The Sun.
London, England, 1862-05-26 00:00:00

THE FLOWER SHO JP AT THE CRYSTAL

PALACE.

The show of flowers and fruits at the Crystal Pa-
lace on Saturday was in every respect one of the
most brilliant for some time past. Notwithstanding
the rival attractions of the Great Exhibition the
beautiful day tempted out crowds of visitors, and
the display of plants has scarcely ever been sur-
passed, either in extent or general excellence. Our
foreign critics who are just now so severe on our
climate, semi-barbarous tastes, and our joyless mode
of life generally, must be rather puzzled by the two
great shows which they have bad an opportunity of
seeing during the past week. Their ingenuity will
be sorely tried to account for the production of these
marvels of the horticultural art which were set in
such endless variety, and for the enthusiasm which
the sight of them excites in such large numbers of
the people. If any of them visited the Crystal Pa-
lace on Saturday some of the very extraordinary
ideas which they seem to have formed of English
habits and character must have undergone consi-
derable modification. It would be odd if a building
the first germ of which was a conservatory, could
not be admirably adapted for a flower show, and
the arrangements of Saturday certainly displayed
its capabilities in this respect to the fullest degree.
Reverting to an old idea of Sir J. Paxton, which
was put into practice at the very first flower show
held here, the plants were arranged on each side of
the nave, with a wide promenade between them.
The stands of fruits, cut flowers, and new plants,
eked out by occasional statues, out this in two, and
divided the promenaders into equal streams moving
east and west. In the centre transept, opposite the
orchestra, were placed the choicest stove and green-
house plants on a sort of semicircular bank, which
was decidedly the most effective part of the show.
As seen from the galleries it is impossible to con-
ceive anything more beautiful than the radiant mass
of colours thus presented to the eye. Though the
azaleas with their pyramids of bloom of every hue,
from deep crimson to pure white, as clear as new-
fallen snow, perhaps attracted most admiration, the
finest part of the display was the stove and green-
house plants, which equalled the most successful of
former years. It would be impossible to enumerate
all the varieties of plants exhibited, but among the
most beautiful were the delicate lined pimelias, the
sparkling chorozemas, and the elegant transciceas.
There were two or three good specimens of the cu-
rious acrophythem and of the aphelexis, which, in
all but its exquisite hue, seems to have a great re-
semblance to the thistle ; there were many varieties.
There was a constant crowd round the cacti—and
one flower in particular of the most delicate hue—
something between white and faint yellow, was
very warmly praised. The orchids in all their
quaint fantastic shapes were very well represented,
and sonic of the specimens were of great beauty.
In bignonias and other fine foliaged and variegated
plants the show was particularly rich. There was
net more admirable contrast to the great masses of
the azaleas than the delicate, wax-flowers of the
Cape heaths, of which always every variety was
shown, and in the very large show of roses the
most admired, perhaps, was the deep-hued Lord
Raglan. Of pelargoniums, calceolarias, and cine-
rarics there was also a very fair show. The show
of fruit was not very large, but the strawberries
and grapes were unusually good for the time of
year. In addition to the attractions of the flower
show there were two or three concerts given in the
course of the day ; and in the programme Auber's
" March" and Meyerbcer's " Overture," composed
for the opening of the International Exhibition,
were played. The new roof to the orchestra has
just been completed and was tried for the first time
on Saturday. It certainly is a'great improvement;
but it is hardly possible to judge of its full value
until it has been tried on a larger scale. On Sa-
turday the company's band and the band of the
Coldstieams combined were virtually lost in that
great expanse ; but at the Handel Festival, when
the orchestra will be completely filled, no doubt
this alteration will add greatly toits acoustic effects.
In the afternoon the whole series of fountains,great
and small, were set at work for the first time this
season, and there was also a performance on the
organ by Mr. Coward. The whole number of visi-
tors
was 13,907, of whom 5,500 were season-ticket
holders,
followingrs,and
8,407 paid for admission.
The
is a list of the principal prizes
awarded :