FLOWERS OF THE EMPIRE

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXI, 27 March 1937, Page 14

FLOWERS OF THE EMPIRE

CORONATION DISPLAY (By Air Mail—From A Special Correspondent! LONDON, 27th February. English gardeners are showing a keen anticipatory interest in the flowers and plants, picked in their bloom which are being sent, frozen in ice, from Australia and New Zealand for the Royal Horticultural Society’s Spring Show at Chelsea in ' May. Rare and familial' flora,' beautiful specimens of their kind, from almost all the dominions and colonies, are to form 'd Coronation'exhibit at the show. ’ v - Australia is featuring acacias and eucalyptus; Canada, ferns, orchids, irises and phloxes; India,' Himalayan rhododendrons, jasmins, blue poppies and Himalayan primulas. Plants are also coming from such places as Hong Kong ,the Gold Coast, Tanganyika, Kenya, s Ceylon, Sierra, Leone and the Falkland Isles. Many delicate hot-house blooms and shrubs, from the tropics, have already arrived, and are being carefully reared in nurseries at Kew. ' ■ “Our intention is to demonstrate what the Empire has done for horticulture,” said Mr F. R. Durham, secretary of the Society this week. “Empire plants are the parents of many of those that grow in English gardens, and amateur gardeners will be interested to see where their favourite flowers come from. “The Empire exhibit'will be educational rather than spectacular. “We arc not aiming at a blend of Coronation colours for the reason that blooms at this tirne of the year are scarce in some of the Dominions. We shall simply stage the exhibit as a fine group. We have reserved a'big space for it.”