JOWB 16, 1904. 



The Weekly Florists' Review* 



J 53 



r pENTSTEMONS FOR CUTTING. 



Will pentstemons bloom under glass 

 and bloom as freely as snapdragons! I 

 want scarlet and yellow flowers. The 

 house is very high and we have bright 

 sunshine aU winter. I did well with 

 sweet peas, six feet high and a white 

 sheet of bloom. I thought a scarlet 

 larkspur and lupinus. Any suggestions 

 will be gratefully received. A. C. 



Pentstemons are among the prettiest 

 and most free-flowering of our hardy 

 border perennials where they are hardy. 

 Most of the species are said to be hardy 

 in New York state, but with us they 

 are not and they have to be protected 

 in a cold frame during winter and 

 planted out in spring. They may be 

 grown under glass for cut flowers, yet 

 the writer cannot remember seeing it 

 done. We think they could be flowered 

 quite easily in the early spring months 

 in a light house and a moderate tempera- 

 ture, not over 45 to 50 degrees at night. 

 For the amateur private gardener this 

 may be very interesting, but commer- 

 cially we don't think it would pay. Al- 

 though many of the species are beauti- 

 ful, it would be best to try the large- 

 flowered garden hybrids. It is rather 

 late now to sow the seed, so obtain small 

 plants from a firm which makes a spe- 



Store of L W. Lozier*s Sons, Des Moinest la. _. 



cialty of perennial and herbaceous plants. 

 Plant them out where you can give 

 them water in the hot, dry weather and 

 lift and put on the benches before severe 

 frost. I do not promise this will be as 

 successful as your sweet peas. W. S. 



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PROPER FLORAL DESIGNS. 



What is good taste in this matter and 

 why? How is one to judge new designs 

 and the reason? When a customer asks 

 for your judgment, what would you sug- 

 gest as most appropriate, profitable to 

 you, and at the same time in reasonable 

 keeping with good taste and progress? 

 Why should you discourage the use of cer- 

 tain designs, and urge the use of others? 



The use of flowers at funerals is to 

 suggest the brighter and better side of 

 even these dark events; therefore, use 

 only those arrangeiaents which suggest 

 hopeful and sunny thoughts. Avoid sug- 

 gesting the circumstances of death. Some 

 people in ordering funeral flowers seem 

 to have a morbid desire to remind the 

 family and friends of the manner and 

 details of the sad event. I once knew a 

 thoughtless friend to order a cradle 

 filled with flowers to be sent to a child's 

 funeral. Anyone can imagine the re- 

 sult. Give that emblem the most frequent 

 use which suggests the sweetest, most 

 poetic and restful ideas. 



Among the best designs of this type 

 are the pillow, which is properly the fam- 

 ily piece; the wreath, harp, lyre, heart, 

 t)ook, anchor, cross, only for its adher- 

 «nt8; basket, star, shield, column, cres- 

 cent, the simpler lodge and society em- 

 Diems, urn and numerous styles of loose 

 Clusters. Of course there are others. 

 Among the less desirable are the gates 

 X'' <:*»ai^ sickle, ax, broken wheel, and 



head '%^^^^'' ^«^«'i fo"- °o^' t^« ^^'^ 

 caa. ihe jj^j.jgj. .g ^jj^ ^jjg intricate 



S^"^«a; designs which are to be 

 avoided if possible. 



In discussing the points of a design 

 with a customer strive to attract his at- 

 tention to the beauty of arrangement 

 rather than to excite admiration for odd 

 designs. Educate your customers to ap- 

 preciate the how and why of certain com- 

 binations and arrangements far more 

 than the mere machinery and construc- 

 tion. Take every opportunity to draw 

 their attention to blend of colors and 

 grace of form. Talk up the good points 

 in your design work, as an artist or a 

 sculptor would do. Be a member of the 

 nearest art society, and don't be too 

 bashful about bringing and keeping your 

 own art before the public eye. To put 

 out your design work in the best shape 

 is just as important and practical as to 

 know the latest devices in steam heat- 

 ing. 



The sheaf of wheat, with or without 

 flowers, is a good design to suggest for 

 an elderly person's funeral. Use with a 

 square bow of wide lavender or purple 

 ribbon, tulle or cord, with a bow knot of 

 smilax, or with long-stemmed flowers 

 scattered among the wheat. Sometimes 

 the quantity of flowers to be used with 

 the sheaf is large enough when bunched 

 and laid over the sheaf, to completely 

 hide the wheat. In such a case substi- 

 tute a smaller sized sheaf, bunch the 

 flowers as you would for an ordinary 

 cluster, and tie the sheaf over the stem 

 ends, preferably without ribbon. 



Make it your settled policy to dis- 

 courage the use of any designs, that is 

 designs made on frames, under about $5. 

 Even for that amount your customer will 

 get better value in a cluster of loose 



flowers than in a design, and you will be 

 the gainer in time and temper. 



Designs, except for the better class of 

 funeral work, are now almost entirely dis- 

 carded. In wedding decorations they 

 are usually displaced by a lavish use of 

 green and long-stemmed flowers. If a 

 design is insisted upon, suggest a bell, 

 levers' knot or yoke. Of these three, the 

 first is much the best; the bell is a 

 poetical and suggestive design, or rather 

 a ehistor of bells of different sizes, num- 

 bering about five or seven. Hang as 

 though all were ringing at once, some 

 swinging one way and some another. To 

 be more economical as well as artistic, 

 cover single wire bell frames with tin 

 foil or gold foil and hang them in place 

 as they are. Trail vines and flowers 

 along the suspending wire among the bells 

 and down Jind 3 round the walls and wood- 

 work nearby. Do not attempt to fill a 

 bell solid with flowers under $12 to $15. 



You will be besieged about this time 

 of the year to make mottoes and various 

 impossible emblems for graduating ex- 

 oreises. The average class motto is dif- 

 ficult of reduction to floral art. We do 

 not claim to be able to "hitch your 

 wagon to a star," or launch the inno- 

 cents on life 's sea, all with flowers. They 

 will be just as well off a week hence if 

 you persuade them to accept a stage set- 

 ting of palms and roses arranged in 

 keeping with the present state of civiliza- 

 tion. Gertrude Blair. 



SPANISH IRIS. 



I have read your article relating to the 

 forcing of the iris of Spain in the first 

 days of the second ^alf of May, the bulbs 

 being planted in October. I would be 

 very much obliged to you if you would 

 give me the following information. At 

 which time of the year is it convenient 

 to cover the bulbs with fertilizer? The 

 leaves are already out of the earth here 

 in November and do not fear the winter. 

 I would like to obtain flowers of iris as 

 early as possible in April. Which are 

 among the best varieties with white flow- 

 ers and blue flowers? You would oblige 

 me very much by giving me the most 

 explicit information on the operation to 

 obtain that result. France. 



Although kindly translated by the 

 French consul at Chicago I yet had diflS- 

 culty in fully making out the specific 



