April 16. 1908. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review^ 



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THE RETAIL 



FLORIST 



I 



ARTISTIC ARRANGEMENTS. 



Unique Plant Receptacles. 



The accompanying illustration shows 

 another of the unique plant receptacles 

 designed by Charles H. Fox at the Sign 

 of the Rose, Philadelphia. These bas- 

 kets are made in several colors and dif- 

 ferent heights, so that it was possible 

 for Mr. Fox to make a happy combina- 

 tion of colors of basket, plant and rib- 

 bon, with appropriate size and shape of 

 basket, using a variety of spring plants. 



THE QTY BEAUTIFUL. 



[So many Inquiries have been addressed to 

 Albert T. Hey In regard to the "city beautiful" 

 cnovement at Springfield, III., tbat Mr. Hey bas 

 requested the Review to publlsb, as an answer 

 to some of these inquiries, the following ad- 

 dress, which was delivered before the Illinois 

 State Florists' Association, at Springfield, Feb- 

 ruary 19, by Mrs. B. A. Walker.] 



The "city beautiful" has become al- 

 most a household expression and is no 

 longer considered a dream, a mere fad 

 of the idealist; the interest in many di- 

 rections is an established fact. The mak- 

 ing of a more beautiful city is among 

 the new arts. In the days of our fore- 

 fathers the question of daily existence 

 made too strenuous a life to give much 

 thought to the artistic adornment of 

 home or country. Now, when our repub- 

 lic takes high rank among the nations of 

 the world, when peace and prosperity 

 abound, the attention of men and women 

 is directed toward the pursuit of this 

 new art, the "city beautiful." 



Interest in civic improvement in 

 Springfield, 111,, was aroused by the meet- 

 ing of the Civic Association of America 

 held in Milwaukee, October, 1906. No 

 one could fail to be impressed with the 

 deep interest in this work exhibited by 

 members present from Texas to Maine, 

 California to New York, Philadelphia 

 and Boston; men and women of broad 

 intelligence, occupying high positions so- 

 cially, giving of their time and talents in 

 the interest of making greater and 

 grander cities and towns in our own 

 America. 



Work of the Woman's Qub. 

 One of the results from attending this 

 meeting was the'inauguration of a "city 

 beautiful" department in one of the 

 local daily papers, under the auspices of 

 the Woman's Club of Springfield. The 

 ground covered in this department dur- 

 ing the period of its existence was: A 

 cleaner city; the need of a good, pure 

 water supply; the abatement of the 

 smoke nuisance; the abandonment of ob- 

 noxious bill boards; a suggestion for se- 

 curing a system of smaller parks; the 

 cleaning up and cultivation of vacant 

 Jots; the care of back yards and alleys; 

 the giving of more space in the erection 

 of all new residences, for light and air; 

 a plea for the elimination of all objec- 

 tionable matter from the columns of the 

 public press; the planting and care of 

 trees ; the duty of citizens in placing our 

 public schools on a higher plane, both as 



to decoration, art studios and landscape 

 gardening. 



Training the Children. 



Our schools are centers of influence; 

 they should take an active interest in the 

 ' * city beautiful ' ' movement. Indeed, 

 they should be the chief civic centers of 

 the community, since a problem is thrust 

 upon us for solution, namely, the guiding 

 of the future of the republic by the chil- 

 dren of our homes, as well as by those 

 born of parents coming to our shores 

 from every foreign land. 



The civic committee from the Woman's 

 Club endeavored to interest the children 

 of the public and parochial schools by 

 instilling a desire to contribute to the 

 general attractiveness of their homes and 

 yards. For this purpose 10,000 copies of 

 a circular were distributed to the pupils 

 and 11,000 packages of flower seeds were 

 sold at a nominal price of 1 cent a pack- 

 age. The circular was as follows : 



SPRINGFIELD BEAUTIFUL 

 Win You Help? 

 The Woman's Club otters the following prizes: 

 Ist. Three Dollars ($3) for the best flower gar- 

 den in each School District. 

 2d. A metal flag to be placed on the southeast 



Look out for the ALLEY; that will count 

 half! 



Don't throw papers on the street! 



No private grounds will be entered without 

 invitation. 



Show what the children can do! 



FLOWER SUGGESTIONS. 



Do you want to cover an old fence or shed? 

 Use: Morning glories, wild cucumber, cypress. 



Do you want to raise flowers for cutting? 

 Try: Nasturtium, zinnias, asters. 



Do you want to have blooming plants in your 

 garden ? Try : Phlox, pansles, coreopsis. 



Plant hardy flowers. 



In addition to these prizes, the daily 

 newspapers offered cash prizes for the 

 best essays written by the pupils of the 

 sixth, seventh and eighth grades upon 

 "What Children Can Do to Make the 

 City More Beautiful." The mayor is- 

 sued a proclamation designating the first 

 week of May as a special time for city 

 house-cleaning. The results of this work 

 were most gratifying. The climax, how- 

 ever, was reached in the great flower 

 show. In this enterprise the Business 

 Men's Association and the florists of our 

 city took charge of the work and made 

 the display a great success. The prizes 

 awarded were trees, roots, bulbs and 

 shrubs. A flower show upon a larger 

 scale is among the anticipated events of 

 the coming season. 



The Mission of Flowers. 



Do you florists ever stop to think of 

 the mission of the flowers you send 

 forth? Of the brightness, of the good 

 cheer they bring to the home life? And 

 even when they cover the spot where rests 

 all that is mortal of our loved ones, they 

 there speak eloquently of the endless life. 



It is a beautiful thought that the sites 

 of old colonial homes in New England, 

 indeed almost the exact line of the old 

 roadways, can be traced by the fragrant, 



Unique Plant Receptacle Designed by Charles Henry Fox, Pfiiladelphia. 



comer of the best kept block of each School 

 District; these flags to be placed June 15, and 

 reawarded in September. 



8d. A commemoration tree will be given the 

 School District making the greatest improve- 

 ment before September. 



A flower show will be held in September, 

 prices to be announced hereafter; a badge but- 

 ton bearing the Inscription, "Springfield Beauti- 

 ful, I Have Helped," will be given every child 

 who bas done something toward making Spring- 

 field BeautifuL 



blooming flowers which still persistently 

 cling to life when the hands which 

 planted and carefully trained them have 

 been for many long years at rest. 



In the distant and unknown future, 

 perhaps, some flower may be culled whose 

 fragrance shall serve to discover in the 

 weedy, grass-grown ways of our lives, 

 that in some work accomplished, some 



