406 
AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 
October, 1909 
Floral Clocks 
By Charles A. Brassler 
omiN THE constant quest for “something new”’ 
that animates the spirit of the times, some- 
thing novel, not only in attractiveness but in 
utility, something, for instance, that would 
prove a unique and interesting addition to 
the picturesque features of a private gar- 
den, a public park or other outdoor place 
of recreation, the floral clock has been strangely overlooked. 
It cannot be denied, however, that these ingenious devices 
have of late been accorded more attention. At the Louisiana 
Purchase Exposition an immense floral clock was one of 
the attractions, and at the Industrial Exposition, held a short 
time ago at Milhausen, Thuringia, a floral clock receive 
considerable attention. 
In speaking of floral clocks, I do not wish to be under- 
stood as referring to the ingenious combinations of flowers, 
opening and closing regularly at different hours, such as 
Linneus, the famous botanist, devised and described, in- 
structive and original though they may be. One of this 
type, especially, based on the opening and closing of flowers 
at uniform and predetermined periods, although differing 
in detail from the flower-clock of Linneus, was sufficiently 
original to merit a place in any garden. It was designed, 
in the form of a sun-dial, by a Miss Billings, an English 
lady, and constructed to represent the scriptural allegory of 
the angel, as the reaper of human destiny (St. Matthew 
xill, 39). It was constructed in the form of a gnomon, 
the angel’s wing casting the indicative shadow on the dial- 
plate. ‘he dial is mounted on a pedestal in the center of a 
parterre of flowers, so laid out that the sickle throws its 
shadow on the one that, acording to Linneus, as recorded 
in his ‘‘Botanical Philosophy,” corresponds, in its opening 
and closing, to a certain time of day. 
The same flowers are also carved in bas-relief around the 
base of the pedestal, so as to represent them at seasons 
when the flowers themselves are not in bloom. To read 
the hours, even by so simplified a floral timepiece, requires 
a more perfect knowledge of the habits of plants than 
most people, not erudite botanists, possess; so, for the benefit 
of those whose botanical knowledge is limited, in the floral 
time-keeper, above described, a dial-plate, inscribed with 
ordinary figures, is placed under the point of the wing, 
the edge of which acts as a gnomon. 
While such a device for recording time would interest 
any intelligent person and could be made an attractive 
feature of outdoor decoration, I desire particularly to 
refer to the floral clock in its more practical sense, in which 
horological skill is combined with highly developed horti- 
cultural taste and knowledge. 
As might be expected, it is in Switzerland, where the 
clockmakers’ art is of ancient repute and has attained its 
highest perfection, that some of the finest specimens of 
floral clocks are to be found. As among the most interesting, 
artistic and practical, I have, therefore, included, among 
those selected for illustration, the floral clocks in the park 
of the Kursaal, and of the Savoy Hotel, at Interlaken. 
There is also a beautiful one in the garden of Medaks Café 
de la Terrasse, at Zurich, and one at the Grand Hotel des 
Avants, Switzerland. Several of these clocks were designed 
by M. Guelat, conservator of the Schwab Museum inBienne, 
who has also installed, on the lawn in front of that institu- 
tion, a floral clock that is a source of never-failing interest 
to residents in and visitors to that city. 
The dial of his clock, laid out at an angle of 40 degrees, 
so as to be more readily visible, is one and one-half meters 
(4 feet 11 inches) in diameter and is composed of living 
flowering and leaf-plants, of the varieties used in carpet-bed- 
ding, and arranged, as to color, so as to produce an attrac- 
tive design, the Roman numerals, the figures on the seconds, 
dial and the year, 1906, being worked out in different plants. 
The three hands are made of aluminum, record seconds, min- 
utes and hours and, owing to their large proportions and 
speed, their movement is so perceptible as to attract attention. 
The movement, operated by a spring, is contained in a 
water-tight metallic case, concealed beneath the floral dial 
so skilfully that even the opening (between the figures III 
and IV) where the crank-handle for winding the clock is 
inserted and the regulator, which projects from the face, 
are invisible. The arbors carrying the hands work in water- 
tight, lubricated stuffiing-boxes. 
Additional interest is imparted to the clock by its repro- 
duction, with the aid of moving figures, of various tableaux. 
The gigantic floral clock of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition 
