56 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



June 2, 1904. 



no connection, don't attempt to com- 

 bine them. If you have a dozen colors 

 and can thoroughly establish the har- 

 mony, use them all, the critics to the 

 contrary notwithstanding. Of course, 

 common sense and the everlasting fitness 

 of things must be given due considera- 

 tion, but don 't be afraid to do and dare 

 what you have seen nobody else do. 



To Tone Down Brilliant Color. 



Once upon a time we had an order 

 for a large standing cross, to be made 

 solid of dark crimson carnations, for the 

 funeral of an elderly man. Fortune 

 failed us in our efforts to get the right 

 color, and we were compelled to use 

 brilliant rose pink carnations. In order 

 to subdue the holiday appearance of the 

 design a veil of adiantums was thrown 

 over the entire piece. The effect was 

 soft and rich. Such flowers as Steyia 

 serrata, and other fine-cut, spray-like 

 racemes and panicles, are useful for just 

 such finishing touches. Elderberry blos- 

 soms and flowers of such nature and ap- 

 pearance are very desirable for this pur- 

 pose. 



How to Proportion Color. 



Above all things, avoid using equal 

 quantities of different colors together. 

 Make the proportions as unequal as pos- 

 sible. Have one color very much in ex- 

 cess, another one quite noticeable and 

 others barely suggested. To illustrate 

 this, take up almost any flower at hand. 

 Suppose it is a Bridesmaid rose. You 

 will find pink, yellow, green and pos- 

 sibly faint streaks of red in it, distrib- 

 uted in about this order: Very much pink, 

 blotches of yellow at the base of the 

 petals, relieved by a little green, and be- 

 traying the faintest traces of red along 

 the veins here and there. Almost any 

 other flower will follow out a distribu- 

 tion of color similar to this. Some will 

 have fewer colors, but more will have 

 many colors in irregular proportions. 



The Use of YeUow. 



There is one color common in some 

 form to every flower that has come under 

 my observation. That color is yellow. 

 We are too shy of its use with other 

 colors. Of course any yellow cannot be 

 used everywhere, nor can we find easily 

 yellows in common cultivation which may 

 be used correctly with the other ordi- 

 nary flower?. To find the yellow which 

 you desire to use with any one flower 

 examine the stamens or pistil found in 

 that flower. With a crimson rose like 

 the Liberty or Meteor there is a soft, 

 subdued, old gold yellow as seen in the 

 floral organs. If you do not find yellow 

 in these parts or in plain sight on the 

 petals or sepals, look down around the 

 base of the petals or in the markings 

 of some obscure part of the flowei. 

 Wherever found, the yellow which blends 

 most closely with the flower's own yel- 

 low is the best one to combine with it. 



Yellow sheds the most light of any 

 color. Therefore, if you wish to brighten 

 a dark corner, use masses of yellow. To 

 have a yellow of any character at night, 

 select a deep color, as artificial hj 

 pales most yellows. 



Much confusion results from different 

 ideas of one color name. Very few peo- 

 ple have the same idea of what any one 

 color term means, for instance, scarlet 

 or crimson. About the simplest and 

 easiest way to convey color meaning is 

 to describe a color by a variety of plant 

 or flower well known to the trade, as, for 



example, everybody who knows the 

 Crane carnation, or America, can get a 

 good conception of what scarlet is, an.l 

 can see crimson most easily by looking 

 at a Liberty or Meteor rose. Be care- 

 ful never to confuse these two reds. 

 Scarlet and pink, however, delicate, must 

 never be used together, but crimson and 

 pink, as referred to above, make an ex- 

 cellent combination. There are varia- 

 tions and combinations which by and 

 by your eye will refuse, and gradually 

 your sense of color will develop, and 

 combinations in which you formerly 

 could see no fault will begin to be of- 

 fensive, while new creations of color 

 will continually occur to you. In all. 

 you will find it a most fascinating and 

 profitable study. Gertrude Blair. 



THE BEDDING PLANT TRADE. 



The season for spring bedding ordin- 

 arily closes with Memorial day, but the 

 lateness of spring has this year re- 

 tarded outdoor work to such an extent 

 that in many sections it has little more 

 than begun and everywhere coni^idera- 

 ble work yet remains to be done. Re- 

 ports from all over the country are 

 unanimous in saying that the season 

 has been one of the best on record; 



larger quantities of stock are being 

 used than ever before and at prices at 

 which there can be little complaint. 

