44 



The Florists^ Review 



Dbcbmbbu id, 1921 



Thoro arc in evidi^nfo soiiu; t'hirkia 

 Salmon Queen, a beautiful annual, which 

 flowers i'or a lonjf time and in a out 

 Htate is a wonderful keejx-r. Sown in 

 early July, this j)lant comes into fino 

 bloom for the holidays. Still another 

 plant usually treated as an annual is 

 Urowallia speciosa major. S])rinf;-sown 

 secdlinjjs are now a mass of rich violet- 

 blue flowers. It needs a little staking, 

 but also makes an excellent basket or 

 lianfjiuf;- plant. Blue is not a Ciiristmas 

 color, but this is a i)lant which will sell 

 after the holidiiys, when scarlet ones, 

 like poinsettias, are allogetlier unsal- 

 able. 



Some earl}' sown cinerarias are in 

 bloom and are quite accejitablc. 



Of azaleas we have jiractically none 

 this season. Some are being jirojiajiated, 

 but they do not si'eni to force so well as 

 the Belgian plants formerly imported, 

 ('alifornia-grown stock has so far 

 ])roved a failure in the east, but it may 

 be tlie growers will yet actpiire the 

 knack of j)roducing plants which can be 

 forced early, for we certainly do miss 

 the grand batches of Hexe, Firefly and 

 one or two other Christmas sorts which 

 were once so much in evidence. 



(ieraniums, esjiecially double scarlets, 

 make nice holiday plants, and one firm, 

 to my knowledge, finds a (piick sale for 

 all it can produce, sending many of them 

 hundreds of miles away. 



"White marguerites are l)etter for 

 ?]aster than for Christmas, but nre to be 

 noted in one or two jilaces. Pots of fJoil- 

 frey calla, dwarf Stevia serrata, Koman 

 hyacinths in ])0ts and pans, Paper 

 White narcissi in pans and bowls, es- 

 pecially the latter, and some rather nice- 

 ly flowered pots and jians of L 'Inno- 

 cence, Yellow Hammer and other jire- 

 l)ared liyacinths and some tulips are also 

 wi'lcome additions. • 



Among choicer jilants ("y|iri)pedium iii- 

 signe and its viirieties, ilarefield H.-ill 

 and Sanderu", :ire ofTcred. The last- 

 ^ named seems to be the most jpojuilar. 

 "^ Other orchids are scarce. A few of the 

 small-flowered Cattleya Percivalian.-i 

 only are seen, (lardeni.-is are usually 

 seen in sm;i]l numbers at ("hristmas; 

 some nice (lots, liowever, with a few 

 open flowers liave come in and will suit 

 critical customers. 



Foliage Plants. 



There is tlie usual grand assortment of 

 colored-leaved draca?nas, crotons and 

 jiandanus, and separately or made up in 

 i)askets with ferns, asparagus and other 

 foliage plants, they are most attractive 

 and in good demand. PVrns are in 

 abundant supply, and the old Neidirob- 

 pis bostoniensis is still far ahead of 

 all others in quantity and demand. 

 Verona, Macawii, Teddy, Jr., elegan- 

 tissima, Scottii, Whitmanii and others 

 .•ill find more or less favor. Then there 

 are cibotiums, Asplenium Nidus-avis, or 

 bird's-nest fern;-cyrtomiums, jiteris and 

 others, with special demand for small 

 table sizes. 



All plants obtainable have not Iiecn 

 mentioned and some may have been 

 omitted that are worthy of note, but 

 there are in the above an excellent and 

 varied assortment. T'nless all signs fail, 

 j;iven reasonably good weather condi 

 fions, more jilants will probably be sold 

 during the coming Christmas week thnn 

 ever before in the trade's history. Be 

 sure to pack carefully. It cats badly 

 into profits to be obliged to re|il;ice 

 frozen stock which one or two thick- 

 nesses of newsjiajier wouM have snvfd. 



PITTSBUEGH, PA. 



The Market. 



Conditions in this market have re- 

 versed themselves. Business has shown 

 a considerable improvement during the 

 last week, due, no doubt, to a decrease 

 in the supply of chrysanthemums and 

 pompons, making the demand for roses 

 and carnations and other seasonable 

 flowers heavy. The supply of carnations 

 is hardly able to take care of the de- 

 mand; in many cases it is necessary to 

 divide the cut among the retail custom- 

 ers. Koses, however, are being re- 

 ceived in fair quantities, but are mov- 

 ing out daily. The varieties include 

 Columbia, Premier, Richmond, Crusader, 

 Butterfly, Pink Ophelia, White Ophelia, 

 Killarney and Pilgrim. The quality of 

 the roses has been exceptionally fine. 

 American Beauties have also been in 

 demand, especially in the better grades. 



