185 



A CHAPTER FOE THE LADIES OX GATHERING- AND 

 ARRANGma FLOWERS. 



g'HE reason that people so often fail in arranoing flowers is, that they put 

 all the brilliancy together, and perhaps relieve it but slightly, or not at 

 all, with that verdure which abounds everywhere in nature where flowers 

 must charm us. Many persons go into a garden, and, gathering a lot of 

 flowers, stick them closely into a vase of some kind, nearly as close, per- 

 haps, as a broom is tied up. This results from their not seeing the reason vv-hy 

 prettily marked flowers please us when set, so to speak, in wide spreads of rich 

 verdure. The result of such a jumble is, that the product is about as attractive to 

 the tasteful eye as a garden all yellow and red ; and what should be the sweetest 

 thing in the house is painful to look at compared to a flower and spray depicted on 

 the vase which contains it, or perhaps on the wall of the room. As a rule it may be 

 said that, by using a sufficiency of green, we could get rid of much of this awkward- 

 ness, and though it may not enable people to arrange flowers really well, yet a great 

 advance is made when we recognize the value of green. If you see a person who is 

 about to arrange a vase of roses bring in a handful or two of the freshest and finest 

 rose-leaves in the garden, you may be pretty sure that the roses will not look amiss 

 when he or she has done with them. When arranging a dish of roses with short 

 stems, we always begin by putting a circle of large and fine leaves around the edge 

 (fetu fronds are better), so that their points droop over; and by putting a profusion 

 of them through the blooms, an infinitely better eff'ect may be produced with half, 

 or even quarter the number of blooms, than when they are " lumped in." But it is 

 not enough to avoid what we will call lumping : it is desirable to give each flower 

 its own place, so to speak. This is to some extent a mechanical operation, as in 

 vases generally there is no resisting medium on which to place the flowers. You 

 cannot arrange them rightly without some little contrivance. For a flattish vase or 

 dish, the best thing we know of is silver, or any other fine sand, in a very moist, 

 though not actually in a sloppy state. This forms a capital planting medium, so to 

 speak, and at the same time keeps the flowers fresh — at least, as much so as water 

 does. By filling the dish or vase with sand, full or thereabouts, and then when 

 moist rounding it up a little in the middle, you have as good a preparation for the 

 reception of flowers as can be made. Insert the flower-stems in it to the required 

 depth, first having pointed them and stripped them of the lower leaves ; and as the 

 height of each bloom is of some moment, they may often require to be shortened, 

 which should be done with a sharp knife in a slanting direction, and that will assist 

 them in penetrating the sand with facility. Ey doing this you have the disposition 

 of your flowers quite under command. If they be of a trailing or decumbent habit, 

 it will be necessary to sink them nearly to the necks ; and if they be of an erect or 

 stiffish habit, like geranium or sweet-pea blossoms, they may be left as long as may 

 be desired or convenient. Flowers, green leaves, graceful grasses, or any other 

 addenda, may be thus placed at discretion. If a coat of the common Lycopodium 

 be placed over the sand, so much the better ; it would act as a capital resting-place 

 for the flowers, and do away with the necessity of using a good deal of small stuff 

 to fill up the interstices. Indeed, a lot of long moss or spray of twigs cut to a level 

 top and plunged in a narrow vase has often been successfully used instead of sand. 

 Then again, where the receptacle for flowers is very shallow, like the lower tray of 

 some ornaments for table decoration, a little sand is all that is necessary ; but it 

 should be borne in mind that such trays are suitable chiefly for flowers that may be 

 cut short, and for little bunches of forget-me-not, Lycopodium, and things which will 

 form erect and somewhat compact little tufts, with short fern-spray, etc. Some- 

 times rather close little wire coverings are used for dishes and vases, and these cer- 

 tainly support the flowers well, and do away with the slightest necessity for crowding, 

 but yet are inferior to the soft moist masses of sand. It has just occurred to us that 

 by growing the common Lycopodium in dishes till it attained luxuriance, and then 

 bringing them into the house, they would form capital cushions on which to place a 

 few choice flowers. Indeed, we have no doubt of it. By filling the dish with very 

 fine sandy peat, passed through a fine sieve, and rounding the centre considerably 

 up, pricking the common Lycopod over the surface, and placing the vases in a warm 

 vinery, fernery, or moist and rather warm structure of any sort, in a month or two 

 they will become masses of green, and droop over the margin of the dish. It may 

 be propagated thus to any amount, as every bit grows as freely as grass. Half a 



