The Weekly Florists' Review* 



95 





THE RETAIL 



FLORIST 



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School Closings. 



School graduating or commencement 

 time, which occurs the latter part of 

 June, deserves very serious considera- 

 tion by every florist in the country. 

 Times ago it was made more of a floral 

 feast than it is today. To our mind, 

 Bchool graduating time could and should 

 be made the occasion of a great floral 

 display, and it needs but a little energy 

 and some show of encouragement to ac- 

 complish wonders in that direction. 

 There is scarcely a village, town or city 

 where the school could not be made the 

 scene of some kind of a flower show on 

 the last day at school. This would do 

 more good than oft'ering free flower 

 shows and scientific papers to a few 

 staid old people or enthusiasts, such as 

 is the average attendance at the month- 

 ly gatherings of many horticultural so- 

 cieties of today. It seems to us that 

 the public school yard affords a greater 

 field for doing good than the college 



campus; 



at least it deserves more 



deration, for it is the greatest factor 

 in the development of the country and 

 its resources. 



Our mind's eye is looking back to a 

 recent show held at the New York Bo- 

 tanical gardens. There four small chil- 

 dren exhibited a collection of wild flow- 

 ers that exceeded in beauty all the other 

 exhibits V it w^as an object lesson to the 

 oldest jgardener attending. How- much - 

 of sucll valuable work could be done al- 

 most everywhere with simple lessons in 

 botany! that would attract closer and 

 indestructible friendships originating 

 with cjiild life and wayside flowers? It 

 is ridiculous for any florist to try and 

 convince himself that his business can 

 ever bp separated from sentiment, be- 

 cause his business depends on that often 

 fickle ingredient of human makeup. A 

 flower .given to a child can never pro- 

 duce ain unpleasant impression in the 

 mind ^f that child's parents, and our 

 dealings with the schools can but pro- 

 duce a| similar mark on the public. 



We advocate giving special induce- 

 ments ;for school trade which comes at 

 a time when all kinds of flowers are so 

 abunilant tliat many of them find their 

 way t.i llic w linlr,,ilfi ■-. rubbish box, or 

 at bc-t >ranrly jiay I'm- llicir expressage. 

 Now is tlic time u'licii c\en the cheapest 

 kind of work can be made up at a profit. 

 Many who come to your store asking 

 for "the most expensive flowers would 

 be far, more satisfied could they be as- 

 sured that a larger display of cheaper 

 flowers would not only be more to the 

 purpose but more satisfactory, and, 

 more important still, to their pocket. 



A well-arranged basket or bunch will 

 do more than all verbal arguments, and 

 in almost every place it would be advis- 

 able to make up a few special school 

 baskets. No need for expensive baskets, 

 that is where mistakes are made. The 

 cheapest you can get in plain colors, 

 with high and low handles, these should 



be twisted with ribbon and on the bow 

 streamers at one side you can paint 

 the name of the intended recipient with 

 date, etc. Blue and pink ribbons are 

 the favorites with the majority of chil- 

 dren. Red, white and blue flowers can 

 be put in a basket trimmed vnth blue 

 ribbons, but the same cannot be done 

 where pink is used. An unlimited num- 

 ber of styles and combinations can be 

 made without transgressing the laws of 

 good taste; almost any kind or color of 

 flowers can be used providing they are 

 arranged in clusters and with a proper 

 regard to color harmony. Simple flowers 

 and simple arrangements are most con- 

 sistent with school life, but ribbons, and 

 an abundance of them, can be used in 

 this class of work, for girls especially 

 are mostly passionately fond of ribbons 

 and there" is an added attraction about 

 them when they are commemorative of 

 their graduating days. 



The greatest care should be taken in 

 making your show piece or sample bas- 

 ket of one color, and better still, one 

 kind of flower, and it will catch the pub- 

 lic eye quicker if the basket be entirely 

 covered with silk; surah silk and taf- 

 feta ribbons always match well. Satin 

 ribbon is not appropriate unless it be 

 of the very narrow sizes. Wreaths of 

 roses will also form a beautiful feature 

 of this year's exercises; they must be 

 made very light to wear on the head, 

 and be tied in tlie back with a rOsette 

 or bow of very narrow ribbon. Large, 

 loose bunches of roses, carnations and 

 mixed flowers can be made up very at- 

 tractively, but roses will always lead 

 in popularity, and with the great crop 

 of outdoor flowers this year there is no 

 reason that with the lateness of the sea- 

 son the greatest satisfaction cannot be 

 given on even the smallest order. 



