36 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



JUNE 7, 1900. 



ance of lovely flowers. What can ex- 

 ceed in brilliancj' a pretty vase of 

 oriental poppies in the center of a 

 vv'ell greened window? Fine effects 

 can be got from most flowers if prop- 

 erly placed. There are two things 

 which more than all others detract 

 from the beauty of flowers — that is, 

 conglomerate and inharmonious ar- 

 ranging and poor vases. There ai'e 

 many in the business who. if not do- 

 ing a rushing trade, become indiffer- 

 ent, and thus kill possible chances. 



No matter what your location or 

 class of customers, it pays to b? neat 

 and artistic. If you haven't appre- 

 ciation of the value of these elements, 

 you should get into some other line 

 of business, for above all things the 

 successful florist must be an artist in 

 some form, and the most profitable 

 way of showing his ability is by win- 

 dow display. This should be kept up 

 even during the dullest part of the 

 year, for it pays. Very little artifi- 

 cial material is shown by New York 

 florists, except in the very poorest dis- 

 tricts, and even there they get spurts 

 of artistic virtue that are beneficial, 

 at least to the public eye. 



Wedding Bouquets. 

 Many of you will have cause to 

 search for novelties or .scarce flowers 

 to offer in your suggestions for wed- 

 ding bouquets, and after all your 

 trouble you will often find the simpler 

 the flower the more beautiful the 

 effect. Take, for instance, a loose 

 cluster bunch of Cherokee roses — 

 what's finer or more poetically beau- 

 tiful? They must not be shoved into 

 cabbage form, of course, and a similar 

 shaped but different colored rose must 

 be used for the bridesmaids. 



We recently made a charming spray 

 bouquet of Odontoglossum citrosmum. 

 This flower is admirably adapted for 

 spray or semi-so-called shower bou- 

 quets. We used milliners' green-silk 

 covered wire to twist around the 

 stems to prevent them from breaking, 

 used very little green, and that was 

 A. Farleyense. twisted the handle with 

 narrow velvet ribbon, ending in a 

 small bow. 



White orchids continue to be the 

 choicest of material for brides' bou- 

 quets, and some fine fiowers can be 

 obtained from any large orchid 

 grower. They chiefly consist of cat- 

 tleyas. odontoglossums and miltonias, 

 and where orchids are used for the 

 bride's bouquet, they should also be 

 used for the bridesmaids'. Cattleyas 

 Mossiae and C. Mendelii are fine and 

 cheap now, and by your advocating a 

 greater use of them you not only ren- 

 der floriculture a great service, but 

 you are apt to make more money by 

 their employment than you could 

 from any other fiower. 



Orchids are supposed to represent 

 the richest gems in Flora's realm and 

 a good big price can in most cases 

 be got for them, whereas they can be 

 bought very cheaply in comparison. 

 But orchids are the worst possible 

 flowers for awkward fingers or to use 



with clumsy greens and cheap rib- 

 bons. Always try to be as careful 

 and choice in your mak.ng up as you 

 are in the selection of your fiowers; 

 you can very easily spoil a beautiful 

 flower by associating it with common 

 stock. 



Lily of the valley is fairly good at 

 pi'esent. Put it in water in a cool place 

 before using. How seldom one sees a 

 well made valley bouquet. There is 

 always some great fault; too much 

 weight or inappropriate greaus. You 

 can use smilax or asparagus for pack- 

 ing, but it should not be visible, and 

 Farleyense makes the best fringe. In 

 arranging your flowers, don't be too 

 regular; have them up and down and 

 still retain the half circle contour of 

 the bouquet. The finish is better than 

 the start, but the former depends 

 much on the latter. Victoria roses are 

 by far the best of the indoor kinds 

 to use at present. Bridesmaid roses 

 are looking pale and faded. It is best 

 to have Testouts or Jacques, but it all 

 depends on the dress and the girls. 



IVERA. 



THE GATES AJAR. 



The accompanying engraving is 

 from a photograph of a gates ajar ar- 

 ranged by A. Le Moult. New York, the 

 originator of the design, about fifteen 

 years ago, and will surely be of consid- 

 erable interest historically. 



