June 26, 1902. 



TheWeekly Florists' Review* 



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THE RETAIL 



FLORIST 



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^[Funeral Designs. 



Just a few remarks on what flowers are 

 obtainable in the market and how they 

 may be arranged. Funeral designs con- 

 stitute no small portion of our trade at 

 this time of the year, and although in a 

 great many cases you are at liberty to 

 use whatever you happen to have in stock, 

 or can procure to greatest advantage, still 

 there are numerous occasions where spec- 

 ified materials must be used. Yet if a 

 florist's reputation is such as to com- 

 mand the respect and confidence of cus- 

 tomers his recommendations will be 

 adopted. The latter is a most desirable 

 condition of a florist's business affairs 

 and can only be obtained by giving sat- 

 isfaction. Mail or telephoned orders are 

 very often troublesome. Where an order 

 is taken verbally you have a better 

 chance to recommend a substitute if the 

 flowers desired are hard to get or in your 

 mind are unsuitable. Care should be 

 taken, however, not to give the impression 

 to any customer that the flowers they 

 seek are not obtainable unless you are 

 sure your rival in trade cannot procure 

 them, because when an old customer or 

 prospective one is told in your store that 

 you have not and cannot get what they 

 seek, and they go somewhere else (as they 

 very often do), or see it in the window 

 or stand down the street, you are liable 

 to lose their confidence and trade. 



We wish to remind our readers that 

 we are one thousand miles away from 

 the ofSce of the Eeview, and that in or- 

 der to be up to and ahead of the day 

 many of our remarks (which are always 

 put down in haste) will be mere bald 

 hints. 



We are in a time of the year when color 

 reigns supreme everywhere and fashion 

 or fad supersedes custom. We have very 

 often referred to the inappropriateness 

 of colored flowers at funerals. If they 

 be excusable at one time of the year more 

 than another that time is now, and colors 

 used on these saa occasions are only ob- 

 jectionable when arranged in a' hotch- 

 potch, mixed manner. A cluster or mass 

 of crimson or pink, purple or lavender 

 may enhance the beauty of any design, 

 but while blue, yellow, orange and sear- 

 let may be used with impunity at anni- 

 versaries, they should never be used un- 

 less in extreme cases at funerals. 



You may be asked for or might suggest 

 a floral casket cover. This is one of the 

 most beautiful designs you can make and 

 it is quite easy of construction. No need 

 to hire a mechanic to construct the 

 frame, which can be made from fine, flex- 

 ible wire netting, covered on the under 

 side with white or purple cheese cloth 

 or PortO' Eican matting, or it can be 

 made entirely of double purple matting. 

 The flowers can consist of all white pan- 

 sies, with a cross of purple pansies in the 

 center, or vice versa. The pansies must 

 be wired separately to face up and last 

 longer. You can put a distinct color 

 fringe about 6 to 12 inches wide of the 



same flower around the outer edge and a 

 narrower similar border around the face 

 plate. You can use 2,500 to 7,500 pansies 

 on a casket cover. They must be solid, 

 with very little green showing; that can 

 be almost anything — Asparagus Spren- 

 geri is good. 



Purple pansies make an excellent 

 wreath when plenty of them are used. 

 Tie with broad taffeta purple or white 

 ribbon and fringe inside and out with 

 border of adiantum. 



The richest and most expensive casket 

 cover you can make is of cattleyas. C. 

 Gigas are magnificent now and you will 

 be able to get some kind for some time 

 to come. Farleyense fern is the most 

 suitable green to use with these flowers 

 and lily of the valley can be used in va- 

 rious ways to bring out the full beauty 

 of the orchids. A cross and fringe of 

 valley goes fine with cattleyas, or vice 

 versa. White roses make grand material 

 for covers, particularly the outdoor climb- 

 ers. Where white roses compose the main 

 part, a wreath or cross of crimson or pink 

 can be used in the center. 



A very pretty and acceptable idea in 

 floral casket covers is to have the pall 

 one solid color and have small rounded 

 wreaths of other colors or distinct flowers 

 suspended half way down the sides with 

 white or purple ribbons. This is done 

 where small children or relatives desire 

 to have their offerings near or on the 

 casket. Of course there are very many 

 other flowers that can be used, particu- 

 larly in a cheap sense, but it must be 

 distinctly remembered that above all de- 

 signs a pall or cover must not be clum- 

 sily or carelessly made. Neatness and 

 expression are required in this class of 

 work, and while a bow of good white, pur- 

 ple or lavender ribbon may be used to 

 advantage on each corner, flowers, and 

 flowers only, should constitute the princi- 

 pal feature. 



