March 17, 1910. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review. 



25 



T^E FLOWERS OF EASTER. 



Here is a letter received just after 

 Easter, 190% As a beautiful senti- 

 ment, beautifully expressed, it is a 

 gem. As^n indication that there is 

 wore to ute—Eoster flower business 

 that so many lilies, etc., at so much 

 per, it has great significance. No 

 matter how calloused we growers 

 may become, we cannot get away 

 from the fact that it is because our 

 products are able to arouse senti- 

 ments such as these that we are in 

 the business. — C. H. Green. 



Speaking of beautiful flowers reminds 

 me of Easter day. l! wish you could 

 have seen our church on that day of all 

 days, because of the glorious inspiration 

 and good cheer that came into our hearts 

 as we knelt there amid those fragrant 

 blossoms. Never have we had so many 

 flowers in the church, and never more 

 effectively arranged. It was a sacrifice 

 of praise and thanksgiving. 



I think that one must have been sordid, 

 indeed, not to be touched by the holy in- 

 fluence of those beautiful flowers. And 

 I do not believe that such a one knelt in 

 the church that morning. In fact, as 

 one looked out over the congregation it 

 seemed that all the grace and beauty of 

 the Easter flowers were reflected in the 

 happy, smiling, sunshiny faces of the 

 people. 



But, of all the congregation that crowd- 

 ed the church on that Easter morning, 

 one face stands out vividly in my mem- 

 ory, and do what I will I cannot quite 

 forget him. For days that phantom fig- 

 ure has journeyed with me, and whichever 

 way I turn, whatever I try to do, there 

 before me stands that lonely old man — 

 aged, but not with years! 



A strange figure he, in that throng of 

 richly dressed ladies and carefully 

 groomed men; he, with his torn and 

 soiled clothing, his shifty eyes, disheveled 

 hair, and that deeply lined face — fur- 

 rowed by many a year of dissipation and 

 hard living. 



A stranger, he had just strayed in be- 

 cause — well, something drew him this way 

 and he could not quite resist. But were 

 not all the people going to church this 

 beautiful morning, and why not he? And, 

 besides, did he not remember today that 

 sweet story of the old church catechism 

 about being a "member of Christ, a 

 child of God, and an inheritor of the 

 kingdom of heaven?" 



And as he stood there that morning at 

 the foot of the center aisle, in a half- 



liesitating manner, listening to the great 

 organ and the singing of the marching 

 choir, his /eyes fell upon that mass of 

 beautiful flowers which our altar guild 

 liad arranged with exquisite taste in 

 choir and sanctuary and about the high 



f-r 



S h 



,V,wl 



zled visage there was spread a light that 

 seemed to be a reflection of heaven's 

 sweetest joys. Slowly he wiped the per- 

 spiration from his brow, and by that act 

 seemed to brush away cobwebs from the 



Rose Mrs. Cutbuih a* Easier Plant. 



darkened chambers of his mind, and 

 again, as in boyhood's days, he looked 

 upon a vision of the holy and beautiful. 



I cannot say too often that the flowers 

 were beautiful. But they were helpful, 

 too, for where can we find a more tender 

 ministry than that which we get from 

 their lines of heavenly beauty, their en- 

 thralling perfume that seems like a 

 breath of Paradise, and their suggestion 

 of a life of spotless purity? 



Why, no preacher, nor poet, nor musi- 



cian, nor artist, can speak into our hearts 

 as did those flowers of matchless beauty. 

 They told us the story of life, and of joy,- 

 and of hope, and of love divine, and of 

 immortality — thoughts which stir in all 

 our hearts, but which we cannot ade- 

 quately express without their aid. 



Yes, the gentle, nodding flowers, with 

 which the Great Gardener has decked 

 this sad old earth to bring us joy when 

 clouds hang low — these buds and blos- 

 soms will carry a message of love and 

 consolation from heart to heart when hu- 

 man words are futile and when our lips 

 are dumb. 



And on Easter day they speak with a 

 potency possessed at no other time, for 

 their very nature is attuned to the 

 thought which then is uppermost in all 

 our minds. It is right and natural that 

 the faithful should gather those won- 

 drously beautiful flowers in great num- 

 bers to deck and adorn the church on the 

 glad day of the resurrection, because they 

 tell the story of the day— the story of 

 hope and irtmortality — better than can 

 be told by any other earthly means. 

 Earthly means, did I say? I cannot say 

 that, for these flowers are not of earth. 

 They are only points of Jight marking 

 where heaven touches earth, and their 

 voice is the voice of God. 



•On the happy Easter morning 



All the world breaks forth In song. 

 Bells ring out from every steeple. 



Children's voices carol long; 

 But beneath the happy music, 



I can hear, so soft and low. 

 The sweet chiming of the lilies 



As their bells swing to and fro. 

 •On the happy Easter morning 



Earth puts on her robe of light. 

 Sunshine turns the gloom to gladness, 



Malses the darkest places bright; 

 Violets bloom in all their sweetness. 



Crocus-cups the sunbeams hold. 

 Hut we find the brightest glory 



In the lilies' hearts of gold. 

 'Christ is risen! Christ Is risen! 



O'er the earth the message flies, 

 \nd the sad have found a comfort. 



And the weary raise their eyes; 

 For the gladdest, sweetest story 



That the world will ever know. 

 Greets us in the Easter blossomi. 



In the lilies' cups of snow." 



ROSE MRS. CUTBUSH. 



That pretty rose, Mrs. William H. Cut- 

 brsh, is a comparatively little known 

 Easter subject. Those w.ljo have expe- 

 rience of it describe it as one of the 

 finest types of the Baby Eambler roses. 

 It is of dwarf growth, producing a pro- 

 fus'on of flowers of a pleasing .shade of 

 pale pink. These are borne in large 

 trusses and the variety is useful not only 

 for flowering under glass to meet the 

 demand for blooming plants for holiday 



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