March 20, 1915 



HORTICULTURE 



369 



EASTER— THE SEASON OF OPPORTUNITY 



Greetings to ray' brother florists and may good for- 

 tune attend you all upon this Easter-tide ! Once more 

 does Mother Earth awake from her slumber, ready to 

 clothe herself in all her most wonderful gamients, be- 

 stirring herself to provide adornment in her gems. We 

 florists have a most important mission to perform in 

 bringing Nature's jewels and messages of her Spring 

 awalcening close to the busy, bustling, mercenaiy erow-d, 

 who have strayed far from the fresh, wholesome contact 

 with the living tilings of Jlother Earth. The Spring 

 brings with it a stimulation of interest, a rejuvenated 

 enthusiasm in mattere rural and natural. The tired 

 city folks, wearied witli the confining and sordid labors 

 of the winter, renew the annual baek-to-tlie-land propa- 

 ganda, and it is to the florist, the proxy of Nature, that 

 they turn. If every right-tliinking flower merchant will 

 only realize that he is one of her representatives, em- 

 ployed in her behalf to convey Nature's beautiful offer- 

 ings to the cave dwellers of our cities, the selling of 

 flowers will become the respected profession that it 

 shoidd be. ; 



Easter is the season of opportunity for the florist. 

 \t no other holiday period of the year is there such a 

 vaiiety to present to lovers of flowers. We prepare for 

 the season several weeks — iji fact, months before Easter 

 Sunday. Our baskets, hampers, pots, and boxes are 

 selected long before the rush begins, and we make eon- 

 tracts with growers and wholesalers far in advance, to 

 assure enough stock of high quality at a reasonable price. 

 It is hardly necessary for me to dwell on preparations 

 for delivery, packing, extra, storage room, etc. Our 

 popular advertising campaign for Easter staiis about 

 two weeks ahead, gradually increasing space and 

 frequency of insertions until the last day. 



The exquisite baskets, hampers and pans now made 

 for the florist present a splendid opportunity at this time 

 of year. The effective grouping of well-chosen blooms in 

 pretty receptacles invariably stimulates their sale and if 

 it will do so this season, we waiu more of it. The Easter 

 of 1915 promises to be the biggest yet for the florist 

 who is up and doing. Never before have we had such 

 a variety of stock, colors and quality to choose from. It 

 IS up to every wide-awake man to take advantage of 

 these in connection with the little accessories that help 

 to increase profits, such as pottery, basket'^, ribbons, 

 butterflies, rabbits, ducks, etc. Many a sale has been 

 induced through tlie combination of flowers, basket, and 



that odd touch secured by the addition of a mounted 

 butterfly or chicken. Baskets of unique shape find a 

 profitable market at Easter, especially the Italian egg- 

 shaped baskets of white and pale green. Those white 

 enameled baskets of French design, about three and a 

 half feet in height, are very pleasing to the eye; filled 

 with Beauties or lilies and the handle trimmed with rib- 

 bon, we have never found any difficulty in disposing of 

 them. 



Easter sentiment runs strongly for lilies. The florist 

 who creates unique arrangements of these stately 

 blooms will find himself greatly in demand. We en- 

 iloavor to sell them in combination with large wicker 

 baskets or hampere. Even a simple pot cover will 

 materially aid in selling them. 



Tlie special feature of the Easter trade this year will 

 be the long vase initial baskets with high handles for 

 s]iring flower etfects. They are cheap, attractive and 

 with us have proven easy sellers. But now-a-days there 

 is a special basket for every flower — lilies of the valley, 

 orchids, gardenias, sweet peas, roses, etc. With the 

 proper ribbons these make splendid Easter gifts. Get 

 the public in your town to appreciate this fact by show- 

 ing them effectively in your windows. 



J^a\ onder and white are the traditional Eastar colors. 

 This means simplicity of color — the prevailing floral 

 atmosphere of the season. The riot of colors, reds, yel- 

 lows, lavenders, purples, cream shades, orange, etc., are 

 not so much in evidence at Easter as they are at 

 Christmas time. We look for delicate light tints at 

 Easter. Colors which tend toward light, have their 

 greatest beauty in their brightest tints ; and those which 

 similarly tend towards shade are most beautiful in their 

 greatest depth of fulness. 



Undoubtedly there are many people who dislike tlie 

 clement of fashionable frivolity which has come to mark 

 the general keeping of Easter; but as long as it finds 

 some expression through flowers as well as clothes, we 

 Horists ought to feel proud of our position as distribu- 

 tors of Dame Natui-e's floral offerings. The story of 

 i'^aster is proclaimed eveiysjn-ing over all the earth, in 

 greening grass and budding trees and springing flowers. 

 Brollicr-floi'ists. we are on the risrht side! 



IF YOU WANT TO MAKE BUSINESS 



Get Your Ad. in Next Issue for it will be 

 A TRADE PULLER 



Cop}) should reach us M; Wednesday, March 24, and as much sooner as possible 



