WORLDS BEST FLOWERS.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXX, Issue 3458, 24 February 1912, Page 10

WORLDS BEST FLOWERS.

WONDERS OF COMING SHOW !N LONDON.

RECORD ORCHID DISPLAY. The wonders of the world’s horticulture will be massed in unprecedented variety and profusion in the grounds of Chelsea Hospital in [May next at the Royal International Horticultural Exhibition, preparations for which have been proceeding for months past- in nurseries and private gardens in every pan of the globe. The extent and importance of this great show—it will occupy in all twenty-one acres—have scarcely been realised yet in Britain ; hut on the Continent, in the United States, and in Japan it is the one theme of conver- ; sation among all sorts and conditions of gardeners. Forty-six years have elapsed since the last. International Horticultural Exhibition was field in Britain, and rapid and great strides have been made in the craft everywhere in the meanwhile. Britain, for instance, has become a nation of gardeners. One tent alone at Chelsea will cover six and a quarter acres, set out with pot and cut flowers and magnificent groups of plants and blossoms. Two and a half acres of this will be filled with foreign exhibits of the kinds indicated. Lesser tents will be devoted to orchids, fruit and vegetables, science and education, and horticultural sundries. There will also be an extensive open-air sundries section, and about three acres of rock and water gadens. The orchid tent, about 17,000 square yards in area, will contain representative flowers from every part of the world. Such a display, curious and sumptuous beyond words to describe, is without parallel in the history of orchid culture : and it is already stated by the organisers of the show that the orchids will probably be its most wonderful feature. There will be a large area of Japanese garden. Foreign exhibits are coming from Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Holland, Italy, Luxembourg, Russia, Sweden, United States, and Japan; while displays will be made by Canada, Australia, Tasmania, South Africa, and New Zealand. Some of the foreign exhibits are already being privately harboured at Kew, The show will be open for nine days, beginning on May 22.