Flowers on tables

[sashka pozzetti]

Here is a question for keen gardeners. Lucile describes daffodils decorating her table at dinner. Is there any way of working out what variety they were. I know nothing about Daffodils, other than that they are yellow, and Wordsworth wrote about them!!!

 

[Shelley Dziedzic]

Well, King Alfred is sure a common and hardy old variety from 1899. Today's King Alfreds are much bigger than the original bulbs. There has even been some comment about roses being the flowers in First Class. I seem to remember Don Lynch telling me that. Daffs are a little more fragile to travel than tight roses, and do not last quite as long. It has always been the hot topic .

 

[sashka pozzetti]

Goddness, I knew someone would know something! There must have been some daffodils , because Lucile specifically mentions them, and strawberries too. I expect they were also in bud and kept somewhere cold. Lucile also had some flowers in her room given to her by her staff, which is a lovely thought.

 

[Daniel Klistorner]

Sashka,

Bon voyage flowers were common, and I think Violet Jessop commented that they often ran out of vases for passengers' flowers. In addition to Lucile, I can think off the top of my head that Mrs Straus wrote to thank (whomever it was) for her flowers - which she was delighted to find in her sitting room, and Frank Browne's double exposure photo of the starboard private promenade shows flowers on the table as well - so Mrs. Cardeza was also sent flowers (it was also her birthday on April 10).

There have previously been discussions with regard to flowers in the dining areas. It is not clear whether flowers were used as table decorations in the 1st Class Dining Saloon, but it appears that flowers were indeed used in the Restaurant. Lucile recalled daffodils from the Restaurant, while other passengers recalled roses. Either different flowers were used at different nights, or both daffodils and roses were used on the same night, but placed alternately at various tables.

Daniel.

 

[sashka pozzetti]

Thank you. I would imagine a selection. I can't imagine Lucile confusing daffodils with roses, she was particularly aware of flowers and colour. The only mistake I can imagine she might have made is that the daffodils she recalls were on the table on a different day. I wondered about the variety, just in case someone knew, as daffodil varieties can be very diferent from each other. I love the fact that however obscure a detail may be, someone always has something to contribute on this site.

 

[Bob Godfrey]

My ancient mother (florist in the 1930s) tells me that one of the most popular varieties back then for table decorations was the 'Pheasant's Eye', which didn't have much of a 'trumpet' and wasn't even yellow. Wordsworth would not have approved!

 

[sashka pozzetti]

Just for anyone interested, I bought two bunches of cut Daffodils still in bud, from a supermarket, over 10 days ago. they have been sat in a pot ever since, and are still completely fresh, and some are still in bud, about to open. So my living history experiment proves that you could have easily had daffodils on any day of the Titanic voyage, despite our earlier doubts.