The Weekly Florists' Review. 



455 



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THE RETAIL -^^ 

 FLORIST 



»V,^i'fcJr»iV.-»i- fe»l-^r»l-4'.-»)-a-»i-:^'. »)-fe»i-fer»l •■i^.-»|-'a*)-'yc»)' 



^^r») •feJr»)"ij'f»>Vr»i"fe»>"fe^)l 



Flowers as Valentines. 



I'loiii all over the coviiitiy roine re- 

 ports of ail extra demand for violets on 

 Valentine dav. There was an extra call 

 for these llowers in New York that day, 

 but some of the leading florists offered 

 many specially arranged baskets and 

 boxes of forget-me-nots, valley, etc., 

 which sold exceedingly well. Thorlcy 

 had his win.luw lillr.l uitl, -ni.,!l l,;,n,|.- 

 ers wlncli «.'!,■ I i.M :mi.i-.- t hr Ihi » n ll 

 broail m1iI"'1i l"i\^-. -[■'■>y "i "■■'- '"■ 

 other lUnMT, in tlif buw, 'I'liry lo.iki'.l 

 very "catchy" and sold well. Other 

 Broadway florists had small colored han- 

 dle baskets tied with ribboir and filled 

 ■with small flowers; these baskets were 

 hung in garlands the full length of the 

 windows and made a very attractive 

 showing. Many made special prepara- 

 tions for Valentine day in this way and 

 had the offerings neatly marked "Floral 

 Valentines," and though non-e will say 

 the sales were very extra still they feel 

 repaid in many ways for the expense and 

 trouble they went to. 

 Plants. 

 Many of the New York stores are 

 making special displays of flowering 

 plants in their windows at present. 

 These plants seem to be the forerunners 

 of what we are to expect for Kaster. 



The secomi and third rate stores are 

 again making French paper dolls out of 

 azaleas, etc., and the crimes committed 

 in the name of art in these places are 

 as bad as ever. Anyone of an artistic 



temperament must ii Is w.mi lilin' 



glasses and close liis intli w lim |i:i--iii'j 

 the windows, or vi.^ilui;: lli^ -i-m- ni 

 some who claim to be lloriil aitir,!.^. tin' 

 man or woman who chokes up and en- 

 tirely obliterates the beauty of a well 

 grown plant with crepe paper is an en- 

 emy to the florists' trade. 



We don't wish to be misunderstood, 

 Air. Editor ; moderation in crepe paper 

 is like moderation in drink, excess is 

 vile. Many hundreds of plants die pre- 

 maturely because of lack of water on 

 account of dread of wetting the paper. 

 A good plan-t in a clean pot needs very 

 little fixing up, but there are many 

 plants which though ever so well grown, 

 need some trimming to sell them, and the 

 first class stores this year will either 

 make them up in baskets or use the new 

 matting which can be made very artis- 

 tic. 



This matting is made of wood shav- 

 ings and is dyed in a few pleasing col- 

 ors, and sjjme abominable ones. It was 

 introduced last fall by a New Y^ork bas- 

 ket maker and though its adaptability 

 was up till recently only recognized by 

 the few, it promises to be generally used 

 this Easter. It takes the place of crepe 

 jiaper and is not damaged by water as 

 easily as that material. Some first class 

 stores have at the present time this mat- 

 ting in use, and it is far superior to the 



old material. We shall give you some 

 illnstiatiiiiis of it before Kaster. 



For Easter. 



There does not seem to be anything 

 specially new in- sight for Easter at 

 present (and we i;uiiiot ^er Imw it ran 

 change). There will I- ipiiliiii'j Imt Hi' 

 same old kind ol -ii.rl^ i^. nll.i \/:ilr.i. 

 will be more al.uii.l;.nl , iui.l -o.iie ^r-w 

 ,•1, loii-l li.iNe either been buncoed or 

 rUe 111, \ -ll i\\ ignorance on the varieties 

 ,,i ;i/.il':i~ I hey should offer to tho 

 Aniei iniii |iiililie. Variety may be the 

 K|,he ni life lull it doesn't always pro- 



(luee llie wllrlewitll tO SUStalu llfc. ThCrC 



an' cm >i \w< varieties of azaleas spe- 

 (ialK \;i!ii,ilile to the American trade, 

 aiel r i' ll VIII ll seems more difficult to 

 o,.| III,., i;i\(irites, unless you buy 

 pouiei \.iiiitie>, with them, or pay extra. 

 Everything points to a record break- 

 ing Easter and we fancy that retailers 

 will be able to dispose of enormous quan- 

 tilie- .'f |ilaiit- if (hey are in good con- 

 ,1111,111 ami all' ]ii iMiit ,,1 |iiM|ierly. But 

 villi 11, e, I I,., I w ,, It I ill t:a-i,a ; many a 

 i.-,,,,,! sale eaii I.,' iiaiile limine Lent. No 

 store should be without its sample 

 basket of plants or flowers; there's no 

 telling who'll buy or when a thing will 

 be sold. If you are out for business be 

 always prepared for it and have some 

 enticing basket before the nose or at 

 least the eye of your customer. 



