July 24, 1902. 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



247 



Lavender and White. 



The Aster is one of the most impor- 

 tant summer tloners, and the blooms are 

 now beginning to reach the market in 

 quantity. It may therefore be interest- 

 ing at this time to study the ways of us- 

 ing these flowers. Witli many its princi- 

 pal value lies in the fact that it can be 

 made to take the place of carnations in 

 design work. That it has greater possi- 

 bilities is, w-e think, demonstrated by the 

 accompanying illustrations. The photo- 

 graphs from which the engravings were 

 made were taken to show the most desir- 

 able types of receptacles to use in arrang- 

 ing these flowers, but they also show how 

 the flowers may be placed to be most ef- 

 fective. We believe these examples can 

 be very protitably studied by all. Writing 

 of asters in the House Beautiful, Mr. 

 Clarence Moores Weed says: 



' ' The usefulness of the Comet asters 

 for decorative purposes has been greatly 

 increased since the introduction of the 

 giant Comets with their long stems and 

 large blossoms. If your garden supplies 

 these in a variety of colors you need not 

 envy the owners of conservatories their 

 chrys-anthemums. For these Comets are 

 every bit as lovely and may be used to 

 excellent advantage in the home. If you 

 have a few simple flower jars ol good 

 form and without the objectionable deco- 

 rations that are too often supposed to 

 add to their attractiveness, you can find 

 great pleasure in arranging the blossoms 

 in them. The use of white and one other 

 color always gives a pleasing effect, al- 

 though you can hardly fail to get good 

 results in any combination of the differ- 

 ent sorts. But it is unfortunate to mix 

 these Comet asters with other kinds of 

 asters or other flowere. Their beauty is 

 so distinctive that it shows to best ad- 

 vantage all alone. 



' ' Even if you have not the giant vari- 

 eties, the smaller sorts may be used in 

 less pretentious but equally beautiful ar- 

 rangements in your jars and vases. 



' ' The Comet asters are particularly 

 well adapted for use in the bamboo w-all- 

 sticks which are to be had at the Japa- 

 nese shops, and which are so strikingly 

 effective when filled with the right sorts 

 of flowers. The long-stemmed blossoms 

 of the giant Comets may be displayed in 

 these holders against a plain background 

 to great advantage, the soft and shining 

 petals illumining the wall in a most 



ASTERS 



violet Red. 



Giant Comet Asters. 

 Dwarf Comet Aster. 



beautiful manner. Any suggestion of 

 stiffness or bilateral duplication in the 

 arrangement should be avoided, the blos- 

 soms being arranged in such a manner 

 as to give an appearance of that harmo- 

 nious S3'mmetry so much to be desired in 

 floral compositions. These bamboo hold- 

 ers are inexpensive and may be used to 

 advantage for many sorts of flowers be- 

 sides the Comet asters. When purchas- 

 ing them be sure there is no crack any- 

 where. 



' ' One of the most satisfactory ways 

 to use these asters for indoor decoration 

 is to transplant them just as they come 

 into bloom into artistic jardinieres. The 

 smaller and medium sized plants may 

 thus be changed without ill effect if the 

 soil about them is thoroughly soaked with 

 water a few hours before they are taken 

 up. I have not tried the giant plants 

 with this method, but presume that they 

 could also be transplanted if suflicient 

 care were taken. For this purpose jara 

 without a drainage hole may be used, 

 as it is desirable to keep the roots wet 

 to avoid wilting. The compact masses of 

 beautiful blossoms will remain in good 

 condition for about two weeks, if not ex- 

 posed to direct sunshine, and make a 

 very effective bit of decoration." 



THE RETAIL FLORIST. 



Oleanders. 



We wonder why oleanders are not 

 more generally grown. They bloom dur- 

 ing the summer months, and most of the 

 varieties are grand. The cultivation of 

 oleanders hereabouts is left entirely to a 

 fen- appreciative amateurs, mostly Teu- 

 tons, and they produce remarkable re- 

 .sults despite lack of knowledge. For 

 seaside, veranda, lawn or general decora- 



tive purposes there is nothing finer than 

 oleanders. They are superb in the eyes 

 iif the artist because they combine all 

 that is necessary to produce the very fin- 

 est jiictures. 



Cycas Revoluta. 



ilany of the prominent importers have 

 been offering cycas stumps, but we don't 

 see as many of them grown as in other 

 years. It 's a mighty good thing to have 

 a Cycas revoluta in your greenhouse or 

 store, especially during summer. You 

 have in them the material to do up a 

 design in five minutes, a very pretty and 

 most profitable design, too, and there are 

 numerous ways to get them up. There 

 is a lot of meaning attached to the plac- 

 ing of a palm leaf on the casket of the 

 dead. You can have it one Beautiful 

 leaf or two or three. Where three are 

 used have one shorter than the other 

 two. Sometimes in the case of two leaves 

 they look better if one is a few inches 

 shorter than the other, and then again 

 you can make a pretty cluster bunch 

 of small leaves having one or two re- 

 versed at the end. 



Then there are the wreaths. You can 

 moss an ordinary crescent wire frame, 

 green it well and then arrange your 

 small cycas leaves, or you can get a 

 heavy single wire or reed into w-reath 

 form, green it and wire on either your 

 large or small leaves. Ribbon is essential 

 to cycas leaves, and narrow ribbon makes 

 your work and the material look cheap. 

 Always try to use good broad ribbon, 

 because it makes your design look rich. 

 There are two leading colors in ribbon 

 to use on such designs — royal purple and 

 white. Purple for the old, white for 

 young or old. Then there are the 

 many combinations you can get up — clus- 

 ter, half-crescent or crescent of red 

 roses, white ribbon; white roses or lil- 

 ies, white ribbon (we don't consider it 

 right to put purple ribbon on white flow- 

 ers; it jars the nerves and spoils the ef- 

 fect) ; small cluster of wheat with tijis 

 of ivy, purple or white ribbon; and so 

 on all through the list of suitable flow- 

 ers too numerous to mention here. 



Palms. 



There are a great many imperfect or 

 scraggy palms occupjdng valuable room 

 in stores and greenhouses which could 

 be put to more profit by cutting them up 



