V 



OCTOBEn 12, 1005. 



The Weekly Florists' Review* 



U55 





A Cluster of Roses, a Departure from the Arrangement Shown Last W^eek. 



succession of full blown roses upon a 

 solid base of ferns, an exact reproduc- 

 tion of the carnation panel. No differ- 

 ence is made out of respect for the size 

 and character of the flowers used. 



On the contrary, observe the same 

 roses employed in a long, slender spray 

 in today's issue. Toward the stem 

 end of the spray the roses are grouped 

 closely and boldly around the stems and 

 foliage instead of all on top as in the 

 panel. Different views are had of each 

 flower as the eye follows toward the tip 

 of the spray, where Asparagus plumosus 

 forms a cloudy air, where the roses are 

 more widely scattered and half concealed 

 in the faint and misty lines of green. 



There is an active, wind-tossed air to 

 the spray which marks it as a character- 

 istic conception. This example is not 

 given as a type to be widely copied and 

 adopted as a prevailing style, as the panel 

 has come to be, but simply as one of the 

 many suggestive and expressive forms 

 into which an equal number of roses 

 might grow. 



But somebody might volunteer as an 

 argument in favor of the rose panel, its 

 showiness. By the latter term no doubt 

 is meant true attractiveness, rather than 

 obtrusive and gaudy display. Nine times 

 out of ten the latter bunch would be 

 noticeable among a score of the former, 

 on account of its novelty, if" not for its 

 suggestion of wild freedom and life. 

 The panel represents the trade, the spray 

 the professional. The same mechanical 

 skill employed in the first might accom- 

 plish much more in a strictly mechanical - 

 sphere. 



Neither is it necessary to learn to 

 make the first before making the second. 

 Following the rule outlined in the Re- 

 vraw some months ago a beginner can 

 find plenty of plans for clusters and 

 sprays in the character and bend of some 

 one or two of the long-stemmed flowers 

 which are at hand for immediate use. 



The habit of "seeing things" might as 

 well be cultivated from the start. It has 

 a commercial value in that it helps one 

 to be prepared to do anything in his 

 line on short notice. It certainly pays to 

 do one 's own thinking on one 's feet, 

 rather than to worry through volumes 

 to find out something that somebody else 

 has done in a similar case. 



To conclude: We florists are photog- 

 raphers in a way; the flowers in the first 

 two panels are the photographer's sub- 

 ject, raw and embarrassed. The portrait 

 taken mechanically is the first product, 

 the panel. No fault can be found with 

 the workmanship; the light may be per- 

 fectly adjusted to shade; the picture is 

 true to life as the operator found it. 

 But here is another photographer who is 

 able by sally or sympathy to awaken the 

 better and finer traits so that they shine 

 out through the face and figure, and by 

 enticing the man away from himself for 

 a moment he catches a better portrait 

 than the first operator. The second set 

 of clusters are the portraits of the flow- 

 ers inspired to express the best there is 

 in them in a much more natural and at- 

 tractive pose. Gertrude Blair. 



or perhaps, the groundwork of one thing 

 and a few ' ' stand-ups ' ' of another. 

 One of the prettiest bouquets he has 

 seen lately was made up of Liberty 

 roses. ' ' There was a good ground of 

 Asparagus Sprengeri, and some trails 

 hanging down. The roses stood out well 

 with their own foliage. Though finished 

 off as a shower bouquet, most of the 

 flowers stood out on their own stems, and 

 one point was, that there was no wire 

 seen ; even those on the drooping trails 

 had a natural look." Some years ago 

 there was much said about bouquets 

 being too large, but like the ladies' hats, 

 they seem to Increase in size rather than 

 diminish. Small flowers are not much 

 wanted, except lily of the valley or any- 

 thing that can be used to stand up 

 among the larger flowers and foliage. 



LONDON FASHIONS. 



Purple asters are now much used by 

 leading London florists for the ground- 

 work of wreaths, crosses, anchors, etc. 

 These, worked in close, with a few bold 

 white flowers standing up, are quite 

 the fashion. Much less green is used 

 than formerly, except where a design is 

 composed principally of foliage, with a 

 bold bunch of flowers standing up on 

 one portion only. A writer in the Hor- 

 ticultural Trade Journal says that he 

 recently saw a large cross made up en- 

 tirely of Lilium lancifolium album, with 

 the buds standing above the open flow- 

 ers, and that the same firm often make 

 up designs composed of one subject only. 



TO OUR READERS. 



The Review receives so many letters 

 from readers who express, in warmest 

 language, their very evident satisfac- 

 tion with the paper, that its publishers 

 i\rt' sometimes almost at the point of 

 believing the Review is all that a good 

 trade journal should be. Indeed, there 

 is, in addition, many times repeated, that 

 "sincerest form of flattery" to show 

 that the Review is most fully meeting 

 the wants of the trade. Yet it cannot 

 be that there is no more room for im- 

 provement. 



Now, highly as the Review appreciates 

 the kind words of those who tell us how 

 much the paper is worth to them, what 

 wc would really like to get is a lot of 

 candid, sensible, temperate fault-finding 

 letters; letters pointing out weaknesses; 

 letters of suggestion, indicating wherein 

 the Review can be strengthened to bet- 

 ter fulfil its purpose of interest and help- 

 fulness to each and every branch of our 

 trade. The Review does not agree to 

 publish these letters, as it sometimes 



