586 



The Weekly Florists' Review* 



NOVEMBER 9, 1899. 



A GOOD CRIMSON. 



Mr. James Niven, Oakland, Cal., 

 sends us two blooms of his new crim- 

 son chrysanthemum Malcom Lamond, 

 a cross between G. W. Ctiilds and an 

 unnamed seedling. The blooms arrived 

 in excellent condition in spite of the 

 long ride from the Pacific coast. They 

 were shown to Mr. John Thorpe, who 

 was much interested in them and who 

 pronounced the variety the best crim- 

 son since G. W. Childs. The crimson 

 is very near the same shade as Childs. 

 but there is no yellow reverse and the 

 flower is of better form. It more close- 

 ly resembles Black Hawk, but is not 

 so dark a crimson and possesses points 

 of superiority in form. 



Mr. Nivens writes that the variety 

 is now in its second year and that 

 habit and stem have proved excellent. 

 He has a bench of plants that stand 

 four feet high without support of any 

 kind. 



Mr. Niven certainly has a very prom- 

 ising crimson chrysanthemum. 



ST. LOUIS KNOWS HOW. 



"We have received a copy of the pre- 

 mium list and program for the ninth 

 annual chrysanthemum show of the 

 St. Louis Florists' Club, to be neld 

 next week. 



In addition to the list of premiums 

 to be awarded the program of music 

 for each day is given and both of I 

 items are surrounded by a sea of !oc l1 

 advertising that must make the pro- 

 gram a very profitable feature. \i:d 

 the premiums are very largely "spe- 

 cials" offered by various business 

 houses and public spirited citizens. 



There are several ways of making 

 the public pay its proper share of the 

 expense of holding these exhibitions 

 and the St. Louis way seems a good 

 one. 



Fads. 



The craze for Japanese trained 

 dwarf trees and toy tea gardens is 

 still rampant in New York. During 

 the past week several large auction 

 sales of these goods were held and 

 enormous prices were given for this 

 foreign rubbish and humbug. As we 

 have often stated before we do not 

 wish to deny that there is "Lots of 

 art" in many of these Japanese pro- 

 ductions; they illustrate vast quanti- 

 ties of patience with and love for 

 plant life, but the fabrications are 

 stupendous. 



It has been and is our humble desire 

 to see art appreciated and elevated, 

 and whilst we must be tolerant with 

 representations from all parts and 

 peoples, still we see such a vast 

 amount of lovely American claimants 

 ignored in favor of these artificial 

 fads that we feel justified in protest- 

 ing on the grounds that the craze is a 

 detriment to the American plant trade. 

 How so? Well, if you are a student 

 of human nature you will know that if 

 a customer pays you a big price for a 

 plant and it dies or soon looks poor 

 you must either replace it. or if he 

 buys again his purchase is of little ac- 

 count to you. 



We believe in good, big prices, but 



we believe in fair values, because your 

 own conscience will tell you that is the 

 best road to travel. And if you pui 

 chase good home grown plants from 

 your grower you can sell them at 

 good prices without the romances 

 which will only add to your weight 

 when swimming across the "great un- 

 known." 



Chrysanthemums. 



"We are right in the midst of the 

 chrysanthemum season. Every window 

 and stand is loaded with them and 

 much as some may despise them yet 

 those who have grown them well are 

 reaping fair rewards. We notice many 

 more poorer flowers this season, and a 

 great increase in white ones. Thorley 

 shows a few extra fine blooms in uis 

 window: each flower is encased in a 

 white laced, fringed paper — just a 

 miniature of the old Dutch bouquet 

 holder— they look very grotesque in 

 these collars, but not beautiful. 



Large chrysanthemums are difficult 

 flowers to arrange artistically if you 

 coddle them tight or mix them with 

 other flowers unless large roses. You 

 cannot make a finer flat funeral bunch 

 than of white mums and light tips of 

 asparagus. It is desirable that some 

 of the flowers should face up, and in 

 order to make them do so use a No. 



19 wire. The bunch should have no 

 stems showing, be oval in shape, and 

 he tied in the center with a high bow 

 of white silk ribbon. 



Chrysanthemums are being used for 

 Bridesmaids' bouquets. Decided yel- 

 lows and pinks are the favorite colors, 

 but they are never mixed. The stems 

 should never be longer than twelve 

 inches, the flowers loosely arranged. 

 No extra green is necessary, but the 

 handle of the bunch must be thin and 

 twisted with the same ribbon as the 

 short bow is made of. From twelve to 

 eighteen large flowers and two yards 

 of ribbon is enough for these bunches; 

 the bows can be at the bottom of the 

 handle instead of the top as is usual. 



Mixed colors in mums are permissi- 

 ble when the flowers are put in vases 

 for ordinary decorations, but the finest 

 effect can always be obtained from sep- 

 arate colors. Some combinations look 

 well, for instance yellow and white, 

 or yellow and bronze with autumn fo- 

 liage or crotons. "Where pink and 

 white or pink and yellow or red are 

 used it is better to use green instead 

 of colored foliage. 



Table Decorations. 

 Take special care of harmony in 

 color when arranging anything for the 

 show. If it is for table decorations 

 insist on round tables, and try to get 

 service to match your flowers; if you 

 cannot, then get a green and white 

 tone. White flowers for table decora- 

 tion is bad taste unless it is for a wel- 

 ding feast, yet it is hard to run up 

 against judges who know so little 

 about what is proper. Some day we 

 will get out our own points for judg- 

 ing, the same as growers have now 

 for several flowers. 



Two great faults are mostly always 

 observable in tabie decorations, those 

 are clumsiness and bad finish. There 

 should be at least eighteen inches of 

 clear space for service. Of course a 

 few delicate stray flowers or vines are 

 permissible, but the recognized law is 

 eighteen inches of space for the butler 

 and his dishes: it is oftener twenty or 

 twenty-two inches. Now regarding a 

 view across the table: Flowers and 

 plants are a source of annoyance when 

 they prevent the diners from seeing 

 each other, so be careful on this point. 

 If your flowers are arranged in a flat 

 basket they need not be cut ignomin- 

 iously short, rather have your basket 

 small and mossed solid and low; this 

 will permit you to arrange with fairly 

 long stems, only the center ones must 

 be short. The whole affair should not 

 be higher than from ten to thirteen 

 inches, each flower to show itself 

 clear, the poorer ones shorter than the 

 fine ones. Avoid studied, formal or 

 regular heights and distances, and 

 cover the basket well. 



It is always the finish that counts; 

 every leaf should face up, and remem- 

 ber there is more pleasure in looking 

 into a flower than looking under it. 

 The crooked vine or flower is oftener 

 more artistic than the straight one. If 

 you lose it is not always the fault of 

 the material, rather the way you have 

 used it. "When preparing a centei- 



