Decismbbb 26, 1907. 



Tlie Weekly Florists' Review. 



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FUNERAL WORK. 



"W^reaths. 



Next to sprays of flowers there are, 

 in my estimation, more wreatiis made up 

 for funeral work tiian any other design. 

 Of course, this is not the case at every 

 funeral. Among the poorer and even the 

 middle class of people the harp, anchor, 

 etc., are still popular, and it is hoped 

 will always remain so. It is mostly the 

 well-to-do people who prefer wreaths or 

 large, fine sprays. 



Of all the chances the floral artist has 

 to show his skill, I believe the wreath 

 gives him the most opportunity. 



Many Styles. 



There is really no end to the number of 

 ways of making up wreaths. Probably 

 you have noticed the flowers at some ex- 

 pensive funeral, where we often see 

 from fifteen to twenty wreaths, and each 

 one has its own individuality. This, I 

 presume, is one of the reasons why the 

 wreath is so popular. It gives each per- 

 son a chance to carry out his own taste. 



The Preliminaries. 



Before going into details in regard 

 to the making of wreaths, I want to say 

 a few words about the preliminaries. 



Of course, the first step is to procure 

 the frame. We will take it for granted 

 that ours is going to be a 20-inch wreath, 

 meaning twenty inches across the frame, 

 outside measurement. As already stated 

 in former articles, there are several ways 

 of keeping the moss in the frame. The 

 most frequent way is to use common tin- 

 foil. This does well enough for ordi- 

 nary work,, but if you are making up a 

 more elaborate piece, then I should pre- 

 fer to use either green foil, black paper 

 or, best and cheapest of all, the green 

 wax paper we use for lining up boxes. 



Place the paper over the back of the 

 frame and bend it. over the sides. Then 

 put enough nicely torn up moss into 

 the frame so that when tied into place 

 it will, be packed just closely enoifgh to 

 hold a toothpick or fern pin. 



Have the.moss about even with the top 

 of the frame for all ordinary work. 

 About the handiest way to tie the moss 

 in is to hold the ball of string in the 

 right hand and wind it about an inch 

 and a half apart from the outside over 

 the top to the Inside of the wreath. Press 

 the moss into place with the left hand 

 as you go along. Then trim off the stray 

 pieces with a pair of shears. 



Most Simple Wreath. 



The most simple wreath, and still 

 pretty when well made, is one made up 

 along the lines of a set piece. That is, 

 ytou first cover your moss with common 

 fern leaves, and make an edging of 

 either smilax or galax leaves. When 

 osing the latter, stem them t6 toothpicks 

 •oite short and stick them^'tround the 

 -j^atside and inside of the frame quite 

 evenly, and all facing up. Then make a 



background of white flowers; run them 

 around both edges first and then fill in 

 the center. A few lilies, placed around 

 in the wreath about every ^ght or ten 

 inches, add much* to the effect of the 

 finished design. First make a hole in 

 the moss, where the lily is to be placed, 

 cut the lily off short and stick it into 

 the hole. Trim the wreath with an as- 

 sortment of flowers, such as roses, car- 



necessary to have the moss a little deep- 

 er than for the foregoing wreath, so as 

 to hold the flowers well in place. We 

 will now suppose that you wish to make 

 a loose wreath of all roses. For about 

 an 18-inch wreath you will require about 

 seven to eight dozen roses. Stem them 

 to toothpicks, fastening one or more 

 leaves in with each flower. The more 

 open ones should be stemmed shorter 

 than the buds, which should have about 

 4-inch to 5-inch stems. The more uneven- 

 ly they are stemmed as to length, the 

 better will be the effect of the finished 

 wreath. Of course, you will have to use 

 your own judgment to a large extent as 

 to how closely to place the roses. They 

 should not be so tight as to have the 

 effect of being crowded; still, there must 

 be enough. Some Asparagus plumosas 

 or maidenhair fern stuck in between the 

 roses will add much to the finished ap- 



Wreath of Magnolia Leaves. 



nations, sweet peas, hyacinths, etc., 

 either in all white or in pink and white, 

 as the occasion may demand. It is not 

 necessary to pack tho piece full of flow- 

 ers; just arrange them loosely. 



Loose Wreaths of AH Flowers. 



The more artistic wrelth of all flow- 

 ers is made up loosely of «>n(> or more 

 kinds. For a loose wreath it will be 



pearance. Wreaths of carnations, asters, 

 etc., can, of course, be made up in much 

 the same way. Asparagus Sprengeri goes 

 well with either of the latter flowers. 

 Then, again, you can use some smaller 

 flower in connection with the large one; 

 as, for instance, roses and vaSey, or 

 carnations and swe«>t peas. If it be de- 

 sire*! to use vjUloy" or sweet peas alone, 

 they should be stemmed several in a 



