THE ROYAL FLOWER SHOW.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 12817, 17 July 1912, Page 8

THE ROYAL FLOWER SHOW.

Already attention has been drawn to 'the wonderful flower show held m the grounds adjoining the Chelsea Hospital during May of this year ; but an Australian gin, Miss Lee, daughter of Mr arid Mrs Alfred Lee, Bondi, describes : a : day Avhicli she spent there. "Wo went tp tiio flower show and entered under an avenue of beeches that met overhead. Tjie exhibits were distributed am6ngthe grounds out. in tho open,- only the very choicest things being protected by marfquees.- One cannot imagine such a vision of beauty; ho horrid calico-cover-ed benches with" rows of plants c-n .t-r-ays:. ;bUt masses of blooms m pots, sunken* hi' the ground, surrounded either with a mossy carpet or the real grass lawn. The cut Jiowers were shown m masses, with tremendously long stalks, all' most artistically jarr-anged m large spaces, and intermingled with all kinds of greenery and le-ms to show the colors to the best advantage. It was magnificent. "The carnations were marvellous, some as large as ordinary dahlia, but I lost my heart to the rambler roses, grown as standards, and then trained so as to look liko wonderful shower bouquets covered with thousands of blooms. One garden of these was surrounded by a carpet of flowers grown m pots, all tiny whito and' pink roses. One wouldn't see ■a pot anywhere, 'just a carpet of lovely ;f lowers, and- then tlie glorious showers, arches, and ba-skets of ramblers m every shade of red and pink, as well as white, single and double blooms. Then the azaleas and rhododendrons are beyond description; such glorious masses of gorgeous color. We couldn't see half there was to be seen. There are;> &; believe, 42 acres of garden; but we mean to go again.

"The orohids were so wonderful and so numerous that we grew tired' of looking .at them. It was too much 1 beauty, and though it seems dreadful to admit it, we were really satiated for the time being, and didn't at all appreciate the fact that one collection aiorieyWas valued at £300,000, and had special . constables to look after it. ft had arrived -in boxes with Chubb locks. V v! ( "We went on the fruits and vegetables, and word', amused at the funny little trees/ covered with tiny cherries and peaches^ looking very sorry for themselves, m pots. There was a lovely exhibit from the King's hot houses. A French rose was judged the finest new rose, and won the Daily Mail gold cup; but the conditions were that the winning rose must be called the Daily Mail. As the Frenchman liod already named his rose after a French lady, he refused to changeythe name. Fancy calling a rose the Daily Mail! . "This show was the finest ( ->held for 50 years. I should say it is the finest m the world j but this is a land- of flowers. The spring is so lovely. In the park thei'o are » beds of i white daisies •with lovely pink tulips about 2ft: .high growing through. ,-The window gardens here are delightful.

"The fruit, shops are amusing ; grapes 6s per lb., asparagus 30s per bunch, but it is very large. The ordinary size is 15s, and is exactly the same as I saw ih Paris for Is 3d on the barrows m the street. Coming from Paris to Calais we ran through field after field of lovely flowers, and m England the same. One doesn't wonder that the French and English suffer from nostalgia. The only thing that surprises me is that they ever leave their lovely lands."