December 10, 1903. 



The Weekly Florists' Review^ 



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THE RETAIL 



FLORIST 



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CHRISTMAS i>TOCK. 



With Christmas only two weeks awaj', 

 no time is to be lost in preparing stock 

 for the great rush which is sure to 

 come. It is necessary to plan ahead, 

 for supplies of such stock as is most in 

 demand for Christmas gifts is not to 

 be picked up and thrown together on 

 Christmas eve, when it comes time to 

 fill your orders. With plant arrange- 

 ments, hollj' wreaths, etc., it is possible 

 to work up a great deal of the stock 

 several da3-s in advance of delivery, 

 and it is a good plan to have some of 

 the arrangements ready for exhibition 

 in the store a couple of weeks in ad- 

 vance of the holiday; it will aid ma- 

 terially in booking advance orders, 

 which is a great help, for nearly al- 

 ways the last couple of days bring 

 more customers than can be waited on 

 satisfactorily. By all means get your 

 orders as early as possible; large retail- 

 ers who have tried it find it pays to 

 mail to customers a neatly printed card 

 pointing out the advantages of buying 

 before the rush. 



One of the items for which there is 

 always sale if offered, is the well made 

 wreath, not the common, plain immor- 

 telle wreath, but such a one as that 

 shown in the accompanying illustration. 

 It is made of red immortelles, to be 

 sure, but the addition of the broad 

 crimson ribbon, the dried sumach flow- 

 ers, the bitter-sweet berries and the 

 Hartford fern is what gives it the win- 

 ning touch. Many variations of this 

 wreath may be devised with a little 

 thought and ingenuity. 



Of course, the plain holly wreath is 

 one of the indispensable articles. You 

 may buy them or make them; probably 

 most do the latter. Holly is fairly well 

 berried this year, but it is usually the 

 case that at least part of the stock is 

 found none too well furnished in this 

 respect. Buy a case of the red Christ- 

 mas berries and supply the deficiency, 

 as shown in one of the accompanying 

 illustrations. Furthermore, the red win- 

 ter berries and a few holly leaves work 

 up into a very popular dinner table 

 center piece. Add a bow of holly red 

 ribbon to the wreath and it will attract 

 many who would think it too plain oth- 

 erwise. 



Nearly every retailer who has what 

 can be called a first-class trade finds 

 Begonia Gloire de Lorraine the Christ- 

 mas plant par excellence. It lends it- 

 self to many uses and makes up well in 

 arrangements which can be sold from 

 $3 up. Probably in no way can a more 

 attractive article be prepared than by 

 placing a plant in a handle basket. If 

 the basket is showy of itself, a ribbon 

 is all that need be added, but if a 

 plainer receptacle is used it may be 

 wrapped in Porto Eican matting. The 

 more poorly shaped plants in one's 

 stock can be used to good advantage in 

 this way. 



The araucaria is a salable Christmas 

 plant, particularly with tasteful embel- 

 lishment. Porto Eican matting of var- 

 ied color should be in every florist 's 

 stock of supplies and the red shades 

 harmonize with the green of the pine. 

 Some decorators also weave in red rib- 

 bon, with a bow, but to the writer's 

 taste this is going to an undesirable ex- 

 treme. Azaleas, too, seem most popular 

 with the pot wrapped in matting or 

 crepe paper. Don 't use so much paper 

 that the plant is half concealed and its 



bination. The Christmas pepper is an- 

 other plant affording the same oppor- 

 tunity for inexpensive embellishment 

 and large sale. 



Good specimens of the Otaheite orange 

 are good sellers to the better class of 

 trade and with them pot covers of many 

 sorts may bo used; the gilt basket and 

 ribbon of a harmonious shade are, per- 

 haps, most frequently used. The ericas 

 are largely used in the east, but are not 

 often seen in the west, where the de- 

 development of the holiday plant indus- 

 try has only just begun. 



At the Christmas season cut flowers 

 must be of good quality to be salable, 

 for the call is almost always for first- 

 class stock, sent out loose; that is, in 

 boxes. The supply houses offer a great 

 variety of fancy boxes, hampers, etc., 

 which can be handled very profitably 

 r.t this season. And baskets of choice 

 cut flowers will also be found to take 



An Embellished Christmas Wreath of Immortelles. 



beauty lost, and it you use ribbon do it 

 sparingly. Poinsettias in pans may be 

 treated in the same way, but always re- 

 member that it is the plant which is the 

 thing; don 't overdo the adornment. 



The cyclamen is a plant which can 

 be sold in large numbers because it can 

 he offered at a moderate price. Many 

 styles of baskets may be used effect- 

 ively as receptacles for these. The 

 gilded wicker basket, red ribbon and 

 the green foliage make a happy corn- 



average customer will not consider a 

 wreath or other made up piece. The 

 arrangement of carnations illustrated 

 in this issue is a canoe-shaped basket of 

 willow, filled with the light pink En- 

 chantress on one side and with the 

 darker pink Marquis on part of the oth- 

 er, the two varieties being mixed on 

 the handle. Asparagus was used for 

 green and some carnation foliage and 

 quite a number of buds. There is a bow 

 of green ribbon on the lower front. 



