,Tllv '2'2, lUOy. 



The Weekly Florists' Review* 



r>.'<^.'i»H. •■yf»)'fef»)'^^r»^''k^.-»)'^V»)'4^r^' L ■ »;• • \ »■; '^',-9^' 



THE RETAIL 



FLORIST 



I 

 I 



THE STANDING WREATH. 



Ill the accompanying illustration no 

 ■ wcrs are shown in the base of the 

 Hiding wreath, the material used there 

 ■iiig leucothoe sprays and fancy fern 

 ■ives. Green also predominates in the 

 n^ath itself, both leucothoe leaves and 

 -paragus being used. The flowers are 

 I wired on picks and are set with 

 ■ thcr long stems, so that the effect pro- 

 need is one of grace rather than solid- 

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

 ■ .Hot, Til. 



t^. •'yr»)'^'f»i'-feV»l'^^^^i'<?^r»)'v=V»>'^ V»)" >»^'^r»>'fer»), 



WHERE TO GET DESIGN PLANS. 



In the World of Natural Forms. 



All about us ill tlic world of natural 



minis arc tiioiisaiuls of what might lie 



illcil design buildings, wlmsc lines, when 



• •lll■('ti^•ely arranged, form the outline of 

 I plant, small or great. They range from 

 ill' primitive elul) mosses to great trcM's. 



I '.tit not alone iu plants :ire to be found 



li-'igiis Jidaptalile to floral work, for there 



!!• cobwebs, butterflies, markings on 



■;.incs, feathers, etc., ami thousands of 



• tlier objects iu the animal, vegetable 

 I ml iniueial kingdoms. 



All sorts of forms aic continually be 

 I'lc our eyes, and we become so acciis 

 '"iiied to tlu! great variety of tliiMii that 

 "!■ fail to note their dilVerences and re 

 -iiiiiilaiict's. in fact, no manufactured 

 "iin is anything but a copy of some of 

 li.e many natural foi ins. or a comliiiiation 

 ' these. All ariangi'inent of lines con 



ted imikes a form, .so far as the outline 



I concerned, and that is all we have use 

 ill' at present, the solid form not bearing 

 poll our suliject. l']\eii mathemat icai 

 'I'lns find their origin in nature, ex 

 iiples being often seen in triangular and 

 xagonal iiolleii grains, seed pods, 

 ;imens, jiistils, stems, stalks, etc. 



When one comes to think of it, all the 

 ire frames that are used as designs by 

 'I'ists are what somebody has seen and 

 ■nsiilered worth reproducing in llowers, 

 tlu! jiillow, harp, crescent, anchor, 

 iiss, and all such. Kveii a basket as a 

 ceptacde' is taken from soim> natural 

 'I'm, birds' nests and ]iitcher ]»lants mi<; 



■-ting themselves as examples. 



Training the Powers of Observation. 



I'lie first thing, then, in corre'ct design 

 'U. is the ability to obsei'\c the form and 

 "ijiu of all kinds of natural objects 



icli may come in our way. If denied 

 CSS to the woods, turn to the roadsiile, 



I'deii, greenhouse, the ])ai'k, to pictures 



'I inuseuins, and the clouds and sky. 



It is useless to burden the memory by 



> iug to remember iii.aiiy forms, but try 



understand the gi'ou[)iiig of the lines 



'd their relation to each other. Do a 



'le sketching of jilants and flowers, all 

 •'■ your own benefit. Separate the lines 

 ' the sketch in another sketch, but still 

 ''ping their direction and character. 

 iien notice how they all fall in together, 

 "idy 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 tlian one scientific reason why a 

 head of timothy differs from a snap- 

 dragon, or why the veining of a calla 

 leaf iu no wav resembles that of a tausv. 



of llowers, foliage or fruit. But all 

 these changes are merely modifications of 

 the original plan upon which the plant is 

 built, and are highly i)rofitable to ob- 

 si'rve. 



Training the Sense of Beaut'/. 



Acconliiig 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- 

 teutlis of the battle is being able to see 



The Standing Wreath. 



and there is also a reason for their widely 

 dilVerent existence in an artisti<' sense. 



Again, flowers, steins jind fcdiage 

 <'liaiige their forms, often hourly. I'lowers 

 open and reverse their petals in many 

 interesting ways; foliage draws toward 

 the sunlight, and some leaves and llowers 

 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 bins bound 

 by gooil coloring, for inconsistent color- 

 ing may sjioil it all. 



Symmetry as one of the elements of 

 beauty is ;i fascinating subject of itself. 

 Its presence is more or less to be noted in 

 every natural object, althougli not always 

 seen at a glance. It may be recognized 



