Apbil 27, 1906. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



J 373 



A SPRING WINDOW. 



The primary idea in this display win- 

 dow is a slope on which violets are 

 growing thickly. To prodjice this hill- 

 side a quantity of damp sphagnum is 

 piled up, starting a few inches from the 

 front of the window and slanting up- 

 ward at a convenient angle so as to rep- 

 resent a steep ascent. Several bushels 

 of the moss were required before the 

 depth of four feet was reached. Over 

 this sphagnum hill was spread a cover- 

 ing of sheet moss and ferns, which ex- 

 tended to the farthest edge of the win- 

 dow floor in front and on the sides. 

 Near the lower left corner and scattered 

 in two or three other places on the hill- 

 side were plunged small ferns in pots. 

 High up on the right side and extending 

 down, to the front of the window is a 

 line of Boston ferns, with'^'their pots 

 plunged and slightly tipped toward the 

 front. 



Next in the process was "to make the 

 violets grow." They were stemmed on 

 No. 24 wire in bunches of a dozen or 

 two, with plenty of foliage, and inserted 

 in the moss as in design work as thickly 

 as material at hand permitted. In order 

 to get a good reflection from the mirror 

 on the left, that side of the hill was also 

 covered and dotted with the violets. 



Back of the clump of ferns on the 

 right is a plant stand on which is set a 

 broad, low vase of cut callas and Har- 

 risii, and in the opposite back comer of 

 the window is a tall group of Harrisii 

 plants. On the top of the hill to the 

 left is another plunged pot of Boston 

 fern and a vase of Sir Watkin narcissi 

 with their own foliage. None of these 

 flower receptacles was visible, the effort 

 being to represent growing plants. Just 

 back of the hill to the left is a small 

 group of white Dutch hyacinths shown 

 by reflection in the mirror, as are also 

 a few of the narcissi which were scat- 

 tered up and down the edge of the slope. 



Globes of green and white soften the 

 light on this supposed wood scene. The 

 color then is violet, light yellow and 

 white, with the always present green. 



The ferns on the right are pushed far 

 enough forward and tipped at just such 

 an angle as to appear to overhang the 

 patch of violets and partly hide them, 

 except in spots, which do not appear in 

 the photograph. 



It may be deduced from this study 

 that scenes which smack of the wild take 

 best in city display windows. The best 

 likeness to a wild retreat that can be 

 produced is the attraction that will tell 

 in the midst of the busy centers. A 

 single feature like this violet bank, to 

 which all the other materials introduced 

 will be subordinate, and which as a 

 whole can be understood at a glance, is 

 the telling part of a window display. 

 No fault can be found with quantities 

 and masses of material if they are used 

 with some idea of organization and re- 

 lation, more or less distinct, as the work- 



ers ' skill allows. Toward this one feat- 

 ure let the position of every flower, the 

 grouping of all the plants, the blending 

 of all the colors and the selection of that 

 most important detail, the background, 

 all unite. Gertrude Blair. 



EASTER BUSINESS. 



Reports from all over the country in- 

 dicate that the Easter business marked 

 another advance over previous records 

 for this most important of florists' holi- 

 days. The aggregate of sales must have 

 been considerably ahead of the best 

 previous record. Here and there is a re- 

 port of stock left on hand, or a whole- 

 sale market breaking' with the overload 

 of material on Saturday afternoon, but 

 as a general proposition stocks were as. 

 well cleaned up as could be expected in 

 view of the very large supplies every- 

 where provided. 



All over the country, in the largest 

 cities *ind in the smallest villages, the 



flowers until after they had made cer- 

 tain that the supplies of plants already 

 on hand would be well cleaned out 

 Therefore, the plant department makes 

 a better showing than the cut flower end 

 in the retail reports from the large 

 cities. 



The skill of the growers seems to have 

 fully overcome the disadvantages of so 

 late an Easter, as quality was at its best 

 everywhere and in all departments save 

 the one item of violets, which did not cut 

 much flgure this year. While hyacinths 

 and tulips were not as plentiful as at 

 earlier Easters, still there were enough 

 for all requirements and azaleas were 

 never shown in better .form. It is worth 

 while noting that a^ good many lilies 

 were a few days late. The supplies of 

 American Beauty roses and also Liberty 

 were under the requirements in most 

 markets, but other roses were equal to 

 the very large demand and in several 

 cities there were breaks in prices. Car- 

 nations were short in many markets, but 

 in some cases this was because the grow- 

 ers held their stock back until too late 

 an hour, as from several cities came re- 

 ports that wholesalers had considerable 

 stock left on hand Sunday night. 



Never before were so large quantities 

 of requisites used for the Easter busi- 

 ness. The supply men have had a ban- 

 ner season and the stock with which 

 they loaded up the retailers has nearly 

 all sold. This was due to the very large 

 business done more than to the profuse 



A Violet Bed in the Show Window. 



stocks of Easter plants were beyond all 

 precedent. Stores everywhere were 

 jammed with flowering subjects. Little 

 in the way of novelty was offered, but 

 enormous quantities of the standard Eas- 

 ter plants were everywhere in fine con- 

 dition. The result was that where whole- 

 sale markets are readily accessible, as 

 in the large cities, the retailers did not 

 make much of an endeavor to sell cut 



use of ribbons, matting, etc., on individ- 

 ual subjects, as good taste is again as- 

 serting itself in these matters and 

 the decorators are no longer obscuring 

 the beauty of their plants by swathing 

 them in decorations. 



TO FOLLOW CHRYSANTHEMUMS. 



I have 9,000 square feet of glass and 

 have sold my entire stoek of cama- 



