The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-11-13


 A chrysanthemum garden party could
 have been given this week at Raiah
 Lodge. the home of former Congressman
 William F. Aldrich and Mrs. Aldrich. To
 wander through their gardens IS to iin-
 agine yourself in the Mikado land, in Ja-
 pan, where the daughters of Nippon are
 called Madame Chrysanthemum and
 where everything is artistic and Oriental
 looking
 Chrysanthemums with their love of lux
 ury and space, their subtle suggestiveness
 of things eastern bloom in the gardens
 at Rajah Lodge as if they were not a
 transplanted exatie. They seem a part of
 the life there, because of the glowing
 beauty of the place itself. the environ
 ment that we find in charming books,
 as rare as pale pink water lilies and lotus flowers. All these have their place in the Rajah Lodge gardens, in the gem eral decorative scheme, and even deli cate orchids are lining the conservatories with pale lilac and white tinted blooms
 But November belongs to the chrysan- themum. Everything Is subordinated to this queenly flower. Quite as much as ev- cry one Is always subordinated to Ellen Terry or Ada Rehan. The chrysanthe- mum in the leading lady of the floral world just at present And what a con- sumate actress she is, what moods she displays a her birth, how full of dignity is her life how she diesl She epitomizes nature in her varying graces, in her af- fected naturaness, and the painters who initiate Titian, and Turner and all the other colorists look with despair on the incurving petals of a ehrysanthemum.
 Chrysanthemum culture at Rajah Todpp is a revelation tO not only flower lovers. but to chrysanthemum growers The conservatories are the handsomest 1 in the state and there are between two | and three hundred varieties In full l bloom. day in their chrysanthemum | gardens Is like a memory of exquisitely | vivid things. and everything else in com
 parson seems colorless, just as every | day things must have looked to Cleopatra
 Professional growers would naturally attempt to reach a high state of cultiva- tion in their chrysanthemums, but it is | unusual for private gardens to show such | great care and luxuriousness. Mrs. Aid | rieh's fondness for flowers is the raison | d'ete for their extensive cultivation at | Rajah Lodge, and MT. Aldrich himself 1 great lover of flowers, finds the great | est pleasure in providing the most expe- rieneed men for their cultivation Ever | since he built the lodge, several years | ago, the private grounds and the conserv- atories have been intrusted to capable | landscape gardeners, and it is said that with the exception of Biltmore, owned by MT. George w. Vanderbilt there are not as large and as magnificent private gardens in the whole south Just at present the gardens are not at the height of their beauty, which in the spring quite beggars description. and the views &C., this article were taken in winter, and give no idea of the tropical wealth of Rajah Lodge. MT. Adolph Dieterlek, formerl1 of Co., lumbus, Miss and a grower of years of experlence has entire charge of the green houses. Flowers grow at It's touch, and the chrysanthemums of this season have even surpassed his expectation They were planted in July in a soil that was made rich with liquid fertilizer. Chrysanthe- C nuns need to be kept wet but they are 1 | a hardy flower, and will be blooming | through December Mir. Dleterick sees no e reason why chrysanthemums are not cul- d tivated more extensively in Alabama a There is nothing to prevent them from c reaching the highest state of cultivation, ( and their growing popularity has given t them an undsputed sway. li The green houses and Raiah Lodge are fl brilliant In November. The chrysanthe- W nuns In full bloom, are growing to a N height Of six feet, and you look upon a IT sea of wonderful color, the foliage as W varied as the planets II Among the varieties that Mrs Aldrich A sent to the chrysanthemum show in Mont a gomery the past week was the golden age & a slightly reflexed, Intense yellow chEy- il typically Japanese, and a perfect flower in contour. f The John Burton which is an acquisi- s