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.November 16. 1928 WILMETTE LIFE The HOME and its ENVIRONMENT CHRYSANTHEMUMS FILL . I STEVENS BALL ROOM , National Exhibit Brings Out Varieties of Plant in Their Perfection The grand ball room of the Stevens hotel was filled with chrysanthemums this week when the annual exhibition of the Chrysanthemum Society of America took place for the first time in seven years in the .city of Chicago. Masses of bloom, arranged so that each group was related to the whole pattern of the exhibit, came from growers all over the United States, from California to Maine, modern airplane transportation helping to create this marvel of cut flowers shipped from thousands of miles away to compete in an exhibit. To go back to the beginning, several large effective displays in the anteroom to the grand ballroom were not in the competition. In the bouquets made up, only two other flowers were used in combination with the "mums": roses and snapdragons. Decorate Table In that group was one table decorated. The table cloth was white and white crystal glassware with white and black and gold service plates comprised the service. The base of the decoration was a huge bowl of old rose colored roses and snapdragons in the identical shade of color. From this bowl, a crystal stem supported another, smaller bowl of yellow bronze "mums" of the Izola varie'ty and snapdragons matching identically in color. The first exhibit greeting the eye on entrance was the prize winner in class 46, one specimen plant, any color, in a 10-inch pot or large, was a "Chrysanthemum tree" grown at Everett, Ill. The single stalk of a "Chrysanthemum was trained into a wire form to appear as a trimmed rose tree, the bottom section over two feet in diameter, sloping umbrella shaped to the stem, three or four bare inches between and a second, smaller umbreJla at the top. Doty Variety U nuiual The prize single bloom on a twelve inch stem was wider than the length of the stem. The "Doty" varieties are developed in a manner entirely different than that usually employed in developing blooms for perfection and size. The m!lin stem is usually pinched back early in the development of the plant, then individual buds are taken off to allow a few the maximum chance for development. In the Doty variation, the center stem and top cluster is the only one allowed to develop, the result being that one small cluster of blossoms, about five to the cluster, is lovely. Among the other :varieties exhibited were "Adelaide," a bloqd-orange color. "Harvest Moon" was pure white in color and "Mrs. Wolf," another white chrysanthemum, had a fully developed pincushion center with a fringe of petals around the ·outside. At one end of the hall, under the orchestra perched on the balcony, was a scene from the Orient. This latticed bower had a back drop depicting the ocean and the foreground was a mass of potted chrysanthemums. The whole appeared to be a field of growing flowers by the sea. At the opposite end of the hall was an exhibit from Mrs. Ogden Armour's "Melody Farms." Her orchid "mums" were unusual in their delicate coloring. Here were exhibited A1rs. V. K. Spicet- Writes on Gardens I wande~·ell . to my sacred. nook And there I found new-blooming at my feet A white nm·ciss-us, golden crownell and sweet, Challenging shyly till I bent and took 1'1!e slenclu· blosso·m, in my hand to look , And po_nde1· on its lot,eliness complete, D1·eammg of some old tale, halfobsolete, Read in my childhooll from a Latin book. Tlten a voice whispe1·ed: "Perhaps the thing you lo ve Is not the man, b11t you1· own dream of him. Th11s do yott like to young Narcisstts p~·ove, FABRICS lEY COLOR IN ROOM DECORATION Damask, · V~our Harmonizes Various Factions of Windows, Walla, Famitare Fabrics may well be considered one of the major keynotes to successful decoration. The folds of draperies soften the outlines of a window, the damask makes a chair beautiful, a color harmony makes a room breathe the atmosphere of warm hospitality. First we must distinguish between the different varieties of fabrics. Plain fabrics are easy to recognize, soft satins and taffetas are a part of the every day materials of the househola, but the other materials are Ie·ss frequently handled. "Velvet" and "velour" are two interchangeable words which have come to mean something with just a. shade of difference. Silk and cotton piles have come to ·mean "velvet" and linen and mohair have come to mean "velour." There are plain velvets and velvet on satin backgrounds. Damasks are figured materials of one color. The figure is made by a satin weave on a plain background or viceversa. It usually looks as well on one side as on the other. They are made of silk, cotton, linen, rayon, and other materials which combine with the fib ings of the room. Damask is used for upholstery as well as for hangings. The motifs in bs:ocade are made with threads of contrasting colors. These gorgeous, colorful fabrics which resemble embroideries are associates with French styles for the most part, though Italy and the Orient make beautiful brocades. T apeatriea Are Durable Tapestries were used in the Middle Ages to protect the home from draughts and to decorate the barn-like walls of old castles. They were a dul'able hanging as the excellent state of preservation of the old specimens testifies. Many of these old designs are reproduced today. The Goeblin tapestries are considered as fit for museums. Schumachers do excellent work as do · one or two other American leaders in this line. The modern decorator demands that all the pieces of upholstered furniture m one room not be finished in the same fabric. Instead, he wants the room to look as though the pieces of furniture were carefully chosen during a period of years, each piece being chosen for some particular beauty of its own. The material that is used to drape the windows