172 FRITZ BAHR'S COMMERCIAL FLORICULTURE 



IMMORTELLES, EVERLASTINGS, MISTLETOE, ETC. 



The florist with a good stock of plants and flowers doesn't need 

 to resort to artificial and dried materials, yet they are displayed 

 around the holidays even by some of the better city florists, who will 

 make up baskets of Ruscus, Statice and Everlastings because there 

 are always some who will purchase them. If such an arrangement 

 can be sold at a fair profit, why not do it ? If your trade calls for 

 Red Ruscus, and wreaths made of Frieze, Ruscus and Statice, by all 

 means have them on hand. Again, it may happen that some of 

 your patrons will want a few wreaths for decorating graves. Re 

 prepared for them. A Roxwood, Magnolia or Frieze wreath will 

 usually fill the bill, and if you have a limited number made up, a 

 few bunches of Immortelles often come in very handy. You may 

 run short on red berries for the decoration of a Boxwood wreath 

 or something else, and in this case Immortelles will help out. 



Mistletoe we must always carry. The best plan is to go over the 

 contents of a box and make it up into bunches ranging in value from 

 50c. to $1. Tie each neatly with a narrow red fiber ribbon and 

 bow so it is ready to hang up. This again will save you valuable time 

 when filling your orders. 



EASTER AND ITS ACTIVITIES 



To the average retail grower Easter, to some extent, means more 



than Christmas. Not only is it one of the greatest flower days we have, 



but also a good deal of the stock used then can be grown on even in a 



moderate sized establishment, and that is what counts. 



Easter, well-grown Marguerites whether specimen plants in 

 6- or 8-in. pots or made-up pans of 2J/2- or 3j/2-in. plants in bloom 

 are most attractive. You can get similar results with 3j^-in. Gera- 

 niums, in either the white or the pink shades. Put five or six into an 

 8-in. pan and add a few Asparagus plumosus vines and a neat pot- 

 cover. The same is true of Ageratum and Begonia Gloire de Chate- 

 laine. There are times when your patrons will prefer such an 

 arrangement to almost anything else. 



Large Pansy plants brought in from a coldframe a month or so 

 before and planted on a bench in a 50-deg. house, will be in full 

 bloom Easter week, and if you had a good strain of seed, and kept 

 the colors separate, you can make up stunning pans which will sell 

 readily. Forget-me-nots can be treated the same way and even 

 English Daisies (Polyanthus Primroses) kept in a frame or a cold- 

 house all Winter should also be a mass of flowers at Easter week, 

 and can be potted up. Late-sown Primula obconica will usually 

 be loaded with flowers at that time and the same with Genistas, 

 which should be kept in a coldhouse up to three weeks or so before 

 Easter. 