Sweet peas are a godsend to the Amer- 

 ican retail florist, for with a nice assort- 

 ment of them in your store (and they are 

 always obtainable cheaply now) you need 

 never be afraid of being unable to fill 

 any "hurry-up" or after-hours order. 

 These beautiful flowers can be used for 

 any occasion in a push. A greater va- 

 riety in color would be desirable, but the 

 half-dozeu varieties in as many shades 

 of colors we have gets us out of many a 

 difficulty. The lavender one. Countess 

 of Eadnor, makes a superb wreath. Make 

 up round and solidly, tie with white rib- 

 bon, which should be very broad, and 

 fringe round with adiantum. White, or 

 in the case of children, a very light pink 

 can be used. You can use one color as a 

 circling frame to the other or have it as 

 a cluster or make one side of each color. 

 Where clusters or sides of colors are used 

 it is best to use ribbon and tie as a con- 

 necting or harmonizing link between 

 them. 



Other Arrangements. 



You can fix up a dining table for any 



occasion very prettily with pink sweet 

 peas, and just now it is wise to suggest 

 that they be tied in neat corsage bou- 

 quets with bow of gauze ribbon to match, 

 rhey can be arranged as a centerpiece 

 till after dinner. The gentlemen's coat 

 flowers can be of the same material It 

 IS a growing custom not to wear flowers 

 during dinner; they are taken and worn 

 with much more pleasure as souvenirs 

 alter dinner, and it should be known that 

 Where the company is composed of both 

 sexes both or none should wear flowers 



Sweet peas make excellent material for 

 bouquets of all kinds, for baskets or small 

 vases, and where they are used in vases 

 tor table decoration they should have a 

 little of their own foliage and be ar- 

 ranged in a light, graceful manner. 



It very often occurs that you will be 

 asked t^ get up a design in a few min- 

 utes. This IS where many a good order 

 is ost unless extreme quickness in eyes 

 and fingers are used. It requires only a 

 tew minutes to tie up a pretty, loose 

 bunch; that is the quickest thing you can 

 make. There is an abundance of lilies on 

 the market. The size of the bunch, of 

 course, depends on the wants or pockets 

 of your customer, but don't hesitate to 

 chop off a pot of ivy or a leaf of Cycas 

 revoluta or Areca luteeens, or any long- 

 tronded fern to embellish your work if 

 the price will permit or the act wiU 

 please a good customer. In case of a 

 wreath, which is the next quickest, the 

 massing constitutes a very important 

 part. Never mind paper or tinfoil. Put 

 ferns or other greens in the bottom and 

 sides of the frame, break and dampen 

 the moss and tie it moderately loose. 

 Asparagus Sprengeri is excellent for 

 greening because it requires no stemming. 

 In many cases you have no time to think 

 of bothering with small flowers, and this 

 is where such flowers as stocks, lilies, cam- 

 panulas and stiff-stemmed roses are worth 

 double their ordinary value. An occa- 

 sional wire hook will help to secure the 

 flowers, and in all cases of hastily made 

 up work it is wise to have ribbon occupy 

 a prominent part; it goes far to cover 

 up the defects incidental to hasty con- 

 struction and constitutes to a large de- 

 gree the general effect. 



In the matter of quick basket-work, 

 plants of almost any kind will help you 

 and then come your big, showy flowers. 

 It is never wise to on any occasion start 

 stemming or bothering in any way with 

 old or puny flowers while your customer 

 is near. Always commence with the best 

 you intend to use, while they are there 

 at least ; such is not dishonest, it is mere- 

 ly good business methods to create a 

 good impression. Very few outside the 

 business know or care anything about 

 the construction of a design; a favora- 

 ble impression is what you must be care- 

 ful to give on all occasions. 



Indoor roses are very poor at present 

 and it requires a greater quantity and a 

 more extensive arranging of them to pro- 

 duce good effects. The American people 

 can never properly be made to understand 

 why they cannot get extra choice roses 

 all the year round, and therefore it is 

 diflacult now to fill orders in an entirely 

 satisfactory manner. Brides and Brides- 

 maids are ptjor and greatly mildewed, 

 but roses of any kind or degree are more 

 acceptable to some people than the best 

 of other flowers. The time will come 

 when more outdoor or special houses of 

 roses will be grown to supply the mid- 