should offer a suitable background for the furniture as well as frame the window, and should be related in some manner to the rest of the room. Con~ trast of material may be as .happily employed as contrasts of color, however. Color Givea Ricbaeaa . Color is one of the important features of the room that was more often neglected a few years ago than it is now. Yet there is a certain richness of color that is often lacking in the newer decoration. A certain color scheme mav predominate, . yet a full cord of color notes are more pleasing than just a sin~lc note. Color may endow a room with brightness, harmony, brilliance, or vivac, ity. The simplicity or elegance of a room does not determine its coloring for carpets, furniture, pictures, lampshades. flowers may all determinel the color scheme. · · Narcissus Dawn The grass is opal-pem·Zed. The sta1·s are Jading Ja.s t. Where the singing night-elves whfrled. A stillness broods at last. No b·ud is yet uncurled, Only the wind sighs past ...is the ttnatvakened u'orld. Waits in silence vast Till day's standm·d is un/ttrled At the dawn-trump's mighty blast Tlu'ough the echoing ether hurled. Et in Arcadia Ego I k 110tv n spot of beauty rare Whe1·e roses grow in, splendo1·, Whe1·e lilies white beyond compare G1·ow tall and straight and slender. lV here t?·opic plants with colors bright B eyon d one's fondest dreaming .t::p?"'ing in p1·ojusion day and night In richest colors gleaming. Fruits such ns in old Eden grew When this our Earth was younger In 1·ichcst cluste1·s meet the view But don't apz,ease ou1· 1mnge1·. Fo1· this rm·e S2Jot of which I s-peak Which set me so agog w·as in a book I saw last 'week, Blank's S7n-ing SPell Catalogue. lrllo pined above his image mirrm·ecl dim!" I answe1·ed: u11 s1tch beauty fill my d1·eams It p1·oves me wo1·t1tio· of the man he seems." Mlcltaelmas Daisies Lih·c stm·s the blossoms one by one Bm·st th1'01tf]h a cloud of" leafy g1·ey, Unt1l beneath Septembe1·'s s1tn Tlle1·e bloomed a jlowe1·y Milky Way Iu hono1· of Saint Michael's clay. Two Gardens Oh, Mrs. Jiidas' garden st?·etches flowery ac1·es wide. Its shaded paths, its bloom-filled beds, they are her ganlene1-'s 1n'itle A1ul people boast about it th1·oughout the counh·yside. Now ltf?'s. Leary's gm·de+n grows on t1~e fire-escape. One gaudy 1·ed g e1·anium, some herbs of thwarted shape, Anll some ?nonting-glo?'ies stmggling, set in old tins half agape. 011 · ./Jf1·s. Midas neve1· sees hm· flowery treasures gay, She doesn't care mttch tor them, and besides, she i~ away, But M1·s. Lem·y ca1·es /o1· he1·s with tenderness each day. So if I like 11-Irs. Lem·y's ga1·de1t better, is it ocldt For Mrs. Midas' ga1·den is btd jlowe1·s, and trees, and sod. But Mrs. Leary's ganlcn is a praye1· straight up to God. several hardy varieties grown out of doors. In another exhibit was striking combination of red and yellow button chrysanthemums. Bloasoma Reflect Lights The colored lights of the Steven's ballroom were reflected beautifully in the masses of large blooms. All that does not make the exhibit as a whole as beautiful as the chrlYs-anthemum shows where the plants are exhibited on the benches where they are grown. The natural effect of the growing plant cannot be supplanted by artificial effects. Several odd tables and exhibits attracted attentionJ including a table of old-fashioned nosegays made at the University of Illinois from everlastings, several exhibits of cyceamens, poinsettas, pepper trees, carnations, and other cut flowers. Special competitive exhibits of these flowers were held during the week. New varieties of roses were on exhibit which will be featured by the florists during ensuing winters. ABOUT M~S. SPICER Mrs. V. K. Spicer of 312 Essex road, Kenilworth, whose poems above arc taken from her book," Songs of the Skokie," is widely known for her poetry on gardens. One of them is now on the title page of the year book for the Garden Club of Illinois. Mrs. Spicer has just returned from a summer spent in southern Massachusetts where she and her mother are experimenting in naturalistic rock gardening with their four acre patch called "The Wild Goose." Calcium Chloride Sprinkles Roads Without Watering This is now the time of year when all good householders plan the upkeep and improvement that must be faced during the spring. Planning now, thev will put in their orders for materials and have them on hand for the workmen when they come. If you have a dirt driveway up to your house, something will have to be done about it when the dry months return. Oil used to be the only solution to such a problem. Oil is a particularly nasty mess, however. It rots tires, smells badly, and is likely to damage clothing. An application of calcium chloride is now being used to solve this problem. Calcium chloride has the property of attracting moisture from the air. When the chemical is scattered along the driveway it lays the dust with the moisture it collects, the road appearing as though it had been sprinkled. The problem of watering a tennis court is settled · by the use of this material. Many of the colleges '\nd athletic clubs find that a dressing of this material applied often keeps the tennis court in better condition than frequent soakings with the the hose. Added to this advantage is the fact that the players can go onto the courts imn'J.ediately after it is applied . . An applicati9n of one to three pounds per square yard once, or at the most twice, a season is sufficient. Heavy valances may be interlined and · lined to give them weight and character. · A long curta" in going clear to the floor gives height to a room, though it is unwise to use heavy . curtains u~less the room is large. A new process for decorating walls which is impervious t0 moisture, heat, cold, and dryness is now on the market. It m(ly be washed and is dustproof. The new material . may also be used for .upholstering.