Evening star., 1896-12-12

In the cultivation of orchids for commercial
purposes. In my opinion. the Brightwood
orchids are the finest raised In the United
States. When Mr.. Joseph Chamberlain,
who Is one of England's enthusiastic anna
teur orchid raisers Of distinction, was in
Washington, he spent good portion of his
time at the Brightwood orchid nurseries,
and he declared that some OF the specimens
raised there for market purposes eclipsed
anything he had ever seen. 1t Is the
amount of care 1t is necessary to bestow
upon orchids in raising them that makes
them so expensive 1t is rare that orchids
of any sort can be bought from florists for
less than s6 a dozen. and the more frequent
price of them Is $12 dozen. They are
chiefly used in Washington during the
social season for purposes of table decora-
ton, and the orchid bills of social leaders
here are probably heavier than the bills
for the solids and liquids consumed at their
dinners and teas.
"On account of their comparative mex
pensiveness and their hardness, carnations
flower buyers. The price Of the best of
them is 81 Dozen and the nurseries on the
Chevy Chase road produce the most of
them sold here. Something that Is not gem
orally known. / think, Is the fact that IL
lies of the valley. which are used in Wash
ington in great quantities. are practically
grown to order. When big social func-
ton is to be. given, in which lilies of the
valley are to compose in large measure the
floral decorations, the florists are notified
about three weeks in advance, when they
take the lily Of the valley plants from their
cold storage houses and force the blossoms
in the nurseries. a process which requires
from fourteen to twenty days This ac-
counts for the expensiveness of lilies of the
valley.
Proper Flower to Wear.
For dress adornment, violets and roses
are the preference among Washington Ia
dies. Lilies of the valley come next. The
proper corsage bouquet for young unmar-
ried women is composed either OF violets or
roses, while matrons and more elderly wo-
men who cling to form wear lilies of the
valley. Among persons converSant with
this unwritten law in the wearing of flowers
there is, of course, an excellent chance for
the young men who wish to stand well
with the matrons and elderly ladies or un-
certain ages to f1atter them in an insin-
uating fashion by sending them violets and
roses for their corsages.
THE proper boutonniere for a man Is one
or more carnations. 1t is now considered
sign of cffeminacy for a man 10 wear
bunch of violets in his button hole. An at
tempt has been made to introduce the
beautiful japonica as the proper bouton-
Mere for men. but for some reason or other
1t was not very successful, perhaps on ac-
count Of the fragileneSS of the flower. The
day of the chrysanthemum is passing. Or
ders for them for purposes of decoration
are decreasing rapidly. They have become
too common. For purposes of dress adorn-
ment, both for men and women, they are
being rapidly abandoned
THE trade in potted plants is very large
in Washington, especially in the item of
palms. 1t is possible to raise all varieties
OF palms in the nurseries hereabouts, and
one or more palms give a fine fresh tone
to house. They are retailed all the way
from 81 to $50. Brazilian ferns are one of
the RACES of this season in potted plants.
They are hardy, beautiful and compare
lively inexpensive.
Holiday Greens.
"The mistletoe, holly and other green
stuff which is used in such immense guam
titles for purposes of house decoration dur
Ing the holiday season, all comes to WASH
ington from the surrounding woodlands of
Maryland and Virginia, and is garnered
chiefly by the employees of the marketmen.
The florists handle it chiefly in the filling
OF orders on a large scale given by wealthy
people, who do not appreciate the cheap
ness at which 1t is sold on the produce
markets Frankly, the florists are a little
down on the mistletoe and holly idea, for
the use OF this sort Of green stuff unde-
nlabiy initiates against their business dur
ing the holiday season.
Ihere has been good deal of fiction
published" concluded the florist las TO the
vest amounts Of money expended by
wealthy people for flowers and plants used
In decorating churches and residences for
weddings and other great occasions For
Instance, when the Duke Of Marlborough
married Miss Vanderbilt, the New York
papers stated that the cost of the floral
decorations footed up 100000. l should like
to have had the contract for the decora-
tions for sl0,00O.
Washington society people go in as
heavily for floral decorations as those of
any other city in the country, including
New York. and yet there is very rarely a
junction here where the flowers and plants
used for decorative purposes cost more
than $500. A church or a house can be
magnificently adorned with flowers for that
amount of money. When Senator German
gave his dinner to the Gridiron Club he or
dered his florist tC present an array of
flowers to eclipse anything ever seen in
Washington. and the most that could be
expended in doing this was $500
FLORISTS require two or three days notice
In advance of social functions, especially
weddings, in which to do their work In
decorating church for wedding there
are good many things TO be taken into
consider a ton, the most important of which
Is the costumes to be worn by the bride and
her bridesmaids, which the flowers must
match. Washington florists have, in emer-
gencies, completely decorated ball rooms
with flowers and plants in two or three
hours, but this Is a species of hustIing of
which they are not fond"