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The Weekly Florists' Review. 



OCTOBER 19, 1S99. 



gardens and forms a dense mat of 

 closely rooting branchlets on the sur- 

 face of the soil. The great peculiarity 

 of this species is found in its changes 

 of color during the day, the foliage be- 

 ing bright green in the morning, but 

 gradually becomes much paler, as 

 though bleached by the light, finally 

 resuming its lively green hue at night. 

 Of the selaginellas that are especial- 

 ly valuable for private collection-; or 

 for exhibition purposes a long list 

 might easily be made, and prominent 

 among them should be mentioned such 

 beautiful species as S. Wallichii. S. 



Vogelii, S. Lyallii, S. Wildenovii, that 

 very strong growing scandent species 

 with the strong metallic tints on its 

 foliage, a species that has been tossed 

 about on the waves of nomenclature, 

 being sometimes S. caesia arborea. 

 again S. laevigata, and finally S. Wil- 

 denovii. Also S. haematodes, S. atro- 

 virides, and S. rubricaulis, all of which 

 are worthy of more extended cultiva- 

 tion, though not all are quite so easy 

 to manage as the few we have special- 

 ly referred to for commercial purpo 

 W. H. TAPLIN. 



Window Decorations. 



This week most of the leading stores 

 are decorated with autumn foliage, 

 principally scarlet oak. Many of the 

 decorations are very, very pretty, par- 

 ticularly when lit up at night time. 

 Some have only the mirrors framed 

 with it, whilst others have it attached 

 to the interior of the window frame. 

 A good effect can be got by having the 

 window framed out with green, then 

 suspend in center a large, well-made 

 wreath of highly colored foliage, with 

 cluster of yellow mums at bottom. 



With such a wealth of fine, cheap 

 material at hand, shabby windows are 

 inexcusable. No florists in the world 

 have the chances given to the Ameri- 

 can florists. The glorious colors of our 

 landscapes give us opportunities to 

 create grand effects in our particular 

 branch of decorative art, and we 

 should take every advantage of them, 

 not only in our orders, but in beauti- 

 fying our stores. There is no form of 

 advertising can equal a neat and ar- 

 tistic window. People carry photos of 

 your fine work in their memories, and 

 you can never estimate the returns. 



Arrange some of your stock in the 

 window in a way that will show your 

 ability, it is not necessary to wire or 

 stem such; you can fix it and still sell 

 from it. A hotch-potch, mixed win- 

 dow seldom looks creditable; it looks 

 as if you had just that lot of flowers 

 to sell and didn't know how to arrange 

 them. We would rather have one lady 

 or gentleman pass our window and ad- 

 mire some finely arranged vase or bas- 

 ket of flowers than to have a dozen go 



by and merely see that we kept a flor- 

 ist store, because a thing of beauty is 

 not only a joy forever, but it's a mag- 

 net for trade. 



Very little made-up work is dis- 

 played in American windows of late 

 years, unless in the poorer stores, 

 where we still behold the dried flow- 

 ers and nietal samples of architec- 

 ture. You pay big rent, you have abil- 

 ity; then try to make your place look 

 different from the peddler's sidewalk 

 stand. 



Winter Window Boxes. 



Now about winter window boxes 

 and vases. Perhaps you have noticed 

 that exterior plant decorations, or the 

 use of evergreen shrubs -in the city 

 during winter is increasing every 

 year, and no matter what part of the 

 city you are in, you can push on the 

 good work. This is the time of the 

 year to do it, and mind you, there 

 should be the same care in "planting a 

 vase or box as you would use in put- 

 ting the shrub out in the garden to 

 live. It will be better for you to avoid 

 imported conifers. You will find stock 

 cheap enough in your nearby nur- 

 series, and instruct them to leave 

 plenty of soil on and keep the roots 

 moist. Use good soil, for if the work 

 is not done right the shrubs soon turn 

 brown and die. They should be sol- 

 idly planted and kept watered until 

 frost hardens the soil. 



Cupressus and one or two of the ret- 

 inosporas are not hardy in the north, 

 but almost all the other varieties of 

 evergreens will stand our severest 

 weather, and a proper use of them 



will give much pleasure in the cold 

 days of winter. For vases, Norway 

 spruce are perhaps used more than 

 anything else, though hemlock, ret- 

 inosporas and piceas look fine, too. 

 It is better to use only one variety, 

 one specimen, if possible, in each 

 vase, and all need not be alike. In 

 the case of window boxes, you can 

 show your talent in arranging colors, 

 for you know there are several col- 

 ored conifers admirably suited for this 

 purpose. 



Suppose we fix a box. First we 

 put in our pot-grown ivy or euony- 

 mus radicans (newly dug vines drop 

 their leaves), then we put in the end 

 pieces, which are Irish yews or juni- 

 pers about 2% feet high; next comes 

 the front row of small Retinospora ob- 

 tusa nana, then a row of R. plumosa 

 aurea or Biota elegantissima, and 

 round off the back with R. lycopod- 

 ioides or R. squarrosa. 



The plants in a window box, except 

 the end pieces, should never be higher 

 than twelve or eighteen inches, and 

 the back should be pretty as well as 

 the front. If all green is wanted, 

 small Thuya Hoveyii make up hand- 

 some. Retinospora ericoides is a love- 

 ly wine-colored shrub, but it rusts, and 

 snow knocks it out of shape. 



There will be a lot of small beds to 

 fix and formal arrangements look the 

 best; that is, solid grouping with dis- 

 tinct lines of color. Your center or 

 side can be a tall Thuya pyramidalis, 

 a juniper or golden arbor vitae. A 

 well-trained Retinospora filifera or R. 

 squarrosa look beautiful in a vase. 



The planting of evergreens for win- 

 ter decoration is a branch of our busi- 

 ness that is not properly pushed. 

 There is money in it, and you will 

 notice that the leading architects make 

 provisions for these exterior decora- 

 tions, many of which are neglected, 

 we think, because the florist ignores 

 them. We are too prone to devote all 

 our attention to cut flowers and green- 

 house stock. The nursery ought to 

 be attended to also. Many times we 

 see conservatories and corners which 

 are too cold for palms go empty and 

 dismal for the sake of some one fail- 

 ing to suggest a collection of ever- 

 greens. What with such things as 

 Sciadopitys verticillata, Laurus no- 

 bilis, cryptomerias, podocarpus. Ilex 

 crenata, euonymus, and the whole 

 army of Oriental shrubs, you can make 

 a cold hall or house look as bright 

 and as interesting as if filled with 

 tropical gems. 



Market Fluctuations. 



It's strange how crops shorten up in 

 some cities, and whew! how the prices 

 go sky high! You cannot convince a 

 grower or wholesaler that you dare 

 not raise the price the same as they 

 do sometimes, and have to tide over 

 the shortness with small profits. Last 

 week the Boston florists paid 4 cents 

 for very ordinary carnations, and the 

 week before that there was a small 

 famine of flowers in Chicago. New 

 York had more than was wanted of 



