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JAK17ABT 23, 1908. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



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THE RETAIL 



FLORIST 



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ARTISTIC ARRANGEMENTS. 



For a Reception Table. 



The accompanying illustration shows 

 an arrangement by Charles Henry Fox, 

 at the Sign of the Eose, Philadelphia, 

 for a reception or tea where the guests 

 stand or are seated about the room. 

 It consists of a high vase of one variety 

 of long-stemmed flowers, and around it 

 a wreath loosely arranged, with four 

 comer-pieces loosely tied with a ribbon 

 to match. This style of decoration gives 

 abundant opportunity for displaying 

 taste. In this case the flowers were 

 dahlias grown under glass. 



TROUBLE WITH nCUS. 



One of my customers brings me some 

 leaves from her rubber plant and wants 

 to know why the edges, and finally the 

 whole leaf, turn brown as shown in the 

 samples enclosed herewith; and she 

 wants to know what to do for the plant. 

 Can you give me the information? 



H. P. 



The ficus leaves enclosed with this 

 query have all the appearance of having 

 been frozen, and it seems probable that 

 the plant has been standing too near a 

 window during severe weather, or has 

 been otherwise exposed to a draft of 

 cold air. Occasionally one finds the 

 leaves of a ficus browning around the 



edges from having too much water dur- 

 ing the period of rest, but a case of the 

 latter kind shows a rather different in- 

 jury from that shown by the leaves in 

 question, and a few minutes' exposure 

 to a sufficiently low temperature would 

 be enough to spoil the plant in the man- 

 ner indicated. W. H. Taplin. 



COLORS. 



There is nothing more difficult than 

 defining the colors of various flowers, 

 says a writer in a paper read by florists 

 in England. If we could only get some 

 registered guide it would be a great 

 help; but then, all the catalogue descrip- 

 tions would be wrong. I remember some 

 years ago a west end florist in London 

 telling me that when he had to match 

 a lady's dress or ribbons he always asked 

 for a sample; otherwise it would be im- 

 possible to be anywhere near the colors 

 wanted. We know what a white should 

 be, yet even here there are various 

 shades. Yellows are not so difficult; but 

 come to pinks we are in a sad fog. Com- 

 pare a rose-pink chrysanthemum with a 

 proper rose-pink rose, and they are as 

 different as possible, the chrysanthemum 

 described as a rose-pink being a purple- 

 pink. Take what is described in cata- 

 logues as a scarlet stock, and compare it 

 with a scarlet geranium and there is a 

 wide difference, and it is much the same 

 with other colors. 



With a view to getting some more defi- 

 nite ideas regarding proper definitions of 

 the different colors, I once went to the 

 warehouse of a firm who are large im- 

 porters of French dress materials, and 

 after being shown the color chart, and 

 having some conversation with one of 

 the managers, I was in a greater muddle 

 than ever, for I found that none of the 

 colors in dress materials corresponded 

 with those of flowers as they are usually 

 described. It is the pinks, crimsons, 

 purples and reds that are the most per- 

 plexing. 'Then if we take mauve, laven- 

 der and heliotrope, can anyone define the 

 difference between these and lilac t To 

 be correct, there is no doubt a differ- 

 ence; yet as described in catalogues, 

 they are much mixed up. And I find 

 after going through an American color 

 chart that almost all the descriptions 

 found in any catalogue of florists' flowers 

 would have to be altered. The National 

 Chrysanthemum Society's floral commit- 

 tee defines the colors of the varieties sub- 

 mitted to them and they are registered; 

 yet there are few who would agree that 

 they are right. 



THE EAGLES. 



The illustration on pages 4 and 5 

 show two methods of treating a design 

 which often is called for. The Fraternal 

 Order of Eagles is national in its extent, 

 and its membership is large. The result is 

 that retaih florists everywhere are asked 

 times without number to make an ap- 

 propriate design for the funeral of some 

 member of the organization. 



One of these illustrations shows the 

 bird of freedom as it is conceived to be 

 in Maine; the other is a prairie eagle, 

 from Illinois. It is evident that the 

 artist in Maine gets the conception of 

 the bird's poise, not from that new- 

 fangled notion, the clearing-house certifi- 

 cate, but from the good old dollar of 

 our daddies, several of which formerly 



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Table Decoration for Reception, Where Gtiests Stand or are Seated About the Room. 



