March 10, 1921. 



The Florists' Review 



27 



Such Effective Arrangements of Bulbous Stock Will Sell Well This Easter. 



for Eautpr as could the very blooms 

 themselves. Instead of paying the ad- 

 vertising man to tell the public about 

 tlowers, why not make the flowers say 

 it themselves? Wlien you have got thus 

 far you will see that the whole thing in 

 a nutshell is to use your windows for dis- 

 play — effective display. Of course, you 

 always have done this and you cxjject 

 to keep on doing it, but think it over. 

 Are you making the flowers talk as 

 convincingly as they can? 



When a speaker gets on the ])latforiii 

 to give an address he finds everything 

 in his favor. The audience is atten- 

 tive; the room he speaks in has been 

 designed to facilitate acoustics; his 

 speech is already prepared and the sub- 

 ject announced, and a glass of water is 

 on the table in case his voice becomes 

 hoarse. If such conditions help this 

 speaker, why shouldn't they help your 

 speakers, the Easter blooms? 



Getting the Audience. 



Looking at it from an outsider's ])()int 

 of view, there is your shop, and over 

 here are the customers. The first peint 

 is to attract them. After that, get them 

 interested. Something unusual is nearly 

 always necessary for this, but it should 

 be ren)embered that the attraction itself 

 is designed to call the public attention, 

 not to sell flowers, so that it must not 

 supersede the more important dis|i]ay. 



In the present scarcity of azaleas, 

 several stores have found that an ex- 

 hibit c(f one or two j)ots of this plant 

 will interest passers-by. This would ap- 

 ])ly to any rare plant or flower. Even 

 an elaborately arranged window will at- 

 tract interest by its beauty. A win<low 

 display in a florist's store is sure to at- 

 tract more attention than that in nearly 

 any other store, by reason of the stock 

 that is sold there, flowers. 



Next on the program is to consider the 

 floral acoustics. Yes, it may sound 



strange, but if flowers speak it is only 

 natural that the science of acoustics 

 must be of benefit in carrying the mes- 

 sage. To be practical, is the plate-glass 

 clean and polished so brightly for the 

 F^aster disj)lay that it is almost invis- 

 ible? It should be. Is the woodwork 

 of the display window newly painted 

 and decorated? That would help. How 

 about the lighting? If the store is a 

 dark one, lights should be well placed 

 and l)rilliant. Everything must be spot- 

 less, because you are selling the clean- 

 est and purest of all jiroducts marketed 

 in the world. 



Instead of one voice, your display 

 will have many voices. They must not 

 conflict, or the audience will not he able 

 to distinguish the message clearly. Pink 

 roses and re<l carnations are not an at- 

 tractive combination. The simj>le rules 

 of harmonizing colors must be observed 

 in a florist 's store. A jumbled mass of 

 potted plants of all varieties and colors 

 may attract attention, but if order were 

 put into such a chaos, the results in in- 

 creased sales would be appari-nt at the 

 dose of the day's selling. All question 

 of arrangement, naturally, is a matter 

 of taste. Vor such stores as already 

 })!iy attention to designing the window 

 display no suggestions are necessary. 

 Rut for those wlio merely use the win 

 (low as extra storage room for Easter 

 stock, it might be well to suggest that 

 some thought, at least, be given to the 

 arrangement and probable effect. 



What -WiU They Say? 



The speaker on the platform has Ii.'id 

 his subject announced and his speech is 

 jirepared. What are your flowers going 

 to say? Of course, each particular 

 flower has a meaning, but at Easter the 

 florist puts in what stock he finds avail- 

 able and good. Certain varieties may 

 be in fine shape one year and less so 

 the next. So if the general iilea of col- 



ors be worked out, the effect will be al- 

 most as accurate and the principle is 

 nu)re easily acted upon. 



The color scheme must be arranged 

 with two objects in mind. It must at- 

 tract an audience and it must tell the 

 audience of the beauty and necessity of 

 flowers. Red is a never-failing "come 

 here" signal and this color is available 

 in tulips, roses and many other potted 

 plants and cut flowers for the holiday. 

 White is, of course, the easiest color 

 to feature. Contrasting white with 

 brighter colors nearly always gives a 

 harmonious effect. 



A little inventory of your stock be- 

 fore arranging the display will soon 

 bring to light enough range of color to 

 work on and, bearing in mind the fact 

 that the window must both attract and 

 jidvertise, the designer cannot go far 

 wrong in his arrangements. Too mucli 

 stock in the window, although this may 

 be thought impossible, is liable to sur- 

 feit the eye and can easily be avoided 

 by moving the bulk of the stock back 

 a few feet, leaving a space in which to 

 display choice blooms and colors. The 

 mass of jiots and blooms forms a splen- 

 did background and one which does not 

 detract from the simplicity or elabo- 

 rateness, as the case may be, of the ac- 

 tual dis])lay. , 



But the speaker has had his subject 

 annouiu-ed, you say. Quite so, and so 

 have the flowers. Everyone knows it 

 is Easter. The Piaster lily itself, pure, 

 graceful and distinctive, speaks of Eas- 

 ter in all languages and a vase of these 

 lilies in a prominent position will an- 

 lunince the subject of the floral adver- 

 tisement as aptly as the bold headlines 

 of a newspaper advertisement. 



Flowers and plants need water just as 

 much as the speaker. They must be 

 well cared for and be good stock to 

 advertise themselves. Every florist has 

 his own ideas. If he didn't, he wouldn't 



