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The Florists^ Review 



Mabch 2B, 1020 



RETAIL STORE MANAGEMENT 



WHAT THE LEADERS IN THE TRADE ARE DOING 



DECOBATINa FOR EASTEB. 



Short Supply a Handicap. 



Another Easter season is here and the 

 retail florist is going to be handicapped 

 this year by lack of the stock which he 

 is accustomed to handle; that is, old 

 stand-bys which he has been in the 

 habit of depending upon^ such as azaleas 

 and rhododendrons, and even lilies are 

 not going to be so plentiful. But this 

 is just where the true florist has his op- 

 portunity. I can remember an old 

 Scotch florist of the time when I was a 

 boy learning my trade, who, when fu- 

 neral work was being made up and 



flowers were scarce, a frequent occur- 

 rence in those days, and the designer 

 would be complaining of insufficient 

 stock, would say: "My boy, don't you 

 know that is just the reason a man 

 learns the florists' business! Anyone 

 who has plenty of stock can arrange it 

 in a more or less artistic manner, but 

 when stock is scarce it takes a florist 

 to make it into an artistic design." 

 The appearance of the retail store this 

 year will show whether the proprietor 

 is a florist, or whether he just deals in 

 flowers. 



Beware of Monotony. 



The fact remains that no matter how 



Standing Wreath wfatch Artistically Conbines a Variety of Flowers. 



scarce good plants may be, we are facing 

 a flower day which, according to every 

 indication, will be a record-breaker. 

 There will be the same number of 

 church decorations and these are likely 

 to be more elaborate than ever. In 

 most cases those who have orders for 

 this work will, on account of their hav- 

 ing done it year after year, know their 

 ground fairly well, but it will be wise 

 to remember that, since you may have 

 been doing this work year after year, 

 the same congregation has been watch- 

 ing you and will be quick to notice the 

 sameness. In most church decorations 

 your scheme is necessarily much the 

 same, with the same material to work 

 with. No one will be quicker to notice 

 this than the decorator himself. Many 

 a time after laborious work and deep 

 study I have been disgusted with the 

 effect of decorations about which others 

 have been highly enthusiastic. 



The point I want to make here is the 

 need of having some outstanding fea- 

 ture in the scheme which will be quick 

 to catch the eye and hold the attention. 

 In most cases this will make your whole 

 plan of decoration serve as a finish to 

 this central feature. For instance, take 

 a cross of from five to ten feet, accord- 

 ing to the space in which you have to 

 place it, made entirely of Easter lilies 

 and plumosus; hang this by wires, alone 

 and with no background whatever, di- 

 rectly over the center of the altar, not 

 straight up and down, but with the top 

 of it leaning toward the congregation. 

 This will have to be studied to get the 

 correct angle, but once you have this 

 in the correct position the rest of your 

 decoration will be easy. This will be 

 the first thing to catch the eye of the 

 worshipers as they come in and we all 

 know that first impressions are every- 

 thing. 



Decorating Windows. 



There will be many smaller jobs, such 

 as memorial windows to be decorated, 

 and here again a little change, some- 

 thing different, will always be appre- 

 ciated. I remember a church in the 

 neighborhood of our store; every win- 

 dow in it was a memorial window; the 

 congregation was one of the most exclu- 

 sive and wealthy in the city. It was 

 our business every Easter to decorate 

 most of these windows. Everyone 

 wanted something different from his 

 neighbor and, on one occasion, I at- 

 tracted much comment on one of these 

 windows. We had a few frames of the 

 old English daisies at the range, pink 

 and white, and we had a wire frame 

 that had been made for one of the win- 

 dows to fill with cut flowers. We lifted 

 the daisies and filled them into this 

 frame with wet moss about the roots. 

 In the center I had one of William K. 

 Harris ' pans of Harrisii lilies. This had 

 thirty open flowers on it besides the 

 buds. To cover up the pot we cut sev- 

 eral astilbes and put them in the moss- 



