CONSTRUCTION OF BOUQUETS, ETC. 225 



effect. Handsome leaves of the Geranium or Camellia 

 (the latter is preferable for its brightness and durability) 

 alternating with fine sprays of green, delicate flower 

 scapes, or spikelets of heaths, or Lily-of- the- Valley, form 

 a fitting edging for a hand bouquet. A fine hand bou- 

 quet may be made with smooth outline and relieved by 

 delicate points of green or fine leaves. In filling out a 

 hand bouquet, half-dried moss is preferable to bouquet 



Fig. 52. CORSAGE BOUQCKT. 



green, as it can be used more readily to keep the flowers 

 apart without so much increase of weight and stem ; a 

 light backing of green, concave underneath, finishes the 

 bouquet. White lute-string ribbon, wound around the 

 handle and tied in a bow, is preferable to tinfoil. 



Judging the merits of bouquets, etc., has always been 

 a very difficult point amongst gardeners and florists, nor 

 is this to be wondered at when exhibitors and judges 

 have each their own notions of excellence, various as the 

 men themselves. It is only by comparison that the 