It is true that this design is now in- 

 frequently seen in the larger cities, but 

 its popularity was once very wide- 

 spread and it is still occasionally 

 called for. We are pleased to be able 

 to place permanently on record the 

 originator's conception of its proper 

 treatment, though we understand no 

 two designs were ever treated exactly 

 alike by this versatile designer. 



Certainly this arrangement of the 

 gates is much more satisfactory t;han 

 many we have seen, and to those who 

 still have call for set pieces it may be 

 helpful. 



IRISES. 



Please tell me something about 

 irises. 1 would like particularly to 

 know the best time to divide and 

 transplant, whether plants set in 

 spring or fall will flower the following 

 season, and the best varieties. 



M. A. R. 



Most of the family of irises may be 

 divided early in the fall or spring, pre- 

 ferably the latter, but they cannot all 

 be depended upon to bloom the first 

 season. A good plan to follow where a 

 large bed is in question is to divide a 

 portion one year and the balance the 

 next. Plants too long in one place 

 show growth only at the outer edge, 

 requiring division and resetting. 



It is hard to make out a list of the 

 best varieties. They are all good. For 

 edging, the dwarf Iris pumila, with its 

 bright lilac purple flowers, is good. 

 For a taller edging, I. graminea. from 

 Central Europe, but hardy at Chi- 

 cago, bearing sweet scented lilac pur- 



ple flowers, somewhat hidden among 

 the foliage, is well adapted, especially 

 when in front of plants like the gar- 

 den phlox, that is apt to lose its 

 lower leaves in dry weather. 



The bearded, or German iris, is 

 probably the most commonly grown. 

 These, like the Japanese iris, have 

 fancy names, but it is seldom one can 

 rely upon getting what is wanted, as 

 each nurseryman is apt to have his 

 own set of names. 



The German iris is easily grown 

 under most cond.tions of soil and situ- 

 ation, but they do not like a wet situa- 

 tion in winter, especially when not in 

 full sun, where the rhizomes can be 

 well ripened. Stone, bricks and rub- 

 bish used as a drainage at the bottom 

 of the bed is a remedy for such situ- 

 ations. In planting this class of irises 

 the rhizomes must not be buried 

 under the soil, or they are apt to rot. 



Following these in time of blooming 

 are the gorgeous Iiis Koampferi. the 

 moisture loving Japanese iris. Ths 

 class likes a rich, moist soil and a 

 sunny situation, but one sheltered 

 from hot winds. The Japs flood them 

 daily during the growing and bloom- 

 ing season. They are aptly called the 

 poor man's orchid. These are in 

 their prime of bloom near Chicago 

 about July 4th. 



The Spanish and English irises to'h 

 Ijeing of Spanish origin, belong to 

 the bulbous section, the stem and 

 leaves dying down after flowering. 

 There are many beautiful varieties 

 among them. It planted in the fall 

 they will bloom the following July. 

 BELLEROPHON. 



CARNATIONS. 



Keeping Qualities. 



Mr. James Hartshorne, of the Chi- 

 cago Carnation Co., says the new 

 pink carnation Mrs. Lawson is the 

 best keeper of any carnation in ex- 

 istence. With him the flowers keep 

 twice as long as those of most other 

 varieties. The flowers can be cut 

 when only half open and they will 

 grow and improve afterward in water. 

 He recommends cutting them when 

 about two-thirds open. With age the 

 flowers fade a trifle, but the color re- 

 mains uniform and they retain their 

 form perfectly. 



He cuts all flowers of the Daybreak 

 type ( Lawson is one) while the center 

 petals are still standing straight up, 

 and before the flower has taken Its 

 flnal form, as all of these will grow 

 in water after being cut and the keep- 

 ing period is thereby extended. At 

 least he does this when the flowers are 

 going to customers to whom flnal re- 

 sults are what count. If sending to 

 a salesroom where the customer sees 

 the flowers before buying, he couldn't 

 afford to do it. By allowing the flow- 

 ers to fully develop before cutting they 

 look larger when placed on sale and 

 bring more money. 



He believes Lawson will be a great 

 moneymaker for the grower. The 



