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12 



The Weekly Florists^ Review. 



Sepi-ember 19, 1907. 



be had much earlier than Christmas. It' 

 wanted at Thanksgiving, give them three 

 weeks in heat, keep cold until a month 

 before Christmas and they will come in 

 easily without forcing. C. W. 



HAIL AT DES MOINES. 



There was a heavy fall of hail at 

 Des Moines, Iowa, Saturday, September 

 7, which broke a great deal of glass for 

 all of the west Des Moines florists, but 

 it did not strike those located in east 

 Des Moines. The accompanying illustra- 

 tion shows two different ranges of the 

 Iowa Seed Co. The pictures look bad 

 enough, but do not tell the whole story, 

 for there were a great many panes cracked 

 which look whole in the illustrattfen, 

 so that they had to be replaced. The 

 Towa Seed Co. lost about 12,000 feet. 

 Vaughan's greenhouses lost about 5,000 

 feet, William Trillow about 2,000 feet 

 and Jules Ledig about 2,000 feet. A 

 few miles west the storm was more like 

 a tornado and tore up large trees by 

 the roots and tore houses and other 

 buildings to pieces. 



BEDDING PLANTS. 



By Alois B. Fkkv, ok Chicago. 



[Rend before the Society of American Flo- 

 rists, in convention at Pliiladelpliia, August 21, 

 1907.] 



Kiding through parks, " along boule- 

 vards and country roads, speeding in 



the popularity and universal love for 

 bedding plants. 



There is an immense variety of these 

 plants, from the smallest annual, like 

 portulaca, up to the stately subtropical 

 plants, and also the perennials must not 

 be forgotten, for they figure greatly in 

 various effective displays. Then we have 

 tulips, hyacinths, daffodils, etc., for early 

 spring flowering. No garden, therefore, 

 need be without flowers, from the time 

 the dainty little crocuses peep out of the 

 snow until late in fall. 



No matter how small the purse, enough 

 seed can be purchased to obtain a very 

 harmonious and artistic effect, as well 

 as a continuous season of flowers. It is 

 not the means of being able to procure 

 a large amount of choice plants, but it 

 is the good taste and skill of the de- 

 signer, who understands how to make 

 an arrangement to harmoniously and 

 discriminately combine the various col- 

 ors with immediate surroundings, no mat- 

 ter how inexpensive, that appeals to the 

 lover of nature with all its art and 

 beauty, and this is what we are striv- 

 ing for more and more every day. 



The average florist, who deals in bed- 

 ding plants, should by all means give 

 this particular subject thorough study 

 in order to be able to assist and educate 

 his customers, who in most cases appre- 

 ciate such advice and instructions in re- 

 gard to arranging and planting their 

 gardens so as to present a beautiful pic- 



Alois P. Frey. 



trains through villages and towns all 

 over the country, passing the magnifi- 

 cent palaces of the wealthy, with their 

 beautiful lawns, and the humble cot- 

 tages of the poor, surrounded by mod- 

 est yards, everywhere the eyes meet the 

 brightness of flowers and richly colored 

 plants, which at once impress upon us 



ture. It requires just as much artistic 

 judgment and ability to accomplish this 

 as the painting of a picture on canvas. 

 The designer must show individuality 

 and know exactly what proportions the 

 plants will attain, how soon they will 

 be fully developed, also how the colors 

 will blend together; in fact, he must 



see the finished picture before him 

 when he designs his plans. The sooner 

 we commence to understand how to ar- 

 range these beautiful gifts of nature 

 better, the sooner we make a large ma- 

 jority of the people of our grand na- 

 tion happier. We have everything to 

 do it with; now let us understand how 

 to do it. 



To cover the subject best I have di- 

 vided it into two sections: "Where to 

 Use Them," and "How to Use Them," 



Where to Use Them. 



TTie proper selection of the place for 

 the floral display is the first to be con- 

 sidered. A place where it will be prop- 

 erly effective is just as important as the 

 execution of the planting, as this takes 

 a definite part in the entire scheme. Lo- 

 cality, building and size of grounds must 

 be taken into consideration. The smaller 

 the place, the simpler should be the dis- 

 play; it is so easy to overcrowd a small 

 front lawn, whereby the proper effect 

 is entirely lost. Large places in pro- 

 portion will have more elaborate plant- 

 ings and the artist will have occasion to 

 plan special features, such as courtyards, 

 parterres, sunken gardens, Italian gar- 

 dens, etc. 



The front of a building is nearly al- 

 ways selected for the display, which is 

 generally formal, and, if the space is 

 limited, a narrow border of plants ad- 

 joining the building will be suflBcient, 

 with perhaps one or two beds on the 

 lawn, proportional to the latter. There 

 should always be plenty of green grass 

 to offset the beds. The back yard, as a 

 rule, is very much neglected and in 

 many instances unsightly. Here I would 

 advocate having a grass plot with a bor- 

 der plantation. How much . more cheer- 

 ful one would feel, looking into a well 

 kept yard, than at a lot of rubbish! 



Places of larger dimensions, with their 

 beautiful landscape effects, must be 

 treated more in detail. Here we have an 

 opportunity to lay out, in connection 

 with residences, conservatories and pub- 

 lic buildings, courtyards, parterres, rose 

 gardens, etc., which as a general rule are 

 part of the architectural scheme and in 

 harmony with the style of the building. 

 In the last few years Italian gardens 

 have again become quite popular, and 

 these, especially set apart from the rest 

 of the landscape, must be treated by 

 themselves; they are very set and usually 

 contain considerable color well blended 

 together. 



Besides these forms of special treat- 

 ment already mentioned, we also have 

 other flower gardens, which give an op- 

 portunity for a large variety of flower- 

 ing plants, in the line of annuals, roses 

 and perennials, etc., which, properly ar- 

 ranged, make a brilliant effect without 

 interfering with the more subdued and 

 restful landscape. 



In Parks and Boulevards. 



Public parks especially are a great 

 field for floral displays and, although 

 some authorities on landscape gardening 

 do not favor them, I believe the public 

 fully appreciates flowers, though utmost 

 care must be taken not to let the flowers 

 run wild all over the park, but keep them 

 in the vicinity of buildings or entirely 

 away and screened off from the quiet 

 landscape. Boulevards, also, and small 

 squares, can be most admirably bright- 

 ened with the ornamentation of flower 

 beds. 



Last year, at the convention at Day- 

 ton, O., all our members had the rare op- 

 portunity of seeing how the surroundings 



