

^38 



The Weekly Florists* Review* 



Mahch 16, 1905. 



substance and color of bloom, and this 

 is about true of our tea and all other 

 roses. If you can see the flower truss, 

 then five weeks is plenty of time. If 

 not visible at this time they will want 

 some boosting in the way of heat. 



These Bamblers should be properly 

 tied or trained to stakes before growth is 

 started, but if there are any naked places 

 or gaps in their make-up, it is not too 

 late to adjust a growth to improve the 

 shape. There is time yet to grow out 

 of man's formal shaping into nature's 

 form and grace, which man cannot imi- 

 tate, with all his skill and dexterity. 



The greatest menace to the Eamblers 

 now is mildew. Under anything like 

 good care there is little danger, but when 

 they do get mildew, they get it badly. 

 A chill will cause it; so will neglect of 

 ventilation some fine, sunny morning 

 and the house goes up to the century 



mark; and so will a severe dryness of 

 the roots. These neglects do not occur 

 in well regulated families, but they are 

 not all well regulated. 



Hybrid Roses. 



The hybrid perpetual roses in pots, if 

 well grown and flowered, will always sell. 

 There are, perhaps, millions annually 

 forced for Easter, but seldom well 

 grown. American Beauty is one of the 

 very best for this purpose, but I am not 

 on that side of the subject now. These 

 should not have over 55 degrees at any 

 time and if you can see that they are 

 now about to form buds you will be in 

 time. No skill can get a plant of H. P. 

 roses to have all its flowers in the same 

 stage of growth, but let its first blossoms 

 be opening when offered for sale. It is 

 the flowers to come that sell the plant. 

 William Scott. 



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THE RETAIL 



FLORIST 



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A BASKET DECORATION. 



The accompanying reproduction of a 

 photograph shows a luncheon table 

 decorated by a group of three baskets. 

 The table is oblong, with covers for 

 nineteen guests. The central point in 

 the scheme is a round, low basket in 

 straw color and green, filled with 

 Enchantress carnations, violets and As- 

 paragus plumosus. Connected with the 

 center basket by slender sprays of 

 smilax at either end are small baskets 

 of the same style and garniture. 



To get down to details, in filling of 

 center basket with sphagnum, after 

 lining with tin foil to prevent a sus- 

 picion of dampness from soiling the 

 cloth underneath, leave a slight hol- 

 low in the center, and push the moss 

 filling perceptibly toward the edge of 

 the basket. Tie the sphagnum in with 

 a few cross wrappings of green thread 

 and cover the top with a light mat of 

 wood ferns. Wrap the handle with 

 soft, dark olive satin ribbon, without 

 bows. Cut and stem Enchantress car- 

 nations, the stems shortened to from 

 four to six inches, enough to fill in the 

 body of the basket generously, allow- 

 ing freedom to those on the outer edge 

 to lean out naturally. 



In spite of the shortened stems, 

 many of the heavy flowers in the body 

 of the basket will droop too much. To 

 support them easily without the labor 

 of wiring, set in thickly like bristles, 

 stubs of stems, three or four inches 

 long, with the foliage, which have 

 been cut away from the lower ends of 

 tlie long carnations. This will not 

 only support the flowers and allow 

 them a natural swing, which wiring 

 cannot do, but will add the natural 

 foliage effect so often lacking in carna- 

 tion arrangements. The reason for the 

 depression in the sphagnum filling will 

 appear as the work of inserting the 

 flowers progresses. One often sees a 

 basket filling pyramidal in the center, 

 which is decidedly strained and un- 

 natural. . The opposite treatment 



throws a few flowers in toward each 

 other and also concentrates the color, 

 producing a gradation of shade to 

 tint from center to edge. 



Select two dozen most graceful and 

 long-stemmed of the Enchantress and 

 start a cluster as shown, up over the 

 handle from one side. Wire in two 

 or three places around the handle to 

 retain in the position they naturally 

 take. The delicate tint of the En- 

 chantress on the dark green ribbon is 

 pleasing and restful. 



Set a deep fringe of Asparagus 

 plumosus in short sprays around the 

 edge of the basket. No stemming is 

 needed; the wiry stems will run 

 into the moss and hold themselves in 

 place. Against the asparagus fringe 

 as a background set in clusters of 

 violets stemmed in groups of six to 

 twelve. Here and there they will be 

 thrown against the tint of pink in the 

 carnations and be thrown out in relief. 



