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Mabch 21, 1907. 



The Weekly Florists' Review* 



1341 



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EASTER PLANT ARRANGEMENTS. 



A Variety Desirable. 



Probably every florist who sells Easter 

 plants at retail will have use for more 

 lilies than any other one item of his 

 stock, but there is a great sameness in a 

 store filled full of lilies, and a variety 

 of plants, while it may show by contrast 

 in the sales how important the lily is, 

 will do a great deal to add to the at- 

 tractiveness of the store and will be of 

 much value beyond the mere profit de- 

 rived directly from sales. "Variety will 

 bring to your store many people who 

 would not enter one easily seen to con- 

 tain little but lilies. 



Even though you may not expect to 

 sell many large plant arrangements, it 

 is wise to have a few for purposes of 

 display. The stock used in fixing up 

 large show pieces usually is not all loss, 

 for most of it can be used in making 

 up work after Easter, and a good show- 

 ing is worth all it costs; not a display 

 beyond the point of reason, but one 

 which will do you credit in a world 

 where appearances count for a great 

 deal. As the Sage of Corfu once ad- 

 vised some young men just starting in 

 business, "Wash all you got, and hang 

 out all you wash." 



The Lily the Leader. 



You will no doubt sell a great many 

 lilies, probably the majority in pots 

 with no other embellishment than a 

 crepe paper pot cover, but you will find 

 a good profit in varying the stock by 

 making them up in a number of ways 

 with other plants. The lily goes with 

 everything. We have, indeed, seen 

 Easter UUes and Crimson Rambler roses 

 made up together in baskets and ham- 

 pers, and, despite the fact that one 

 might omit to mention these two as suit- 

 able to combine, they did not look mis- 

 placed. 



In practically every case the addition 

 of the accessories adds to the selling 

 price, so that the profit on the baskets 

 and ribbon is a better percentage than 

 is made on the plants if sold unadorned. 

 An inexpensive arrangement is the lily 

 shown. If you sold the lilies alone $2 

 would be the limit for the eight flowers, 

 and the chances are you would not count 

 the bud, so you would get only $1.75. 

 But with the addition of the birch bark 

 box, the light blue bow and a few small 

 ferns, it easily becomes worth $4.50 to 

 $5, according to the kind of trade you 

 cater to. 



Moderate Priced Plants. 



Speaking of prices, moderate and other- 

 wise, even the "swellest" stores have 

 to carry some stock which is well within 

 the means of the ordinary purse, not so 

 much for the cheaper transient trade as 

 for the regular wealthy patron who 

 wants something not expensive to send 

 to an acquaintance whose station is just 

 outside the charmed circle. Now, in a 



big city, where the fashionable stores 

 are, you cannot afford to sell low-priced 

 stuff except at a big profit; expenses of 

 delivery, etc., are too heavy. We know 

 one city retailer who thinks he cannot 

 afford to deliver a purchase at Christ- 

 mas or Easter if he does not make at 

 least a dollar on the sale. Of course he 



profit in that and the plants looked well 

 worth the money. 



A W^ord About Baskets. 



Nowadays the basket is used for every 

 conceivable purpose. There was a time 

 when the basket of flowers led at once 

 to the thought of the sweet girl graduate. 

 But in this later day they send the ward 

 politician a basket of, cowslips, maybe, 

 or flowering dogwood, when he is ap- 

 pointed poundmaster. But the basket 

 never seems out of place when it is of 

 proper color. Frequently the colors are 

 too bright. They should never be of a 

 character to attract the eye from the 

 plants or flowers they contain. The 

 basket should be in keeping with the 

 flowers; light and graceful for cut 

 blooms; heavier for plants and in pro- 



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4 

 I 



Easter Lily in Birchbark Box. 



many times has it to do, but this is the 

 way he fixed up his low-priced stock 

 last year: He bought a spiraea 

 (astilbe) for $1, added one of the ad- 

 justable baskets and a bow of chiffon 

 and marked it $3. He did the same 

 thing with the deutzia. There was good 



portion to their size. Don't try to fill 

 a big basket with small plants by using 

 more of them. You will only partly suc- 

 ceed. 



The willow or bamboo basket is good 

 where the material to be used is heavy, 

 but the twig basket is hard to beat as 



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