Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-04-09
OR Easter Flower Supply.


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Natures chief contribution to Easter. the
wealth of flowers which are lavished In the
| churches and homes of the people in OBJ
| servance of that glad event, will soon be-
come visible throughout the land Already
a few of the timid buds Just released from
| the cold grasp of winter and quickened into
life by the warmth of the spring sun, are
beginning to burst into blossoms of beauty.
| forerunners of the great and general awak-
ening of the floral kingdom that will signify
| the gladness of the earth and its inhabi-
tants in the joyous elimination of the re-
| ligious season which is now being observed.
| In their greenhouses, located in the coun-
try surrounding Washington. the local flor
lists are giving most careful attention to the
| culture of the bulbs and plants which will
| produce the flower supply of the national
| capital for next Easter Sunday, the 23d of
this month. This is the beginning of the
palmy days for the local florists; and it is
also the period of their greatest anxiety, for
| thousands of dollars involved in the
| proper care of the contents of the green
| houses during the next few weeks. The
local Easter flower supply is also at stake
during this crucial time and any relaxation
of the gardeners care and attention, any
mistake in judgment in the forcing OF the
| bulbs, might result in n meager supply of
flowers for the people of Washington in the
| event that adequate shipments could not be
| secured from other cities in the emergency.
| While il is true that. barring calamities,
practically all the flowers that will grace
the churches, the homes and the persons
of Washington residents Easter Sunday will
be directly produced in the greenhouses of
local florists near the city, yet it is like
wise true that several foreign countries
have been called upon to assist in furnish
ing the flower supply of the national capt.
tai. III far away Japan, in Belgium, Hoi-
land and China, f1oriCulturists are now care
fully experimenting the growing of bulbs
of lilies, azalias jonquils. hyacinths. tulips
| and other popular Easter flowers that will
bloom for Washington people during Easter
of 1896. Last year at about this time there
was similar preparation made in the COun-
tries named for the flower supply of Wash
ington for the coming Easter. The problem
of adequately providing appropriate bios
SONS for large city at Easter-tide is not
altogether an easy one for the florists and
preparations are made year in advance.
The leading flower for Easter of course,
is the Easter lily. Twenty-Five years ago
and more the popular flower employed in
| the Easter day decorations was the St
Joseph Easter lily, which was brought to
this country from the south of France. This
flower was succeeded about twenty years
ago by the Bermuda lily and for prac-
tically fifteen years the popular Easter
flower came from those islands. Each year
| there came to the United States from the
Bermudas thousands of bulbs of lilies and
the flower trade from those islands was
no inconsiderable Item
But greedy commercialism on the part of
the fforiculturistS of Bermuda proved their
downfall so far the lily concerned.
In their anxiety to realize revenue from the
| generous American flower buyer the pro-
ducers of the islands began cutting the
flowers with disregard for the consequences.
The bulbs were weakened, the flower be-
came diseased, and today only few hun
dred cases of Easter lilies are shipped to
| this country each year, where formerly the
! shipments amounted to several thousands
| of cases.
With the passing of the Bermuda lily
| there came the Easter lily from Japan the
| Tonga flora" This flower, it is de-
| clared. is the Bermuda species transplanted
in Japan. where it has been cultivated and
developed with even greater success and to
| a higher degree of beauty than it attained
| formerly in the islands. The disease noted
| in the Bermuda flower has been eradcated
| in the transplanting. and today practically
| all the Easter lilies for the markets of
| America have been originally cultivated In
| the orient.
The bulbs of the Easter lily are dug In
Japan and started to America in July of
| each year arriving here in September. The
| bulbs always carefully selected and
| each is wrapped in a ball of clay and fer
! tiliZer, covered with husks of rice. Imme-
| ditely upon their arrival in America in the
| fall the florists of the various cities secure
| their individual Importation and set out
| the bulbs in their greenhouses, where they
| are cultivated and attended most carefully
| during the succeeding months In order to
| prevent their blooming too rapidly the
bulbs are kept in cool greenhouses, and only
! a few are placed in warm temperature from
| time to time to supply the demand of Gus
| toners during the winter months. Ordi-
| narily the first flowers from these bulbs are
brought out about the latter part of March,
| but the florists always exercise the greatest
| raj tn flowers a
| short time before Easter, when everybody
demands this popular flower, practically all
| of the bulbs set out In the warmer
greenhouses. In a short time thereafter the
buds appear, burst into bloom, and the
cutting for the Easter trade begins.
|