St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1893-03-12
FASHIONS IN FLOWERS.
Great Changes Witnessed in Last
Thirty Years. o.ss

Thirty Years. cYss
At recent silver wedding large
palms sprang out of the table. being
surrounded by a pretty wire frame
work, with petals that seemed to turn
outward. This formed the invisible
groundwork of white flowers and
frosted leaves-the floral pots, in fact,
in which the palms were set.
There were horseshoes and double
hearts, all entwined with hyacinths
and lilies of the valley, scattered
over tho table, while clusters OF roses
and hyacinths adorned the large white
satin bows resting on the cloth. A
charming idea was arches OF flowers
resting on bell foundation, with small
floral bells hanging at intervals from
the smilaX which covered the arches.
At another wedding the brides bou-
uuet was nearly all lilies, with fringe
OF lilies of the valley; the bridesmaids
were mixture of datfodilS and mlmoSa,
all tied with baby ribbon.
The new empire bouquet is the fash
ion of the hour in London. 1t is port
able handful of blooms, which partakes
of the nature of the brocades with
which that period is associated. FaSn-
ion seems to assert itself everywhere,
ana even WIFI Tile llOWtIS Wo Pus OA
the graves of our loved ones.
Thirty wears ago society women nad
to fall back on camellias for their table
decorations, says the New York Times.
The flowers were grown in half dozen
colors, and answered as many purposes.
Violets and white carnations were
| scarce, and roses, though small and
| short-stemmed, were regarded as
great luxury.
In those days the florist fastened to-
gether ball of bouquet green" with
| several yards of heavy wire, and into
| the ball were thrust the camelias and
| carnations.
Sometimes, by way of variety, vacan-
cies were left and filled i'll with yiolets,
| giving a spotted effect 10 the bouquet
and making it both grotesque and I'M
graceful.
Then one of the most frequent direc-
tions 10 the florist in making up bou-
quet was to put it together as lightly as
| possible. Bouquet green was very
| heavy stuff, and an average bouquet
would tip tine scales anywhere from
three to Ne pounds, and frequently
| ladies retired after an evening enter
tainment more tired from holding the
indispensable bouquet than from stand
ing and "being pleasant" for four hours.
| 1t is related upon good authority that
when Miss Lorillard was married TO
| James Z. Kernochan. a servant in the
LoriIlard family drowned a superanu-
ated pet dog by tying the brides bou-
| quet about the animals neck and drop
ping him in the river. >.
Roses that person even outside the
fringe of society would not delgn to BUY
today were sold FOR 81 and $3.50 each in
1867. The American Beauty rose was
then unknown, and comparatively few
JacquemInot roses were grown, and the n
only in the spring.
In 1869 tea roses were introduced IN
Boston, and the following year tea roses
became the rage here. Soon afterWard
two varieties of green orchids were hrst
used.
In 1872 smilax, now so common In
floral decorations of all kinds, was put
up in the florists windows and sold for
81 so a yard. Today smilax can be
bought for 20 cents a yard. The hrst
| Duchesse de Brabant. and Marechal
| Mel roses were sold in this city In 1870,
and about tile same time florists began
TO force flowers. The first forced lilies
of the valley and lilacs were offered Tor
sale during the winter Of 1901.
| In 1870 the GlOire de Paris, the nrst
| loug-stemmed rose, was introduced.
Palms have been in general use LOT
only ten years. During the days OF the
| civil war there were but two large
palms IN the city, and they belonged 10
Isaac Buchanan, all old-school HORST.