July 1, Idok. 



The Weekly Florists' Review* 



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THE RETAIL 



FLORIST 



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BOHANNON'S HOME. 



(.)nf u1' < luciiyd "s iioIuIjIc ncu Imilil- 

 lugs is that of tlic I'liivLTssit y (lul), at 

 llio conior of .Micliif^-.-iii avciuir ami Mon- 

 roe strocl. Jt is said t(j he tiic fiiii'st 

 cliililiouse ill -Viiiorica. In riciting the 

 oriiati' arehitct'tiiral i)il('. [ii-o\isioii was 

 inadf for tlic housing of a florist as ono 

 of the necessary features of such an in 

 stituiion. L. K. Hohannon secured this 

 desiraljh^ location for the Hohannon 

 J''loral Co. The aeconipanyiny illustra 

 tion shows his portion of the front. Mr. 

 Boliannon says that since moving to the 

 fiubhouso the cliaracter of liis trade lias 

 undergone a notable change. While he 

 has lost a large part of his transient 

 trade, he has enjoyed a great gain in 

 high class jiatronage, not only from tiie 

 members (if the University (lab. but 

 from the better class of tloucr buyers 

 thidniihout the citv. 



DECORATE STEAMERS. 



J'lir the third successive season W. .1. 

 Palmer ^; fSoii, JiufTalo, N. V., Iia\e re 

 ••eived the contract to decorate the steam- 

 ers of the Northern Steamsiii|i <'o.. ply 

 iug between l-?utValo. ( liicago ami lluJuth. 

 These are the steamers, NdiM hlaml and 

 .\orfh\\e<t. the finest on the laiirs. 



DIFFICULTIES IN DESIGN WORK. 



Need of a Good Background. 



.\> a iiMdt of the cra/e lnr exagger 

 ali'd >i/,e in design worii. a nundier of 

 mechanieal .lefects are tn Ik- ^een almost 

 any day. Not ihal they all appear in 

 tile same piice. biii e\eii one is glaring 

 <'iioiigli tip mar an otiieivvise giuid design. 

 Toothpiciv- and sphagnum are not meant 

 to beautify. -<n iliey should lie packed in 

 and dri\en tar out of sight. .\s was 

 suggesteii ill a former chapter, if the 

 side or top decoration were extended 

 there would be little dini<-nllv of this 

 kind. If enough time and maleiial are 

 taken to prej.aie the back;:ronnd proji 

 erly. les- llowers and time will be le 

 quired to complete tin- decoration. If 

 the jiiece iiiiist be large tor the money, 

 wire the -tems their full length, unless 

 that should be out of leasni. and (duster 

 the flower-, leaving one |iorti(ni or sev- 

 eral -pot- ot the background exposed. 

 The general .dVecI will be c\en bett.-r 

 than if the aitem|pl were made lo s|i!ead 

 a limited .amount of ||owrr< oxer too 

 large a .-iiiface. 



A Fundamental Principle. 



( )iie of the c.irdinal |>riiicipies in de 

 signino is to arrange the grouping in 

 sucii a ^\av that it will hav( the appear- 

 ance of all the lines (stems) coming 

 from a common source. Sometimes it 

 is difficult to keep to this excellent rule 

 in decorating a rather small ]ue<-e. 1 he 

 space must be ••fillc.l m' ' ■ '''^'t >« 

 the habit we have gotten into. Here, 

 asiain. the remedv is with the liack- 



grouiid. .Make it even and solid, to out 

 line the design properly, and a (duster 

 or a series of clusters will be all that 

 is necessary to complete the design. 

 W'lien green is plentiful, it adds much 

 to the idfect if the background can be 

 made thick with si'xeiiil layers of green. 

 Asparagus will do iiiccdy for this. Soft 

 spring and summer flowers, such as j)an- 

 sies, alyssum, candytuft, garden lielio 

 triope, etc., ser\e well for this juirpose. 

 What could be more attractive than a 

 wreath of purj)le (U- dark blue jiansies 

 over which is trained a sjiray of pink 

 roses, or a bronz(> and yellow sIuhIcmI 

 pansy wreath with yellow or white ros(>s .' 



Good Use for Split Carnations. 



Split carnations are fine for solid back 

 ground jiieces; they cover much more 

 s]»ace Ih.'in perfect flowers. For a ))il- 

 lovv w!ii(di it is desired to make extra 

 large, run a s(did jiamd of eiirnations — 

 from four to a do/en flowers wide, ae- 

 (•(•rding to the size of tln^ j)illow — from 

 left to right diagonally upward, includ- 

 ing the extriMiie corners. Over the re- 

 maining corners train loose clusters of 

 another flower, merging the loose por 

 tions into the solid with fine green. 

 I'ringe the entire edge (d' the piece with 



able setting that it is possible to give a 

 flower, and if additional foliage is de- 

 sire(| it should be selected with a \ie\v 

 to its resemblance to the f(diage Ijtdoiig- 

 iiig to the Mower. ('ustomers can be 

 tiaineil to ap|)reciate this fact and can 

 see the nil reasonableness of always call 

 iiig tor extra green. 



Estimating the Price. 



.\iiotlier iirobleni which c(iiifr(Uits one 

 is estimating (piickly what amount of 

 stock can be afforded for a design for a 

 stated price, either before a purchase 

 nv ill planning and laying out stock for 

 a design or spray. With a little ex^ie- 

 lience, one can soon be able to set a 

 |irice on sight, or be able to set a size 

 for a certain price. 



At the same time, there can be no 

 standard price for a certain size of de- 

 sign. The season of the year and the 

 supply of flowers, I he (piality of stock, 

 the kind of flowers it is proposed to use 



all these tilings must either influence 

 in- lix the ])rice. Take, for example, ;i 

 iL'-iiich wreath. It can be filled profitably 

 for $'). or it can be filled for $li» or o\er. 

 according to the kind of' flowers us(>d. 

 With exeryday, .average stock ot' odds 

 and ends, it can be kept within a range 

 of .f.") to •+". A little ranging of prices, 

 with explauat iiuis attache(|, will serve to 

 cultivate a taste in the purchaser for the 

 better (lass of flowers and better ar- 

 rangements. If carnations, a few roses 

 ,ind some of the commoner flowers are 

 to be use(l, he can buy the jiiece for .$.'j. 

 but when he comes to think of violets, 

 valley, etc.. he should b»> able to see 

 value to the amount of .fill and over, 

 and if he is iimbitious for something still 

 rarer, he is prepared to see the price 

 soar. 



Then, in estimating what is needed for 



New Qua ters of Bohannon Floral Co , In University Club, Cliicago. 



ilioice green in ;i llaring arrangement. 

 Thus exe(aite(|. the piece has a deciiled 

 luitliue aiul can be recognized as a |iillo\\ 

 at the first glance. 



Though long-stemmed enough to show , 

 gO(ul individual (|ualities, these same 

 flowers are often too crowded on the 

 design to show the steins. The view of , 

 the steins, foliage and sides of the flow- 1 

 crs is just as valuable as a full fac(>(l j 

 Ireiit. Its own foliaee is the mos] x.aln 



decoraiiiig :i piece t'or a lixed |irice, al- 

 low a reasonable .aimnint for tla^ time 

 which will be needeil to finish the piece. 

 There are also the frame, green, moss, 

 wire and .all other supplies to be drawn 

 on. < onnt out the'stock. at r(>tail price, 

 wlii(h can be ;i(V(U'de(| for the remainder 

 of the money, together with the riblioii 

 or chitVoii. Many jieople use not cmly 

 more s|o(d\ than the price justifies. Ijut 

 mole than eoml taste admits. 



