The Weekly Florists^ Review^ 



October 8, 1908. 



us in next issue with some ideas for 

 window 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 notji,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. However, this point can be better 

 illustrated than described. 



Suppose there is a convention of some 

 railroad organization in town and you 



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 

 score. A scroll of sweet alyssum or 

 candytuft, with dark chenille or black 

 immortelles for lines, and single flowers 

 witli^ lluir 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 thcni in the window; for in- 

 stance, the ' ' Rosary. ' ' 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 

 mimber 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 occa'-ion, and in- 

 directly benefit your traile in that diroc- 

 tiim. At first you might li<> iiiclincil to 

 make a Idcomotive anij^ "tender, hut Vdu 

 gi-oan in\\;n<!ly to think of tii(> outlay ol' 

 time and material. Don't do it. .^Jake a 

 brake wheel. That's symbol enough, and a 

 better piece in every way than sui-li 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 hnulscape nor water win- 

 dows shoulil every detail be worked out 

 minutely. Hy lememhering that there 

 is mucli to be crawded into a small space 

 at be«t, one's better judgment can easily 

 lii (('111 wliat details are (>ncu:nl)eiing. 

 Don't continue catchy or sensational sub- 

 jects too long or offer tliem too frc- 

 (juently. The leally 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 th^ir 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. Eun 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 orj a plant as a 

 prize to the one who guesses the correct 

 names of the most kinds ' of nests. 

 Withal, keep flowers and plants always 

 proihinently 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, Colum'bia 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, 

 Ijie 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 was 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 popular 

 as it once was. Some have considerable 

 trouble in keeping alternanthera through 

 the winter. This dif!iculty 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 bo 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 place, only enough 