The design of the smaller baskets is 

 more plainly shown in the one on the 

 right. Prepare the basket as was done 

 for the larger one, except instead of 

 covering the sphagnum with ferns use 

 Asparagus plumosus, not upright, but 

 set down into the moss so far that only 

 the foliage is visible. This makes a 

 soft bed over the sphagnum. Instead 

 of inserting the carnations upright in 

 the basket, stem at various lengths 

 from four to twelve inches and insert 

 horizontally from the center toward 

 one end of the basket, the longer ones 

 falling far out past the end of the 

 basket. Then stem some carnation 

 stems and insert in the same way at 

 the center of the basket toward the 

 opposite end. When complete the de- 

 sign will appear to be a cluster of long 

 stemmed carnations laid in the basket 

 lengthwise. Tie a small cluster of 

 violets on one side of the handle 

 toward the top, with a smart butter- 

 fly bow of dotted light pink florists' 

 chiffon. Set in a cluster of violets at 

 the base of the handle opposite. Work 

 in a few carnation buds among the 



carnation flowers. Turn two or three 

 carnations backward from the general 

 direction of the cluster over the stems. 



After placing the baskets on the 

 table, start a light garland of smilax 

 from a point about one-third of the dis- 

 tance up the handle of the large basket 

 on either side, downward across the 

 cloth in a curved line toward each of 

 the smaller baskets. Let the tip end 

 easily reach and touch the base of a 

 small basket. From the same source 

 trail two or three other light garlands 

 of smilax to either side of the small 

 baskets, touching the points where the 

 candlesticks are placed, or at some 

 other convenient point. Under the 

 two outside smilax sprays, starting 

 with them from the large basket, trail 

 a 2-yard wavy length of the dotted 

 pink chiffon to match the bows on the 

 small baskets. This is distinctly shown 

 between the foreground candlesticks 

 and the baskets. 



As should be always observed, favors 

 to match some portion of the center- 

 piece here take the form of bunches of 

 violets tied closely up under the heads of 

 the flowers with brisk bows of the 

 pink chiffon. Candle shades in pink 

 are used to blend with the dominant 

 color. Gkrtbude Blair. 



THE ROSE IN DECORATIVE ART. 



[A paper by Robert Kift, of Phtladelpbta, 

 read before the New York Florists' Club, Marcli 

 13, 1905.] 



When vlamo nature stirs in the early 

 spring and arouses into life the snow- 

 drops anil crocuses, which in turn are 

 followed by their more pretentious kins- 

 men, the gnudy tulips, the daffodils and 

 stately hyacinths, she pauses awhile to 

 admire and then actively and vigorously 

 her work goes on, until the whole land- 

 scape is pictured with her beautiful art. 

 But still she presses forward not satis- 

 fied, until at last the crowning glory of 

 her work appears, the rose, the queen, of 

 flowers. 



It is her masterpiece. She has en- 

 dowed it with every virtue, it is most 

 beautiful in form, it has almost all the 

 colors of the rainbow, while its fra- 

 grance is most delightful. She guards 

 it carefully, providing even an armor of 

 thorns to protect it. 



'Tls sweet to dare the tangled fence 

 To cull the timid floweret Uience. 



Such is a brief description of the 



flower we honor tonight. 



The Rose of Commerce. 



Almost the entire history of the roses 

 of commerce, as we know them today, 

 covers but the short period since 1870. 

 Prior to that time the camellia was the 

 favored flower, and choice blossoms 

 brought fabulous prices. As soon, how- 

 ever, as the rose made its appearance 

 the camellia was doomed. Bon Silene, 

 Safrano, Marechal Niel and Lamarque, 

 small and insignificant as, with the ex- 

 ception of the Marechal Niel, they ap- 

 peared, thoy soon relegated the old fa- 

 vorite to Lhe blackground'and^'finally to 

 oblivion. 



How I remember the weary hunt in 

 the early eighties from one greenhouse 

 to another over the Hoboken hills, gath- 

 ering in a few Bon Silene and Safrano 

 here and there, and possibly a few 

 Jacques, which were then being forced 

 in small quantities but which soon took 

 the lead as the most popular rose. Two 

 hundred or 300 buds were then considered 

 a large stock and well worth the one 



