March 14, 1912. 



TheWeckly Florists' Review. 



15 



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CHICAGO'S FIRST 



SPRING SHOW 



AN ABTISTIC SUCCESS. 



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Makes Extremely Pretty Picture. 



Because of the apparent diminution 

 ■of interest in the stereotyped kind of 

 autumn exhibition, and encouraged by 

 the great success made by the national 

 spring show at Boston last March, the 

 Horticultural. Society of Chicago last 

 summer determined to omit the annual 

 autumn exhibition and hold, instead, 

 & display of spring flowers and plants, 

 a novelty in the west, for no extensive 

 show ever had been tried in that sec- 

 tion of the country except in the month 

 of November. The show is on this 

 week in the Art Institute, the ornate 

 home of sculpture and painting on 

 Michigan avenue. 



Because of its being a first attempt 

 no one knew just what to expect in the 

 matter of exhibits — there was no way 

 of telling whether a big show or a small 

 one was to result, although the pre- 

 mium list, carrying a total of $2,590, 

 was sufficiently liberal to encourage 

 the exhibitors to do their best. To 

 some, therefore, the extent of the show 

 is a disappointment, while others found 

 it greater than they had anticipated. 

 The upper floor in the center of the 

 building is being used and the exhibits 

 in place on the opening day were suffi- 

 cient to occupy all the space this 

 splendid hall affords, with some of the 

 ■exhibits finding quarters in adjoining 

 rooms. The number of entries is, per- 

 haps, not so large as the number and 

 size of the premiums would seem to 

 justify, but the picture, from the mo- 

 ment the visitor steps inside the en- 

 trance and gets the view up the grand 

 stairway, to the time he has gained the 

 full view on the floor above, is one of 

 exceptional attractiveness. The man- 

 agement of the show is in the hands 

 -of Qeorge Asmus, and none knows bet- 

 ter than he how to make the best pos- 

 sible use of the material at hand. But 

 after all is said and done, a flower show 

 in the Art Institute, with all due re- 

 spect to our excellent friends in charge 

 of that institution, is nothing more 

 than a decoration for their stately, 

 statute-lined halls and picture-covered 

 walls. This show is just that. A 

 museum is not the place to show flow- 

 ers to their greatest advantage — the 

 plainer the walls and the gOlroundings 

 the better for the plants md flowers. 



Some of the Exhibits. 



The first thing to strike the eye of 

 the visitor is a fine lot of stock from 

 the West parks. This includes both 

 flowering and foliage plants and occu- 

 pies the space at the foot of and on the 

 .{[rand stairway. As one mounts the 

 steps he comes to the best view in the 

 exhibition, the stairway turning to 

 right and left, so that a massive miarble 

 balustrade crosses the line of vision 



at the level of the upper floor. Here 

 Manager Asmus has a splendid decora- 

 tion of Easter lilies donated for the 

 good of the cause by Poehlmann Bros. 

 Co. There are plants and wild smilax 

 everywhere as one goes up the stairs, 

 exactly as though the decorator had 

 been given carte blanche by some 

 wealthy patron. Let us hope it in- 

 spires many to do just that. 



In the room at the west at the head 

 of the stairs are the ferns, a dozen 

 or more splendid specimens of Boston 

 and Whitman! in the center, while over 



Then comes the table of ten vases of 

 long-stemmed sweet peas from Wm. Sim, 

 Cliftondale, Mass., who also has sent 

 some pansies that are as good as th6 

 peas, enough to fill eight plates and six 

 baskets, each with a separate color. 



In this same west room is the largest 

 group of plants in the show, from 

 Frank Oechslin. It is admirably ar- 

 ranged, although somewhat crowded, as 

 is the habit with exhibition groups. 

 The plants used include primulas, cy- 

 clamens, hyacinths, dracaenas, tulips, 

 asparagus, cocos, genistas, forced al- 



The Main Stairway at the Chicago Spring Show. 



in one corner F. E. Pierson Co., Tarry- 

 town, N. Y., has a display that holds 

 the attention of everyone who is in- 

 terested in ferns, for it shows Boston 

 and thirteen of its children. • Next to 

 the Tarrytown ferns is a group of 

 Calla EUiottiana, the yellow variety, 

 from John Lewis Childs, and everyone 

 remarks about the purity of the color. 



monds, kentias, rhododendrons, arau- 

 carias, marguerites, azaleas, cibotiums 

 and several others. The edges at each 

 end are bordered by pots of funkia, the 

 variegated foliage making a pleasing 

 contrast to the rest of the group. Many 

 comment on not having seen the funkia 

 grown in this way before. 



The galleries crossing the building 