\\,i lilaiiket to the florist business it is 

 -ii|,|io-ed to be. True, there is an 

 al>iuiihiiiee of stock left over on the mar- 

 ket, liut then there should be plenty of 

 stock at this time of the year; it would 

 scarcely do to have at all times flowers 

 as scarce and as dear as they are in De- 

 cember and January. 



Lenten Demands. 



flow- 



The 



ers durii!'.: I.nii, l.ul li \\i\\ I"- more in 

 the nature of an nmli i ■ ini ,ail — a some- 

 what subdued lli;lit, wliieli I lie llorist can 

 help to protect liy an exercise of diplom- 

 acy, for as a rule people who entertain 

 during this season (and many a large 

 affair is booked to come off) don't want 

 the matter advertised; they naturally 

 expect the florist and caterers to keep 

 quiet and not give information to news- 

 papers. We have known many a florist 

 to lose good customers on account of 

 someone in the store giving reports to 

 sensational newspapers which exagger- 

 ate and ridicule the events. Some peo- 

 ple love to be advertised other's don't, 

 the florist needs be careful, more espe- 

 cially duvinir T.eiit. 



At the |.i.-,iii ,-mlifion of the mar- 

 ket ireaili all '.in .iil.ird to be a little 

 more yeiamu- ilian lircumstances have 

 permitted for several months past. Wo 

 arc prone to imagine it has been a some- 



what hard season for small retail {lorfsts 

 whose entire -tratk almost depends upon 

 those who could not afford to pay high 

 prices — and prices have been very high 

 this winter. Now, however, opportuni- 

 ties will occur where all may give a few 

 llowers where they will do good, or will 

 lie enabled to give their customers an 

 apparent value for their money in the 

 way of well filled funeral designs or in 

 other orders. Grasp any and every pos- 

 sible chance when flowers are cheap to 

 dispel lingering memories of Having been 

 overcharged in the past, for as with 

 yourself, so with your customer, both 

 are human. 



Boston Ferns. 



ill 111,, ui.iwii, aiiiiinil \.'u- York it is 

 iiii|iii--iM,' ai |ii,-,iit til liiiil any well- 

 ._i..\\i, I;. . -I, III 1.1 II-. i-|i,iially in pans. 

 We hud oeeaniuii la-t Week to seek a 

 10 or 12-inch pan of tliis fern and ap- 

 plied to all the specialists for it, ami 

 was informed that they were all sold 

 out. This is an annual ocourrence; 

 there is always an abundance of this fern 

 itr the early part of the season and the 

 growers are always in a hurry to get 

 rid of them; no provision is made for 

 this part of the season, and the result is 

 that there is considerable difficulty in 

 filling an order. Some wise grower will 

 perhaps take a hint and provide for this 

 time of the year. 



Other Plants. 



Primula chinensis sold well in this sec- 

 tion of the country this season. Once 

 iir a while a few extra fine named vari- 

 eties were seen. One grower had his 

 grown three or four in pans and in sep- 

 arate colors and they went quickly. This 

 plant is as a rule too small to offer 

 singly; many were sold made up in 

 baskets of four to six, but the best way 

 to offer them is grown in pans. Y'ou 

 might mix some, but they are apt to sell 

 quicker in separate colors. Primroses 

 of all sections will sell well this Easter 

 if presented properly. The one offered by 

 Dreer a few weeks ago is a grand thing 

 and a great favorite around New York. 



Variegated cyperus is a thing that 

 sells well; more of it should be seen. 

 Some are looking for camellias with but 

 poor results. Anyone with a stock of 

 these old time favorites in flower for 

 Easter would sell them very quickly; 

 we might see them offered next year. 

 People who have acres of glass and who 

 are continually looking for "new things" 

 can with profit look back and pick up 

 some of the old things. 



Flowering Shrubs. 



Flowering shrubs and fruit trees such 

 as forsythia, Cydonia japonica, spireas, 

 almonds, peach and lilac have been com- 

 ing in for some time and have been used 

 extensively in decorative work. This 

 kind of material will of course be popu- 

 lar f,'i -|iiinu H.iMings. An arbor of 

 .Ja]i:iii i|iiniie with an interlacing of 

 growiiiL' like (. ii>in roses is fit for any 

 queen to be married under. 



Some very pretty wreaths have re- 

 cently been made from Florida mag- 

 nolia foliage. Use large leaves for 

 ground work and finish off with small 

 ones. 



For a time it was quite difficult to 

 get any respectable looking outdoor 

 ferns. "Dealers in that kind of stock 



