AUGUST 2. 19«0. 



The Weekly Rorists^ Review* 



25J 



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THE RETAIL 



FLORIST 



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Hall Decoration. 



At a recent meeting of the New 

 York Florists' Club the committee ap- 

 pointed for the decoration of the hall 

 where the sessions of the Society of 

 American Florists are to be hold dur- 

 ing the convention made two reports, 

 the majority being in favor of a laurel 

 roping and the minority for a cheese 

 cloth and wild smilax form of decoti'a- 

 tion. There was much said at the 

 meeting showing how little some peo- 

 ple really know of decorative art. We 

 regret that it was not considered wise 

 to go outside the club's membership 

 for artists to do this particular work. 

 The best decorators in New York do 

 not belong to the Florists' Club. 



We know the retail florist too well 

 to imagine that he will come to this 

 convention and not expect to see eith- 

 er material or design for decoration 

 worth considering, and the aver- 

 age florist who retails any -portion of 

 his stock would on this occasion pre- 

 fer to see the plain walls rather than 

 a style of decoration which meant 

 only that there was an abundance of 

 nuiterial and possibly a wall to hide. 

 The florists and others attending this 

 convention will expect to se? what 

 New Yorkers can do, not in a jirofuse 

 sense, but in an artistic one, and the 

 best element should be allowed to 

 show its best. We have always advo- 

 cated a betteir recognition for the re- 

 tailers, but they themselves have the 

 power and the right to demand it. 



A Suggestion. 



It is our opinion that the decoration 

 of the convention hall should be com- 

 petitive; 25 or 50 feet of space could 

 be allotted to each florist, or among 

 the workers in the stores, the same 

 material given to all by the local club, 

 and a graded form of recognition be 

 awarded for merit of design and ap- 

 plication; the space could be cut to 

 meet the number of entries. A hall 

 decorated by 25 or 50 applicants for 

 honors would surely be of the great- 

 est interest. The plan is feasible any- 

 where, but there is no time for its 

 adoption in the present case. The 

 New York committee on decoratons 

 aire unfortunate in the selection of 

 material they advocate; we would re- 

 mind them of the fact that there is 

 very little beauty and no art in a 

 post entwined in the usual way by 

 laurel roping. Cheese cloth may be 

 good to emphasize the details of a 

 particular style of design, but a gen- 

 eral background of it would be inex- 

 cusable in the pi-esent case. 



What is looked for is the execution 

 of ideas, the expression of thought as 

 it were in sections rather than a sub- 

 jection or obliteration to conform to 

 the whole. A room decorated in 20 

 different designs is of more interest 

 to the florist than the one arranged in 

 one general design. A large hall can 

 be decorated or disfigured by a de- 

 sign of looped garlands or traceries, 

 it may appear pretty and it may not. 

 but in both cases it can be devoured 

 at a glance and interest in it is short- 

 lived. A composite decoration is often 

 more interesting because there is more 

 to examine and consequently nio>re to 

 learn from it. and it is what would 

 be best in the case under discussion. 



We would suggest to this New York 

 decorative committee that they use 

 only materials at present growing 

 within a radius of ten miles from the 

 Grand Central Palace. We can assure 

 them that finer work can be done with 

 what is at present growing in nearby 

 swamps than with all the fancy and 

 expensive stuff they can get from oth- 

 er states. It is not so much material 

 as ability that is required, and a 

 demonstration of what can be done liy 

 the vegetation of this locality would 

 be of exceeding beauty and education- 

 al value. A few wagon loads of swamp 

 oak, red maple, honey locust and other 

 foliage would suffice, and we have wild 

 smilax and other vines growing in 

 abundance in New York. A prepon- 

 derance of laurel roping is entirely out 

 of place in summer decorations, and 

 the use of evergreens too is not cor- 

 rect. We shouid better appreciate and 

 utilize seasonable foliage, it saves 

 money and is capable of plroducing 

 more beautiful effects. We would not 

 like to see the New York convention 

 hall decorated on the plan and scope 

 applicable to the ordinary summer 

 beer garden; there would be no ex- 

 cuse for such a grave error. 



Nor is it at all necessary or advis- 

 able to completely cover ceiling or 

 walls; every good decorator sees a 

 distinct beauty in every branch or 

 spray of foliage, and the most of them 

 should be arranged to show this dis- 

 tinctiveness and charm. A wall en- 

 tirely covered with green is restful to 

 the eye perhaps, but it can only be 

 compared with a screen, and it re- 

 quires more of the mechanic than the 

 artist to manufacture it. A frieze 

 work or tracery of greens, a cluster- 

 spray and wreatli and garland requires 

 ability to properly work them out and 

 make them conform to a general 

 scheme. There is far more beauty in 



a branch of cut leaved oak than there 

 is in yards of laurel or hemlock roping 

 in which the reverse side of the foli- 

 age is usually most prominent. 



Seasonable Flowers. 



Gladioli are the most prominent 

 decorative flower on the market at 

 present, and very fine work can be 

 done with them. Where extensively 

 used keep the colors separate and if 

 possible have them against a back- 

 ground which will bring out the full 

 effects of color. These flowers can 

 now be bad in every shade of coloring 

 and much of their stiffness can be les- 

 sened by the use of Eulalia gracil- 

 limum or tamarix or other fine foli- 

 age; but have the greens short and 

 subservient. 



Lilium auratum is good for showy 

 work; too many of them should not 

 be used in a room on account of their 

 strong odor which is apt to become 

 very offensive in a close atmosphere. 



There will soon be an abundance of 

 outdoor lilies and they can be put to 

 good use in almost every class of work. 

 No retail grower should be without a 

 quantity of various lilies in August; 

 there are few things choicer than a 

 tall vase filled with a mixture of them. 

 Fortune's tiger lily shows up well just 

 now. 



Hardy Flowers. 



Yellow predominates in the herbace- 

 ous garden tYom now on, and the color 

 is good to use in abundance in most 

 classes of decoration. Golden rod is 

 in full glow throughout the southern 

 states but it is scarcely out in the 

 north. We have a great many North 

 American wild flowers which are far 

 more beautiful than many of the pam- 

 pered pets from other climes; they are 

 not appreciated because they are 

 abundant and commonly before us ev- 

 erywhere we turn. 



Euphorbia corollata is a pretty 

 white flower, fine for cutting, vase 

 work, or funeral, and deserves to be 

 grown. Hypericum prolificum is a 

 good yellow flower with admirable 

 combination of useful foliage. Asclep- 

 ias tuberosa is incomparable in color 

 and could often be used to good ad- 

 vantage. Ratibidas, especially pin- 

 nata. are very beautiful, splendid for 

 vase work; the pretty cones in center 

 of yellow quilled flowers look charm- 

 ing — nothing prettier for tall slender 

 vases. Rudbeckias laciniata and Gold- 

 en Glow are also in bloom and will 

 be extensively used the next few 

 weeks. Eupatorium purpureum is well 

 worth consideration; its blue white 

 flowers are quite pretty. 



Tanacetum boreale. the Siberian 

 tansy, is great for lettering or intri- 

 cate work. Its clusters of yellow bead- 

 like flowers last a long time. 

 Many varieties of achilleas are in 

 bloom and are chiefly useful for 

 funeral work. Calimeris incisa, a Si- 

 berian Michaelmas-daisy like flower, 

 is in full glow now and is good for 

 vase work. Coreopsis senifolia, a very 

 pretty small yellow flower, deserves to 



