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July 7, 1904. 



The Weekly Florists' Review* 



295 



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BEGINNINGS 



IN DESIGN... 



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THE HARP. 



A Large Piece Loosely Trimmed. 



This frame is lined and filled and cov- 

 ered like the one in our last study. The 

 strings are bronzed before any of the 

 flowers or green are put in. The cutting 

 of the second string may be done at any 

 time before or after the piece is finished 

 by snipping with heavy nippers. After 

 covering the frame with the usual green 

 background, trail smilax from the right 

 hand corner of the scroll which forms 

 the top of the frame, around all the out- 

 side edge to the base, excepting the up- 

 right column which forms the right hand 

 side of the harp. A new feature of this 

 design is the heavy lining of the lower 

 edge of the top. The material is white 

 carnations. Why this is done on this par- 

 ticular part of the harp, rather than on 

 any other, is that this is the thickest 

 and most massive part of the pieca. The 

 background of the entire piece is of Lord 

 Beaconsfield pansies. Stem these singly 

 on half picks, observing the same general 

 directions for stemming as have been 

 given for roses. Set the pick about half 

 an inch below the flower. You will find 

 it convenient to have some fine wire cut 

 in about 4-inch lengths for stemming 

 flowers of this size. Fill the right 

 standard of the piece solid with the pan- 

 sies on three sides of the frame, front 

 and two edges. Extend this background 

 down well onto the base to make a higher 

 effect and thus lend a stately air to the 

 piece. Cover the front and inside edge 

 of the opposite side of the piece and the 

 front of the top with the same back- 

 ground of pansies. This finished, you 

 have so far a harp of blue pansies with 

 a lining of white under the top. This is 

 the harp proper. The base should have 

 only the plain green background. 



The Trimming. 



According to the principle for cutting 

 and stemming roses discussed previously, 

 prepare Bride roses for the top cluster, 

 the left side and the base. Select the 

 larger and more fully blown for the 

 thick part of the scroll which forms the 

 top of the harp. Set them in rather close- 

 ly, allowing two or three to straggle 

 downward over the pansy background of 

 the right standard. Just where this clus- 

 ter is, is the heaviest part of the piece, 

 except the base. Develop this proportion 

 by bulking the cluster right at this point, 

 and gradually thinning the spray as it 

 turns upward to the left and then falls 

 to the slender part toward the left end 

 of the top, where the frame is narrow 

 enough to admit of but a single line of 

 buds. Considerable care will be needed 

 at the thick part of the cluster to turn 

 the roses both ways. 



Leaving a perceptible interval between 

 the tip of the top cluster and rhe start 

 of the cluster which trims the !oft side, 

 follow the proportion and dirwtion of 

 the left side of the frame with a cluster 

 to suit. This second cluster droops, but 



does not cover the entire background of 

 the left side. It ends rather more ab- 

 ruptly at the bottom than the top clus- 

 ter, and is not so marked in its char- 

 acter. The upper tip of this cluster was 

 composed of cape jasmine. A third 

 cluster takes its source at the base and 

 completes the rose trimming of the piece. 

 The lower portion of it is set in rather 

 closely on the base, and about a half 

 dozen of long, unequal length stems train 

 up toward the cluster on the left side 

 above, while the longest and most grace- 

 ful rose of all is pinned against the in- 

 side of the right standard nnd falls 



the cyperus leaves singly on whole picks 

 inside the lower ends of the stems, and 

 the marguerites in groups of from three 

 to five or six on a pick. Select various 

 length stems for each group. Scatter 

 them from the extreme right of the base 

 through among the roses and the strings 

 of the harp. Where there is as good 

 a support as the harp string, seize the 

 opportunity to wire them to the support 

 somewhere behind a leaf where the tie 

 cannot show. Intensify the color effect 

 by planting a group of the daisies against 

 the lower end of the pansy standard. 

 Do not be over-anxious to display a full 

 front view of every flower, but let one 

 here and there be modestly disappear- 

 ing. Insert from the rear of the base 

 two or three more long cyperus leaves, 

 so that they will appear in perspective 

 behind the strings. This will add depth 

 and distance effect so often lacking in 

 floral designs. 



If any difficulty occurs in holding such 

 trimming as the cyperus leaves and the 

 marguerites in place, guy them to the 

 frame with a single strand of No. 36 



The Harp. 



loosely in between the strings. To either 

 side of the base are attached two or three 

 drooping roses falling according to their 

 own sweet will. 



The Base. 



To balance the heavy appearance of 

 the slanting standard, start a group of 

 lines to the right of the base, springing 

 from it. Long stemmed cyperus leaves 

 and clusters of marguerites with foliage 

 and buds servo this purpose well. Stem 



wire. A few feet away this can never 

 be seen. 



Have the harp strings as fine as pos- 

 sible. This is the reason the bronzed 

 wire is to be preferred to strands of 

 green. 



An Important Requirement. 



One of the most important require- 

 ments of a good floral design is a uni- 

 form background which conforms strict- 

 ly to the outline of the piece. One of 



