SB 413 .C55 R7 Copy 1 \ CHRYSANTHEMUMS CHRYSANTHEMUMS By Phil Robinson GEORGE H BUCHANAN AND COMPANY PHILADELPHIA *£> COPYRIGHT It FOREWORD The inc7'easing interest of flower lovers in the development of the Chrysanthemum is sufficient reason for offeri?ig, in a form worthy of preservation, this little essay by one of the most delight 'fid of our modern Eng- lish writers. waning year keeps to the last its best gift to our gardens, for there is no flower that blows comparable to the chrysanthemum : It cheers with bloom the stormy gloom By chill December nursed, And it is told in stories old That this fair flower first, On that blest morn when Christ was born, Into white beauty burst. But traditions apart — and the chrysanthemum has many, for have not two queens worn it as their badge and emblem, and does not an emperor to- day entitle it "the royal flower"? — it is a delightful and a wonderful blossom, this darling of winter, the only flower in the garden, and yet a whole garden ful of flowers in itself. Spring, summer and autumn enjoy a constant succession of bouquets, and from the multitude of their contending charms no single blossom can fairly call itself the chief flower of the day, or claim to wear the crown of beauty. But for winter our gardens keep only one posy, the chrysanthemum, and Flora thus dignifies it beyond all the flowers of the year by giving it the whole throne to itself: Symbol of Hope, still banishing the gloom Hung o'er the mind by stern December's reign. A bleak reign, it is true, but then there is none to share its sceptre with it, so the chrys- anthemum queens it in solitary brilliance over empty beds. Lest, though, it should seem too manifestly alone, and the eye might tire of a single flower, however beautiful, if monotonous in color, shape or size, the chrysanthemum seems forever straining to spread its own charm over half the parterres. No lilies show so clear a white, no daf- fodils so clear a yellow ; roses have no better pinks, and all the family of the hollyhocks and dahlias and many of the others — for instance, calceo- larias and zinias — cannot show tints and half-tones in crimson and orange and tawny more decided, bright and various than the chrysanthemum alone. And, not content with rival- ing their colors alone, it gives the whole garden back shape for shape, as well as hue for hue, and, whether as a rose, a dahlia, an aster, a carnation, or a daisy, it makes its pretty mimicry sufficiently exact to create gratitude for its variety and to abolish monotony. All our large-flowered vari- eties have been grown from the single Chusan chrysanthe- mum, and the delightful dwarf pompons have in the same way been produced from the Chusan daisy. A hundred years of experimental cultiva- tion have been necessary to arrive at such floral triumphs as the. Elaine, the Nil Desper- andum, or the Button Helene, and viewed therefore solely as a work of art, the chrysanthe- mum is worthy of respectful admiration"; while as a work of nature to praise it seems almost impertinent. Looking down the bank of flowers at any chrysanthemum show, the exquisite form is astonishing. Blue alone has never been attained, but the chrysanthe- mum, besides its pure whites and yellows — More pure and clear than any here, Their snowy disks unfold ; Bright as the star that melts afar Into the morning's gold — positively revels in shades of all the other colors — pink, crimson, chestnut, orange, lilac, puce, carmine, amber, violet, peach, magenta, ruby, cinnamon, sulphur, fawn, buff, salmon, maroon, bronze, cherry, scarlet, mauve, purple, and, above all, in white sil- ver, silver white, cream white, ivory white, snow white. No wonder, then, that with such a range of hue the chrysanthe- mum should justify the confi- dence of Flora in its power to queen it alone in the winter- stricken garden ! and have I not done well to claim it as my favorite ? In contour also, as in color, the chrysanthemum knows no margins. On one plant the bloom cuddles all its petals together, making a round, soft ball of itself; on another it flings them out all flat from the centre in a great disk of color ; a third binds its central petals into a button or arranges them in a crown or a tuft, and then sends out on every side rays of bright tints, some long, some short, but all in a method as exact as on the stars of any order 16 of honor. Some of the flow- ers curl their pretty fronds inward, others curve them backward ; some take the dahlia's form, others the sun- flower's; some assume the precise circle, others radiate in quaint marginal devices. Of them all, the Elaine, with its great fleecy, snow-like flowers, is perhaps the queen ; but in such a puzzling variety of charms it is difficult to award the palm. The connoisseur turns, of course, to the coral- red Mons. Crousse, the no less curious La Frisure, or the ever- new varieties, such as the McMahon, the Gazelle, and the Empress of India; but for the uninitiated the equality of beauty suffices to make all ad- mired. Many of the tints, it is true, are curious rather than pretty, and many of the shapes fantastic rather than graceful ; but these triumphs of art are in no way blemishes upon the plant that can show the splen- did blossom of the Elaine or the purity in color of the George Glenn y. Nor is it only in tint and outline that the chrysanthemum arrogates such privileges, but in size also, for twenty pompons would lie upon the disk of one Elaine, and the Empress of India over-shadows like a shrub the tiny Christabel. Yet one more triumph has the chrysanthemum achieved. The glory of other plants, the perfume, seemed at one time beyond its reach ; but audacity or patience has conquered even here, and the Progue, with the color of the amethyst, has also the odor of violet. No further triumph remains for it. Type of a true and holy love ; the same Through every scene that crowds life's varied page. 'Mid grief, 'mid gladness — spell of every dream Tender in youth, and strong in feeble age ! The peerless picture of a modest wife, Thou bloom'st the fairest 'midst the frosts of life. AFTERWORD This little volume is put forth as an example of the fi,7ier grade of book printing. We ask you to notice the style of the type work, the paper, the inks, the margins and the binding, and mark their harmony. George H Buchanan and Company 420 Library Street 420 Philadelphia MADE IN THE WORKROOMS OF GEORGE H BUCHANAN AND COMPANY 420 LIBRARY STREET 420 PHILADELPHIA LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 000 920 184 1 7)