North,
and a vigorous. fiavorful musk
Golden Delight. String
less Hort snapbean is a pro-
ductive new horticultural bush
bean, winning honorable mention.
The Wade snapbean. named
for and originated by the late
DR.. B. L. Wade at the USDA
Regional Vegetable Breeding Lab
oratory, Charleston. S. c., seems
very widely adapted. 1t is an
attractive dark green, stringless
and practically fiberless, round
podded bean Of 6 to z inches,
f1eshy and usually rela-
lively straight. 1t Is especially re-
sistant to mosaic and in principal
bean-growing sections. doubles
the yield Of Tendergreen. Crops
are usually concentrated and
borne high, setting heavy crops
over short period instead of a
few pods at a time over a longer
season.
Salad Bowl lettuce is the re-
suit of IL years. breeding by DR..
Ross c. Thompson, USDA Bureau
of Plant Industry Station, Belts
vile, Md. Comparing it with
Oakleaf as the previous best cut
leaf variety, Salad Bowl is more
vigorous and rapid growing, with
much larger plants, more resist
ant to heat and tip-burn, tender
zsPee Hzz.