176 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE OF AMERICA. 



Trees ami forced shrubs ami herbaceous plants of BobbinU & At- 

 kins, Rutherford, N. J.; the Orchids of Lager & Hurrell, Sum- 

 mit, X. .L; the cut Rose Blooms of Oude Brothers, AVashington, 

 D. C. and the cut Carnation Blooms of the Cottase Gardens, 

 Queens, X. Y. 



THE "CARnF.NERS' CIIRONirt.E" AT THE INTERNATIONAL 

 FLOWER SHOW. 



LESSONS FROM THE FLOWER SHOW. 



By An Observer. 



Perhaps we ought to go to the flower shows with a 

 pocketbook in our left hand and a Johnson's "Gardeners' 

 Dictionary" in the other. There are so many subjects 

 tlie names of which we want to know, and not only to 

 know, Ijut to learn tlieir meaning', and to find out from 

 what part of the world the plants come. We cannot call 

 ourselves good gardeners, certainly not intelligent gar- 

 deners, until we have studied geographical botany, some- 

 thing of etymology, have dived into the history of plant 

 genera, and know quite a bit about hybridizatiim and 

 crossbreeding. 



Yet even if much of all this is largely unknown to us, 

 the flower show can still be made interesting from its ex- 

 hibits of cultured and artistic skill. Sometimes we find 

 both combined in one place, one group. Take, for exam- 

 ple, the plant combinations in the "groups for expert" 

 staged by Mrs. Willis James through her superintendent, 

 Wm. H. Duckham, INIadison, X. J. : or of F. E. Lewis 

 (gardener, J. W. Smith), Ridgefield, Conn.; or Air. 

 Adolph Lewisohn's (gardener, John Corning), Ardsley, 

 N. Y. There were other almost equally fine group dis- 

 plays, as from Mrs. Darlington (gardener, P. W. Popp), 

 Mamaroneck, N. Y., and Mrs, A. V. P>ooth (gardener. 



E. P'ardel), Great Neck, N. Y. In every one there was 

 the stamp of quality upon the plants themselves, combined 

 with high artistic taste. In some there was just an in- 

 clination to crowding, but can we have real richness with- 

 out actual massing? Perhaps not. Of course, if the 

 prize schedule called for a combined flower and foliage 



SPRING J l.uW l,kl.\i. (.KiiLT' sTAl.!;!) I;V \\'.\L UL'CKHAM, 



SUPERINTENPENT, t). WILLIS TAMES ESTATE. MADISON, 



N. .T. .\WARDEn FIRST PRIZE. 



grijup that would allow more freedom, but only flowering 

 plants were wanted. The groups were all totally dis- 

 tinct and nothing finer could well be conceiveil. 



* * * ■ 



As examples of cultural skill there were four things 

 that specially impressed me, namely, the Primulas, tlie 

 Easter Lilies, the group of Calla Elliottiana, and the 

 Schizanthuses. These latter plants are in great favor 

 now-a-days, and rightly. I remember twenty years back 

 and more when we grew only the I'ld Schi/rinthus. pinna- 



SPRTNG FLOWERING GROUP STAGED P.Y J. W. SMITH, G.\R- 



UENER TO F. E. LEWIS. RIDGEFIELD, CONN., 



.^WARDED SECOND PRIZE. 



tus and retusus. Now there are varieties in nearly every 

 color e.xcept blue. In those days we thought a feathery 

 looking plant in a 5-inch pot quite nice ; but since the 

 coming of the dwarfer growing, more freely branching 

 crossbred varieties — derivatives of S. Wisetonensis, big 

 rounded or close growing' pyramidal specimens are in 



