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March 16, 1005. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



939 



Dinner Table with Three Baskets of Carnations as the Principal Floral Feature. 



or two days' journey necessary to get 

 them. 



The decorative features of the flower 

 did not count for much until the long- 

 stemmed hybrids made their appearance. 

 The advent of Ernst Asmus's Glory of 

 Paris (Auna de Diesbach) made a great 

 sensation. This was followed by Ulrich 

 Brunner and Mrs. John Laing. Then 

 came the new teas, Catherine Mermet, 

 followed by Bride and Bridesmaid. 



It was, however, that queen of roses, 

 the American Beauty, introduced to the 

 public by the Field Bros., of Washing- 

 ton, that placed the rose in the van as 

 a decorative flower. Now no important 

 decoration appears complete without a 

 liberal representation of this variety to 

 add dignity to the occasion. 



Fashion in Use of Flowers. 



To a certain degree dame fashion must 

 be reckoned with in floral art, as there 

 are fashions in flowers and floral devices, 

 the same as in dress. Peter Henderson's 

 book on the art of bouquet making and 

 the general arrangement of cut flowers 

 was the recognized authority of his peri- 

 od. The close, compact form, presenting 

 solid masses of flowers, without foliage, 

 was then the fashion and the details of 

 arrangement are minutely described in 

 this work. Since then with the great 

 strides made in the cultivation of flowers 

 and the production of long-stemmed blos- 

 soms, the styles have changed, the close, 

 formal designs have been succeeded by 

 the more graceful and natural arrange- 

 ments that display the beauty of stem 

 and foliage as well as flower. 



In the gnrden dame nature arran:res 

 her flowers in the most beautiful man- 

 ner conceivable. The branches of the 

 climbers bond over gracefully with their 

 wealth of bloom, all, even the smallest 

 blossom, uniting into a perfect whole; 

 while the bush varieties throw up their 

 single buds or clusters that stand from 

 out their wealth of foliage in perfect 

 symmetry. Such effects can be produced 

 in the ball room or elaborate house func- 

 tions, the growing rose being simulated 

 and made to climb in any direction and 

 when covered with blossoms makes a cap- 

 ital counterfeit and beautiful decoration. 



The Many Uses of Roses. 



For the wedding, that most joyful 



time of life, there is no flower that more 

 fittingly graces the occasion than the 

 rose. In the church, the altar, the chan- 

 cel, the windows, the pew ends, in fact, 

 at every available point there should be 

 seen this most beautiful flower. The 

 bride and her maids should carry them 

 and, under a bower, surrounded on every 

 hand by beautiful roses, she should stand 

 to receive the good wishes of her guests. 



The beautiful custom of greeting the 

 debutante upon lier entrance into soci- 

 ety with the choicest flowers has grown 

 into promincuoe the past decade and of- 

 fers grear opportunities for the artist. 

 Probably no other occasion brings to- 

 gether such an assortment of flowers as 

 are to be tound among the hundreds of 

 clusters that grace the receptions of the 

 popular young buds. The rose is also 

 found in the front ranks here, as seventy- 

 five per cent of the bouquets are sure to 

 be of our favorite flower. 



The arrangement of flowers for the 

 dining table is an art in itself and the 

 rose easily leads in popularity for this 

 purpose. The formal plateau, or mound, 

 has given place to the more graceful 

 arrangement in low bowls below, or high 

 receptacles thai; carry the flowers above, 

 the line of vision. When loosely ar- 

 ranged in such vases all the beauty and 

 grace of the flower are brought out. They 

 should not he so crowded as to lose their 

 individuality, but enough should be used 

 to get the color effect, and their quality 

 and freshness should always be such as 

 to leave nothing to be desired. 



Tall vases of long-stemmed American 

 Beauties are still very popular, and cer- 

 tainly the most effective of all roses, 

 whether used in groups of palms, on the 

 banquet table, or in other of the many 

 places that seem ideal for them, and for 

 which there seem* to be almost no sub- 

 stitute. 



The use of flowers to carry, the voice 

 of condolence to bereaved ones is a beau- 

 tiful custom, and one, let us liope. that 

 will never die out. It can hardly be 

 classed as decorative art, yet for those 

 who have the flnal disposition of flow- 

 ers as they are placed before the public 

 today, it is a very important branch of 

 the business, and as much care and at- 

 tention must be given, and as skillful 

 treatment in the arrangement, as for 

 any other o^asiun^_H«*e,-as-<4sewhCTF7"+"^ 



simplicity has asserted itself, and the 

 cluster of long-stemmed roses and the 

 wreath, the least formal of all designs, 

 are fast growing in popularity. 



The Rose in Roman History. 



If we can believe the accounts of the 

 extravagant use of roses thousands of 

 years ago, and they appear to be authen- 

 tic, our most extensive decorations art' 

 as nothing when compared to these elab- 

 orate displays, as much as $100,000 hav- 

 ing been spent by Nero for roses for 

 one entertainment. What they sold for 

 by the dozen may be conjectured from 

 the following, copied from Mr. Parsons' 

 book on ' ' The Eose, ' ' published in 1847 : 



If the Egyptians cultivated roses for trans- 

 portation to Rome during the winter, thev must 

 have had very extensive plantations for the pur- 

 pose. ^ 



The exportation could not have been of loose 

 flowers or they would have withered long be- 

 fore the termination of the voyage Neither 

 could It have been of rooted plants in a dor- 

 mant state, as nurserymen now send them to 

 every part of the world, because the Itomiins 

 had at that time no means of causing tliem to 

 vegetate and bloom in the winter. On the con 

 trary. the cultivators at Alexandria and Mem- 

 phis must of necessity have sent them awav 

 in the vases and boxes in which tliev hail 

 planted them with that object, and when they 

 were Just beginning to break from the bud 

 in order that they might arrive In Home at the 

 moment they commenced expanding. 

 , -'^t that remote period, when navigation was 

 far behind Its present state of perfection the 

 voyage from the mouth of the Nile to the 

 coast of Italy occupied more than twenty davs 

 When this long voyage Is considered, and also 

 the quantity of roses required by the Romans 

 to enwreath their crowns and garlands, to 

 cover their tables and couches and the pave- 

 ments of their festive halls and to surround 

 the urns which contained the ashes of their 

 dead. It Is evident that the Egyptians wlio 

 traded in roses In order to satisfy the prodi- 

 gality of the Romans would be compelled to 

 keep In readiness a certain number of vessels 

 to be laden with boxes or vases of rose plants 

 so prepared as not to bloom before their dellv- 

 er.v at Rome. 



The cost of roses thus delivered in Rome 

 must have been Immense, but we do not And 

 a single passage in ancient authors which ciin 

 give any light on this point: thev only tell 

 us that nothing for the gratification of luxury 

 was considered too costly for the wealthy 

 Roman citizen. 



What would rose bushes in bud, such 

 as we know them today, look like after 

 a three weeks' journey by seal They 

 must have been impregnated with the 

 same blood as Burbank's fadeless flow- 

 er; in fact we are led to wonder if the 

 roses of that day were roses at all, or 

 at least sn<'h as we know them now. 



It appears to have been the custom at 



nTlJartTeularly'for dinners, and all so- 



