MAY 31, 1900. 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



June Weddings. 



Wedding bells in June liave a wel- 

 come sound to the florist, tor there 

 are always more or less flowers used 

 at even the poorest of them, besides 

 material is plentiful and cheap and 

 there are many florists who prefer it 

 so. We know plenty of men in the re- 

 tall trade who have consciences and 

 they often hesitate to charge prices 

 which growers compel them to do, 

 even putting aside the value of work 

 and experience, but we'll leave that 

 point for another day. In this paper 

 we will discuss decorations with you. 



This is the month of roses, remem- 

 ber, and they are lovely and appro- 

 priate anywhere. Cut roses from the 

 greenhouses will soon be very poor 

 and scarce for a while, but there will 

 be or should be an abundance of out- 

 door stock, and it is the best to use. 

 Even if the job be a small one it will 

 pay you to attend to it properly and 

 do your best, for there's no telling 

 who'll see your work. The leading 

 style in June decorations will be as 

 natural as possible — that is to say, 

 there will be very little formal or stiff 

 arrangements. Pillars, arches and 

 curtains of climbing roses will be 

 pretty features. Don't go to any trou- 

 ble in having clumsy, set frames made 

 for them; the simpler the forms the 

 better; what you need most is to se- 

 cure plenty of suitable material and 

 that is plentiful in the nurseries. 



There are many ways to make an 

 farch of roses. If you cannot get the 

 frame illustrated in this section a few 

 weeks back, get a pair of Lombardy 

 poplars or any other cheap tree, strip 

 them to the stem, pot them and tie 

 them in arch form. Get a lot of climb- 

 ing roses, Baltimore Belle, Crimson 

 Rambler, or any color desired, only 

 one kind on each arch, though. Start 

 in the center, tie the sprays loosely 

 and naturally, cover the cut ends and 

 make your work appear as if it were 

 two pots of roses joined together at 

 the top. This can be made in house 

 or church. If you cannot get climb- 

 ing roses in bloom, get the wood and 

 tie the roses on in the glasses we have 

 often mentioned. 



Be careful of this point: If you ar- 



range anything imitating nature, 

 where people are close to your work, 

 foliage and flower should face up- 

 ward; where you work on balconies, 

 frescoes, staircases or other positions 

 where people look up to your design, 

 then flower and foliage should face 

 downward, with just a straggling 

 bunch or two going the other way. 

 Don't be too precise; nature uses no 

 cords, the sun and light dictate her 

 forms, and it's rarely you can improve 

 on her models. Very fine work on 

 mantel, mirror or arbor can be done 

 in the same way, only it is best to 

 have a few irregular steel wires fixed 

 together as a frame for support. We 

 don't mean a studied network of 

 wires, merely a few you can attach 

 your vines to and twist in any shape. 



In some elaborate decorations they 

 will have a colonnade of columns 

 made of plaster of Paris and modeled 

 after those of the Roman Empire. 

 For this purpose they are usually 

 about eight to ten feet high. The an- 

 cient method of decorating such col- 

 fumns was to entwine them at regular 

 distances with set garlands. What we 

 consider the prettiest way is to cre- 

 ate an irregular vine-like embracing 

 design, covering very little of the pil- 

 lar, each one being different. There 

 are plenty of Ramblers and hybrid 

 perpetuals at present growing in pots. 

 Charming effects can be obtained by 

 using them in clusters. Get Mexican 

 jgreen jardinieres or any neutral col- 

 ored pot. Shake most of the soil off 

 the rose bushes, put as many as you 

 can in each jardiniere, pack witliN„wet 

 moss, let the branches hang lojfely 

 and over, make it look like a wige 

 pot of roses, and if there are many 

 blooms on it will look better than all 

 the vases and baskets you can fix — 

 it will look well in any place. 



It's quite an easy matter to fix up 

 long garlands of roses where you can 

 get long branches to cut at, and don't 

 begrudge paying for them, for they 

 are much cheaper than bothering with 

 short stemmed stock and its attend- 

 ant troubles. Loose bunches of roses 

 intended for ends of pews or to be 

 tied to particular points, should be 

 arranged loosely and with a drop 

 spray finish; that is, have a bloom or 



two hanging downward. Whilst roses 

 may be the principal flower used in 

 most of the decorations, there are oth- 

 ers which will look equally beautiful 

 without them. Many brides have ideas 

 and floral pets of their own, and it's 

 very foolish to attempt to dictate to 

 them, for most American girls be- 

 come very imperious on this occasion. 

 It is always good to inquire if she has 

 any favorite flower; if so, give it 

 prominence; she will appreciate it, 

 and the act need not interfere with 

 the general plan of your work. 



A pretty design can be wrought 

 from almost any kind of material. 

 The idea is the scarcest article. There 

 are many kinds of flowering shrubs 

 which can be used to great advantage, 

 and whilst they may not be so clas- 

 sic as the rose, yet where space and 

 cheapness must be considered they are 

 all right, for whole rooms can be cov- 

 ered at comparatively small cost. 

 Almost every June wedding calls tor 

 an abundance of flowers, at least the 

 parties expect it— that is, they look to 

 get plenty for their money, be it small 

 or large, and though it is wise to have 

 your finer points worked out in goad 

 material, the background can be made 

 imposing at a small outlay. 



It is hard to understand how any-, 

 one can be established in the retail 

 business for the space of a couple of 

 years without acquiring a knowledge 

 of plants and flowers, their seasons 

 and uses, but such there are. We can 

 walk into any store on Broadway to- 

 day and the simplest question will 

 puzzle the most "high-falutin" man 

 in the store; that's because smart ig- 

 norance creates exorbitant bluffs; 

 both are entirely despicable and un- 

 necessary to first class trade. But 

 again to decorations. 



There will soon be a fine assortment 

 of outdoor flowers available, of which 

 paeonies will be the leader. With them 

 and others the grandest kind of work 

 is possible, but if you want it to be 

 impressive, don't scatter your ma- 

 terial — that is to say, put most of your 

 flowers in clusters and arrange them 

 where they will show up best without 

 jnaking it too palpable that you have 

 done so intentionally; that's one of 

 the great secrets of the art. Some 

 girls love buttercups and daisies; you 

 could not pay them a greater compli- 

 ment than making their wedding ar- 

 bor entirely of them, and let us state 

 right here that just as fine work can 

 be done with common filed daisies as 

 with the choicest orchids. The price 

 quality may not be there, but the art 

 value can be. You must remember, 

 though, that daisies do not grow 

 downward over a balcony. On a back- 

 ground of solid green you can make 

 them appear quite at home, which is 

 the proper element to aim at in all 

 floral arrangements. 



It is all wrong to make the bridal 

 arch or arbor entirely of cold white. 

 It's a deathly color; try to induce your 

 customer to allow you to introduce a 

 little cheerful color somewhere to re- 

 lieve the eye and cheer the thought. 



