Mai- 7. 1903. 



The Weekly Florists' Review, 



999 



^j^<»g.< »?^.^«^^<^<<^ <^g^j^^5»^l ^(,l ^,^ V?».v»^<*^ V ^;>g,.v ^f 



THE RETAIL 



FLORIST 



I 



MAY SUGGESTIONS. 



One can soaivoly plan a decoration foi- 

 this month without tliiukinfr of May 

 poles and May tiasl<cts. and as for thoiV 

 artistic possilnlitic,-., no bettor subjects 

 could he inveuted. 



The May jiole is a <;ood starter for a 

 nuiuljcr of plaus, from a table decoraiion 

 to a scheme sullicieut for I lie interior 

 of a lar^ic assembly r ii. Kor the for- 

 mer tlieri' is a suf;j;estiou in tlic sUetcli 

 numlim'fl 1. Kill the space available on 

 a (abl<> with a placpu' of daisies, valh'v. 

 peas, pan.sies m- other bright sprin<; llou- 

 ers, to simulate a field of these plants 

 arowing. In the center erect a pole stir- 

 mounted by a taper or electric globe. 

 From the top of the pole start garlands 

 of green ribbon, each of which will ter- 

 minate at a place card. To the ends 

 attach dainty baskets filled with (lie 

 same kind of flowers as are used in the 

 plaque. Tliese baskets may be use<l as 

 favors. If the function is one at n-liieh 

 the guests are seated at the table, care 

 should be taken to make the garlands 

 very light and airy, and they will not 

 obstruct the view. If for a reception 

 table, the garlands may be heavier. 



The above ])lan. with the exception tif 

 the plaque, may be enlarged to form a 

 wedding canopy across the corner or side 

 of a room. In this case the garlands 

 may be made shorter in proportiou. and 

 the pole ina.v reach or nearly reach the 

 ceilincr. The garlands should lu' luing 

 loosely from the top of the pole to cm 

 venient points on the side walls. 



For ibe whide room decoration, a great 

 |iole in the ccnti'r may bo banked and 

 bound far up with Harrisii or ean- 

 diduin lilv stalks, and its garlands car- 

 ried as above frcm the top of the |)ole to 

 (he side walls. From the ]ioints on the 

 walls where the draperies are fastened 

 liang with ribbons to match good-sized 

 liaskets liberally filled with spring (low- 

 ers and trailing vines. Tlius the wliole 

 interior of the room will be transfmnied 

 into a bower. For JIa.v occasions the 

 delicate spring tints of green, pink or 

 violet are preferred. 



[Ihistration No. 2 is an oval rallii 

 basket in green and bro\\ii. tilled with 

 ferns onl.v. and set on a doil\ of Icrns. 

 The latter is jiurposcly oval in form to 

 conform to tlie shape of the basket. We 

 often use wood ferns under a lace doily 

 to color it. instead of a piece of silk. 

 It will be observed that the handle of 

 the basket is ad.jnsted especially for the 

 fern arrangement. For display purposes 

 and temporary use ime can change the 

 whole character of (he l)aske( by remov- 

 ing or changing the handle. For (all 

 or s(raiglit-steiiiined (lowers the high 

 handle adjust mcut of which this same 

 liaske( i- capable. \\(aild l>e much betler. 



Xo. ;! is anodier basket center]iicce 

 composed of a cluster of small nioss ba' 

 kets of pansies and daisies, suspended 

 from a chandelier over a mirror placed 

 in the center of a reception table. 

 Among the baskets hang spraj'te of smi- 

 lax. The lowest basket just reaches 



(he (able on the ri.irhl of the mirror. 

 To balance the ell'ecl of the whole a 

 spray of smilax and a s(piil) of loi»e 

 pansies are set'ii on the left edge ot the 

 mirror. In order to bring Ibis iluster 

 wit hill I he proper comjiass to photograph 

 till' baskets liad (o be drawn closer to- 

 ;;e(her (ban (be.\ were originally. 