Ardisias Are Always Appreciated. 



These are practically sold when the ship- 

 ments are received. The shorter grades, 

 however, do not move so rapidly. 



Easter lilies are also good proper- 

 ty, while about two weeks ago there was 

 such a glut that it was difficult to move 

 lilies at any price. At the j)resent time 

 they are bringing fair ])rices. Orchids 

 are scarce, however, and the demand is 

 light. The wholesale ])rice of orchids 

 in Pittsburgh has been $1..")0 each. Sweet 

 peas, calendulas, violets and stevia are 

 nlso being received in the market and 

 ■M-o moving (uit fairly well. Pnjier White 

 narcissi take a jirominent ]i;ii't in the 

 UKirket and since clirysanthcmums and 

 liomjtons have left tlie mark<>t, Pajier 

 Whites are becoming more jirominent. 

 While some shii)ments of violets are be- 

 ing leceived, yet the demand does not 

 seem to be encouraging. It seems that 

 \iolets are used only for special occa- 

 sions or holidays. The florists do not 

 seem to be willing to have violets on 

 hand when they are not certjiin of orders. 

 l''lowers at Christmas, it seems, will be 

 limited, although, if the weather keeps 



bright, there may be a chance for im- 

 provement. 



It seems that this year the majority 

 waited until the last minute before plac- 

 ing their Christmas orders. From all 

 indications it is expected that this 

 Christmas holiday season will at least 

 equal that of last year. Christmas be- 

 ing celebrated on Sunday and Monday 

 will give the florists an ideal oppor- 

 tunity of making their deliveries 

 jiromptly. 



Association Meets. 



The Eetail Florists' Association of 

 the Pittsburgh District held its monthly 

 meeting at the Hotel Chatham Thurs- 

 day, December 8. There were nineteen 

 present and, after the di. er, the com- 

 mittee which had been appointed to 

 draw up a resolution for collecting funds 

 for advertising made its repofrt. 

 The following is the resolution: 



First, that all rptail florists pa.v one-half of 

 <ine por tent on nil their puroliases of flowers 

 in tin.' district and out of town. Collection of 

 tliis asKcssnient to he made by the wholesale 

 'oniniisKioji hoiiKes monthly; second, tliat every 

 retailer and Kroner having glass pay $2 per 

 Mpiare foot on the total area of ti^tiss he owns. 

 Tliis assessment is to he made by the secretary 

 of the association and is to be collected monthly; 

 third, that all growers and consiunors shipping 

 to llie retailers or commission houses in the 

 rittsbnrKh distiict he assessed one-fourth of 

 •me per cent on the sales. This assessment is to 

 be niad<> by the retailer and wliolesale com- 

 mission house making its report monthly to 

 tile treasurer of the organization. 



After some discussion the above reso- 

 lution of the committee was adopted. 

 Tin! ])resitWit, (i. Wessenaucr, then re- 

 Iiorted that jirogress was being made 

 on th(! securing of a charter for this 

 organization; in fact, he re])()rted that 

 he had turned this over to an attorney, 

 who was drawing ii]) papers necessary 

 for the procedure. As soon as the 

 charter is granted, the organization ex- 

 jH'cts to carry out the resolution as out- 

 lined above. 



The principal speaker of the evening 

 was Mrs. Ella Grant Wilson, of Cleve- 

 land, O., who spoke on "Publicity for 

 Flowers as Developed in Other Cities." 

 Mrs. Wilson gave an interesting talk 

 and displayed some interesting illustra- 

 tions and essays on various flowers, 

 plants and seasons of the year. By the 

 jtlan, it is expected to raise a fund for 

 community advertising, which will be 

 extended during the year by the com- 

 mittee appointed for that purpose. Mrs. 

 Wilson's principal point was to educate 

 the public as to how to care for plants 

 and flowers; by so doing they will be- 

 come more interested in the flower busi- 

 ness. 



The meeting was a great success. 

 President Wessenauer said that he hoped 

 at the January meetiii};, which is to be 

 h<dd the first Thursday in January, 1922, 

 there will be 100 present. Let us all put 

 forth our efforts and bring someone 

 with us. This organization is your 

 organization and cannot be a success 

 unless you are represented. 



Various Notes. 



The stores in and about Pittsburgh 

 are all taking on a holiday appearance, 

 with their Christmas decorations and 

 the showing of fancy wreaths and plant 

 combinations. 



During the last week there have been 

 many visitors in town jmrchasing their 

 needs for the Christmas holidavs. Miss 

 Jane McDowell, of Steubenville, O.; Mr. 

 Warrick, of Washington, Pa.; John 

 Boeh, of Blairsville, Pa., and a repre- 

 sentative of the Al])ha Floral Co., of 

 Uniontown, Pa., were among them. H. 



