Evening star., 1928-06-12

| We stood in front of the orchid dis
| play at the flower show, lost in WondeI
at the beauty OF the exotic blooms.
| So, these, then, were orchidsl
1t was the first time the writer here
ever had opportunity to view orchids In
| the mass, as 1t we're. Hitherto oul
acquaintance with them had been ex-
| tremely limited; perhaps not dozen In
| as many years
Before us this afternoon were some
| hundred OF blooms In what struck the
observer as a representative display In
| O show devoted to all the flowers In
bloom at this season of the year.
To this hour we had wondered II
| those who praised the orchid so lavishly
in the general and horticultural maya
zines had not rather overdone the
thing, but as we stood there we men,
tally took off our hat both to the orchids
and the writer's.
Surely they are gorgeous, interesting
plants, with their varied blossoms
some large, some small, some of vivid
deep colorings, others with almost pansy
faces and the most delicate of colorings
These were, we realized, but 1.-THE
of the species and varieties which grow
in he native habitats. There were here
zone of the curious evolutions which
/ make the flowers ta,Se on resemblance
to parrots and so on. yet there were
enough types to show to the casual OBJ
server the wealth OF flower material
and glory resident in this famous play
thing of the rich
Those of us who cannot grow orchids
need not worry over 1t. The peony is
xfyJ%ft &C Irtf 1IxY oyad iYnt q
flower to those who have not allowed
their Judgment to be warped by the fact
that these wonderful shrubs are wide
spread.
The rose still remains the queen of
flowers; the iris proudly holds her head
as Incompatible. The displays of these
three universal favorites at the show in
no sense played second fiddle to that of
the orchids.
The true flower lover loves them all,
magnifying each race, species and va
riety for It's virtues, but steadfastly re-
flsing to believe that there is any par
ticular virtue in one genus.
Each flower Is beautiful In its way,
since each plays a distinct part in Gods
great garden of the outdoors. To one
observer at least this fact was proved at
the show. where the long tables of peony
blossoms may have been said to have
been even more striking than the exhibit
OF orchids
Surely there Is no more beautiful
thing in fiowerdom, rightly considered,
than well grown bloom of Soiange
This is true likewise of most OF the
other varieties. Festiva Maxima, one Of
the Oldest and most widely disseminated.
had right to hold Its head proudly at
the show, which 1t did with immeasur-
able benefit to every beholder.
We are convinced that If some ex-
plorer had returned to America so years
ago with full-nowered spike Of gladio-
lus comparable to any one Of our beau
tiful modern varieties, II would have
been regarded with more veneration
than that now given to scme of the
orchids.
Flower for flower. many of the more
recent "glads" are the equal a. least Of
many OF the orchids; to our way of
thinking. even the superior. 1t must
never be forgotten. Of course, that In
matters of taste only those possessed
Of taste have any right to be judges.
To say that one likes" flower Is
not enough. Only the views OF those
who have had ample opportunity tn
study and enjoy all flowers may be