Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1906-02-13
CAPRICES OF TEE FLOWERS
WHY A CARNATIoN MAY BE
WORTH $4,000 IN CASH.

| Forty thousand dollars does seem
a pretty high price to pay for a
| flower said a Broadway florist, in
speaking of the seeding carnation
Aristocrat, which was sold by a Gin
cinnati firm to the Carnation Assoc
citation of Joliet, H., recently, but
the association will have no trouble
in getting its money back.
1T will get it hack in one season.
You see, they wih sell the first shoots
for S. apiece. They'll have about a
thousand of them. Then the shoots
will be doubled and tripled and quad
rupled and they'll sell them all for
| S. apiece.
at is unusual to grow anything very
wonderful in the way of a carnation
in this country. That was probably
what raised the price of the Aristo-
crat. Carnations grow much better
in England.
"No, don't know why; nobody
does. The climate, probably. Maybe
the fogs. Maybe the soil. only know
that they are much richer in color and
nearly twice as big there as they are
| here.
There seems to be fad for rare
carnations among many rich people.
l have known people to pay. fabulous
prices for rare carnations and never
let them go out of their greenhouses
except for presents to their friends.
kIoA c.hn
like to have rare flower for myself
that nobody else had, just as some
people like to have fine horses.
But as to the way flowers take
to different countries. There is the
American Beauty rose. They can't
grow that in England at all 1t re-
fuses to take root. They have tried
it again and again and failed. Yes
I suppose that is the reason they are
called. American Beauty roses. II
suits them best to grow here.
Il sent my father a slip of one OF
those roses to try in his garden. He
planted it and watered it, but that
was all there was to it. Nothing do
ing. He lives in Richmond, too. The
garden spot of all England for beauti
full flowers.
Flowers have a world of sense
They know where they want to grow
and they grow best there. Sometimes
we can coax them into something like
their original beauty in our green
houses, and sometimes we can't.
| OF lie in, fh,a N
dow, for instance, grows best on the
Pacific Coast That one didn't, Of
course. 1t was grown in a greenhouse
Yes, it is beautiful 1t is almost i'm
| possible to believe it could be more
beautiful unless you saw it trailing
along on it's native heath. 1t is q
thing to look at there.
II believe, taking it all in all, that
orchids are the most fashionable
flower this season. We have just had
an order for a dinner to be given q
week from Friday One thousand or
chids. The orchids alone for this din
ner will cost the host $4,000. l sup
pose everything else will be on the
same scale.
Orchids grow best in France,
think, but there are some specialists
in this country who grow them very
beautifully"
A boy came in just then with long
narrow wooden box. He set it on a
counter and, lifting the top, then some
slabs of tissue paper, took out two
| Holt foha frfv al y
faint pink flowers not much larger
than apple blossoms and approached
the florist with winning smile.
How much?" asked the florist cas-
ually.
six dollars" answered the boy.
Il will give you five," the florist re-
piled.
Without a word the boy wrapped
the long, slender, beautiful, odorless
switches carefully back in the slabs
of tissue paper. He laid them in the
box. He put on the top. Then he
bowed politely to the florist, opened
the door and took his departure.
Orchids from the - green
houses" explained the florist with a
| slight elevation of eyebrows. "They
don't want much for their orchids.
You see 1 offered him five. Yes, for
each switch, of course. And still
there are some who complain of our
prices"
He walked to a glass door back of
which were roses, orchids, violets.
He opened the door. A delicate odor
1oated out.
1T is a strange thing about flow
ers," he resumed, "and the places they
select to grow best in.
Now roses grow best in Canada. l
don't know why. Perhaps because
they like the cold.
"You see that single violet? 1t grew
on Long Island, which was a wonder
Violets used to love Long Island, but
they don't any more. Maybe they
took a dislike to the scenery or the
people, or it may be that the soil was
worn out.
cat any rate, ley have taken to
flourishing now in the Hudson Valley,
in Poughkeepsie, in New Hamburg, in
Rninebeck. Orchids grow best in New
Jersey along with the mosquito, in
Morristown, Rutherford, Madison"
He opened another door and step
ped back to observe the effect upon
the beholder.
"A bouquet We have just finished
for BRIDE" he said.
The bouquet was one great mass OF
lilies of the valley. 1t was tied with
a huge bow of soft white silk ribbon.
Baby ribbon of the whitest, to which
little stems of lilies of the valley had
been fastened, hung lavishly about it.
''The bouquet of the bride is to be
round this year." explained the for
list as he shut the door on the per-
fume- $50 is that of the maid of
honor and those OF the bridesmaids.
We usually make the bouquet of the
maid of honor of the Nine. Encnant-
ress rose, combined with delicate
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