July 17, 1902. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review^ 



2i9 



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THE RETAIL 



FLORIST 



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Summer Suggestions. 



What eoiulitioii mduI.I our summer 

 markets and jirofits be in wei-e it not for 

 the humble sweet pea? The retail florists 

 have every cause to be grateful to this 

 flower, and generous, too, to the extent 

 that none should be allowed to go to 

 waste without first having a chance to 

 beautify. Many prominent iiorists have 

 made more money out of sweet peas than 

 any other flower this summer. The pos- 

 sibilities with them are unlimited. Last 

 week we were among flowers in the gar- 

 den, and we hope no serious consequences 

 resulted in reading the names of the 

 many flowers mentioned. This week we 

 will discuss matters from the retail <'oun- 

 ter and will first run over a few" sugges- 

 tions in wreaths, which can be made up 

 this mouth and next, and what may be 

 cliarged for them . Kindlj' remember 

 these are only hints; you, yourself, may 

 fill out or extend. 



A florist need never say he cannot make 

 ■A wreath simply because he has not or 

 cannot get a wire frame or even moss. 

 Barrel hoops, willow, bamboo or hazel 

 sticks have been and can be made into 

 good frames, and plenty of green is a 

 good substitute for moss; this, of course, 

 under extreme cases, and they sometimes 

 come. If you use tinfoil be sure to cover 

 it with green; a bad back is bad for any- 

 thing. When flowers are scarce a crescent 

 wreath is much preferable to the common 

 even round one, because it requires less 

 flowers, though it is more difficult to 

 make, for more c-are must lie useil in con 

 tunning to outlines. 



When greening a wreath (and that is 

 a most important item and should always 

 lie well done) be sure to have the foliage 

 face from both sides to the center of the 

 narrow- part. The same principle ai)plies 

 to regular round wreaths. You must re- 

 nieniier that there is a vast amount of 

 meaning attached to the design, and even 

 the green groundwork should be arranged 

 iu a manner to assist in bringing out 

 the fu!l intent and beauty. There is a 

 ditferencc between a pinwheel and a 

 wreath ; make it cuite apparent in your 

 work, no matter what materials you use. 

 It is wise to use a good Ijig bow of ribbon 

 on summer wreaths; it need not be the 

 expensive kind, but the color must be 

 good to harmonize with or match the 

 flowers. You see, flowers quickly fade in 

 hot weather and look bad if shipped long 

 (UstaiK-es or are kept over night in a 

 hot room. A bit of broad ribbon will 

 do much to cover up defects and make a 

 design more attractive when most it is 

 wanted to be so. 



' There is an abundance of small ferns 

 throughout the country that could be 

 used more profitably than they are at 

 present if they were made more general 

 use of in funeral wreaths. We speak 

 of small plants in pots, from 2 to 4-inch 

 sizes. There is nothing more beautiful 

 than a wreath of Adiantum Farleyense. 

 Of course it is quite expensive to use up 

 small plants of that great fern, but often 



we are called upon to produce beauty re- 

 gardless of price. Adiantum cuneatum 

 or any adiantum of that type makes up 

 finely, and for that matter a nuxture of 

 the ordinary sorts used for filling fern 

 dishes will suit. Our method is this: Get 

 a good wire frame, put dark green Porto 

 Rican matting inside as a lining, or any 

 stiff paper, with cut hardy ferns beneath 

 to hide the color. Take ferns out of pots, 

 after they have been well soaked in water 

 cut half the soil off, arrange them solidly 

 in the wreath frame, putting a little wet 

 moss in to keep them tight, have fronds 

 hang well over to hide frame. You can 

 tie the plants in with green silkaline or 

 thin wire as you go. Wreaths of adiant- 

 um so arranged keep longer than others 

 and need but a cluster of flowers and bow 

 of ribbon to make than look very rich. 

 They can be sold at from i};.) to $20. 



Get a well high-mossed wreath (by the 

 way, always have your wreaths mossed 

 fairly high and round ; you can make 

 better work having them so), cover with 

 layer of hardy ferns, then cover with 

 green leucothoe sprays, stick end of spray 

 in moss an<l pin down with wire hooks. 



ficient. Accidents will happen in transit, 

 and furthermore the leaves are cheap, 

 and above all green or bronze foliage 

 wreaths of any kind look better solid. 

 You can best beautify with spray trim- 

 mings, but use plenty of foliage. There 

 is hardly anything that looks cheaper 

 than a scrimpy made wreath. 



Y'ou can at present offer as many as 

 fifty different kinds of wreaths, keeping 

 in mind what we have said about first 

 greening up well, and that we cannot too 

 strongly emphasize that a wreath, no 

 matter what you intend to put on it, 

 should be first made pretty with greens. 



Now for clusters and crescents. On 

 these green wreaths, lavender and white 

 peas, l)Ow of lavender or white ribbon ; 

 light pink and white peas, white ribbon ; 

 purple or maroon peas, purple or white 

 ribbon; Kaisei'in or Bride roses, white 

 ribbon; Liberty or Meteor roses, white 

 ribbon, or half white and red, tying white 

 ribbon between the white and red. White 

 ribbon with pink roses of any kind or 

 half white and pink roses. Golden Gates 

 are prettiest by themselves and a white 

 or pale lavender ribbon goes well. Carnots 

 may go with white but we prefer that 

 shade of color by itself. Lilium longi- 

 floruni and sprays of tamarix flowers, 

 white or purple ribbon. Lily oi; the val- 

 ley with white, mauve or lavender rib- 

 bon, alone or in part cluster with any 

 flower. White carnations, white or lav- 

 ender. Centaureas, Shasta or other wdiite 

 daisies for children or jierson named 

 Daisy or Marguerite'-' they can be used 

 separate or in conjunction with such flow- 

 ers as water lilies, etc. They should never 



Countess of Radnor Sweet Peas in a Yellow Bowl. 



Don 't spare the leucothoe, ."id or even 

 100 sprays to a wreath. Make solid like 

 a laurel wreath, then put in a solid half 

 crescent of white sweet peas, tie bow of 

 broad ribbon in centei' of peas or cluster, 

 bows of narrow ribbon at each end of 

 flower crescent, sell for $5 to $15, accord- 

 ing to size of wreath and generosity of 

 customer. This same design can be made 

 of any shade of sweet peas, or roses, or 

 any other flower. Sometimes we make 

 only a good big cluster, then again a 

 tapering crescent form, and often we al- 

 most cover the wreath, leaving only the 

 very narrow part green. 



(ialax leaf wreaths should be made 

 soli<l ; don't imagine because .vou succeed 

 in covering the moss that that is atl suf 



be put with rare greenhouse flowers. Nar- 

 row white ribbons in big clusters are best 

 with such flowers. Purple, lavender or 

 white asters or cluster of any two, white 

 or purple ribbon. White gladiolus, an- 

 tirrhinum and gypsophila, broad ribbon. 

 SAvainsona and any large white flower, 

 American Beauties alone or with large 

 open white roses or lilies, broad white 

 ribbon. 



Any of the above can be made up good 

 for the prices we have mentioned. They 

 can be made larger and more elaborate 

 for higher prices. When it comes to a de- 

 mand for all flowers, you can make up 

 for any price above. Where you are 

 doubtful of your customer it is best to 

 try them on prices with a cluster wreath 



