St. Paul daily globe., 1896-03-30
TIE FLOWER OF THE COMING
SEASON.
AzALEA TAKES SECOND RANK.
THEN COME HYDRANGEAS, HYA-
CINTHS, CARNATIONS AND
SWEET VIOLETS,
SEASON MAKES FLORISTS SMILE
As Easter Is Pre-eminentIy u Day of
FlOwers-The Market and
Prices.

Easter is pre-eminently the day OF
flowers 1t has it's Christian meaning,
Is the Dominica gaudn, the Sabbath
Of joy, which marks the transition from
the austerlties Of Lent to the more
jocund Vanltles Of the orld, from the
sorrows and doubts Of the week of Pas
sion to the assured hope Of the resur-
rection. But it has an even older and
mora widespread sig lificance as a uni
persal outburst Of rejoicing over the
awakening Of nature after the long
sleep Of winter. the substitution of the
beauties and treasures Of the spring
tide for the bleak monotony Of the
months past. For Easter is older than
Christianity. 1t is festival instituted
by nature herself, and celebrated by all
manner Of living things, at all times,
since the world began. 1t Is typified in
all sy stems Of religious belief, from the
gross superstitions Of savages to the
highest conceptions OF Christianity
The general policy of the early
shurch was to give new significance to
all extant pagan ceremonials that were
too firmly rooted to oe Weeded out. In
the case of Easter the conversion was
peculiarly easy. Joy at the renewed
potency of the physical sun and at the
awakening Of nature from the death
OF winter became joy at the rising of
the Sun Of Righteousness-at the res
direction of Christ from the grave.
Many of the old observances and the
old symbols were retained, but now in
formed with a new meaning And,
therefore. the buds and blossoms and
bourgeoning plants of the old floral
celebrations became linked with the
joyous services of the Easter season.
FLOWERS AND FLORISTS.
There IS no business which feels this
revival more keenly than that Of the
florist. With Lent there comes a stag
nation in the flower trade. Balls par
ties, weddings and all occasions that
call for the interchange Of posies and
nosegays, and for other decorative use
Of natures darlings suffer a temporary
lull, only to break out afresh with the
ringing of the gladstone Easter chimes.
The very churches set the fashion.
Affairs, chancels and aisles, forsaking
their whilom Lenten gloom becomes
radiant with lilies and lilacs, with
palms, with roses, genistas, hydrangeas
end violets. with festoons of pink and
red carnations.
1TINdlS houses IOlIOW suit acCOfQ1nS
to the taste and the means Of their
owners. Even in the humblest homes,
notably Of Catholics a,nd Episcopalians,
there is some small attempt at floral
decoration. The homes Of the wealthy
become visions of tropic exuberance.
EASTER LILIES.
The lily, as pre-eminently the Easter
flower, is, Of course, the most usually
seen. 1t possesses the merit which it
shares with the hyacinth and other
Dubious flowers, Of being more durable
than some Of the more fragile favor
ties OF the season. Thus the hydran-
gea is likely to droop If kept in
warm room. But even the hydrangea
by careful watering twice a day will
retain the vitality Of its blossoms.
Next to the lily in POPULARITY ranks the
aZalea. 1t comes in a variety Of colors,
but is especially favored for Easter in
glowing pink or satiny white. Rho
dodendrons, or giant aZaleas are also
used. They are similar to azaleas, but
have larger heads and larger blossoms.
Other only less popular flowers are hy-
drangeas in pink, white and blue, the
yellow gemSta, an English flower which
grows from a foot and a half to seven
feet in height; hyacinths, pinks, tulips,
lilies Of the valley, jonQuils and violets.
In the way OF greens, PAINS are uSeu
for backgrounds and smilax for fes-
toonings.
1t is not only churches and private
houses that give evidence of the ar
rival Of Easter. The very streets bour-
geon with flowers. Walk down Fourth
street Easter or the Saturday preced-
ing, and every other store seems to
have turned itself into florists. The
scent Of blossoms is in the air. Every
woman carries a corsage bouquet
Every man who wishes to be well
dressed has a nosegay in his button
hole. The city seems to have trans
formed itself into a magnificent flower
show.
But it is the shops Of the avowed
florists that are the especial feature
of the season. Every man in the busi-
ness takes especial pride in turning
his establishment into a wilderness of
loveliness. With every year the opu-
lence of the display increases, because
every year increases the facilities for
transportation and enables the enter
prising dealer to draw more liberal
supplies not only from the immediate
neighborhood, but from the most dis
tant parts of the South and the re-
moter Bermudas,so that exotics grown