OCTOBER IS, 1900. 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



579 



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THE RETAIL 



FLORIST 



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Plants. 



The principal New Yorlv florists' 

 stores are made to look very attrac- 

 tive at present with an abundance of 

 clean, well grown plants, most of 

 which are grouped about the stores or 

 windows. Kentias predominate among 

 the palms, though there are many in- 

 quiries for good sized cool grown 

 Areca lutescens. Any one having such 

 stock for sale should let the fact be 

 known. Boston ferns abound every- 

 where and are being offered at very 

 low prices; in another month or two 

 good stock will be scarce. It seems a 

 pity that growers should unload such 

 vast quantities of valuable stock on 

 the market at times when it is least 

 wanted; the grower may raise the 

 prices of plants with impunity later 

 on but the retailer can seldom do so; 

 whatever he sells a plant for now he 

 is expected to duplicate at the same 

 price at all times. 



This is one great trouble with the 

 present overflow of Boston ferns. Fine 

 plants in 3 and 4-inch pots can be 

 bought in any quantity at from 8 to 

 15 cts. The market is deluged through 

 the auction rooms. Such plants are 

 not salable in a retail sense; they 

 are useful in the store sometimes for 

 cutting, and once in a while for bas- 

 ket or window work. This fern is 

 scarcely presentable to the American 

 retail customer unless in good big 

 sizes; a 6-inch pot or pan is the small- 

 est for satisfactory effect. Many of 

 the retailers have been buying up 

 small plants for the purpose of putting 

 them into pans and growing them on. 

 In this they have rendered the gen- 

 eral market a great service and 

 made wise investments for themselves. 

 Life is altogether too short to wait 

 until one plant furnishes up even a 

 6-inch pan. and many growers make 

 this mistake. Put two or three or more 

 plants in (not bunched together in the 

 center but at convenient distances) 

 and they will be ready for you much 

 quicker. 



Boston 'ferns will grow better and 

 last longer in pans than in pots. Their 

 roots do not seek the bottom of pots, 

 and besides it not infrequently occurs 

 that they get insufficient water in pots. 

 It has been our experience that ferns 

 in pans give much more satisfaction, 

 both as permanent and temporary dec- 

 orative material in the dwelling house. 

 It is often very difficult to hide a plant 

 pot unless you happen to have a jar- 

 diniere or basket to fit, whereas the 



plant will invariably hide a tilted pan. 

 The very finest effect can be made with 

 Boston ferns grown in wire baskets. 

 Most of you have decorations where 

 such hanging baskets could be used to 

 great advantage. Fix a few for future 

 use. 



There are a great number of colored 

 foliage plants such as dracaenas, Pan- 

 danus Veitchii. erotons, etc.. being 

 shown just now, and those who have 

 vases, boxes or conservatories to All 

 should use as many as they can to 

 bring out the full value of variety. It 

 is true that the majority of plant buy- 

 ers look upon such plants as Dracaena 

 fragrans. D. Massangeana and D. Lin- 

 deni as corn, but there are other varie- 

 ties of this splendid class of plants de- 

 serving a more prominent place than 

 they at present occupy. Of course it 

 would be unwise for many florists to 

 handle much of highly colored plants, 

 but the majority could often use many 

 of them if only for a change in their 

 own windows. We know the average 

 plant buyers expect their purchase to 

 last for a year or more, and in con- 

 sequence it is safest to buy only the 

 plants that are able to withstand any 

 kind of treatment, but we must not be 

 narrow, we must encourage a desire 

 for variety and give full recognition to 

 novelty. We often have to buy flowers 

 for window decoration; we should con- 

 sider- the purchase of plants in the 

 samftt^way. and if at times it appears 

 advisable to use them up there are 

 many ways to do so. Many a stand- 

 ing funeral design or basket would 

 look very much better were a plant or 

 two of some sort used in their makeup 

 instead of the usual scraping up of tall 

 flowers and cut ferns or cycas. 



Orcluds. 



Some of the New York florists' win- 

 dows, especially those on Broadway 

 and the principal avenues, never look- 

 ed better than they have recently when 

 thousands of Cattleya labiata, both 

 cut and growing, are used to make 

 them attractive. Perhaps cattleyas 

 were never so plentiful here as they 

 were the past few weeks and the 

 blooms are very fine. It seems almost 

 a pity to see so many cattleyas at a 

 time of the year when trade Is dull. 

 Wo always like to see such flowers 

 not only kept out of the wholesaler's 

 rubbish can, but bringing a good price 

 to all concerned. We are once in a 

 while scolded for recording facts about 

 such things as cattleyas, but we con- 

 sider that a duty, for as we under- 



stand it a newspaper should appeal to 

 the majority and yet show mercy to 

 the minority. But there, about cat- 

 tleyas, of course when they are plen- 

 tiful and there is no demand they 

 must be sold at whatever price is of- 

 fered. They have been sold retail even 

 on Broadway at $4.00 per doz., and in 

 another couple of weeks when the crop 

 is over it will be the cause of some 

 unpleasantness to ask more than dou- 

 ble that for them. 



We have always advocated the great- 

 er use of orchids and there are many 

 ways in which they could be used to 

 great advantage. For instance, there 

 is nothing choicer for a lady to wear 

 at any kind of evening party; they 

 are appropriate alike for funeral or 

 festive event, and they are in a way 

 floral diamonds when used in a presen- 

 tative manner. The great majority of 

 people do not value them at their 

 worth, a bunch of violets or a rose 

 is far more preferable to them, and 

 it is not right to condemn every dif- 

 ference of opinion. The great major- 

 ity of retail florists dislike to advocate 

 a greater use of orchids because it is 

 either not safe to take an order for 

 them, or the market has a nasty way 

 of soaring skywards in price when you 

 least expect it. To be sure, get all you 

 can at all times, that may be business, 

 but one dislikes to sell a dozen cat- 

 tleyas for six dollars and have to 

 pay almost that much to get them 

 when he can make more out of sell- 

 ing a dozen Beauties or a box of 

 mixed flowers. 



We believe growers should have a 

 regular scale of prices for scarce and 

 choice goods and no wholesaler should 

 be allowed to sell below that price. 

 It is only once or twice a year that we 

 see an overflow of such flowers as cat- 

 tleyas or dendrobiums; we may be 

 wrong but it appears to us bad policy 

 to put them on a level with common 

 stock, thus allowing them to become 

 depreciated; 'twould be better to sell 

 them at a fair price and let the re- 

 tailer know the standing price for dif- 

 ferent grades or quantities. 



Wearing Flowers. 

 Violets are quite plentiful and for 

 the time of the year are exceptionally 

 good, but somehow though the weath- 

 er is good for wearing flowers out- 

 doors very few of them are used. We 

 have never seen less flowers worn on 

 the streets this time of the year. 

 Sometimes the reason is a simple one. 

 Many people laugh when you mention 

 ribbons or dress as cause for less 

 flowers being worn. They imagine the 

 people must buy flowers the same as 

 they do meat. Little do they know 

 of the powerful influence of the mil- 

 liner's or dressmaker's shop. The ro- 

 sette or bow of ribbon at present 

 worn by many ladies over the left 

 breast is responsible for much of the 

 scarcity of flowers worn on the streets. 

 The party who invented that chip of 

 fashion did much harm to the florist.s' 

 trade. 



