New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1904-06-13
THE PARIS FLOWER SHOW
attractive Display Made By French
Gardeners Features.
Paris, June l.

most popular Of summer fixtures. and. notwith-
standing the heat prevailing in Paris the
| opening of the Exhibition of Flowers by the
| horticultural Society of France under the leafy
chestnuts OF the beautiful Cours la Refine. on the
banks of the Seine brought all Paris TO the spot.
! And certainly any visitor who IN a position
| to compare the Paris show with. say, for in
| stance. that held annually by the British Horti-
/ cultural Society in the picturesque and media
| val surroundings of the Middle Temple in Lon
| don would be forced to admit that the French
| gardeners yield to none in their manner Of set
| ting out their wares.
Standing at the entrance of the great rotunda
| a magnificent display of color greets the eye.
! The foreground and centre are occupied by beau
titled examples of bedding out plants. and the
| rich hues of begonias. geranums, pelargoniums,
| in variously shaped beds. thrown into
/ qusite relief by the specimens of herbaceous
| bordering either side. with their admirably
| blended cunningly contrasted gradations of
color. In view Of the wide space at their dis
posal. broad effects have naturally been aimed
at and. indeed. achieved by the designers OF
the parterre and yet detailed examination Of
the beds will produce a slight feeling of disap-
pointment. Both I'm the bedding-out plants and
in perennial herbaceous plants there many
| lovely flowers which have apparently been over
| looked by the French growers.
True the geraniums. begonias. calceolaras
and pelargoniums could hardly he finer. but the
same might have been said of these plants at
any show I'm the last decade. The last word on
all would appear to have been spoken long ago.
with the DR.. jacob geranium, for example.
the enormous lemon begonia. with which every
one to-day is familiar. 1t seems almost regret
table that much time should be spent the
same plants year by year. The rose section is
altogether Disappointing; all the blooms are
nd MIA IIa
This is imitation of the Crimson Rambler. in
a hardy dwarf not climbing, plant. which
flowers freely in the open air. The red is less
! vivid than its more delicate forebear. but II
would be very useful and decorative bush. 1t
has feen named Mime. Norbert Levasseur.
Among standards. fine specimen Of the Ideal.
rose resembling in color the we'll known Mr..
Allen Richardson. and the NJ. Ttllier. a curiously
tinted rose. in which yellow 10 strive with
pink. producing deep flesh tone were notice
able: but the rose par excellence. which might
have been expected to figure prominently in such
show. La France with its large pink bios
SONS and unrivaIled scent, IS hardly represented
at all. The charming and curious little Capucine
rose Cstandard) IS well 10 the fore again. with
its odd suggestion OF the nasturtium IN growth
and coIoring
Turning 10 herbaceous plants. the peonies are
well worth close inspection. There is a wonder
ful japanese bush peony called Lakme. which
has very large single white blossoms. and an
other. the Coquette des Blanches also white.
but with deep red markings in the centre.
Among the hydrangeas is striking plant. n
new one called the Hydrangea Hortenss rosea
which by cultivation has been changed from It's
original rose color TO the opaque. Intense pale
blue OF wedgwood china. Nothing could be finer
than these large heads Of splendid blue bios
som.
F1owering bushes make fine show. though
there is nothing original among them
Rhododendrons Of all the familiar kinds. sweet
scented azaleas OF equally well known varieties
Kalmias OF all tones OF pink or white. none OF
these present any novelty. OF these last the
Lactifolia rosea and the Superba rosea per-
haps the handsomest
In the bulbs there IS a striking display OF
irises. all OF which can be grown in the ordi-
nary kitchen garden border without special
arrangements for holding moisture The Presi-
dent vigier. entirely plant OF fine light
purple color, attracts the eye at once enor-
nous is its bloom. Tulips were at a disad-
vantage. their little day being over. but no
novelties were among them Canna5 make u
splendid showing, do the gloxinias. and close
10 the bed OF wonderful HGmanthus fasci-
nator, with its great feathery heads OF scarlet
bloom, a new importation from the Congo. is
one OF the finest exhibits Of cactus (Phyllocac-
tus) that has ever been seen here. a new va
riety is the bright blush scarlet OF President
Loubet and another new and lovely cream coll
ored one IS Suzanne Girard
The decorative section is less interesting. A
few bouquets among which the so popular
shower bouquet IS conspicuous by it's absence.
show successful blending OF colors. but taba
decorations are less successful The tendency
has been TO overload the table. and the effect
is in one or two Instances distinctly heavy.
Orchids were the favorite flowers for this pur-
pose and smilax may be said to have played
the leading role.
It's Limitations apart. the show may be said
TO be. the whole. very good one and II IS
to be hoped that those who are responsible for
the flowers I'm the parks and public places OF
Paris have made a few notes. The bedding out
in all public gardens has this been mig
gardy in the extreme. walk round the Lux
embourg or Observatoire Gardens would in fact
convince the spectator that the scarlet geranium
the only plant known to the state garden
year voted large OF money for the beauti-
hcation OF the parks OF the city. only second
prize plants being employed throughout the
Paris municipality has gone 10 the other ex-
torget-me-nots and pansies and borders OF scar
let geranums OF the most mediocre varieties.
c. l. b.