354 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



July 6, 1905. 



feeing made in the way of improvement 

 in the habit of growth of our races of 

 •dwarf nasturtiums, though they are so 

 popular on both sides of the Atlantic. 

 New colors are introduced as variety is 

 sought for, but there is a looseness of 

 habit in the growth of many of them 

 and, while the flowers can lay claim to 

 size, they lack the form which is such a 

 prized property by our English florists. 

 Then there is a great burst of bloom 

 extending over a few weeks and after 

 that the energies of the plants are di- 

 rected to maturing their seeds, which are 

 produced so plentifully. It is reasonable 

 to suppose tliat if there were less seed 

 production there would be greater con- 

 tinuity of bloom. But with all their 

 faults they will often produce a second 

 head of bloom in late summer, following 

 on a dry time. 



The German double annual wallflow- 

 ors are now grown sparingly in gardens, 

 and yet there are some very beautiful 



things among them. Occasionally a col- 

 lection puts in appearance at one of the 

 meetings of the Koyal Horticultural So- 

 ciety, and then they are greatly ad- 

 mired. But both the gardener and the 

 trader decline to grow them and the 

 annual double wallflowers have fallen 

 away into neglect, with thunbergias, 

 maurandia, Mina lobata and many fine 

 old subjects once highly popular. 



We appear to have made but very 

 little progress in this country in the 

 improvement of single wallflowers. A 

 seed firm staged a collection at the re- 

 cent Temple flower show, but the lift- 

 ing from the open ground and convey- 

 ing to the place of show did not im- 

 prove their appearance. They require 

 to be seen as they are growing in the 

 open air. Vulcan is a very fine single 

 dark, an excellent selection; and Vil- 

 morin & Co. 's Nankeen yellow is both 

 distinct and remarkably good, both 

 dwarf and very showy. V. M. H. 



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THE RETAIL 



FLORIST 



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AN AID TO TRADE. 



More than once in recent years has 

 the Ladies' Home Journal turned its 

 great influence in favor of the flower 

 trade but never more acceptably than 

 in a series of illustrated articles by H. 

 H. Battles which are now appearing 

 and which, placed in a million homes, 

 cannot but do much to extend the use 

 of flowers. 



Mr. Battles is not one of the school 

 of verbose writers; rather he leans to- 

 ward the tabloid form of literature, be- 

 ing content to suggest a thought and 

 let the reader's own intelligence work 

 out the to-be-desired conclusion. To 

 such a clientele as that of the Ladies' 

 Home Journal this must be a particu- 

 larly pleasing style and such a para- 

 graph as the following, from Mr. Bat- 

 tles' article for June, "Flowers for 

 Mother and Child," will be sure to 

 have far reaching results of money 

 value to every florist in the land: 



"The very pretty custom of sending 

 flowers when a child is born is grow- 

 ing rapidly. A few years ago flowers 

 were simply sent to the mother; now 

 the little one is generally included. 

 This is done in many ways. At times 

 they are arranged in a large basket 

 with a tall handle, with a very small 

 basket filled with dainty flowers tied 

 to the handle, as shown in the illus- 

 tration below. Xo explanation is need- 

 ed that the small one is for the baby. 

 If the child is a little girl there is sent 

 a miniature conventional hand-bouquet 

 made about seven inches in diameter 

 with ten or fifteen yards of baby rib- 

 bon tied to the handle and flowers at- 

 tached to this . ribbon. Then again, 

 there is sometimes extravagantly broad 

 ribbon on the same size bouquet. If 

 the baby is a little boy a regular 

 boutonni^re with a pin is sent. When 

 the name of the child is known he or 

 she is addressed rather formally as 

 though grown up. Sometimes there is 



an aunt or an uncle of the Betsy Trot- 

 wood type who assumes that the name 

 has been settled. Once a proud grand- 

 father opened a savings-bank account, 

 naming himself as trustee, and sent the 

 pass-book in a box of flowers addressed' 

 to the child. Another time a set of 

 little pins was sent: each pin fastened 

 a miniature rosebud on a large bow of 

 five-inch baby-blue ribbon. As a con- 

 trast a large handsome cluster or an 

 old-fashioned bouquet with lace-paper 

 is sent to the mother. Frequently very 

 large chrysanthemums with the minia- 

 ture pompons are grouped; then, again, 



they are sent separately, addressed re- 

 spectively to the mother and child. 

 American Beauty roses and the little 

 old-fashioned Bon Silene roses are 

 treated the same as are chrysanthe- 

 mums. ' ' 



There are two columns more of the 

 same good talk, with excellent illustra- 

 tions. The trade will owe thanks to 

 the publishers and the author for put- 

 ting this class of matter before the 

 public. It is not only worth vastly 

 more but is very much more readable 

 than much of the flower talk the maga- 

 zines are printing. , 



RETAILERS' ADVERTISING. 



Beading in the Review of June 1 an 

 article on retailers' advertising and no- 

 ticing the reproduction of several ad- 

 vertisements that have appeared in 

 some of the daily papers, I am glad 

 to learn of the stand that your paper 

 has taken on advertising for retail flo- 

 rists and ask the privilege to offer some 

 suggestions that I think will help the 

 retailer. 



The first important thing in sidvertis- 

 ing is to have something the people 

 want and the next important thing is 

 to tell it in such a way that it, will in- 

 terest them. Every retail florist should 

 advertise in the daily papers of his 

 home town. He should plan an adver- 

 tising campaign, beginning in October, 

 using a little space once or twice a 

 week, with a good cut of some pretty 

 flower that is offered at that season 

 of the year, stating the price of the 

 flowers or plants that are being adver- 

 tised. Attractive cuts and prices are 

 necessary to an advertisement to bring 

 the best results. 



Do not advertise flowers or plants in 

 the summer, when people are away, or 

 when those who remain are supplied 

 with choice flowers from their own gar- 

 dens and then think that, because only 

 a few answer the advertisement, pub- 

 licity does not pay. Do not think that 

 an advertisement at Thanksgiving, 

 Christmas or Easter is a waste of 

 money. Though many people will buy 



Bunch of 50 Gimpbell Violets. 



(Backed up with leaves of Princess of Wales single violet. 



eight Inches In diameter.) 



This bunch measured about 



