December 12, 1907. 



The Weekly Rorists' Review. 



21 



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THE RETAIL 



FLORIST 



PLANT ARRANGEMENTS. 



Reasons for Their Popularity. 



Christmas is one of the seasons at 

 ■which the supply man and the plantsman 

 reap their greatest harvests. The retail 

 florist is, of course, the harvest-hand and 

 through him the public's dollars are gar- 

 nered for the bright men who provide the 

 many accessories which are an essential 

 at this season, and for the careful grow- 

 <>rs who provide our Christmas plants. 



For more than half a dozen years the 

 trend toward plant arrangements at the 

 holidays has been pronounced. First it 

 was in the large cities that these gifts 

 gained popularity, but as the supplies of 

 Christmas plants increased, the business 

 in them grew and broadened until now 

 every florist, even in the little country 

 towns, sells some sort of plant arrange- 

 ment at Christmas and Easter. 



A portion of the popularity of these 

 arrangements is no doubt due to the high 

 prices which cut flowers command at 

 Christmas. But if the supply were equal 

 to the demand, there would be no advance 

 in the price of cut stock. Therefore the 

 plant arrangement has its place as fur- 

 nishing stock for sales which could not 

 be made if the trade were dependent 

 •solely upon cut flowers. Cut flowers can- 

 not be manufactured, but some sort of a 

 plant arrangement can be turned out, no 

 matter how meager the material. 



To the retailer who finds it impossible 

 to make his usual margin of profit on cut 

 flower sales at the holidays, the plant ar- 

 rangement has also the virtue of afford- 

 ing an even better profit than is made at 

 other seasons. Therefore it is but natural 

 that retailers should push the plants, 

 knowing that they can sell without mucli 

 trouble all the cut flowers the season is 

 likely to produce. 



Lorraine Leads. 



As a Christmas plant there is nothing 

 which boats the Lorraine begonia when 

 the demand is for nice work and no guar- 

 antee of enduring quality is required. It 

 has been the experience of a good many 

 retailers that Lorraine drops its flowers 

 quickly when taken into a dwelling and 

 one leading retail florist, who deals on 

 the plane of strictest truthfulness, for 

 several seasons has instructed his sales- 

 men, when the customer asks of Lorraine, 

 "Will it keep?" to say nothing more 

 than ' ' At least as long as cut flowers. ' ' 



It will be noted that the Lorraine is 

 part of all the best plant arrangements 

 illustrated in this issue. These are from 

 Ithotographs made at Christmas, 1906, 

 the best of them at the store of W. J 

 Smyth in Chicago. The smaller pieces 

 were photographed at a store where trade 

 ot less expensive tastes is catered to. 



Hampers the Most Popular. 

 Possibly the most popular plant ar- 

 rangement to sell in a first-class store is 

 Iho hamper of mixed material. If well 

 <lone, those sell by the dozens where $5 



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to $10 is an ordinary price for a cus- 

 tomer to spend for a Christmas gift. 



The gem of all the arrangements 

 shown in this issue is a square hamper 

 of wide plaits, silvery in hue and lined 

 with tin to prevent the moisture coming 

 through. In this was planted a fine speci- 

 men of Lorraine, with supporting stakes 

 removed so that the plant had no unnat- 

 ural support. The cover of the hamper 

 carried a big bow and was held erect by 

 the strands of ribbon which encompassed 

 the plant and which were tied at the 

 front of the hamper, as shown, in a big 

 loose bow. The ribbon was pale green 

 gauze and the combination of colors of 

 the silvery hamper, the darker green of 



to make its best appearance from one 

 aide. 



The other basket was square, with the 

 handles at two diagonally opposite cor- 

 ners, so that the basket really was dia- 

 mond-shape; the colors, red and white, 

 braided. The variety of stock in this 

 case was even greater, poinsettias and an 

 araucaria being added, and a small ken- 

 tia at the back, for the basket was ar- 

 ranged to make its best show from the 

 side upon which the Lorraine begonia 

 drooped. Of course, there was a ribbon. 



The Large Hamper. 



The large hamper shown in this issue 

 was in Christmas red and one of the 

 handsomest things the season produced. 

 The long wicker hamper was in ox-blo()4l 

 red and the color was furtlier heightened 

 by the row of poinsettias planted at the 

 back and by the Jerusalem cherry in 

 each end of the hamper. In the center 

 of the basket there was an azalea, a Lor- 

 raine begonia and some primulas, the 

 space at the back between the single 

 stems of poinsettia being occupied by 

 Whitmani ferns, which added much to 

 the eflfect. The ribbon used, not too 

 I)rofu8ely, was wide and holly red. The 



Christmas Basket of Lorraine, Farleyense and Other Plants. 



the foliage, the jiink of the flower and 

 the tint of the ribbon was exquisite. 



LtLTge Basket Arrangements. 



The two large baskets were made to 

 sell at about $15 each. One contained, 

 besides the Lorraines, a small azalea, some 

 cyclamens, a primula or two and a fine 

 plant of Adiantum Farleyense, with some 

 nephrolepis ferns. The 'basket was red 

 and white, round in shape but pl?inted 



cover was rounded, not flat, and was 

 fastened to lean forward just the least 

 bit. 



The Straw Hat. 



In a number of stores last Christmas a 

 popular seller was the straw hat shown 

 in another of the illustrations in this 

 issue. It was used as a receptacle for 

 a variety of plants, but for none did it 

 servo as well as for the Lorraine begonia. 



