AUGUST 30, 1900. 



The Weekly Florists' Review* 



387 



1*^. 



THE RETAIL 



FLORIST 





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Fall Wedding Decorations. 



Commencing with September, tliere 

 is generally more activity in tlie dec- 

 orative Ijranch of the business, and 

 those fortunate enough to be favored 

 with house or church wedding decor- 

 ation can easily procure an abund- 

 ance of fine material. All manner of 

 out-door foliage can be used, and care 

 should be taken to avoid stiff arrange- 

 ments; it you fix up a screen work 

 or archway of oak branches, for in- 

 stance, trim it off with a few vines 

 of the ampelopsis or wild smilax type, 

 or arrange to put immense clusters 

 of flowers in it; whatever you do, 

 don't scatter your flowers in a way 

 which will tend to reduce their im- 

 pressiveness. 



If you take a good, big bunch of 

 rudbeckia, tie it loosely, a few sprays 

 hanging down; it will give much bet- 

 ter results than dividing it up and 

 attaching the sprays separately. The 

 exclusive use of white for weddings 

 is dying out; many brides even carry 

 highly colored roses, and the death- 

 like, white decorations are replaced 

 by cheerful brightness; this is as it 

 should be and whenever you get a 

 chance encourage the change. 



The Color Question. 



White was generally adopted be- 

 cause it is supposed to emblemize 

 purity. It was applied to funerals the 

 same as weddings, and like both 

 events it is an extreme in human 

 mythological fancies. We agree with 

 the appropriateness of white for fun- 

 erals and dislike to see a casket dec- 

 orated with all the colors of the rain- 

 bow, same as if it were an object or 

 cause of great merriment, and on the 

 other hand we sympathize with the 

 girl who goes to the altar dressed in 

 deathly white, with never a touch of 

 color; she most often looks like a 

 walking ghost with a face as white 

 as the flowers she carries, whereas, if 

 she had a deep red rose pinned on 

 her breast or carried a few fine crim- 

 son roses, such as Meteor or Liberty, 

 the effect would be better; and then, 

 all the world agrees that a red rose 

 is the adopted emblem of love, and 

 that is the essential element surround- 

 ing a wedding. 



The majority of girls would con- 

 sider it queer if a lover sent them 

 white flowers in the days of court- 

 ship — give ninety per cent of them 

 their choice and they would prefer 

 red or pink; this choice should be 

 recognized at the great event, and 



every florist can do much to change 

 the present mistaken fancy that white 

 flowers are the only ones a bride 

 should carry to the altar. 



Custom and Fitness. 



Established customs are not always 

 right, and much that is at present 

 considered sacred and obligatory is 

 nothing but the foolishly fanciful cre- 

 ations of brains which are now the 

 dust of the long dead centuries. The 

 world of to-day is quickly adopting 

 the ideas of the living, and though the 

 minority, steeped in selfishness, are 

 loud in their disparagement of senti- 

 ment and grasp every chance to de- 

 ride it as enemy to trade and indi- 

 vidual success; nevertheless, the peo- 

 ples of the world will always appre- 

 ciate the beautiful, hence flowers will 

 forever be both the incentive and 

 emblem of all that is best in us. The 

 great and continuous growth of the 

 flower business is the best evidence 

 of this truth, and it is a funny, nay. 

 strange freak in human contrariness 

 that though their entire business and 

 the future of the profession depends 

 wholly on sentiment, yet those who 

 desire to pose as the leading lights 

 in it are among the greatest cynics, 

 and slander what furnishes them with 

 a living. 



We are generally told by customers 

 that the florist's business must be a 

 lovely one, and that gentility and in- 

 telligence must be a ruling element 

 in the atmosphere of the florist store; 

 of that we have nothing to say, we 

 leave it alone, but the majority of 

 florists treat and look upon flowers 

 as so much value from a monetary 

 sense, same as the butcher does the 

 lamb or the poultryman the dove; 

 and it is this mental magnifying of 

 merchandise — the commercial blind- 

 ness of many that is responsible for 

 many things which injure rather than 

 encourage the demand for flowers. The 

 florist, not the customer, should be 

 the best judge of the appropriateness 

 of the color or form of goods he deals 

 in, and an indication of knowledge on 

 the subject most often results ;n your 

 victory. Referring to the question of 

 color again, purple is by general con- 

 sent entirely out of place at a wed- 

 ding; even blue is tabooed unless it 

 has some special significance, so no 

 matter how beautiful your delphini- 

 ums, heliotrope, achimenes and pur- 

 ple asters may be. don't use them at 

 a wedding decoration, because you 

 may have them on hand. 



Then again, though the finest effect 



can be got from the long, drooping 

 branches of Salix Babylonica, still you 

 should not use them for a festival of 

 joy, because of the mournful associa- 

 tions some legends attach to them. 

 And many object to the use of autumn 

 foliage at weddings for the reason that 

 there is a tinge of sadness in the bril- 

 liant farewells of summer's foliage. 

 You cannot argue why a mother cries 

 over the event which fills the cup of 

 her daughter's joy; or why the swan 

 is at its best in its dying song; or why 

 the sunset is more brilliant than sun- 

 rise. We must ourselves study and 

 acknowledge the fitness of things; and. 

 though we are positive we can do 

 better work by using highly colored 

 autumn foliage, we should not insist 

 on its use in a manner that will cre- 

 ate sadness where joy alone should 

 be. 



The Right Place. 



It is unnecessary to entirely avoid 

 the use of such material, but it is good 

 to be circumspect. If you put it in the 

 hallway, that does not necessitate its 

 use in the parlor. Golden rod is very 

 abundant all over the country at 

 present, and though it is by no means 

 the prettiest or most effective fiower 

 obtainable, still it is the cheapest, and 

 the great majority of people love it 

 for the memories or old associations 

 it may be surrounded with. He is a 

 wise florist who suggests its use in 

 all large decorations. We never care 

 to see it made the whole and sole 

 thing; we prefer to see it confined to 

 one room or hallway where wild flow- 

 ers and foliage only are used; there 

 are exceptional cases when and where 

 it can be made a leading feature, but 

 you will find its glory is dim compared 

 to a cluster of ratibidas or i-udbeckias. 



Seasonable Flow- is. 



Allamandas are plentiful in many of 

 the greenhouses and the finest effect 

 can be got by their use in large clus- 

 ter; they make a fine center piece for 

 table in conjunction with adiantum, 

 or cut in sprays. They can be ar- 

 ranged in hanging vases — have the 

 cups face down. 



Dendrobium formosum giganteum 

 are coming in. and it is the best white 

 orchid you can get in quantity at pres- 

 ent for bridal or funeral designs. 



There was quite a hunt for choice 

 flowers for the funeral of the late C. 

 P. Huntington. Wreaths and cluster 

 bunches of gardenias were wanted, but 

 could not be furnished satisfactorily as 

 they are very limited in supply; so are 

 orchids of every kind, and valley has 

 not been so plentiful as in former sum- 

 mers. One never knows how scarce 

 choice flowers are until an extra par- 

 ticular order comes in, when you are 

 either instructed or wish to furnish 

 something out of the ordinary. Even 

 Kaiserins were sought for in this case 

 in preference to Brides, because they 

 as a rule are finer and scarcer. It is 

 always wise to keep continually posted 

 on where you can get these things. 