We feel it is unneeessary to enumerate 

 the hundred and one different things 

 that can be done. There is no need to 

 hunt up the rarest flowers in the orchid 

 house for school purposes, for they can- 

 not be expected to be appreciated at any- 

 thing like their value, and they are, if 

 anything, more out of place there, even 

 where there is an inclination to exact 

 the highest price from a customer — • 

 'twere better to suggest quality in roses. 

 There is no sense in recommending ex- 

 traordinary size in anything sent as a 

 compliment to a graduate, for in very 

 few cases is it possible to employ car- 

 riages, and in many more respects heavy, 

 clumsy baskets are more of a nuisance 

 than a pleasure. The small low handle 

 basket or the bunch are most appro- 

 priate. 



In many colleges and classes they have 

 specially recognized colors, and it is 

 the duty of every florist to not only be 

 acquainted with these colors but to give 

 them prominence whenever possible; by 

 doing so you show a compliment which 

 rarely fails to give satisfaction. There 

 can be no half-way colors or compro- 

 mises in your dealings with organized 



bodies; you must make your selections 

 in daylight and with the most critical 

 regard to what is right. There can be 

 mi place for horseshoes or any kind of 

 set designs in school floral work, and no 

 matter how great the pressure, try to 

 isiape being guilty of instilling into the 

 youthful mind unpleasant or supersti- 

 tious impressions. In tlie play called 

 "Capt. Jinks" the author has intention- 

 ally given the florist's trade one of the 

 greatest satirical blows we know of. The 

 silliness and inappropriateness of floral 

 designs are shown in the most humiliat- 

 ing style; possibly they may be improved 

 on when reviewed, but as we saw them 

 they were awful. 



We once attended the opening of the 

 United States Senate, and we must say 

 we have often seen better taste displayed 

 in the designs sent to the opening of 

 some politician's rum shop. Horseshoes 

 may be very suitable when used in con- 

 nection with the race track, but they 

 scarcely look in the right place on the 

 desks of the Senate at Washington. The 

 same may be said of harps, lyres, stars 

 and the many funny things seen there. 

 No doubt ignorant politicians are respon- 

 sible in a way, yet they are not alto- 

 gether to blame. Some florists we know 

 iiave a craze for set designs, they delight 

 in the manufacture of incongruous 

 things and would consider it entirely 

 wrong to talk a customer out of order- 

 ing such; so it is with the galax-leaf 

 flend who is so acutely afflicted that he 

 can see nothing else and recommends 

 them for all occasions. They are both 

 enemies to the advancement of flori- 

 culture. 



Your arrangement of flowers intended 

 for school purposes should be specially 

 educational. You need not be an author- 

 ity on harmony of color to do what is 

 ri'ght. Your safest plan is to avoid 

 artificiality as much as possible. Flow- 

 ers are beautiful in themselves; it is only 

 our duty to do our best to arrange them 

 so they can display all their charms, 

 but a more important matter than their 

 artistic arrangement is their profuse 

 dissemination. Every class room in 

 every school should have its vase of 

 flowers, especially on the closing day. 

 Children have retentive memories, and 

 tlie future of the florists' trade depends 

 on their continuing to love flowers. Some 

 eftort should be made every June to have 

 some of the millions of wasted flowers 

 cast some pleasure and much educational 

 influence on at least the poor children 

 of every city's slums. No possible esti- 

 mate can be placed on the great good 

 they would do. Try it, as we have done, 

 and the memory will remain while you 



live. IVERA. 



DISEASED GERANIUMS. 



Last year about 25 per cent of my 

 single Grant geraniums became diseased 

 — that is, the leaves were deformed and 

 they did not throw any flower spike, 

 and this year 75 per cent are affected 

 the same way, while about 20 per cent 

 of my double Grants came blind. Last 

 year we put in a new stock of Grant, but 

 they have proved worse instead of better, 

 while the other varieties are all right. 

 The soil is all the same and the Grants 

 are fine bushy plants of good color, but 

 they will not bloom. Can some cue tell 

 we what the trouble is? 



D. H. C. 



I don't think there is anything the 



