10 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ July 8, 1893, 
London all who compete cannot win, and many will prefer not to measure 
their strength with the veteran showmen, if the result of failing to 
win a coveted prize is also to bring them considerable loss financially. 
For these, as well as the weighty reasons pointed out by “ A Fruit 
Grower and Exhibitor,” I trust the Council of the Royal Horticultural 
Society will see their way to give some relief to would-be exhibitors.— 
A Midland Counties Fruit Grower. 
FLOWERS AT THE ROYAL WEDDING. 
Twice within a few months the walls of historic Fleet Street have 
resounded with the cheers of the multitude over a spectacle in which 
the products of the garden play an important part. In November last 
the pageantry of the Mayoral procession through the main thoroughfares 
of the ancient city was varied for the first time in history by a trophy of 
British fruit which aroused the enthusiastic plaudits of the lookers-on^ 
and to-day there is a deeper swell in the myriad voices which cheer on 
the bride and bridegroom of an hour as they pass with the music of a 
thousand joy-bells and the perfume of a million flowers beneath the 
windows of the Journal of Horticulture, It is not the function of an 
organ which for nearly half a century has been devoted to furthering 
the interests of horticulture to dwell on the general features of an occa¬ 
sion such as this, moving and tremendous though they may be ; but it 
is within its province to refer with pride and rejoicing to the floral 
aspects of a ceremony which has evidently stirred the heart of the nation 
deeply, and called forth a demonstration almost pathetic in its intense 
and spontaneous delight. Grim, repellent London, mighty assemblage 
of gloomy streets, to-day blossoms like the Rose. It has garlanded 
itself with flowers to do honour to the event which unites the heir to 
the throne of Britain with one of the most gracious and beloved of her 
daughters, and they could have but a shallow love for horticulture who 
would fail to derive satisfaction in observing how largely its resources 
have been drawn upon for an occasion of such national and historic 
interest. 
Considering how universal the custom of associating flowers with 
every function which it is desired to invest with beauty and refinement 
has become, it is not surprising that on an occasion of such supreme 
importance they should play a prominent part. The Society hostess 
who spends hundreds of pounds in order that her guests may listen to 
the most gifted artistes of the opera does not hesitate also to provide 
them with other pleasures in the form of costly floral decorations, for 
without them her rooms would be cheerless ; nor is expense spared to 
procure all that is rarest and most lovely in flowers at balls and other 
social assemblies. And these are but events of the hour, exciting no 
comment outside the Society journals. In the wedding of H.R.H. the 
Duke of York and Her Serene Highness the Princess Victoria May of 
Teck we have an event which is talked of in Birmingham as well as in 
Belgravia, in Manchester as well as in Mayfair, and which excites the 
same interest in the village cottage as in the town mansion. Strange 
therefore would it be if in bowing to the wishes of the nation for a 
ceremony in which it could openly testify its gratification and pleasure 
the treasures of the garden had been overlooked. 
Few, perhaps, of the thousands to whom the floral appurtenances of the 
Royal nuptials have proved an object of interest were able to form any 
impression of their value or of the magnitude of the task of preparing 
them, contenting themselves with a casual admiration. But those to 
whom flowers represent something more than the value of a glance not 
unnaturally seek to get at least an approximate impression of the 
principal material, and the extent and manner of its utilisation. A call 
on Mr. Thomas at Windsor, and an inspection of his labours at St. 
Janies s Palace and in the Chapel Royal, together with a visit to Mr. 
Wills at South Kensington, have demonstrated on how magnificent a 
scale those gifted horticulturists have carried out the duties allotted to 
them. Her Majesty’s gardener has had to fulfil the task of embellishing 
the Palace and Chapel referred to with plants and flowers, and the work 
nae been carried out with an ability and completeness which could 
hardly have been excelled. Oar representative called in the height of 
the preparations. Every group, whether large or small, every window 
arrangement, and every floral device, such as pillar wreathing, that 
displayed at St. James’s, had the various plants 
allotted and placed together at Frog more in the approximate order of 
their later arrangement, so that when conveyed to their destination the 
dress rehearsal could be followed by a rapid, smooth, and effective 
manipulation of the material. The resources of the Royal gardens had 
been drawn upon to the extent of four huge vanloads of plants, and 
it 18 a sufficient evidence of the richness with which they are stored to 
say that there still remained plants enough to have repeated the 
decorations. 
St. James’s Palace and the Chapel Royal in the early morning of and 
throughout Wednesday presented a most animated appearance. To the 
on-looker ignorant of the systematic manner in which the work was being 
carried out, there appeared to be bewildering masses of lofty Palms, huge 
Crotons, graceful Ferns, and brilliant flowering plants; but with astonish¬ 
ing deftness and rapidity they were arranged in beautiful banks and 
groups, until when completed staircases, landings, windows, and columns 
were garnished with beautiful floral adornments. Passing through the 
state rooms the wedding assembly traversed the armour room, the 
windows of which were filled with plants. On the right as they 
descended the stairs was a magnificent group, and at every turn fresh 
banks of foliage and flowering plants were disposed. The pillars of the 
colonnade were wreathed with Roses and Ivy, the flowers being twined 
round the columns, and festoons of Roses and Ivy sprays stretching 
from the pillars, together with baskets of Roses, were suspended above 
the heads of the bridal party. A beautiful glade of Ferns dotted with 
flowering plants flanked another flight of stairs, at the top of which an 
admirable effect had been secured by placing a tall Palm at each side of 
a lofty picture. Near the entrance to the chapel was the retiring room of 
H.M. the Queen, who entered the Palace at this point. The surroundings 
were beautifully decorated, and a magnificent bouquet awaited the 
arrival of the Sovereign. 
