June 25. 1910 



HORTI CULTURE 



949 



PARIS SPRING SHOW 



This year the Spring Show of Fruit, 

 Flowers and Vegetables held by the 

 National Horticultural Sociery- of 

 France was announced as an interna- 

 tional one. and in conjunction with it 

 there was a Rose Growers' Conference. 

 Of the latter we have but little to say 

 in our account of the show, which wag 

 attended by a large number of visitor? 

 from almost every country in Europe. 



The show opened on the 2.5th of May 

 and closed on the 31st, and was in- 

 deed one of those horticultural treats 

 that seldom fall to the lot of the ardent 

 lover of gardening. American visitors 

 to the great 1900 Paris Universal Ex- 

 position will remember the two large 

 greenhouses that were erected on the 

 Cours la Reine, just between the 

 Champs Elysees and the river Seine, in 

 which several grand displays were held 

 during that year and which remained 

 for some few years after. But the 

 time came when the Municipal Council 

 deemed them dangerous and they were 

 consequently removed. The site, how- 

 ever, remained and the National Horti- 

 cultural Society in their place have 

 erected what they call a tent, but which 

 is in reality an immense exhibition 

 hall. 400 yards in length, constructed 

 of a light framework of wood and 

 iron girders, the whole being covered 

 in with canvas and here the May show 

 was held. 



On one side of the hall was a long 

 promenade, on the other a walk 

 reached by a flight of steps leading 

 down to the river side. In the rear of 

 the building there was another prome- 

 nade leading to the back entrance. 

 This one was laid out with four alleys. 

 each having a border of some 6 or 7 

 feet in width running the whole length 

 of the promenade to the exit side. 

 Tastefully placed at intervals were 

 groups of decorative shrubs and coni- 

 fers by A. Brochet. Paul Lecollier, 

 Croux & Son and Marcel Picquefen. 

 The borders were filled with some 

 grand examples of trained fruit trees, 

 such as one sees only in France. 

 The two other promenades mentioned 

 formed admirable sites for numerous 

 displays of garden sundries. 



We entered the show by the princi- 

 pal entrance near the Pont des In- 

 valides, passing a large circuJar basin 

 with a f-vntain relaying and right and 

 left a showy group of rhododendrons 

 by Derudder, an outside taste of the 

 many floral joys within. Along each 

 side of the show hall are borders going 

 from one end to the other. In the mid- 

 dle are many artistically shaped beds 

 edged with green turf and giavel paths 

 intervening. 



The color scheme is well devised. 

 We compliment our friend Vacherot 

 on his never-failing artistic taste. Two 

 grand banks of rhododendrons greet 

 us right and left, Croux & Sons being 

 the exhibitors. At the far end Moser 

 & Son have set up an enormous bank 

 of the same plant in a winding fronted 

 group. Azaleas also make a glowing 

 display. 



On account of the International Rose 

 Conference there are of course many 

 large and important exhibits of the 

 Queen of Flowers. The space at our 

 command will not allow more than the 

 briefest mention. Geo. Boucher had 

 two borders right and left filled. 

 Honore Defresne had four or five col- 

 lections. Te Xiklaus showed a long 



bed of ^os^s Fiaiu'ciids at Ijai'-- with 

 small bush plants in front. The fa- 

 mous rose growers, Leveque & Sons, 

 made a big display with numerous 

 beds. But of all the exhibits Auguste 

 Nonin certainly put up the most at- 

 tractive. He had a rose garden with a 

 central path: at each end an arch of 

 rambler roses. Between these stand- 

 ard, bush and pillar roses the varie- 

 Tj'-s be'ng T-i'sendschon, Dorothy Per- 

 '■•ins, Mrs. Plight, Hiawatha, White 

 Dorothy Per!dns, Phyllis, Lady Gay, 

 etc. At one end some fine plants of 

 Authemis Perfection Rose, and A. 

 Etoile Blanche; at the other, Hydran- 

 geas La Lon aine. Avalanche. La Frai- 

 cheur, and others. 



The room devoted to orchids, after 

 our experience a few days before at 

 the Temple Show, appeared almost in- 

 significant both in extent and in ar- 

 rangement. We should, however, men- 

 tion Maron & Sons' collection of cat- 

 tleyas and laelio-cattleyas, etc., and 

 M. Graire's odontoglossums. M. Bera- 

 nek had also a very artistic and rather 

 large display flanked at each end with 

 anthuriuras and ornamental foliage 

 plants. M. Bert also staged cattleyas. 

 laelio-cattleyas, etc. Across the hall 

 Geo. Boucher's collection of clematis 

 commands admiration. 



A great show like this cannot have 

 justice done to it in a few short para- 

 graphs. One house alone — Viliuorin- 

 Andrieux & Co. — sent such a mass of 

 matciial that it would have made a 

 big exhibition by itself. As we turn 

 to descend the steps leading to the 

 lower promenade by the river side we 

 stand and gaze with admiration at the 

 extraordinary variation of the products 

 on view. The immense collection of 

 annual, hardy, herbaceous and other 

 flowers in veritable sheets of color was 

 divided into two portions through 

 which the visitors passed to the steps. 

