JULX 22, 1909. 



The Weekly Florists' Review* 



t 



THE RETAIL 



FLORIST 



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^H 





THE STANDING WREATH. 



In the accompanying illustration no 

 flowers are shown in the base of the 

 standing wreath, the material used there 

 being leucothoe sprays and fancy fern 

 leaves. Green also predominates in the 

 wreath itself, both leucothoe leaves and 

 asparagus being used. The flowers are 

 nil wired on picks and are set with 

 lather long stems, so that the effect pro- 

 duced is one of grace rather than solid- 

 ity. This is a design by Albert C. Rott, 

 .foliet, 111. 



WHERE TO GET DESIGN PLANS. 



In the World of Natural Forms. 



All about us in the world of natural 

 forms are thousands of what might be 

 called design buildings, whose lines, when 

 collectively arranged, form the outline of 

 a plant, small or great. They range from 

 the primitive club mosses to great trees. 

 But not alone in plants are to be found 

 designs adaptable to floral work, for there 

 are cobwebs, butterflies, markings on 

 stones, feathers, etc., and thousands of 

 other objects in the animal, vegetable 

 and mineral kingdoms. 



All sorts of forms are continually be- 

 fore our eyes, and we become so accus- 

 tomed to the great variety of them that 

 we fail to note their differences and re- 

 semblances. In fact, no manufactured 

 form is anything but a copy of some of 

 the many natural forms, or a combination 

 of these. An arrangement of lines con- 

 nected makes a form, so far as the outline 

 is concerned, and that is all we have use 

 for at present, the solid form not bearing 

 upon our subject. Even mathematical 

 forms flnd their origin in nature, ex- 

 amples being often seen in triangular and 

 hexagonal pollen grains, seed pods, 

 stamens, pistils, stems, stalks, etc. 



When one comes to think of it, all the 



wire frames that are used as designs by 



ilorists are what somebody has seen and 



' onsidered worth reproducing in flowers, 



s the pillow, harp, crescent, anchor, 



TOSS, and all such. Even a basket as a 



oceptacle is taken from some natural 



torm, birds Tiests and pitcher plants sug- 



esting themselves as examples. 



Training the Powers of Observation. 



The first thing, then, in correct design- 

 ' iig, is the ability to observe the form and 

 lesign of all kinds of natural objects 

 vhich may come in our way. If denied 

 iccess to the woods, turn to the roadside, 

 garden, greenhouse, the park, to pictures 

 itnd museums, and the clouds and sky. 



It is useless to burden the memory by 

 trying to remember many forms, but try 

 io understand the grouping of the lines 

 :ind their relation to each other. Do a 

 little sketching of plants and flowers, all 

 *or your own benefit. Separate the lines 

 <'f the sketch in another sketch, but still 

 l<eeping their direction and character. 

 Then notice how they all fall in together. 

 Studjf the outlines and see the different 



mathematical and free shapes of which 

 they are composed. Trace these lines to 

 their common source — and, most emphat- 

 ically, this word "source" is singular. 



Get the plan upon which a clover head 

 or a sunflower is constructed. There is 

 more than one scientific reason why a 

 head of timothy differs from a snap- 

 dragon, or why the veining of a calla 

 leaf in no way resembles that of a tansy, 



of flowers, foliage or fruit. But all 

 these changes are merely modiflcations of 

 the original plan upon which the plant is 

 built, and are highly profitable to ob- 

 serve. 



Training the Sense of Beauty. 



According as the eye is trained, and 

 sometimes instinctively without instruc- 

 tion, the sense of beauty is impressed by 

 natural form. What, then, is meant by 

 the term "beauty"? The accepted idea 

 is that beauty is produced by a multiplic- 

 ity of symmetrical parts uniting in a 

 consistent whole, causing delight, which, 

 to put it in other words, is the pleasing 

 effect of a well organized unit. 



According to one's capacity for obser- 

 vation and application, he should be 

 graded as a designer. If he is able to 

 analyze a collection of lines called a 

 plant, and to use the principles which he 

 has discovered, he can design. Nine- 

 tenths of the battle is being able to see 



The Standing Wreath. 



and there is also a reason for their widely 

 different existence in an artistic sense. 



Again, fiowers, stems and foliage 

 change their forms, often hourly. Flowers 

 open and reverse their petals in many 

 interesting ways; foliage draws toward 

 the sunlight, and some leaves and flowers 

 fold up at night. Stems bend and assume 

 different curves, according to the weight 



well. The tenth tenth is the getting to- 

 gether a similar collection of lines bound 

 by good coloring, for inconsistent color- 

 ing may spoil it all. 



Symmetry as one of the elements of 

 beauty is a fascinating subject of itself. 

 Its presence is more or less to be noted in 

 every natural object, although not always 

 seen at a glance. It may be recognized 



