JIAKCH Ifi, r.wi. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review. 



439 



Easter Plants. 



The "In time of peace pi'ei):ue for 

 war," which the florist knows hest. is 

 in the dull season prepare tor the busy 

 one. So it is that now. when our 

 wealthy customers have taken refuge 

 under flie protection of Lent, giving 

 us an opportunity to dust the shelves 

 and straighten things, we of course 

 give much thought to the question of 

 Easter. And make your mind easy. 

 it's going to he a very good Easter for 

 plants — yes, and flowers, too. We think 

 it will even he a record breaker. 



There is one great danger before us; 

 it is the matter of price. We have all 

 complained bitterly about the high 

 prices demanded for cut flowers at 

 Christmas; we may have much more 

 cause to complain of the high prices 

 of Easter plants. We seem to go to 

 extremes whenever a chance occurs; 

 that "grow rich quick" disease is very 

 prevalent and destructive among flor- 

 ists. To be sure, the season is short 

 and we are justified in making all we 

 can out of it, but care should be given 

 to two things — make your plants ap- 

 pear to be worth what you charge for 

 them, and above all satisfy and keep 

 your particular trade. 



You will need to be diplomatic and 

 over careful this year because the mar- 

 ket has spread and some grades of 

 stock are over plentiful. The lateness 

 of the season and the many chances of 

 it being warm weather will probably 

 cause many to make large sidewalk 

 displays. We even expect many to 

 open florist stores just for the sake of 

 getting all the plants they can from 

 growers, selling them for what they 

 promised to pay for them, defrauding 

 the grower and ruining your dearly 

 paid for established business. Isn't it 

 funny how easily some poor growers 

 can be buncoed? No matter how bad a 

 man's reputation may be, all it seems 

 necessary for him to do Is to hire a 

 store or basement next door to you, 

 put up a glaring "Easter Plant" sign. 

 go out to your own grower and get all 

 the stock he wants for nothing. That 

 tas been done many, many times and 

 we have seen nothing to indicate that 

 matters will be different this year. How 

 "very quick we are to note and de- 



nounce the frauds in other i)rofessions; 

 how dull and blind to those practiced 

 in our own. 



The grower should be careful to pro- 

 tect his good customer the same as you 

 have to do yours, and the man who 

 fails to do so should be made to feel 

 the error of his way. Business requires 

 many great exertions; it is the main 

 long battle of life, and whenever trick- 

 ery or deceptive methods are used one 

 is justified in using drastic strategy. 

 Though the present age may be pol- 

 ished in all its mannerisms and deal- 

 ings, yet it is behind the times to 

 bother selecting words when denounc- 

 ing frauds. 



The flower business is a most pecu- 

 liar and tender one — yes, erratic in 

 most of its whims. Often will you see 

 that they who know the least about it 

 succeed best; this would appear as 

 putting a premium on ignorance, but 

 it is not. Flowers appeal to everyone, 

 no matter where they are, and if a per- 

 son takes a fancy to buy any particu- 

 lar flower or plant, they care not 

 whether the salesman is a college pro- 

 fessor or a common laborer. There is 

 the great danger — the drawback to our 

 trade. Easter plants attract the pub- 

 lic, and it doesn't sometimes matter 

 if the "mushroom florist's" stock is not 

 quite so good as yours, your best cus- 

 tomer is liable to compare prices. 

 Easter is a great time for shopping. 

 People go 'round to see what is most 

 beautiful or novel, or they are inter- 

 ested in prices. Therefore prepare for 

 every emergency, give all the space 

 you can for display, and arrange your 

 plants to show to best advantage; but 

 we will talk of this point later. 



What is most important for you now 

 is to know what there is good for 

 Easter. Bermuda lilies have been a 

 bad failure this year. Growers in the 

 vicinity of New York have lost fifty 

 pe'r cent of the bulbs they got from 

 Bermuda. Lilium Harrisli in particu- 

 lar suffered, and now it is not a ques- 

 tion of lilies being scarce (because a 

 great many more were being grown 

 than usual), so much as it is that of 

 quality. Most of the lilies to be of- 

 fered are Japanese longiflorum; they 

 will not average many flowers and are 

 short in stem; so much is this so that 



lilies are bringing a higlur pri( c. The 

 growers are asking from 12 to 15 cents 

 for (lowers and you will be fortunate 

 it yon get good clean stock for less. 

 You can sell them as cheap as you 

 want to but the prevailing retiiil prices 

 will be as usual — 20 to 25 cents — and 

 you'll not be able to get any more un- 

 less for made-up work. 



It appears to us that it will not only 

 be desirable but necessary to "make 

 up" more lilies than usual this year, 

 because you will not bo able to sell 

 them or give satisfaction with them 

 otherwise. It is not wise to ofl'er a 

 customer a lily with four or five flow- 

 ers on it when that same person 

 wants or will take one with twelve or 

 eighteen. It is very important to have 

 your salespeople know this. Have 

 (piite a few of your lilies made up 

 out at the grower's place, and be 

 willing to either send your man out 

 there to do it, or pay for having it 

 done; it will be cheaper for you to do 

 so. Put three plants in a pot, a tall 

 one and two small ones, some all 

 small, others all tall— have a variety. 

 Then try some with six or even more 

 in a pot or cheap tub painted white, 

 green, or blue. Of course it all de- 

 pends on your class of trade, but most 

 folks are willing to pay $2. .50 for a nice 

 pot or tub of lilies— many of them 

 want them at from $5 to $20. 



Roses in pots and boxes are going 

 to sell well this time providing they 

 are good and reasonable. There are 

 some good moss roses and hybrid per- 

 petuals in nice sized boxes, five to six 

 plants in a box; they cost you from 

 $2 to $2.50, and when they are trimmed 

 up you ought to get from $5 to $10 for 

 them. Crimson Ramblers are to be 

 had in any shape, some trained in 

 crosses six feet high; these cost you 

 $10, and if you put a broad sash of 

 white ribbon with crimson lettered 

 Easter greeting on it around the arms. 

 you ought to get $20 to $25 for them. 

 They are specially suited for churches. 

 These roses are procurable in basket, 

 fan. pillar, crowns and other designs, 

 and they vary in prices. The trouble 

 with Ramblers is that when grown 

 close together the growth and bloom 

 are all at the top; thus many of these 

 set designs are deficient in quantity of 

 bloom; in any case they appeal to 

 most people from a novelty rather 

 than a beauty standpoint. Good Ram- 

 blers in natural shapes can be bought 

 for from $2 to $6. and if you care to 

 make up some large tubs of them, take 

 care to have them furnished well down 

 to the tub. 



Hydrangeas are coming back in fa- 

 vor again, but we think only in the 

 larger sizes. Some fine plants are be- 

 ing grown; the growers are asking too 

 much for them in comparison to other 

 stock. The country will be swamped 

 with small sized Azalea indica, and 

 most of you will get stuck on them if 

 you don't use lots of them in basket 

 work. You will be able to buy them 

 at your own sweet price if you hold 

 off for a while; this you can do be- 

 cause they are not a scarce article. 



