The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-11-15

~ comes IN a month whtch -
given over to ennui, is Ieculi-
arly fitted to perform the duties (which
have been accorded to it. Sir Francis
Bacon said, Il doe hold it, there ought
to be Gardens for all the Moneshs OF
the Yeare, in which, severally, fhing5
of Beautie may be then in Seasbn."
Because of the forcing processes in
lighthouses, and through the hdded
knowledge coming from yeafs of
study, we have somehow got beyond
the season" of flowers. Formerly
the rose was dedicated TO the spring
time, but to-day we find roses Sat all
seasons. So with violets, and IL one
cares to get cherry blossoms iIt Feb
ruary, why, they can = had, j they
are ordered far enoug in advance.
| TO everything there is a sdson,"
we are told, and of all the f1owar sea
sons which retain individuality that
of the chrysanthemum holds III own
with a greater degree of accuracy.
THE Golden Flower" as itsi name
indicates-being derived FROM the
Greek words of that signifcanct-has
lost some of its distinctiveness, $50 far
as color is concerned. Originally
golden, by close application On the
part of the growers of flowers we
have the still incompatible yellow,
but in addition we have the ricl dam
ask, the royal purple, the flusheEI pink
and the dazzling white which, fash
from the florists windows and sepa-
rate admiring people from tht cash
necessary TO possess these glorious
beauties. Within recent year,, too.
there has been one produced which is
real sea-green. Blue, however, is
elusive, and there is yet to be seen a
blue chrysanthemum as we'll as "A blue
rose. Mr.. Kipling told of the Eutilitv
of trying for the blue roses ln his
verse:
Roses red and roses white,
Plucked ] for my loves delight
Shed have none of all my pGsies;
Babe me gather her blue ro%es."
There is an element OF the pathetic
in the wonderful coloring. HQe are
the quiet, subtle hues that seem ap-
propriate, indeed, to the autumn and
the early winter, and not to the fresh
coloring hours of the parting year.
when the mists come pouring in at
shutdown and the very sunshine itself
is pale and cold And it grows colder
and more gray till at last the glorious
Golden Flower bursts into it4 most
marvellous bloom and riot OF color
just at the time when the world needs
cheerfulness most
That IS why, perhaps, the chrysan-
themum is called the Flower OF
Cheerfulness in its native land The
sixteen-petalled chrysanthemuni is on
the royal standard of Japan, and the
Chinese have a legend TO the effect
that the flower is the emblem of
Eternal Cheerfulness in Adversely.
Even the strange perfume of the
chrysanthemum is in harmony with
its season. 1t is not sweetnesS-like
the perfume of the violet or the rose
and yet, after all, it is tragically sweet
1t speaks of violent action, and, per-
haps, it is because OF its struggle for
existence that it tells its story in the
perfume.
To grow chrysanthemums OF their
best ii Is necessary to pluck off the
first buds-yes, and the second and
the third, and many more, till the
struggling plant brings forth fifteen
or sixteen buds. Then the leaves and
the shoots must be pinched beck, till
the whole energy of the plant is di-
rected toward the blossoms. The re-
suit, in the hands of a competent
grower, is the great blossom which W.
see in the windows of the howeN
shops. But 1t has been a strugel
and the protest of it all is shown
the perfume which is pungent. strfE(
ing, and little bitter-spicy, they call
ii, technically.
In all the glory of the shopping
season-best along the time when the
world is getting ready to celebrate the
holidays which fall between Novem-
Der 20 and the first of the New Year
there is nothing so attractive as a
window filled with the Flower of
Gold, and this means not only gold.
but crimson and lavender and pink
and the white that vies with the snow
that comes with the best of the chry-
santhemums.
The first chrysanthemum show was
held in Norwich, England, in .S2o.
The Philadelphia Horticultural So
ciety held the first chrysanthemum
show III the United States in 1883.
The first chrySanthemums TO be
brought 10 Europe were taken from
China by shippers of the tea trading
ships.