The most beautiful feature of the Chapel Royal was the great 
window, the stone facings of which, 18 feet high and 1 foot 10 inches 
broad, were completely draped in pink and white Roses. At each side 
was a tall Bamboo, arching over. The large recess at the base of the 
window was filled with cut flowers and tall glasses appropriately 
furnished, the whole forming a picture of wonderful beauty. On the 
wall under the window, and just above the altar table, was a floral 
emblem in Gothic lines, executed in white York Roses on a groundwork 
of green moss. The altar table was beautifully furnished with bouquets 
and glasses of flowers. 
It would be bewildering to attempt a description of every method 
that had been adopted to beautify the palace and chapel, or to enumerate 
all the plants and flowers utilised. The complete composition of all the 
groups would fill a page, and consequently only a brief reference need 
be made to the material employed. One very fine group was composed 
of some splendid Palms, Latania borbonica being conspicuous amongst 
them ; noble Crotons, such as pictum, 8 feet high, nobilis, Disraeli, and 
Weismanni, Aralia Sieboldi variegata, grand plants of Anthurium 
Andreanum, Clethra arborea. Coleuses and Grevilleas, lightened with 
Hydrangea paniculata grandiflora, Liliums, the lovely “ Bridal Wreath” 
(Francoa ramosa), and many other flowering plants. At the front a 
moat unique effect had been secured by associating the very rare and 
lovely White Water Bean, Nelumbium speciosum nuciferum, with a 
groundwork of Cyperus and various aquatics, A charming group had 
been put together attheside of the grand staircase in St. James’s Palace 
of various Crotons, Palms, Ferns, and Araucaria excelsa, with such 
popular flowering plants as Marguerites, Tydaeas, Achimenes, Hydran¬ 
geas, Ericas, and Gloxinias. The windows were filled with Fuchsias, 
Marguerites, Pelargoniums, Hydrangeas, and other flowering plants 
associated with Caladiums and Ferns. Amongst the Palms utilised in 
the different groups were some splendid Arecas, Kentias 15 to 20 feet 
high, and Cocos plumosus, quite 20 feet. Grand plants of Anthurium 
crystallinum and A. Warocqueana, also of Alocasia Thibautiana, were 
noticeable, while a beautiful basket of Orchids was greatly admired. 
The cut flower decorations were a vast work in themselves. There 
was 476 feet of wreathing on the colonnade, this being composed, 
like the baskets, of white and red Roses. There was also 20 feet of 
wreathing in Roses on the altar, and Her Majesty’s retiring room 
was decorated with Tea Roses and Gladiolus The Bride. Altogether 
upwards of 5000 Roses were utilised, with large quantities of white 
Gladioli, Stephanotis, Tuberoses, and Carnations. 
The bouquets and floral decorations, made and carried out by Messrs. 
Wills & Segar, were quite worthy of the reputation of the firm. 
Fourteen Royal Princesses carried beautiful bouquets. That of the 
bride was an exquisite shower bouquet, in which the “ old Provence Rose 
Duke of York?” was the flower most largely employed, and it was asso¬ 
ciated with Carnation The Bride, Odontoglossums, Cattleyas, Orange 
Blossom, and Lily of the Valley, interspersed with Myrtle, Fern, and 
other leafage. This and the ten bridesmaids’ bouquets, which were com¬ 
posed of similar flowers shaded with Cattleya Mendeli, were exquisite 
examples of taste and skill. York Roses, white Carnations, and many 
choice Orchids were noticeable in the beautiful bouquets carried by 
H.R.H. the Princess of Wales and her daughters. Gardenias were the 
buttonhole flowers of the Prince of Wales and the Duke of York. 
The floral decorations at Buckingham Palace were most extensive 
and beautiful, the experience of over twenty years there and at Marl¬ 
borough House having well qualified Mr. Wills for producing something 
worthy of so auspicious an occasion. Large quantities of the most 
choice and beautiful plants and flowers were employed with a taste and 
judgment which rendered the mansion of the Sovereign a floral fairy¬ 
land. The superb gold plate displayed at the Royal banquet and the 
Royal wedding breakfast was interspersed with choice Palms and other 
exotics by the South Kensington firm, while the setting apart of the 
spacious ballrsom for a public Ijreakfast room gave them another oppor¬ 
tunity of showing their exceptional skill. 
A word may be devoted in conclusion to the efforts of private 
residents and the proprietors of business establishments in the City and 
West End. Thousands of balconies and windows were adorned with 
flowering plants and Ferns, transforming sombre streets into pleasant 
promenades. For those not gaining admission to the Royal Palaces or 
Chapel, these public decorations proved most pleasing and attractive 
It would add to the pleasure of those whose special love for and work 
amongst flowers adds a powerful significance to what has been 
observed on this occasion if it could be thought that they would have 
