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er November 17, 1928 WINNETKA TALK \) ne i The HOME and its ENVIRONMENT CHRYSANTHEMUMS FILL 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 air- plane transportation helping to create this marvel of cut flowers shipped from thousands of miles away to com- pete in an exhibit. To go back to the beginning, several large effective displays in the ante- room 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 decor- ated. The table cloth was white and white crystal glassware with white and black and gold service plates comprised the service. The base of the decora- tion was a huge bowl of old rose col- ored roses and snapdragons in the identical shade of color. From this bowl, a crystal stem supported an- other, smaller bowl of yellow bronze "mums" of the Izola variety and snap- dragons 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 um- brella at the top. Doty Variety Unusual 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 dif- ferent than that usually employed in developing blooms for perfection and size. The main 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 varia- tion, 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 blood-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 or- chestra 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 flow- ers by the sea. At the opposite end of the hall was an exhibit from Mrs. Ogden Armour's "Melody Farms." Her | I orchid "mums" were unusual in their delicate coloring. Here were exhibited Mrs. V. K. Spicer Writes on Gardens Narcissus I wandered to my sacred mook and there I found new-blooming at my eet A white narcissus, golden crowned and sweet, Challenging shyly till I bent and took The slender blossom in my hand, to look And ponder on its loveliness complete, Dreaming of some old tale, half- obsolete, Read in my childhood from a Latin book. Then a voice whispered: "Perhaps the thing you love Is not the man, but your own dream of him. Thus do you like to young Narcissus prove, Who pined above his image mirrored dim!" I answered: "If such beauty fill my dreams It proves me worthier of the man he seems." Michaelmas Daisies Like stars the blossoms one by one Burst through a cloud of leafy grey, Until beneath September's sun There bloomed a flowery Milky Way In honor of Saint Michael's day. Dawn The grass is opal-pearled. The stars are fading fast. Where the singing night-elves whirled A stillness broods at last. No bud is yet uncurled, Only the wind sighs past As the unawakened world Waits in silence vast Till day's standard is unfurled At the dawn-trump's mighty blast Through the echoing ether hurled. Et in Arcadia Ego I" know a spot of beauty rare Where roses grow in splendor, Where lilies white beyond compare Grow tall and straight and slender. Where tropic plants with colors bright Beyond one's fondest dreaming Spring in profusion day and night In richest colors gleaming. Fruits such as in old Eden grew When this our Earth was younger In richest clusters meet the view But don't appease our hunger. For this rare spot of which I speak Which set me so agog Was in a book I saw last week, Blank's Spring Seed Catalogue. Two Gardens Oh, Mrs. Midas' garden stretches flowery acres wide. Its shaded paths, its bloom-filled beds, they are her gardener's pride And people boast about it throughout the countryside. Now Mrs. Leary's gardem grows on the fire-escape. One gaudy red geranium, some herbs of thwarted shape, And some morning-glories straggling, set in old tins half agape. Oh, Mrs. Midas never sees her flowery treasures gay, She doesn't care much for them, and besides, she is away, But Mrs. Leary cares for hers with tenderness each day. So if I like Mrs. Leary's garden better, is it odd? For Mrs. Midas' garden is but flowers, and trees, and sod. But Mrs. Leary's garden is a prayer straight up to God. several hardy varieties grown out of doors. In another exhibit was striking combination of red and yellow button chrysanthemums. Blossoms 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 chrysanthemum 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 ef- fects. Several odd tables and exhibits at- tracted attention, including a table of old-fashioned nosegays made at the University of Illinois from everlast- ings, several exhibits of cyceamens, poinsettas, pepper trees, carnations, and other cut flowers. Special com- petitive exhibits of these flowers were held during the week. New varieties of roses were on exhibit which will be featured by the florists during en- suing winters. ABOUT MRS. SPICER Mrs. V. K. Spicer of 312 Essex road, Kenilworth, whose poems above are taken from her book," Songs of the Sko- kie," 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 south- ern Massachusetts where she and her mother are experimenting in naturalistic rock gardening with their four acre patch called "The Wild Goose." A new process for decorating walls which is impervious te moisture, heat, cold, and dryness is now on the market, t may be washed and is dustproof. The new material may also be used for upholstering. 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, they will put in their orders for materials and have them on hand for the work- men 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 re- turn. 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 prob- lem. Calcium chloride has the prop- erty 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 ma- terial. Many of the colleges and 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 immediately after it is applied. An ap- plication 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 curtain going clear to the floor gives height to a room, though it is unwise to use heavy cur- tains unless the room is large. FABRICS KEY COLOR IN ROOM DECORATION Damask, Velour Harmonizes Various Factions of Windows, Walls, Furniture Fabrics may well be considered one of the major keynotes to successful decoration. The folds of draperies soft- en the outlines of a window, the dam- ask 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 sat- ins and taffetas are a part of the every day materials of the household, but the other materials are less 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 vice- versa. 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 fit- ings of the room. Damask is used for upholstery as well as for hangings. The motifs in brocade are made with threads of contrasting colors. : These gorgeous, colorful fabrics which re- semble embroideries are associates with French styles for the most part, though Italy and the Orient make beautiful bro- cades. Tapestries 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 durable 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 in 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 ma- terial that is used to drape the win- dows 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 em- ployed as contrasts of color, however. Color Gives Richness Color is one of the important feat- ures 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 may predominate, yet a full cord of color notes are more pleasing than just a single note. Color may endow a room with brightness, harmony, brilliance, or vivac- ity. The simplicity or elegance of a room Joes not determine its coloring for carpets, furniture, pictures, lampshades. flowers may all determine the color