March 16, 1918 



HOKTICOLTUEE 



2ol 



Partial View of Acacia Tea Garue.n, by Thomas Roland 



Greater Boston's gardeners and flor- 

 ists outdid themselves on this occasion 

 and put up the most elaborate and im- 

 pressive show that has been seen here 

 since the notable National Flower 

 Show years ago. Every available foot 

 of floor space in the horticultural 

 building was occupied with exhibits 

 and the scene was gorgeous in the ex- 

 treme. The attendance on the after- 

 noon of the opening day was very 

 good and it is hoped that before the 

 close of the show Sunday evening the 

 attendance will have eclipsed all 

 Iirevioiis records. 



The lecture hall was turned into an 

 Acacia Tea Garden under the auspices 

 of the Boston Metropolitan Chapter of 

 the American Red Cross. ' The tables 

 were arranged in a veritable forest of 

 flowering acacias supplied by Thomas 

 Roland, there being no less than two 

 hundred and fifty plants in some 

 thirty species. The effect of this 

 unique feature was entrancingly beau- 

 tiful. It was a triumph for Thomas 

 Roland. 



Another impressive exhibit was the 

 "War Garden," arranged by R. & J. 

 Farquhar & Co., filling the entire west 

 end of the large exhibition hall. The 

 arrangement was charmingly simple 

 and artistically one of the best of the 

 many big exhibits that Mr. Farquhar 

 has imt up. A marble statue of Lib- 

 erty holding a light aloft in one hand 

 and an American Flag in the other 

 was the central figure. The formal 

 courtyard was flanked on either side 

 with brilliant banks of Azalea Kaemp- 

 feri, genistas and lilies. Here one of 

 the bands played, another one occupy- 

 ing the stage in the lecture hall. 



The most of the large plant groups 

 were composed of miscellaneous spring 

 flowering plants and bulbous stock. 

 There were some grand groups of 

 Olivias and imantophyllums, cycla- 

 men*, etc., and the number of Belgian 

 a/.aleas shown was surprisingly large. 

 W. W. Edgar Company put up a vast 

 plant group arranged with consum- 

 mate good taste. Other than this and 

 Mr. Roland's acacia display there were 



no plant groups of any extent from 

 commercial growers but the gardeners 

 from the leading private estates in and 

 about Boston made a most remarkable 

 showing. The orchid groups from E. 

 B. Dane and A. C. Barrage were the 

 great center of attraction for the real 

 connoiseurs. Included in the Burrage 

 srou]) were some splendid specimens 

 of Cattleya Trianw in great variety, 

 also two very striking forms of Laelio- 

 Cattleya luminosa and a handsome 

 plant of Cymbidium Gottianum which 

 proved a prime attraction. Cypripe- 

 diums were also exhibited in great 

 variety. The whole group was a most 

 pleasing and clever display, grandly 

 arranged and exquisitively beautiful. 

 Mr. Dane's contribution was the 

 usual artistically arranged group, 

 and was quite up to the great displays 

 which we are accustomed to seeing 

 from this well known estate. Per- 

 haps the most attractive was the speci- 

 men Odontioda BradshawiiE with its 

 four beautiful spikes of scarlet blooms. 

 Cattleyas and Lsello-Cattleyas were in 



