Fbbruabt 22, 1906. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



913 



^^ ^^>m. <^iH. W^ W%. '♦^ <#^ '♦^ '^iWw'*^'^^'»^'^^<^^'^^^*-»^'*^'*^<*^ 



THE RETAIL 



FLORIST 



'ife^ "U^t ^>*-»> %fe»> -^J^ ■ife»>%*->»^tfe#S^k^'<*-» V^>^Ur»>^M^>'ife»>Ni{r^>fcfe^'lgg? 



f 



THE WHITE HOUSE WEDDING. 



The event of the past week, not only 

 socially and officially, but also floricul- 

 turally, was the wedding of Alice Koose- 

 velt. The public prints have been filled 

 with column after column of description 

 and so great was the public interest 

 that the press was provided with a type- 

 written description of the floral decora- 

 tions in minute detail. The work was 

 under the direction of George H. Brown, 

 the government landscape gardener, 

 and no florist had a hand in it other 

 than supplying a portion of the cut 

 flowers. The work was nevertheless of 

 some interest to the trade, for it was 

 as elaborate as was possible in view of 

 the large number of guests and the lim- 

 ited space at disposal. 



In the east room a platform or dais 

 was constructed in front of the great 

 east windows. This was covered with 

 ah oriental rug in which red predomin- 

 ated. The background was a group of 

 palms fringed at tht) base with AstUbe 

 Japonica and Dracaena Sanderii. At 

 each side there were two tall vases of 

 Easter lilies. Above the platform was 

 a light garlanding of snulax and as- 

 paragus, with Bride roses and pink car- 

 nations scattered through the green. On 

 the mantels were vases of Harrisii and 

 on the tables at the ends of the room 

 were profusely flowered rhododendrons 

 iA jardinieres. This was all the floral 

 decoration in the room in which, the 

 ceremony was performed. 



The adjoining green room had no 

 other decoration than vases on the man- 

 tels, of Enchantress carnations with 

 ferns. 



The vases in the blue room were filled 

 with Easter lilies and asparagus, the 

 two tall vases, one on each side of the 

 mantels, having a quantity of stock in 

 proportion to their size. In the window 

 recesses were palms and flowering 

 plants. 



In the red room the vases held red 

 flowers, roses, carnations, etc., with as- 

 paragus. 



A buffet wedding breakfast was laid 

 in the state dining room. The vases on 

 the mantel were filled with Bride roses, 

 the table decorated with vases of Beau- 

 ties and Brides. About the room were 

 a few flowering plants but nowhere in 

 the White House was there a use of 

 plants which would, in any way, en- 

 etoach upon the limited floor spao«. In 

 the private dining room there were the 

 same vases of roses and in the main 

 corridor and along the stairway . from 

 the lower corridor the niches were filled 

 with rhododendrons, palms and ferns in 

 jardinieres. There were .also vases of 

 flowers on the mantels in all the other 

 apartments which were open to the 

 guests. 



; The principal advantage to . the trade 

 which came from the wedding was, in 

 the number of orders for other social 

 events which took place at the same 

 time, but . Blackiptone received the order 

 for the bridal bouquet, which was pho- 



tographed, copyrighted, and is repro- 

 duced in this issue of the Review. The 

 flowers were Cattley-i Trianse, Cymbid- 

 ium eburneum and Coelogyne cristata. 

 The green used was Adiantum Farley- 

 ense. The orchids were furnished by 

 George Field, the well known veteran 

 grower of Washington. 



VALENTINE'S DAY. 



Reports to hand show that the St. Val- 

 entine's day business of 1906 was a dis- 

 tinct advance over the record for 1905 

 and any previous year. The call was es- 

 pecially for violets, most of which were 

 put up in special violet boxes and tied 

 with violet ribbons. There was also a very 

 good demand for American Beauties, 

 which were in short supply. Red roses 

 are not equal to the demand and other 

 flo^vcrs shared in the general business. 

 The carnation was sold in all markets in 

 probably greater numbers than any other 

 flower. 



As the general prosperity of the coun- 

 try advances the florists are upon every 

 occasion receiving their full share of the 

 increased business. As cost becomes less 

 of a consideration the demand for im- 



Alice Roosevelt's Bridal Bouquet. 