 A water scene fed from a rock-work 

 construction in the back continued till 

 it came to the slope by the steps and 

 then terminated in a mass of rock- 

 work to the bottom of the steps, the 

 nool's and crannies of which were filled 

 in with numberless Alpine plants in 

 flower. 



We return to the middle of the hall 

 and admire a large collection of water 

 lilies in a circular pond exhibited by 

 M. Laugrange, and then pa.=;s a large 

 mixed collection of amaryllis and other 

 flowers of the season in several distinct 

 lots, all shown on the ground level by 

 Cayeux & LeClerc, Parisian seedsmen 

 of considerable repute. 



A similar exhibit comes from C. An- 

 gel & Son, in which iris, ereniurus, peo- 

 nies, tulips, anemones, gladioli, etc.. 

 predominate; also fine collections from 

 M. Ferard. 



Among the miscellaneous groups 

 from many prominent specialty firms 

 were violas, hydrangeas, lilacs, irises, 

 cannas, begonias, etc.. and a new ivy- 

 zonal pelargonium, semi-double, pale 

 blush and spotted rose, called Presi- 

 dent Desseine. was shown by Le Cou- 

 teulx & Son. M. Foucard showed a 

 new calceolaria, "Soleil." There were 

 many imposing groups of pelargoniums 

 from well-known firms. The most daz- 

 zling display of zonals was made by E. 

 Poirier, who had two large beds with 

 single-flowered kinds massed in colors 

 separate by themselves. The form was 

 each color in separate panels, the 



trusses packed close up together, with 

 the consequence that being below the 

 visitor's eye the whole was a perfect 

 blaze. This style is peculiar to the 

 French show and is striking in its 

 effect. Peonies from Aug. Dessert, a 

 grower not unknown to American ad- 

 mirers, were shown in endless num- 

 bers. Collections also came from Ben- 

 oise Riviere and A. Brochet. Ferns 

 and foliage grouns were in fine form, 

 many of them of great extent and va- 

 riety. A lovely display of stove spe- 

 cies was made by Chantrier Bros. 

 Louis Dahl set up a huge bank of 

 palms, enlivened with dracenas. Dere 

 Desmond's foliage begonias and M. Va- 

 zon's graceful arrangement of decora- 

 tive foliage plants were superb. 



Among carnations there was an at- 

 tractive display of C. Engelmann's new 

 crimson. "Carola." Another English 

 firm, G. & A. Clark of Dover, sent a 

 very pretty general display of sweet 

 peas arranged in vases in a kind of 

 arch, beneath which were garden flow- 

 ers in dazzling array with succulents 

 and ivy pelargoniums, making one of 

 the prettiest lots in the show. 



In the section for Floral Art there 

 was a large number of admirable com- 

 positions such as only the Paris florist 

 can set up. M. Lachaume, the emi- 

 nent floral decorator of the rue Royale, 

 had quite an important series — one of 

 them was a bower within a trellis of 

 rambler I'oses. A breakfast table set 

 and ornamented with numerous orchids 

 and roses formed a conspicuous fea- 

 ture in the centre. (See cover illus- 

 tration, HORTICULTURE, June 18.) 



Lachaume's designs were all more 

 or less of a piece, and occupied much 

 space. One was a window overlook- 

 ing a balcony decorated with blue and 

 pink hydrangeas; on the pedestals of 

 the balcony were basket draped vases 

 of the same and below a mixed border 

 of flowers. Quite effective and orig- 

 inal was an entire sitting room fur- 

 nished with Louis XIV furniture and 

 decorated with rich floral compositions 

 in vases, bowls, etc., standing about 

 the room. A trellis alcove decorated 

 with clitnbing roses, smilax. clematis, 

 herbaceous calceolarias and a corner 

 containing many samples of less pre- 

 tentious floral art work, but all of the 

 choicest characters, were only some 

 of the extensive displays made by 

 Lachaume. 



Ed. Debrie. another noted man in 

 this line, had table decorations of the 

 choicest kind. One huge upstanding 

 basket on a pedestal filled with white 

 lilies and white lilac, was a sight not 

 easily forgotten. Roses in various 

 shaped vases, table decorations, and 

 stands filled with flowers in every con- 

 ceivable way drew forth the admira- 

 tion of many visitors who are not by 

 any means unaccustomed to see fine 

 floi-al artistic work. 



Very choice was a 'neat little lot of 

 Japanese richly colored maples staged 

 by Lecomte and Martin. 



Fruit, almost wholly forced, was dis- 

 played in handsome plate glass cases, 

 each kind being ari'airged in neat little 

 boxes or baskets, in the daintiest of 

 styles, and in quality and variety that 

 beggars description, and which made a 

 remarkable sight. 



Vilmorin-Andrieux & Co. had several 

 most comprehensive lots of vegetables 

 which as usual contained every con- 



