The Weekly Florists' Review. 



MAY SI, 1300. 



Most of the damp, narrow supersti- 

 tions and heavily laden ideas of the 

 people of to-day are traceable to the 

 limited stock of flowers of other days, 

 or the ignorance of the florist of to- 

 day. White in flowers is supposed to 

 signify purity (that's all very well in 

 linen), but what do all the other flow- 

 ers stand for? If we would take them 

 for what they are supposed to repre- 

 sent, they would have to be excluded 

 from all decorations, and it would 

 soon be God help the business. It's 

 pure nonsense, weak imagery, to in- 

 sist on a majority of white at all wed- 

 dings, unless we wish to put them on 

 a par with funerals. 



This June there will be many con- 

 trivances some will say are new. Most 

 of them are only so when exceed- 

 ingly well done. Take, for instance, 

 the flower gate half way down the 

 aisle of the church. That's a very 

 pretty idea. It falls flat, though, un- 

 less the intent is carried out. You 

 must not merely have a floral gate, 

 but make it appear as if it were the 

 entry to a flower garden. Th's can 

 easily he done by tying loose bunches 

 of flowers on the ends of the pews, 

 etc., inside the gate. There are doubt- 

 less many who have never seen the 

 floral gate used at weddings. To them 

 we will describe it. There is usually 

 a section of the church reserved for 

 the family and special guests; that 

 reservation occupies from 15 to 25 

 pews from the altar: here a very light 

 swinging gate is put aci'oss the aisle: 

 it is completely covered with flowers: 

 a small girl usually precedes the bridal 

 party and holds the gate open for 

 them. The approach to this gate is 

 generally made beautiful by tying 

 loose bunches of flowers on the pews. 

 You can leave your ribbons at home — 

 the church is no place for them: re- 

 ligion conflicts with all that's vain, 

 and it's scarcely fair to take advan- 

 tage because it's a marriage cere- 

 mony. 



We can all agree that there are very 

 few things more beautiful and more 

 impressive than a fine palm. It would 

 be wrong to suggest anything that 

 would in any way decrease their use. 

 but every florist cannot afford to use 

 them in quantity, and if they could 

 the price would not justify them. To- 

 day there are many prominent florists 

 who pack a house full of fine palms 

 on the least excuse. They spoil the 

 trade, ruin their plants, and let us 

 add it is done generally by those who 

 have not paid for the plants. Of 

 course just at present it might do your 

 plants good and also advertise your 

 shop to take them out once in a while 

 for an airing, but customers can easily 

 be spoiled. Where massive work is 

 required the woods just now abound 

 with fine green stuff. Maple and oak 

 foliage makes a very effective back- 

 ground to finer greens or flowers. 

 Leave sickly smelling foliage and 

 flowers out of your decorations, for 

 they become insufferable in a hot 

 room. 



The styles in bouquets will be rich, 

 small, and loose, more inclined to the 

 spray bunch shape, and they should 

 be composed of the finest blooms ob- 

 tainable. Very little ribbon will be 

 used and scarcely any "shower" bou- 

 quets. Keep in touch with what is in 

 bloom in the herbaceous and rose gar- 

 dens, but don't neglect the gems un- 

 der glass. IVERA. 



ESTIMATES. 



"We are continually asked to give 

 estimates on the cost of decorations, 

 and our constant effort is to avoid 

 giving them," was the remark of a 

 well known retailer. 



"Sometimes we cannot avoid the 

 issue, and when this is so we always 

 deliver the estimate in person, as 

 every one requires an explanation. 

 There is always some one who will 

 cut under you after he has been 

 shown your figures, and many good 

 flower buyers have fallen into the 

 pernicious habit of getting estimates 

 from several florists and giving the 

 job to the one naming the lowest fig- 

 ure. It is a mistake to be a party to 

 one of these competitions. 