 There is, of course, poor sale for rank 

 and scraggly geraniums, but well- 

 grown stock of the better bedding varie- 

 ties is moving rapidly everywhere. Al- 

 though the cry has often been made 

 that the vinca is being used too uni- 

 versally and that something should be 

 offered for variety, yet the people still 

 want the vinca, as is attested by the 

 fact that stocks of it were quickly 

 cleaned up in most places, and those 

 who have a surplus are finding a very 

 ready market through the medium of 

 the advertising columns of the Review. 

 Pansies have sold finely too and there 

 is a sale for every surplus lot. Al- 

 though the season is not yet at its end, 

 there are many sections of the coun- 

 try in which some, or several, items of 

 necessary stock are already exhausted. 

 Those who have worked up such large 

 supplies that they may feel some doubt 

 as to their ability to retail all their 

 stock, should take advantage of the op- 

 portunity to find a buyer for their sur- 

 plus before the season is too far ad- 

 vanced. Advertising in the Review will 

 find a Duyer for all kinds of good stock 

 offered at a reasonable price. 



Decoration Day. 



This is Decoration day and others are 

 doing the work. The earth, the trees and 

 the little carnation plants, recently put 

 into the field are being decorated and re- 

 freshed by a gentle rain. Perhaps it is 

 only local. We hope so, for welcome as 

 is this warm rain it will disappoint mil- 

 lions who looked forward to the day and 

 make a damp march for the fast dwin- 

 dling ranks of the heroes of Gettysburg 

 and Antietam. 



We have been cutting a fine lot of lilac 

 blooms from young bushes three to five 

 feet high ; that is their pruning. And be- 

 sides the lilac there are the snowballs. 

 Pyrus Japonica, forsythea and African 

 tamarix will soon be out of flower and 

 if you have large bushes and want to 

 keep them from occupying more space 

 now is the time to shorten back the 

 growths that bore the flowers. In the 

 case of the tamarix cut them right down 

 as you would a willow. The strong 

 growth they quickly make is most 

 ornamental. If not cut down they 

 soon become bare, straggling, unsightly 

 bushes. 



Begonias. 



The very important winter plant. Be- 

 gonia Gloire de Lorraine, will soon be 

 needing close attention. Those plants 

 propagated from leaves last winter, as 

 well as the plants that you reserved for 

 stock. Will begin to grow actively the com- 

 ing month. Little plants with two or 

 three shoots will make very large plants 

 for next winter. Old plants sending up 

 young growths will give you cuttings 

 that, if propagated, will make most use- 

 ful plants. This beautiful begonia, as is 

 well known, is a true hybrid. It is a cross 



between two species. If not a direct 

 cross between two species, then varieties 

 of two species, and that is why it is pe- 

 culiar and difficult to manage. It does 

 not enjoy our hot summer, as is proved 

 by its making its most rapid and vigor- 

 ous growth after the middle of Septem- 

 ber on to New Year's. 



With the exception of the Rex bego- 

 nias, to propagate which by the leaf it is 

 necessary, in the fall months, to have a 

 good bottom heat in the sand, all the be- 

 gonias root well in the summer months 

 without any fire heat. Keep them shaded 

 during the day and moderately moist in 

 the sand and Gloire de Lorraine and all 

 the other begonias will root freely. 



This is an opportune moment to speak 

 of the condition of the propagating bed, 

 for it is by no means out of use just now. 

 When the chrysanthemum renaissance be- 

 gan some fifteen years ago we thought it 

 necessary, in propagating them in June 

 or July, and for which there are several 

 uses, that we must put up a mild hot-bed 

 in which to strike them. We did not know 

 then that the chrysanthemum, as well as 

 the poinsettia, would root in the sand in 

 the propagating bench as well, if not as 

 quickly, in July as in March, if you 

 only keep them soaked and shaded from 

 bright sunshine. By soaked I mean a 

 thorough watering of the sand morning 

 and evening on every warm, bright day 

 and every morning whatever the weather. 



To return to the begonias, not only is 

 this a time to begin active work on the 

 Lorraine, but on the many species and 

 varieties which can be almost called 

 shrubby. Metallica we will take as a 

 type and the varieties and forms are now 

 without number. They are not a very 

 important class of plants, either as cut 



