.IIWK I'l, I' 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



99 



^• <?.'*^.'*^.^<^. '< »^ .' ^^.-* ^/'<>:.'^^.i<^;s^^-i^,^Jia.i^jps.. >*=?*.'«-i«.'*i*. <^^.' 



THE RETAIL 



FLORIST 



■J 



Is 



'fe»)'fe»l"fe»)"4 



' •s<-»l"'fer»>"fe»l'fe») •'fe»)'4fr»>'fe»i"fe»)-^r»> 



Arranging of Summer Flowers. 



Although there may be an abund- 

 ance of flowers all through the sum- 

 mer season, in most cases it requires 

 greater care and thought in arrang- 

 ing for decorative purposes than in 

 winter. We know that superfluity 

 breeds contempt and indiff'erence; 

 there is always a lack of appreciation 

 in abundance, and in the matter of 

 flowers one is apt to use more than 

 is good or necessary because there is 

 a desire to get rid of material. 



There are many forms of decoration 

 which require lighter treatment in 

 summer than in winter, and where 

 in the latter season massive arrange- 

 ments of greens and flowers are in 

 many cases permissible, they appear 

 bad in the former. You are justified 

 in taking advantage of a plenitful 

 supply of flowers by putting more of 

 them around the room, but the ar- 

 ranging of the individual vase or de- 

 sign should be light and graceful, 

 and if you wish to make effects 

 brighter and more imposing, use less 

 greens. Generally speaking, there 

 should be very much less greens used 

 in summer than in winter; at this 

 time of the year their place in your 

 work should be that of a neutralizing 

 rather than a dominant color. 



Table Decorations. 



Let us consider table decorations. 

 In summer flowers are permissible on 

 the table at every meal; there can be 

 no bad form in their use at any time, 

 but it is not well to use the same 

 flowers twice, or at least the second 

 time, without rearranging them. The 

 eye can be tired by looking at even 

 beautiful flowers if there is no de- 

 sire to examine and enjoy the differ- 

 ent elements which combine to make 

 or enhance their beauty. 



The flowers used on the breakfast, 

 lunch or tea table should be few and 

 arranged without any view to for- 

 mality; they should appear as it the 

 person had been out to the garden, 

 a few flowers had specially captured 

 their fancy, and that they had put 

 them on the table without any labored 

 attempt at arranging. Extra large or 

 tall flowers are out of place on the 

 table this time of the year; the round, 

 low rose bowl or small vase, or even 

 a cake or salad dish are the proper 

 utensils to use. Where roses are 

 used you will do well to have a dif- 

 ferent color each time; If a mixed 

 lot are used, then try to have some 

 other flower the second time, even if 



they don't look as well; the roses will 

 be all the more appreciated the sec- 

 ond time. 



Of course the foliage of many flow- 

 ering plants is too coarse to use. but 

 care should be taken to use no extra 

 greens with such as roses, and. in fact, 

 with the majority of flowers. The 

 summer dining table, the appetite and 

 the senses should not be spoiled by 

 garlands of smilax or asparagus; It 

 is quite unnecessary to use even adi- 

 antum. Take, for instance, a vase of 

 sweet peas; of course, as they are 

 shipped to the market, miserable lit- 

 tle bunches, just enough for a bou- 

 tonniere, very little can be dpne with 

 them. The right way to gather and 

 use sweet peas for the table is to cut 

 a few sprays, first arrange these in 

 the vase or dish, allowing them to 

 hang over irregularly, then get your 

 close picked flowers and stick looselv 

 among the foliage. A flower like this 

 should never be arranged compactly; 

 it does not grow that way and never 

 looks well on the table so; it is a 

 light and airy little flower, requiring 

 delicate treatment. 



Vases. 



In many cases a vase of mixed 

 herbaceous flowers make up finely and 

 for a change several colors can be in- 

 termixed or grouped together. First 

 get a glass or neutral colored vase; 

 don't bunch the flowers; put the 

 greens in first, select the pendulous 

 forms, use them so they will hang 

 over the side and fill in, arranging 

 the colors as you go. Color harmony 

 in floral art is very much more difli- 

 cult to manage than that of landscape 

 or flower bedding, for the reason that 

 in the latter there is always an 

 abundance of green, which is a neu- 

 tralizing color (just the same as the 

 people who have adopted that color 

 as their national emblem are a neu- 

 tralizing power among the different 

 peoples of the world). 



In arranging a vase of mixed flow- 

 ers, there is no set rule to go by. 

 The Qombining of colors depends on 

 the influence of the educated eye. 

 Twenty colors can be used in the 

 same vase in as many ways and still 

 be correct; the point is to avoid a 

 too close proximity of high colors with 

 an entire absence of softer tones. For 

 instance, we first green up a vase or 

 basket. Let us start with blue del- 

 phinium. Now, we would not be right 

 in putting orange and red each side 

 of the blue unless we used white or 



green to stop the fight. If you take 

 an orchid, there may be several col- 

 ors in it. but the shading from one to 

 the other harmonizes. In making a 

 wreath of white and pink roses 

 though both are soft colors, and we 

 cannot be entirely wrong iii mixing 

 them anyway, because the foliage 

 helps them, yet it's not best to dot 

 them in checker-board fashion. Where 

 few colors are used in a design it is 

 best to group them. 



Color Harmony. 



Combinations or harmony in color 

 depend on personal ideals rather than 

 on set forms; every year brings forth 

 new inventions. The designers and 

 painters are always experimenting 

 and the entire world is benefited by 

 what they bring forth, be it good or 

 bad, for there is always some good 

 derived from contrasting the bad and 

 good. Go look at many of the rare 

 old paintings of flowers; the general 

 effect of the picture may be bad to 

 sensitive nerves, but the strength and 

 feeling put into the individual colors 

 are sublime and can never be repro- 

 duced. The past was remarkable for 

 boldness of treatment, the present 

 glorifies the softer shades; a combina- 

 tion of both is often best. 



We have recently seen some refer- 

 ence to our remarks on color har- 

 mony by "A, H." We would be pleased 

 to assist in arriving at conclusions 

 as to what is right or wrong in dec- 

 orative art if the point sought is 

 clearly stated. You must know that 

 you might be entirely correct in your 

 arrangement of a vase of flowers and 

 yet spoil its beauty by placing it in 

 front; of a loud colored curtain or in 

 close touch with jarring furnishings. 

 Whatever flowers are used on the 

 talde should be soft colored and of an 

 unobnoxious odor; more elaborate 

 decorations are in order for the even- 

 ing meal, or what is usually and ' 

 wrongly called "dinner." 



Summer Roses. 



Just at present some grand effects 

 can be made with roses. You can get 

 colors now which it is impossible to 

 get any other time of the year, and 

 they certainly should be taken ad- 

 vantage of. for you will soon have to 

 go back to the same old routine of 

 Bridesmaids, Meteors and Beauties. 

 Suppose we had a table to decorate 

 and the lady wanted something flne 

 and new. First we'd try to have a 

 round or oval table, in the center a 

 green satin or silk mat covered with 

 lace, or the cloth could be plain. Low- 

 bowls or vases filled with water would 

 be best to put the flowers in and 

 either one bowl or many could be 

 used, according to the size of the 

 tal)le. No fixings or foreign greens 

 should be put on this table. 



We have our roses cut early in the 

 morning or late at night. Suppose a 

 crimson color is desired. With long 

 sjirays of Crimson Ramblers we can 

 carry out any garland design wanted. 



