26 



The Weekly Florists* Review. 



Apbil 0, 1008. 



the basket may be filled by planting with 

 asparagus or small ferns. 



This method of arrangement calls for 

 short liUes, the same as are used in mak- 

 ing up large pans, and it is a good im- 

 provement on that method of using this 

 stock. 



WITH LONDON RETAILERS. 



In funeral designs foliage is now ex- 

 tensively used as a groundwork, but a 

 London florist remarked the other day 

 that maidenhair fern to stand above the 

 flowers was quite out of fashion, though 

 a few customers still like wreaths, etc., 

 made up in the old orthodox style. The 

 chaplets, crosses and other designs made 

 of bronze foliage with a cluster of 

 flowers on one portion only are much 

 appreciated. In one of the leading 



shops a writer in the Horticultural 

 Trade Journal recently noted a large 

 chaplet; on the left side were seven or 

 eight calla blooms, worked in among 

 foliage, and on the opposite side lilies of 

 the valley, the flowers reaching only 

 about half way from the base and the 

 narrow part composed of foliage only. 

 On inquiring the price of some well- 

 finished designs he was surprised to find 

 how low they were quoted. A really 

 beautiful wreath was quoted at $2.50, 

 a price which in the ordinary way 

 could not more than cover the cost of 

 the flowers, but he was told that for 

 casual trade there is now so much com- 

 petition that to clear up surplus flowers 

 they must put prices low, and it is only 

 when special orders come in that reason- 

 able prices can be made. 



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SUGGESTIONS 



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Preparations for Easter. 



Only one more week to Easter, the 

 most strenuous of all the commercial 

 florists' harvests. We hope that in spite 

 of considerable pessimistic talk, especial- 

 ly in the Eastern wholesale markets, the 

 volume of business will equal that of a 

 year ago, and that prices, while they 

 can hardly be expected to soar to any 

 new heights with business under some- 

 thing of a cloud, will still be satisfactory 

 to the growers. 



It would really seem that each suc- 

 ceeding Easter more and more people 

 prefer plants to cut flowers and the trade 

 in pot plants increases in a much heavier 

 ratio than that for cut flowers in all 

 the large markets. 



Flowering plants, we presume, will be 

 in a cool house, well shaded. Give them 

 all the air possible in favorable weather. 

 See that all dead and decaying leaves 

 are removed, that neat supports be given 

 any lilies or other plants requiring them 

 and, most important of all, scrub the 

 pots or pans thoroughly clean. The need 

 for this last advice may seem superfluous, 

 but every year we see plants, often well 

 grown, being marketed in dirty pots. A 

 plant of only moderate quality looks 

 presentable if in a clean pot, but even 

 the best of them look uninviting in a 

 dirfv receptacle. 



Necessity for Wrapping. 



It is never safe to predict what East- 

 er weather Mill be. It can be anything 

 from the elements from the tropics to 

 the condition of the arctics. If, per- 

 chance, the preceding days are balmy and 

 free from boisterous winds, it means much 

 to the growers and retailers, who can 

 then send in their plants unprotected, but 

 when March changes places with April, 

 we must be on the alert or we will have 

 the usual quota of murmurings from 

 disappointed customers because of frozen 

 plants. 



Perhaps Easter weather may make 

 wrapping-paper around the plants unnec- 

 essary, but, on the other hand, we are 

 liable to have biting winds even as late 

 as April 19, in which case every care 



must be taken to paper them over se- 

 curely. Some plants will stand consid- 

 erable cold without apparently resenting 

 it; others, which have been subjected 

 to hard forcing and may not have been 

 properly hardened, will be ruined i by a 

 _,temperature several degrees ab.o^'e freez- 

 ing- '■ . ■'■*': ■;,. 



Make sure that all plants you send out 

 are moist at the root. A quite common 

 practice among retailors now is to fasten 

 a tag on each plant, requesting the 

 purchaser to water it every day. Even 

 this will not suflSce for astilbes, hydran- 

 geas, marguerites and rambler roses in 

 a warm room. Tell your customers about 

 how frequently to water plants bought, 

 for there is a lamentable ignorance of 

 their needs in nine-tenths of the cases. 



Decoration and Delivery. 



The adornment of plants with ribbons 



has been much overdone of late years 

 by many so-called .first-class stores. Well 

 grown plants require little of this orna- 

 mentation. It detracts from rather than 

 adds to their beauty. In the case of those 

 only moderately well grown, the judi- 

 cious use of decorative materials will fre- 

 quently enhance their value and assist 

 in selling them. 



In taking orders from your customers, 

 do not promise to deliver them at any 

 particular time, unless you intend to do 

 so. Nothing will so exasperate a per- 

 son as to be guaranteed delivery at the 

 hour wanted and then maybe not receive 

 the purchase until the following day. 

 Try to deliver your orders as promptly 

 as possible and you will find that not 

 only do your customers appreciate it, but 

 that it will eventually swell your vol- 

 ume of trade. 



Easter Lilies. 



We hope the lilies are now right for 

 Easter. There are always many laggards 

 and much- moving around is necessary to 

 get any considerable batch in bloom at 

 the same time. It must be remembered 

 that the sale for lilies after Easter is 

 small and that prices are lower. It 

 behooves us, therefore, to get all we can 

 into flower before the great floral 

 festival. 



If buds are of good size, it is possible 

 to do considerable with them in a week. 

 Give the backward plants a sunny house. 

 Keep it as warm as 75 degrees at night. 

 Syringe the plants several times a day. 

 Close the house early in the afternoon 

 and let it run up to 90 to 100 degrees 

 in the shade. Keep a constantly moist 

 atmosphere and you will pj-obably land 

 a good proportion of your flowers. These 

 lilies will lack the substance of cooler 

 grown ones, but customers fight shy of 

 plants with buds only, and if you have 

 only one flower open, you will be able to 

 sell your plants. 



Primulas. 



The seedlings from the earliest sowings 

 of Primula obconica and P. Sinensis 

 should now be of sufficient size to prick 

 out into flats of light compost. Use 

 about half leaf-mold and do not add 

 any manure at this stage of growth. 

 Keep the flats on a light bench or shelf. 



An Easter Basket of Ulies, 



