

6 



The Weekly Florists^ Review^ 



October 8, 1908. 



us in next issue with some ideas for 

 M'indow decorations for Hallowe'en. We 

 want something appropriate, attractive 

 and neither too elaborate nor too ex- 

 pensive for ordinary people to use. 

 A. F. 



SUGGESTIONS FOR WINDOWS. 



Leave Room for Imagination. 



Upon an anniversary holiday, conven- 

 tion or some other special occasion it is 

 usually advisable to put in an appro- 

 priate window decoration. But the way 

 in which special occasions are pictured 

 is sometimes not beyond criticism. In 

 selecting and executing the emblem il- 

 lustrative of interesting events or sym- 

 bolizing certain sentiments, do not try 

 to cover the whole ground, as it were. 

 Suppose it is a badge that you propose 

 to illustrate. If it is intricate do not 

 try to reproduce the whole thing. Choose 

 some significant part and work that out 

 clearly, ignoring minute details. Other- 

 wise the result would resemble the efforts 

 of the would-be story-teller who gives 

 every little detail of dialogue and inci- 

 dent, leaving nothing to the imagination 

 of the listener. Have connection rather 

 a little far-fetched than too evident. 

 Avoid vagueness, but give some room for 

 study. Howfever, this point can be better 

 illusttated than described. 



Suppose there is a convention of some 

 railroad organization in town and you 

 , M 



lettering or inscription. Make the piece 

 so distinct that signs are not necessary. 



** Musical" Windows. 



Take another example: Suppose there 

 is a prominent musical event on. Don't 

 make a piano. It would be uncouth. 

 Make a violin or banjo and lay a musical 

 score beside it. Still better, make the 

 scoi'e. A scroll of sweet alyssum or 

 candytuft, with dark chenille or black 

 immortelles for lines, and single flowers 

 with their stems for notes, would be a 

 good representation. Detach the scroll 

 from the easel and lay it down. Or il- 

 lustrate some well-known song. Put a 

 series of them in the window; for in- 

 stance, the "Eosary. " Some solid flow- 

 ers fastened on a heavy violet cord would 

 serve for the beads and the cross could 

 be attached, and the whole laid on a 

 background of soft fabric. Announce 

 your intention of running the series and 

 give a box of violets or roses as a prize 

 for the person who guesses the largest 

 number of names of the songs. 



When the fishing season opens, if your 

 locality affords any special attraction in 

 that line, use one of the water windows. 

 Have a quiet pool under some hanging 

 foliage, a convenient tree-trunk, a group 

 of gay flowers in the front, some of 

 which bend over and mirror themselves 

 in the water, and out through them 

 thrust a fishing rod and line, but no 

 fisherman in sight. 



Wreath of Galax. 



wish to compliment the oceaeion, and in- 

 directly benefit your trade in that direc- 

 tion. At first you might be inclined to 

 make a locomotive and tender, but you 

 groan inwardly to think of the outlay of 

 time and material. Don 't do it. Make a 

 brake wheel. That's symbol enough, and a 

 better piece in every way than such a 

 monstrosity as a locomotive. If you want 

 size, make the brake wheel large and 

 give it an appropriate setting. Avoid 



For the Naturalist. 



Neither in landscape nor water win- 

 dows should every detail be worked out 

 minutely. By remembering that there 

 is much to be crowded into a small space 

 at best, one's better judgment can easily 

 (1i (crn what details are encu;nbering. 

 Don 't continue catchy or sensational sub- 

 jects too long or offer them too fre- 

 quently. The really beautiful things keep 

 attention permanently. 



If your city is a center for millinery 

 jobbing interests, in the fall or spring 

 season make a hat of some one of the 

 late extreme styles. Politics, local or 

 national, afford good opportunities for 

 suggestive decorations. 



In the. landscape class another series 

 of interesting windows can be attempted 

 with some extra outdoor work or tactful 

 borrowing. Announce that you will pic- 

 ture a number of different birds' nests 

 and their surroundings. Get hold of the 

 abandoned nests and a branch of their 

 favorite trees or bushes. Place each one 

 in the window as the case requires; if on 

 the ground, so much the better. When 

 possible have the eggs and the stuffed 

 bird also. Bun the series as long as the 

 different nests are procurable and inter- 

 est lives. .Have different flowers in each 

 window, and plenty of them. Complete 

 the series with a hen's nest in a barrel. 

 Give a box of flowers or a plant as a 

 prize to the one who guesses th6 correct 

 names of the most kinds ' of nests. 

 Withal, keep flowers and plants always 

 prominently in view and impress ob- 

 servers that the other attractions are only 

 leaders towards the main issue. 



Gertrude Blair. 



WREATH OF GALAX. 



The accompanying illustration is a 

 wreath in the happiest vein of C. H. 

 Fox, Columbia avenue and Twenty-first 

 street, Philadelphia. The wreath is made 

 entirely of galax leaves, while carnations 

 of one variety are loosely arranged over 

 one-half the wreath, the flowers being ar- 

 ranged carelessly, to the best possible 

 advantage. White is preferable in this 

 arrangement, but Enchantress may also 

 be used effectively. Phil. 



A PRIZE DESIGN. 



The illustration opposite is a re- 

 production of a photograph of the design 

 with which Lozier's, of Des Moines, re- 

 cently secured first premium at the Iowa 

 State Fair. It is said John T. Temple, 

 ijiie judge, commented on it as the finest 

 piece he ever had seen at the fair. 



This was a large standing wreath, 

 made solid with white asters and trimmed 

 with cattleyas, Killarney roses, Easter 

 lilies and valley. The large cluster of 

 valley on one side was especially attract- 

 ive. The base wfes made of green and 

 lilies. 



WINTERING ALTERNANTHERAS. 



Alternanthera in variety is still grown 

 and sold every spring in large quanti- 

 ties, in spite of the fact that carpet bed- 

 ding, so called, is not nearly so piopular 

 as it once was. Some have considerable 

 trouble in keeping alternanthera through 

 the winter. This difficulty is due in part, 

 perhaps, to the plants being continuously 

 subjected to too low a temperature, and 

 the question of how this can be avoided 

 is a subject that will doubtless be of 

 some interest to those who have not had 

 extended experience. 



I have of late years taken up out of 

 the ground outdoors, at about this time 

 or a little later, plants in numbers fully 

 sufficient to insure ample stock for prop- 

 agation. These I usually start early in 

 February. But what I want to get at is 

 my method of keeping the plants from 

 the time they are taken out of the 

 ground until they are broken up or cut- 

 tings taken of them. I put the old plants 

 in flats, cramming as many into a flat as 

 possible. Until I have all the plants a 

 flat will contain in placje, only enough 



