The Sunday herald and weekly national intelligencer., 1890-03-30
mr23-
ABOUT EASTER FLOWERS.
An Interesting Talk With Florist-Beau-
tiful Easter Gifts.

An Interesting Talk with Florist-beau-
tiful Easter Gifts.
HThe custom of sending gifts of flowers to
friends, especially to ladies, at Easter has in
creased a great deal in the last few years." said
Mr.. Small the florist yesterday. ''More gifts
of this kind are now sent at Easter than at
Christmas We expect a larger Easter flower
trade this year than ever before, and have pre-
pared accordingly"
aWhat flowers besides the Easter lily are
mostly in demand for these Easter gifts?" asked
the reporter.
ssWe expect to sell an immense quantity of
violets, hydrangeas, broom plant or gcneStd,
astilJe japonica, azaleas, and, Of course, roses.
The violets are used in a number of pretty ways.
Here, for instance, is big satin covered bonbon
egg which we will fill with them and ship it to
New York. Another rather novel idea is the
use of these delica te-tinted celluloid baskets,
which are filed with pots of Easter lilies and
sent as presents. They make very beautiful
gifts. The roses which are most in demand at
this season are the Baroness Rothschild, shell
pink: the Mabel Morrison, pure white; Gloire de
Paris rose pink, and the Jacque, which has
been a little backward this year, but is now at
its best Our Easter trade depends to con-
siderable extent on the weather II u is warm i
and pleasant it seems to put people in the
mood to buy flowers, while if the weather is
damp and cold it would hurt our trade"
GLOW large a stock do you lay in for Eastern
asked the reporter.
Annunciation lilies to.begin with. What will
they sell for? From 81 to 81 plant, according
to their perfection and beauty. 0t hydrangeas
we will have between 400 and 5OO pots. These
sell at from 80 cents to $40 plant. The
aeneSta, or broom plant, is used almost eXclu-
siyely for the Easter trade. By the way, in
reading Scott's 'Talisman' the other day
noticed that he said 1t was this plant which
Richard Cnur de Lion used as his badge in the
crusades. The astHbe jdpOaicd is another
plant that is grown by the millions in this coun-
try for Easter decorations. 1t is native of the
South of France, where, lady told me the other
day, she had seen acre alter acre OF nelus wnre
with 1t in the spring. None of these flowers are
very expensive. The Easter trade is not in the
high priced flowers.
1Ail these Easter lilies,'' continued Mr.
Small in answer TO further quesuons, come
from Bermuda, which supplies the world with
lilies. The dried bulbs of the flowers are
shipped to this country and sprouted in the hot.
houses here, | expect that at least one-thlrd OF
the lily crop was destroyed this year oy "a dis,
ease which attacked the bulbs. No, this will
not cause any marked increase in the price OF
the lilies, although the supply is little short
Some Philadelphia and New York parties nave
tried the experiment Of importing the grown
/ lilies from Bermuda, but it is not success.
The lilies are nearly all imperfect. Wecouldn,t
do ANYTHING with lilies brought over in this
way, as Washington is the most particular
! flower market in the country. 1t Will have
nothing but the very choicest and most perfect
/ specimens that the market affords. In New
! York, now, florists can find purchasers for all
! sorts of flowers, culs as we'll as choice, DuL
! here only the choice will be taken
"a curious thing about yiolets growing in
! this regiou,n Mr. Small continued, lis that the
! flower will not thrive in the soil OF Maryland.
All our violets come from Virginia, where they
! grow freely"
The annual Easter opening at Mr.. Small's
will occur Tuesday. The window decorations
will be particularly fine They consist of an
! ivy-coyered cross over five feet high about
which large wreath or crown of white flowers
will be thrown. Amid these flowers small cleo
trio lights will be placed to represent the jewels
of the crown About the cross there will be
beds of all the characteristic Easter flowers
and the window will be filled in with lilies, hy-
drangeas, etc. From above, white doves with
outstretched wings will be suspended: In the
large showroom there will be the usual display
of rare and beautiful potted plants, palms, and
Easter flowers in great profuson