The accompanying dcsiiins are Ix-st 

 adapted to round or .s(|iiarc tiibles. Other 

 sketches for small refreslimcnl tables and 

 long bain|uet tables will be presented 

 later in (he series. 



Apropos of the centerpicee ipiestioii, 

 (he subject of the amount of stock used 

 is in order. It is a law of the Median 

 and Persian order with many florists to 

 Use flowers bv the bushel and thousand 

 and to present descri]iti(ais of their most 

 extensive decorations radier lliaii their 

 most artistic. II wc lould liave ph.itos 



ciiible iluinagc in a very short time and n 

 .young jilant which "has been badly 

 scdrehcil takes a long time to recover 

 from it. Kven in (ho benches of old 

 eslablislie<| lieauties these spots if nc"- 

 li-<'ted spoil nuaiililies of line, long- 

 stemmed bnds and these iM'ing high up 

 ami partly out of sight, are rarely do- 

 leete<l until they are cut. 



Ix)oking over some of the (rnde jour- 

 nals of a decade ago, I liiul a few- notes 

 that may interest some of the present 

 day growers as showing liow iliirereni 

 are our nielhods of ciiI(imi> from that 

 time. The trade journals of these days 

 as at pii'sent ilevot<'d a column to rose 

 notes. ,Sonie of the advice given in these 

 notes will seem sliangc to your readers. 

 For instance, it is gravely asserted that 

 to syringe the foliage when the sun is 

 shining will cause them to blister, so 

 this o|)eration must be performed before 

 siiii-U|i. Kxpericnce and common sense 

 have shown us bow fallacious Ibis ruli- 

 was. Among other fallacies I (ind it ree- 

 ommeniled that young slock should be 

 set outdoors in .lune and ripened by 

 withdrawing the supply of water until 

 they shed their leaves. Whether this 

 method was ever followed to any extent 

 I cannot sa.v, as [ never saw it prac- 

 ticed. 



The idea r^f pbiiiliiig roses in live 



May Suggestions. No. I . 



of a section of a banquet table showing 

 a detail here and there, we might gain 

 more than by receiving a |ilio(o of (he 

 wliide. It is wholly unnecessary, liow- 

 (■ver. to run to (be other extreme of 

 scanty amounts. 



It is true that nature u.ses great 

 masses of material, but she relieves it 

 here and there by openings, and connects 

 the whole landscape bv mere traces and 

 faint lines. She abhors a vacuum in art 

 as well as in chemistry, but she never 

 packs boxes of soap. 



GEItTRfDI-T Hi, .Ml!. 



ROSES. 



Seasonable Hints. 



To prevent our .voiing stock Innii gel- 

 ling burned by defecis in the glass, ad- 

 vantage should be taken of every hour 

 when the sun is brightest to locate these 

 spots and paint them over with oil. It 

 ma,v take a few days to find them all, 

 bu(i it will pay, as they can do consid- 



iiicbes of soil witb an.\ chance of .succcsr 

 was scouted, solid benches with 10 to 

 \^l inches of gcxiil soil being the rule. 

 These usually were carried over year 

 after year, sometimes for as maii,v as 

 live seasons without renewal. Of course 

 it was a difTicult job to force such stock 

 into bloom during the dark weather, 

 but with the advent of spring lliey pro- 

 duced enormous crops of liigli grade 

 bloom.s. 



During the winter moiitlis the product 

 was scarce and of a poor quality, and I 

 can well remember the time when, in- 

 stead of the grower seeking a market for 

 his cut for cvi'ii this small ])roduct, the 

 wludesaler and retailer had lo do the 

 buiiling and in most ea.ses if lie wished 

 to jirocurc the iiit had to make a per- 

 smial call at the greeiilimin's. 



The class of roses grown at thai liiii'- 

 did not call for the same scientilic cul 

 lure as those of the finer grades of the 

 present da.v, but I still think had we 

 adopted our present day modes of cul- 



