12 



The Florists^ Review 



October 36, 1913. 



New Store of the R. C Kerr Floral Co., Houston, Tex. 



The more simple the background the 

 better. The foreground is the place to 

 put the flowers and plants, but limit 

 the number of varieties you show; here 

 again, the fewer the better. The mogt 

 effective way is to show the flower you 

 want to feature, or the flower of the 

 season. Just now it is well to build 

 the whole display to show off your 

 chrysanthemums. At other times, how- 

 ever, roses or carnations might as ef- 

 fectively be made the point of the 

 decoration. 



It must always be remembered, how- 

 ever, that some things are not to be 

 attempted. For instance, one cannot 

 well show a dinner table decoration 

 in a window, no matter what a mas- 

 terpiece he might devise, for such a 

 decoration is necessarily flat, while the 

 first page in the decorator's primer 

 says that a window display must al- 

 ways stand up. This will not at all 

 hinder many other displays fully as 

 effective as a decoration and far more 

 powerful as money-bringers. 



this a mass of flowers and plants; in 

 other words we are patterning some- 

 what after the famous Fifth avenue 

 flower shop, and we believe by spring 

 we will have the most beautiful corner 

 of flowers in the United States. ' ' 



KEBB'S NEW STOBE. 



During the summer many florists 

 from New York to Minneapolis were 

 called on by Robert C. Kerr and wife, 

 of Houston, who were posting them- 

 selves on the latest wrinkles in flower 

 store equipment. The results of their 

 trips are embodied in the new store, 

 corner of Main and McKinney streets, 

 in Houston, which was opened October 

 11. They had a formal opening from 4 

 to 10 p. m., giving carnations, roses 

 and ferns as souvenirs. Twenty-five 

 hundred people attended between those 

 hours. ' ' We consider it quite a suc- 



cess, " said Mr. Kerr. 



• A formal 



opening in the flower business is a 

 new departure in Houston. We felt a 

 little shaky at first, as we did not know 

 whether the people cared so much about 

 the opening of a flower shop and we 

 figured that we would have about 1,000 

 people visit our store. You can 

 imagine our predicament when we had 

 to take care of 2,.500, but as we had 

 quite a surplus of plants every lady 

 who came in the store was given a 

 souvenir. 



"The interior of the store is finished 

 in white, all fixtures being white 

 enameled. The building is two stories | 

 high and by spring we hope to make 



THE POMPON SEASON. 



From all parts of the country comes 

 the report that the pompon and single 

 chrysanthemums are being more heavily 

 grown this year than ever before and 

 that the supply in the wholesale markets 

 does or will far exceed last year. There 

 does not seem to be any decrease in 

 their popularity. It is true that some 

 of the high class stores say their ex- 

 clusive trade has not taken to them 

 with the same eagerness as when they 

 were more of a novelty, but it seems 

 to be quite otherwise in the stores 

 where boxes and bunches of loose cut 



flowers are largely sold. The little 

 mums are popular and they can be sold 

 in great quantity now that the prices 

 are where the average flower buyer can 

 take hold. The retailer who neglects 

 the pompons and singles is missing an 

 opportunity. 



The big, fancy mums that had to be 

 retailed at $10 per dozen are not so 

 much in favor as they were a few years 

 ago. While the stores that have 

 wealthy trade still have use for an 

 occasional dozen of the flowers that 

 sell at from $4 to $6 at wholesale, the 

 bulk of the business even in the best 

 stores is on blooms that sell at retail 

 at from $2 to $5 per dozen. The re- 

 tailers feel that the growers can make 

 just as much money growing this grade 

 of stock, two or three blooms to the 

 plant, as they ever were able to make 

 growing larger flowers on single- 

 stemmed plants. 



NEW QBEEN FOB BETAILEBS. 



I am sending a sample of myrtle, of 

 which I wish to know the botanical 

 name. I have shipped some to Fleisch- 

 man and Mangel, well known retailers 

 at Chicago, and I am of the opinion 

 that if it were used in place of box- 

 wood the effect would be beautiful on 

 account of its gracefulness. What do 

 you think of it? S. A. S. 



The plant is Leiophyllum buxifolium, 

 sand myrtle, also called dendrium. This 

 is a pretty little shrub, like box in ap- 

 pearance, which might prove a useful 

 addition to the evergreens used in dec- 

 orative work. While admitting that 

 this will make a desirable evergreen for 

 the purpose named, I cannot but regret 

 that so beautiful a little ground-cover 

 plant is threatened with mutilation, or 

 maybe, in the near future, something 

 akin to extermination. C. W. 



Jackson, Tenn. — Frank Monroe suc- 

 ceeds F. A. Byrne as the manager of 

 T. L. Metcalfe's establishment here. 



The Litlle Mums Have Become Wonderfully Popular. 



