[>RIL 2S, 1001. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review. 



715 



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THE RETAIL 



FLORIST 



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Wedding Decorations. 

 Very often some dcfcslable forr 



of 



■gie 



bo 



by alleged "best hoiiM- I mi ihiuh,. 

 you will see Florida palm K.n, ., :i i i in-rd 

 to form a flat backgruiind. and ilic dili- 

 cate greenhouse flowers are put aiuoiig 

 the coarsest of outdoor greens. It should 

 be remembered that the very finest dec- 

 orations can he made entirely of greens; 

 the arranging of them is as important 

 as the arranging of flowers; anything 

 <;an he used but there is a proper place 

 for everything. 



Just at this time wild smilax from 

 Alabama furnishes us with the most ef- 

 fective material. Perhaps you will have 

 noticed that there are two varieties of 

 this smilax shipped; one has long nar- 

 row leaves, keeps very poorly and is 

 otherwise inferior to the round leaved 

 berried kind. Another thing we notice 

 the boxes are being packed on the prin- 

 ciple used by the grower who measures 

 his rose stems by the quarter inch ; many 

 of the cases of wild smilax coming into 

 New York are frauds, for according to 

 what is charged for them the cultiva- 

 tion of this article promises better re- 

 turns than cotton, corn or any of the 

 farm products. The increasing use of it 

 justifies serious consideration. 



Well, as to its usage, we use it wher- 

 ever we can because there is nothing to 

 equal it, and it looks all the better if 

 trimmed off here and there with a few 

 long strings of asparagus. We never 

 stick palm leaves here and there as if 

 spasmodically done; we prefer to group 

 greens. Suppose we have a long wall, 

 balcony or other space to cover, first 

 put up your vine-like tracery of wild 

 smilax (this is apt to he too monotonous- 

 ly regular) and a panel cluster of mag- 

 nolia, laurel, needle pine, or almost any 

 evergreen will add character to your 

 work. Avoid sameness; the eye can 

 "size up" some decorations, like at our 

 annual flower shows, in one sweep ; that 

 is an unfortunate thing to happen to 

 any sized decoration. Usually tempor- 

 ary picked up "help" is sent to fix up 

 the church; this is a mistake. 



Of course palms may or may not be 

 made the crowning feature of any large 

 decoration; they are expensive. In cases 

 where very tall eff'ects are desirous, 

 and this is nearly always required, at 

 least each side every altar, 'tis cheapest 

 and best to make up immense sabal 

 palms which can easily be done. If you 

 have no natural stump moss up a piece 

 of scantling, stick it in a weighted green 

 tub, arrange your palm leaves as if they 

 were growing; you can easily make a 

 good natural effect, hut be careful to 

 hide the ground work. Another good way 

 is to rig up a round pillar effect with 

 wire netting and stick your leaves in it; 

 this dispenses with moss. 



The use of wire netting is becoming 

 more regular in diflicult wall decorations, 

 or where nail driving is prohibited. The 

 old system of stringing wires to cover 



a roof for instance is done away with in 

 favor of the net work. fStilf garlands such 

 as (hat made from laurel or other greens 

 aic mil -trictly correct for church wed- 

 iliiii:-. Tlie green work should have a 

 |ia,-,i.iial tinge to it. There is too much 

 iibbun wurk introdiicod into rliuvch dec- 

 oration, it is a cli(',i|i iiiiiii ii| deceptive 

 decoration and is iiia pin ii|ii i,ii. in church 

 which teaches the lianriiiliu-- ,4 frivol- 

 ity. Use flowers and greens with all the 

 profusion you can audi less school girlish 

 ideas. 



Remember, "any old color" won't do 

 at wedding decorations; purple and mel- 

 ancholy colors are out of place. They 

 should never he used unless at a funeral. 

 Bright colors, however, are being more 

 generally adopted. The "all green and 

 white" craze is dying out, as it should 

 do. We always imagine the church is 

 fixed up for a funeral where there is an 

 entirety of sickly tones. A wedding decor- 

 ation, no matter where it is, should have 

 a festive insinuation about it. This can 

 best be accomplished by taking advantage 

 of pillars, balconies or elevated positions 

 where a spray of greens and a cluster of 

 flowers may delight the eye. 



the li 

 Icy. 

 Aspa: 

 the 1( 

 is a V 

 Th( 

 conta 

 2,500 

 the a 



I' ilosign is 4 by 3 feet in size, the 

 being of Bride roses set solidly 

 the cilges of the book being of 

 sniaid roses. The two pages of the 

 book are separated by Perle roses. 

 : is no lettering on the pages but 

 nes are indicated by lily of the val- 

 The back and cdL'i's are relieved by 

 •agus plnnin-ii- and Sprengeri. On 

 iwer cornel if iIh lijiii, hand page 

 14-incli wie.ii li :,] \ mill,,. 

 '. price of llie de.-ign was $100 and it 

 ined 1,800 roses,' 200 valley and 

 violets. Miss Annie Kreitling was 

 list. 



CHRYSANTHEMUM NOTES. 



Exhibition Flowers. 



"Does a chrysanthemum plant need a 

 longer season of growth than is usually 

 given it, in order to produce the very 

 finest flowers for exhibition?" 



This question was asked me and I 

 answered "Undoubtedly it does." It is a 

 question that does not affect the purely 

 commercial grower so much because 

 nowadays he does not cut so much of a 

 figure on the exhibition table, the pri- 

 vate grower having practically elbowed 

 him out, in the eastern exhibitions an.v- 

 way, but it does affect the man who 

 grows or wants to grow the finest flow- 



I see the New York Florists' Club is 

 issuing a comprehensive schedule for a 

 show in Madison Square Garden this 

 year and since New York is falling into 

 line with Boston, Chicago and the other 

 large cities with regard to holding an ex- 

 hibition, and is issuing its prize list in 





^. _'•**►•/ 



I- 







In the meantime see that you are ready 

 for early plant trade. A window box or 

 vase of pansies outside your own store 

 might bring you some good orders. Im- 

 ported plants of Aucuba Japonica and 

 Laurus rotundifolia are being extensively 

 used here for early spring vase work"; 

 large specimens of the latter are fine for 

 general decorative work. Iveba. 



A FLORAL BOOK. 



We present herewith an engraving from 

 a photograph of a floral book arranged 

 by Walter Kreitling, Chicago, for the 

 funeral of the late A. C. McClurg, head 

 of the great publishing house. 



good season, we may conclude that there 

 will be more exhibition flowers grown this 

 year. Let us then see what we can evolve 

 from our experience, in regard to early 

 versus late propagation, as affecting the 

 size and finish of the flowers. 



The finest flowers I ever grew, in my 

 own huinh'e opinion, were cut from a 

 batch of Eohinson that were rooted in 

 December. These were kept cool all win- 

 ter but still moving gently and early in 

 March planted permanently in boxes 

 four feet long and ten inches wide. The 

 plants were kept to single stem and were 

 placed outside during May and June. 

 Early in July they were placed in a 



