400 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



MARCH 23, 1890. 



wide, 8 inches deep and any desired 

 length. These boxes could be placed 

 across the width where ordinarily a 

 middle bench would be, but should 

 not be on a bench, but raised two feet 

 from the ground, and the boxes should 

 not be nearer than 24 or 30 inches. 

 This will give the three or iour foot 



growths plenty of room to grow and 

 droop down without any crowding. A 

 good strong plant from a 3 or 4-inch 

 pot planted in these boxes in June will 

 give grand results from October on 

 and should be good for almost a con- 

 tinuous cutting for two years. 



WILLIAM SCOTT. 



Easter lieas. 



Well, what's Easter going to be? 

 It all depends on the weather. If it 

 is line and mild this Easter will be 

 a record breaker. Reports from all 

 over tell us lilies will be scarce and 

 poor — well, let them be, we no longer 

 depend on them; in fact, we can al- 

 most do without them. A poor lily is 

 dear at any price. 



This is what we have for Easter in 

 New York and how we shall arrange 

 and sell them. We have gotten up a 

 cheap tub, painted white, the iron 

 bands painted green, some gold; they 

 cost from 30 to 50 cents. In these we 

 put six pots of lilies, tie a bow of 

 ribbon half way up the stems and sell 

 them for $10; larger tubs can be ar- 

 ranged to sell from fl5 to $25; fix up 

 some roses in the same way. There is 

 nothing finer than one of these tubs 

 filled with Crimson Rambler or some 

 of the hybrids. Roses will be the great- 

 est seller in New York this Easter. 

 Fine specimen Crimson Ramblers, the 

 pots covered with green crepe paper 

 and a bow of crimson ribbon will sell 

 for from $7 to $12. and if three or four 

 are put in a tub they will bring double 

 the price. 



Baskets are too dear to use; there 

 is too much fancy nonsense and high 

 price tags about baskets when a quan- 

 tity of them is required. Get the cheap- 

 est and simplest baskets you can, old 

 fashioned hampers, market baskets, 

 potato baskets, in fact any kind but 

 the high creations. Fill one with Cy- 

 clamen one color, another with Lady 

 Campbell violets, then try one with 

 mixed pansies. that low one with 

 Primula vulgaris. Primula obconica, 

 Primula veris or Primula verticuUata. 

 They make up splendidly and with just 

 a bow of ribbon to match each flower 



they will readily bring from $5 to ?10 

 a basket. Some more can be made up 

 with myosotis Blue Perfection, mig- 

 nonette Golden Queen. Baskets of 

 crimson clover in flower will be a 

 novelty and will go in a rush, so will 

 baskets of Cupid sweet peas. 



There will be an endless variety of 

 flowering plants to select from. Tubs 

 or plants of the double white lilac M. 

 Ijemoine will be popular and will sell 

 from $3 to $5 a plant. Azalea Mollis 

 and A. pontica will make charming ef- 

 fects if trimmed properly. 



Perhaps the greatest and most 

 charming of all novelties on the mar- 

 ket this Easter will be the double 

 flowering Japan cherry. These are 

 dwarf twisted trees about two feet in 

 height grown in 8-inch pans; the trees 

 are one mass of lovely blossoms, 

 trimmed up they sell for $5 each. Bask- 

 ets of gardenias will bring big prices 

 so will good specimen orchids if they 

 are not made hideous with crepe pa- 

 per. Hydrangeas are not over plentiful 

 and for that reason will be snapped up 

 at good prices. 



Let us go back to roses. There are 

 many good old and new roses on the 

 market such as White Rambler, Man- 

 da's Wichuraiana hybrids, etc., etc., 

 which will sell quickly and at good 

 figures either by themselves or mixed 

 with Crimson Rambler or other roses. 

 There will be an abundance of tulips 

 and jonquils in pans and boxes and 

 they look fine; pans from |1.50 to 

 $2.50; boxes from ?5 to $7. Baskets of 

 wall flowers and hardy pinks will be 

 seen. Azaleas and rhododendrons will 

 be extra fine and plentiful; get the 

 new one, Victoria, if not then go in 

 for the double pink colors. 



Boronias. ericas and epacris make 

 grand Easter plants. Just a bit of 

 Scotch plaid ribbon on the heather 



will be O. K. Now don't choke and 

 disfigure your plants with two much 

 crepe paper and ribbon. It is quite 

 true that a little paper and ribbon will 

 make a plant look and sell better, but 

 be moderate in their use. Wherever 

 possible use simple low baskets or the 

 plain white painted tub. There are 

 many beautiful new ribbons to be used 

 this Easter; the gauze effects will lead 

 in popularity. 



As to cut fiowers, make a specialty 

 of new flowers if you can. Get some 

 of the new roses or carnations and 

 have them stand out prominently. Put 

 your flowers in neat lioxes, tie the spe- 

 cial ones with a bow of gauze ribbon 

 and above all have your orders deliv- 

 ered neatly and on time. Remember 

 it is useless to spend all your talents 

 on "making up" if the messenger is 

 careless or clumsy. 



A good Easter to everybody. In 

 haste. IVERA. 



STEMMING CARNATIONS. 



There are still many florists who use 

 toothpicks in stemming carnations for 

 design work, and those who use wire 

 only say that the toothpick method is 

 not only less effective but requires 

 much more labor. The assertion is 

 made that a stemmer using wire only 

 can stem twice as many flowers in a 

 given time and that the flowers will be 

 less likely to drop out of the designs, 

 as in pushing the wire stem into the 

 moss it curves and clinches. 



'., : !>■■■ 



••: /: .■'■■■I y 



D 



Stemming Carnations. 



The accompanying engraving shows 

 the wire method of stemming. No. 24 

 wire Is cut into suitable lengths, one 

 end is passed through the center of the 

 calyx, the end bent down and the 

 other twisted around, as shown in the 

 sketch. It is done with remarkable 

 rapidity. Any one still using tooth- 

 picks will find this suggestion a valu- 

 able one. 



