Septembee 4, 1913. 



The Florists' Review 



13 



PALM-LEAF TBIMMINQS. 



Although it does not show in the ac- 

 companying illustration, this wreath of 

 magnolia leaves was on a wire easel — 

 the wires were covered with asparagus. 

 The wreath is rather unusual in char- 

 acter, partly because of its shape, part- 

 ly because of its large size, partly be- 

 cause of the way the ribbon is used, 

 partly because of the massing of 

 bunches of violets, and partly because 

 of the use of palm leaves that, had been 

 sheared. The wreath was even more 

 striking in the original than it appears 

 in the picture and one may rest assured 

 that no matter how many pieces there 

 may be at a funeral, a design of such 

 pronounced individuality as this will 

 stand out to the customer's satisfac- 

 tion. This is the work of George W. 

 Wieuhoeber, of the Fleischman Floral 

 Oo., Chicago. 



'♦MESSENGERS OF SENTIMENT." 



The flowers sold in cities are, on a 

 general average: For funerals, from 

 sixty to sixty-five per cent; for wed- 

 dings, from ten to fifteen per cent; for 

 convalescents, fifteen per cent, and 

 miscellaneous, ten per cent, or twenty- 

 five for miscellaneous including con- 

 valescents. In small towns the gen- 

 eral proportion is about seventy-five 

 per cent for funerals, ten per cent for 

 weddings, ten per cent for sickness and 

 five per cent for miscellaneous. Some- 

 thing is wrong. The question is, why 

 don't the florists work up the miscel- 

 laneous end of their trade? Why don't 

 they encourage people to pay tribute 

 to the living, the well, and the ill, 

 more than the dead? 



Xow, to be a "Live-wire Florist" 

 (see article in The Eeview for May 

 22, page 15), a salesman must be 'up- 

 to-date in all his methods and must 

 use every means within his power to 

 attract buyers. 



Have you ever heard this conversa- 

 tion: 



Florist (to customer): "Would you 

 like to enclose your card?" 



Customer : ' * Why — ah — I haven 't 

 any with me, but couldn't I just write 

 something on a card?" 



Florist : ' ' Certainly. ' ' 



Customer (to himself): "Let me 

 see, what «hall I say? Oh, pshaw! 

 AVell, I guess I '11 just write my name. ' ' 



Many people in the world are full 

 of sentiment, but few can express 

 themselves. And it is the basis of a 

 problem the florist hasn't solved. 



If a florist can anticipate the de- 

 sires of his customers, say, for con- 

 dolence, and hand them a little card 

 on which is printed a few lines deli- 

 cately expressing their sympathy, they 

 will regard that florist as a friend in 

 need, a friend indeed, and patronize 

 him. At Christmas time, when hearts 

 are full but tongues are as slow as 

 ever to express the finer feelings, or at 

 Eastertide, or on Mothers' day, etc., a 

 florist would find himself a popular 

 man if he were able to say to his cus- 

 tomer: "How would you like to enclose 

 one of these cards?" Or if a man is 

 sending a gift of flowers to a young 

 lady, and wants a little more than his 

 card enclosed, say a heartfelt senti- 

 ment, or possibly a not too fond mes- 

 sage, he would be most grateful and 

 become a steady customer if the florist 

 supplied him with dainty or pert senti- 

 ments in verse. 



These are two examples of such 



Wreath of Ma£noIia Leaves Trimmed with Violets and Palm Leaves. 



verses as I have in mind, both short, 

 one for Christmas greeting, and one to 

 be sent to the proud parents of a baby 

 girl: 



I cannot eat my Christmas pudding, 



Nor on tiie turliey feast, 

 Until I've sent tlils little plant 



And a mile of love at least. 



« * * 



Little bunch of pinliness! 



Little new-found pearl! 

 Flowers I send to welcome 



This little baby girl. 



Lucile Eudesill. 



FLOWERS OF THE MONTHS. 



Cut Out and Paste on Wall. 



The following list of flowers of the 

 months was not devised by florists, but 

 by an almanac-maker. It is reprinted 

 here because it frequently is asked 

 for: 



January Snowdrop 



February Primrose 



March Violet 



April Daisy 



May Ila wtliorn 



June Honeysuckle 



July Water lily 



August .> . . . Poppy 



September Morning glory 



October Hops 



November Chrysanthemum 



December IIollv 



VARIEQATED SALVIAS. 



I have a salvia plant which has well 

 defined spots and blotches of white and 

 yellow on the foliage. Its blossoms 

 much resemble those, of Salvia splen- 

 dens. Do you think it is anything rare 

 or uncommon? It is a beautiful plant. 



G.H. 



Variegated salvias such as you de- 

 scribe are not at all uncommon. 



C.W. 



GLADIOLI DYING. 



Under separate cover we are sending 

 you two gladiolus bulbs. We wish you 

 would tell us what is the matter with 

 them. They started to grow nicely, but 

 after a while the growth stopped, and 

 soon they began dying, ten to twenty 

 at a time, so that our gladiolus crop 

 seems to be almost a total loss. We 

 shall appreciate it if you will tell us the 

 cause of the trouble. 



C. G. 



It is common to see occasional bulbs 

 of gladioli dying in this way, but there 

 must be some special cause when so 

 many are lost. Have you planted them 

 on land on which fresh manure was 

 used this season? Nothing could be 

 worse for gladioli. If used in a well 

 decayed form in the fall, the manure 

 would be all right, but as a rule com- 

 mercial fertilizer is the safest food. 

 Possibly your soil may be too acid and 

 may need liming. You can easily dis- 

 cover whether this is so by using blue 

 litmus paper. Moisten some soil, cover 

 both sides of a piece of the paper with 

 it, leave it about forty minutes, then 

 wash away the moist earth carefully. 

 If the paper has turned pink, your soil 

 needs lime. Are you planting deep 

 enough? Set the bulbs at an average 

 depth of six inches and fairly close; 

 then they are not liable to suffer from 

 drought or to be blown over. Even 

 eight or nine inches is not too deep if 

 you want really fine spikes. 



The foregoing are possible reasons 

 for your lack of success, but no,ne of 

 them may just hit your case. I hope, 

 however, that some of the suggestions 

 may prove of value. ^^G\ W. 



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