"The only remedy, when forced to 

 give an estimate, is to personally go 

 over the ground with the party and 

 explain as clearly as possible what it 

 is intended to do and how it is to be 

 done, and the great difference in dec- 

 orations that might be truthfully de- 

 scribed in identical words. Explain 

 that a group of palms may be few or 

 many, that the individual plants may 

 be fine and effective or poor and inef- 

 fective: that they may be arranged 

 by competent hands so as to enhance 

 the beauty of the room, and that the 

 same material in other hands might 

 better be entirely omitted, and so on 

 through the list. 



"Never make the mistake of reduc- 

 ing your figures in order to get the 

 order, and then skimp the material 

 in order to come out whole. The 

 customer may not be dissatisfied, in 

 view of the low price, but when asked 

 who did the work your name is given 

 without any explanation that the price 

 was inadequate, and the effect upon 

 your reputation is decidedly unfavor- 

 able. You would have done better not 

 to have had the order. If for some 

 special reason you take the order at 

 a less price than you should have had. 

 your best plan is to do the decoration 

 right and pocket the loss. 



"Your reputation is a large part of 

 your stock in trade, and it should be 

 protected at all hazards. Never con- 

 sider a decoration complete until you 

 are satisfied with it yourself. If you 

 feel yourself that it is all right the 

 customer will nearly always be sat- 

 isfied. Be sure to give full value 

 every time, but insist upon a fair 

 price, and on the average you will 

 come out ahead, and at the same time 

 be building up a reputation that will 

 have a decided value. If you can make 

 your customers feel safe in your 

 hands you will have a powerful lever 



against the competition of the price 

 cutter. 



"To be sure, there will be many an- 

 noyances in maintaining your posi- 

 tion. The one who makes the low fig- 

 ure may get a job away from you. 

 But bide your time. If the customer is 

 worth having he or she will come back 

 after one experience of the sort and 

 will be a more satisfactory customer 

 ever after. 



"Of course you will have to give 

 your customer an idea as to the cost 

 of a suitable decoration, but avoid 

 giving a detailed estimate if possible. 

 If. when you deliver your estimate, 

 the cost exceeds the expectations, be 

 prepared then and there to cut out 

 certain details, if this can be done and 

 still leave you a chance to do a cred- 

 itable job. But get your order then. 

 Nail it on the spot. If you go away 

 without closing the matter the other 

 fellow will get the order nine times 

 out of ten. The man on the ground 

 has decidedly the best of it." 



CREDITS. 



"The retail florists of every city 

 should have an organization through 

 which they might be kept advised of 

 the experience of all with their cus- 

 tomers as regards running accounts." 

 is the thought expressed by a re- 

 tailer in one of our large cities. 



"In every city there is a certain 

 class who make it a regular plan to 

 have the retailers carry their accounts 

 for absurdly long periods. One of 

 these individuals will run up an ac- 

 count with me to the limit that I will 

 stand, and then transfer his or her 

 valuable trade to my competitor, Mr. 

 Jones. When Jones reaches his limit. 

 Robinson gets the business. Probably 

 a year and a half has elapsed when 

 they pay me up and start the rounds 

 again. If the florists would act to- 

 gether this little game could be nipped 

 in the bud." 



A STORE TO YOURSELF. 



"Don't try to cut down expenses 

 by renting half of your store to some- 

 one in another business," is the ad- 

 vice, very strongly emphasized, of a 

 successful retail florist. "You lose 

 much more than you gain." he con- 

 tinues. 



"Have all the window room you can 

 possibly secure and spare no effort to 

 make your display attractive. And 

 you don't need a great mass of ma- 

 terial for it. Plit art. rather than 

 quantity of material, into it. It is 

 your opportunity to show your skill 

 as well as your stock. It is your best 

 advertisement and your greatest 

 chance to show that you have ability 

 as a decorator." 



PANICUM VARIEGATUM. 



This ornamental grass is being used 

 in fern dishes and jardinieres by the 

 Geo. Wittbold Co., Chicago, and it is 

 a very effective addition. It is very 



