■■• .-^rl'' ^•■■•■ 



: ^Ty^-^^.-r-7f-*f-^^'' 



. vtv^^^ff'^ 'Vt y ■ 



1130 



The Weekly Florists' Reviewi' 



Afbil 6, 1905. 



light soil helped them out as regards 

 this kind of treatment, as I surely would 

 not now advise one to give them such 

 damp treatment, under any and all cir- 

 cumstances, as thdse received. However, 

 as I said in the beginning, if I had such 

 a place that I wished to put violets, I 

 should not hesitate to try them. 



We then grew Marie Louise, as it was 

 before the day of the Imperial. We 

 also grew some fine pansies under these 

 same conditions, also mignonette, only 

 the latter did not have suflSeient head 



room to grow it perfectly, although it 

 liked the situation all right. I should 

 say there were no openings between the 

 rose house and the violet frame except 

 the doorways, but there were no doors, 

 so that they were always open. But 

 being so low down, there was not muck 

 heat from the rose house, and the sash 

 were not lifted for ventilation until late 

 in the season, as the steam was all shut 

 off during the day and the door open- 

 ings gave sufficient air for ventilation. 

 B. E. Shuphelt. 



A SIMPLE BASKET CENTER-PIECE. 



The Color Scheme. 



The basket selected for this piece was 

 low and round, without a base, to be used 

 on a round table. It was of braid in 

 natural straw color and green. The 

 view is taken looking down upon the 

 basket and the result was to partially 

 shorten the handle, which is circular in 

 form, to harmonize with the shape of 

 the basket itself. 



The material chosen for filling is 

 Bridesmaid roses, with a touch in white 

 and yellow in the Chinese lilies and Paper 

 White narcissi. The proportion of color- 

 ing is therefore pink largely in excess 

 of the yellow. Green comes in second in 

 quantity. Some such proportioning of 

 color is far the most attractive in any 

 floral design, because it is decided and 

 strong with the addition of a delicate 

 suggestion. The coloring can also be 

 termed correct according to the princi- 

 ples laid down more than once in these 

 pages; namely, that two colors to be har- 

 monious must have some one color or 

 element of coloring in common. In these 

 three flowers there is to be found a 

 strain of yellow not difficult to trace 

 through the yellow streaks in the petals 

 of the rose, "through the yellow cup of 

 the Chinese lily and in the stamens of 

 the Paper White narcissi. 



FiUing the Basket. 



This is a good style for beginners, hav- 

 ing the design perfectly simple in the 

 body of the basket and the easy garland 

 over the handle. The first step in prepa- 

 ration is to line the empty basket with 

 one layer of tin foil or oil tissue paper 

 up to within an inch of the top edge of 

 the basket inside. Soak sphagnum for 

 half an hour or so. Wring out in hand- 

 fuls so dry that no water can drip from 

 it. Lighten and separate the moss par- 

 tially and make a firm, but not hard bed 

 in the body of the basket. Hollow out 

 a space in the center of the moss filling 

 the shape of a shallow basin two or three 

 inches deep. Slope gradually up to the 

 edge of the basket. Thread a coarse 

 needle with strong green^ thread and se- 

 cure the moss in place ^ith a few long 

 stitches from opposite sides of the 

 basket. Lay damp wood ferns flat on top 

 of the moss until the same is covered 

 with a green mat. Sheet moss, if ob- 

 tainable, serves the same purpose of a 

 soft neat background. 



Cut the stems of as many roses as is 

 judged will fill the basket after this 

 style, into lengths of from six to eight 

 inches. Cut between joints, and leave 

 all the foliage on above the cut. Place 

 a stemmed pick against the lower end of 

 the stem, so that the middle of the pick 

 is alongside of the end. The wire at- 

 tached to the upper end of the pick is 

 wrapped tightly around the stem down- 

 ward until the wire has wrapped the 

 lower extremity of the stem smoothly to 

 the pick. Another method of stemming 

 much in favor is to use 12-inch lengths 

 of No. 24 wire only. If a rose stem is 

 at all weak, insert one end of a wire up- 

 wards from the stem into the base of 

 the calyx far enough to secure it well. 

 Then holding the stem firmly with the 

 left hand over the rose, let the wire fol- 

 low the stem of the rose downward. 

 When about half-way down begin to coil 

 the wire closely around the rose stem. 

 Continue this until the lower end of the 

 stem is reached with an inch of the wire 

 to spare to insert the rose by, into the 

 sphagnum. Wire for this purpose should 

 be painted green to be more nearly invis- 

 ible. It is not necessary to attempt to 



straighten a curved stem thus wired. 

 Leave the bends and twists in the stem. 

 Do not destroy these graceful lines, but 

 strengthen them by the use of wire. 



Oe<tecionaIly there is a strong, heavy- 

 stemmed rose which does not need stem* 

 ming of any kind. Sharpen the lower 

 end and it will run into the sphagnum 

 easily and keep its position. Often a 

 whole basket can thus be quickly and 

 easily filled with the wiring of only the 

 few weak-stemmed flowers. 



The roses intended for the handle 

 garland should be laid along a string of 

 smilax of moderate weight. As fancy 

 dictates both as to position and distance 

 apart fasten in the roses with two or 

 three rounds of No. 36 wire, after set- 

 ting the rose stems well into the smilax 

 foliage. Attach the heavy end of the 

 smilax to the starting point of the handle 

 on one side and train the rose-laden 

 garland up along the handle as the pic- 

 ture shows. Secure in place with a 

 twist of the fine wire as needed. Fasten 

 at the other side of the handle to finish, 

 was done at the start. Do not cut off the 

 surplus. Let it trail at the side of the 

 basket. 



Distribute the stemmed roses in the 

 sphagnum all over the body of the basket, 

 leaving some to stand erect and others 

 to fall out around the edge till very 

 little of the basket is to be seen. Set 

 medium length sprays of Asparagus plu- 

 mosus around the edge, with the tip out. 

 These wiry stems need^o artificial wiring 

 or stemming. They will be easily in- 

 serted in the moss. Scatter a few among 

 the roses, but only a few. It is not a 

 difficult matter to dull the color of the 

 roses by too much of a green veil. Use 

 green as a setting or background rather 

 than as a garniture. That is the natural 

 method. It is a common practice with 

 some florists to fairly plaster any and 

 all of their designs with adiantum, till the 

 piece is neither one thing nor the other, 

 lacking character and tone. Let one 

 large spray follow the handle a short 

 distance up on the left and fall out aa 

 shown. 



A few sprays of Chinese lilies under 

 the handle above and grouped from the 

 same source on shorter stems among the 



Basket of Bridesmaid Roses and Asparagus. 



