ROSES AND OTHER FLOWERS.

Evening Post, Volume LXXVI, Issue 125, 25 November 1908, Page 8

ROSES AND OTHER FLOWERS.

FINE DISPLAY IN THE TOWN HALL Is it by a mere coincidence or by a special dispensaticn of a merciful Providence thai, the last act of the election drama should have ended with a curtain of flowers? On the polling day the Hutt Valley Horticultural Society held its annual rose show at the Lower Hutt, and to-day comes i the display in the Town Hall of many flowers of the season, under the auspices of the Wellington Rose and Carnation Club. Thus the war of the hustings marges in the was of the roses, and the campaigners, triumphant or defeated, can soothe their nerves and. recruit their forces in the restful spectacle of a contest in which there is no second ballot. The season has smiled on roses, and, according to Mr. H. A. Fox, hon. secretary to the Rose and Carnation Club, there never has been in the annals of the society such a show as there is this year. Both in variety, in quality, and in number the entries far exceed anything done before. There is always something new in roses, though nobody has as yet succeeded in creating by artificial selection a blue or a green rose. Still within its ranges of colour the Varieties and shades are great. There is a whole history of roses in the names affixed to the different blooms. They form an interesting by-study to a visitor to the show. In addition to numerous competitive exhibits there is a table covered with beautiful blooms, 250 in number, from the Bellevue Gardenf, so succe&sf ul yesterday at the Lower Hutt. Messrs. Horton, of PahiatuaJand Laird, of Wanganui^have also fine (displays. The club is a carnation as well as a rose club, but carnations are few, as it is yet too early in the season for them and for pansies, which, are also meagrely represented. Sweet peas, however, are in abundance, and conspicuous in a collection is the new "waved standard" variety with crinkled petals. Cut flowers are said to be better this year than ever, and certainly they make a brilliant feature of the show. There are some very pretty In pot plants Mrs. Hamilton Gilmer shows some beautiful ferns and palms in a delightful framework of greenery. Among the ferns are the exquisite asparagus and Aspidastra varieties. Mr. Poole exhibits a great variety of pot plants, including a fine orchid with many blooms, and some beautiful calceolarias. "What, however, charms the eye more than anything else is the decorated table. Much artistic skill is evidenced in the choice and arrangement 1 of the flowers so as to give unity to the whole picture. Fine taste is shown in the selection of the vases and retaining vessels in this art of table dressing, the best use that can be made of flowers. (The refreshment room is a shady corner of the hall under the gallery, and separated from the rest by a screen of festoons and trellis work of lycopodium.

New veilings and special lines of embroideries and insertions are being displayed by Messrs. D. S. Patrick and Co., Ouba-stroet and Courtcnay-pl&ee. To-morrow afternoon, at 2 o'clock, Mr. W. P. Healy will sell by auction, at his rooms, 95, Cuba-street, household furniture and sundries, which, must bo cleared immediately..