The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1897-05-26
ROckfeller's Floral Clock.

VINO OWLS Tile largest eSCaGe alouS
that Crime of America"
The clock is, from an ordinary
standpoint, says Harry Germaine, a
well-known syndicate writer, the most
marvellous product Of floral art eve
seen. From a botanist's view it is
the proper acknowledgment Of the
fora of the country applied to another
piece Of natures work, the rising and
setting Of the sun.
Flowers were in the days of Pliny
the timepieces of the poor. The
white lilly, Of which we have records,
in that day opened at 7 o'clock in the
morning and closed at 5 in the after
noon. 1t still keeps its regular time
of opening and shutting, and in the
rural districts is known as the "day
lily" the delight of the farmer wife.
There are 81 flowers that have their
times for blooming. This time varies
a little, according to latitude. But
except in either an extremely hot or a
piercing cold region, this does not
change. For instance, the yellow
goats beard Of the meadows closes
promptly at IL noon in France as we'll
as here. In Scotland the goat beard
is used for dismissing school in very
poor districts, where neither teacher
nor scholars have a watch, and where
the township is too poor to furnish
any other timepiece. In England the
4 o'clock is as we'll known in poetry
as it is here, and it preserves its
namesake hour as accurately.
Mrs. John D. Rockefeller is what is
known as an inVeterate botanist. She
c~uftivates flowers in season and out
of season. She is authority upon
plants and could, if she would. write
a very good botany for common use.
It is said she taught botany before
she married the young bookkeeper,
who can now afford to hire botanists
to teach his wife.
In the clock that has been designed
for the Rockefeller estate by the Ohio
landscape gardener, the Glands"
point to $50 in the morning. Phey
are made of the common yellow dan
delions. These flowers have a trick
of opening at precisely $50 in the
morning and of closing at $50 at
night. They are light-loving flowers,
and do not care whether the SUI
shines or not. They open with the
light and close when it goes away.
The dandelion is the most accurate of
all timepieces, and in a typical floral
clock the hands should be of this
flower, for they show exactly when
the day begins for the floral world.
The 2 o'clock hand is made of the
common hawkweed, which closes
promptly at 2 in the afternoon. It
opens at 8 in the morning, but when
the sun gets around to 2 it closes up
at the hour to a second.
In making a floral clock there is
some doubt attached to the laying of
it out. The Broness Burdett-Coutts
had one hat was planned to show the
hours the flowers closed. If you
looked at the l o'clock place you
would see a little white flower with a
fluffy stalk. This was the snow this
tie Of the meadow. At l o'clock it
could be relied upon to double up it's
snowy petals and, folding it's fluff,
shrink back into little hard stalks of
green.
At 2 o'clock on the Burdett-C outts
clock the hawkweed closed. At 3
o'clock the morning glories began to
shrivel, twining about their sticks
planted at the 3 o'clock place and at 4
o'clock the little four-o'- clocks got in
their self-appointed task Of closing
UP. It was more difficult when it
came to the midnight flowers, but
there are night.closing and moonlight
opening plants of the tropical varie-
ties that were utilized.
It is generally found that the hot
house or cultivated varieties of plants
do not open and close with any regu-
larity, but those Of the meadows and
forests can be depended upon. Like
the birds, they preserve their own
time of awakening.
A homely little plant, the snow
thistle, is the most accurate in the II
o'clock hour. This plant Of the pas
ture opens regularly at 5 and begins
to close at II o'clock, slowly complet-
ing the work by the time the II
o'clock whistles are sounding.
The architect who has prepared the
floral clock for the Rockefeller estate
has resorted to these wild flowers in a
cultivated state. By taking the this
ties, the "weeds," the goat-beards
and the other common wild flowers
into lighthouses and caring for them a
much larger variety can be grown,
more brilliant in color and more fra
grant. And this without sacrificing
the time-keeping qualities. There are
also some close relatives of these
flowers that are in a state Of cultiva-
ton and still opening and closing.
The day lily has cousins of the lily
family that do this.
The water lily is another accurate
opener and closer. 1t opens when the
sun rises AID closes when it sets. By
consulting an almanac for the hours
of sunrise and sunset you learn ex-
actly the habits of the water lily. 1t
never fails. At the time the sun
sinks behind the horizon it is a hard
green tuber with all it's scent folded
inside.
Another way Of arranging a floral
clock is to place its plants so that the
hours of opening are shown instead
Of the hours of closing.
A very necessary addition to the
floral clock is a key, which is a book
with a floral guide written inside.
As the hands cannot move upon this
strange floral clock a little explana-
ton is necessary, or you do not un-
derstand it. a small watch, water
proof, like a bicycle watch, is placed
nearby.
The handsomest floral clock ever
seen was placed upon the grounds of
the Duke of Westminster several
years ago. A sun-dial formed the
center of the clock. Upon the dial
there was laid a ! little book with pages
Of oilcloth stamped in waterproof ink.
A watch also lay alongside. With
this key, and the sundial and watch
for a guide, the visitor to the floral
clock could amuse himself indcf-
nitely, reading the hours and verify