The Weekly Florists^ Review. 



JOIiT 22, 1909. 



by likeness of opposite parts, equality, 

 regularity, balance and proportion. A 

 triangle may be more apparently sym- 

 metrical than a wild spray of ampelopsis 

 hanging from the branch of a tree; yet, 

 if the outline of the same tossing branch 

 were traced carefully, there would be 

 found a wonderful regxilarity and balance 

 iu all its parts. 



Graceful Blending of Lines. 



A union of all its parts and lines is 

 another essential found in natural 

 beauty; that is, all the stems which corre- 

 spond to lines must be united at some 

 point, and, as a corollary to the above 

 theorem, they must come together easily, 

 never abruptly and shortly. 



Take, for instance, the seed pod of any 

 kind of a pea, vetch or locust. Observe 

 how gracefully the side lines merge into 

 each other at the points of the pods, and 

 how, as the pods hang upon the plant, 

 their outlines unite with the stalk, and 

 how all the stalks find the parent stalk 

 and lose themselves in its lines. 



Trace backward, if you can, the branch- 

 ing of the elm, beginning at the tip of 

 some tiny twig and following it into a 

 larger stem with many others of its own 

 size. The stem seeks its source in the 

 .smaller branches, and they, in turn, after 

 absorbing all the lines of its smaller 

 branching stems, run into the principal 

 branches, which all finally come back to 

 the trunk. 



Symmetry in Apparent Irregularity. 



What appears on the surface to be 

 wanting in symmetry may be traced to 

 some modification of a very regular form. 

 It may be incomplete ox be a fraction 

 of a symmetrical fpxm. "What are called 

 irregular flowed will be found to be 

 wrongly so called when they are unfolded 

 or closely examined, as in the case of 

 sweet peas, violets, orchids or snap- 

 dragons. The most casual observer would 

 not fail to call them beautiful flowers, 

 and with such a universal verdict in their 

 favor they must be beautiful and possess 

 the essential elements of beauty. A little 

 study will reveal it, too. 



Mapy leaves and flowers which to all 

 appearances are symmetrical are found 

 to h( mathematically not true when 

 folde4 together. But the general effect 

 is that of a perfectly symmetrical body. 

 The iact is that they are scarcely ever 

 exactllp^ developed. 



Natural forms, then, are our object 

 lessonb and reading charts. We must be 

 able to trace the essential qualities of 

 beauty, symmetry and unity in whatever 

 we consider interesting and fascinating 

 objects, and we must proceed to reduce 

 these forms and plans to practical shapes 

 and to capture the outlines of the clouds 

 and tree tops as they cast their shadows 

 upon our work tables. 



Gertrude Blair. 



UNUSUAL DESIGNS. 



Every now and then the retail florist 

 is called upon to execute some unusual 

 design, such as that ordered at J. F. Am- 

 mann's store at Alton, 111., for a recent 

 funeral. The deceased was the president 

 of one of the largest bottle factories in 

 the country. The foremen in his estab- 

 lishment took up a collection to send a 

 design to the funeral. They wanted some- 

 thing unusual; nothing would suit them 

 so well as a big floral bottle, and they 

 got it. 



There is, of course, nothing artistic 

 about such a design. Its execution is 

 largely mechanical and the only thing to 



commend such an arrangement of flowers 

 is that it brings a good bunch of money 

 into the florist's cash drawer. The cash 

 register rings as merrily when the money 

 comes from such a design as though the 

 arrangement were one to appeal to the 

 artistic senses of the florist. The thing 

 to do when people want such a design is 

 to make it for them, but never suggest 

 it; if the florist is permitted to have any 

 voice in the matter the recommendation 

 should be for a more natural treatment 

 of flowers. 



It often happens that, as in the case 

 of the bottle makers, nothing else will 



Floral Bottle Five Feet High. 



l)iing so good a price as something on the 

 bottle order. Mr. Ammann's manager 

 was called upon to make a design five 

 feet high and two feet or more in diam- 

 eter. The accompanying illustration shows 

 how well the work was done. The only 

 sign of color was in the carnations repre- 

 senting the cork; all the rest were white. 

 Chiffon was used to supply a place for 

 the lettering, which wisely was limited to 

 the single word ' ' Foremen. " It is in- 

 teresting to note that although there were 

 a large number of first-class designs at 

 the funeral, there was nothing at all 

 which made so big a hit as the bottle. 



SHASTA DAISIES. 



In a recent street parade at Alvin, 

 Tex., Mrs. P. E. Nelson, who ranks 

 among the leaders of the florists there, 

 captured fijst prize for decorated vehicles 

 with a buggy decorated with 10,000 



Shasta daisies, as shown in the accom- 

 panying illustration. Some of the flow- 

 ers were kept four days in water in a 

 cool room before using. In the illustra- 

 tion the lady driving is Miss Minnie M. 

 Tennis, of Brazoria, Tex., niece of the 

 florist. Mrs. Nelson has had an excellent 

 business this season. She does a general 

 retail trade and also a wholesale business 

 in cape jasmines and violets. 



BEAUTIES FOR A BANKER. 



St. Louis has a remarkable man in 

 Rufus J. Lockland, president of the Boat- 

 man 's Bank, who was 90 years of age 

 July 8. His friends remembered the day 

 with flowers and among the many sent 

 were six bunches of American Beauty 

 roses, ninety blooms in each bunch. The 

 flowers completely filled the venerable 

 gentleman's office. The larger part were 

 supplied by C. Young & Sons Co., but all 

 the St. Louis florists had a share in the 

 business. 



EUROPEAN NOTES. 



Two Great English Shows. 



The art of exhibiting plants and flow- 

 ers never stood on a higher pinnacle in 

 England than at the present day and this 

 was fully demonstrated at two great 

 sliows just held in London, one the an- 

 nual show of the National Rose Society, 

 the other the annual summer show of the 

 Royal Horticultural Society. For extent 

 they have never been surpassed; for su 

 perior culture their equals could not be 

 found in Europe, and for artistic flnish, 

 well, we generally give the palm to the 

 Parisian exhibitors, but on this occasion 

 Amos Perry, of Enfield, and M. Prichard, 

 of Christchurch, easily reached the French 

 standard for natural and artistic effect, 

 with their rock garden and water scenes. 



The columns of our daily newspapers 

 and page after page of our gardening 

 journals are filled with appreciative arti- 

 cles on the shows, and the public read 

 these articles with interest, for just as 

 exhibiting has reached its highest pin- 

 nacle, so has the love of flowers reached 

 its zenith in the hearts of all classes of 

 the people. When William R. Smith, of 

 Washington, was over here a year or two 

 ago, I asked him in which direction he no- 

 ticed the greatest advance in horticulture, 

 and he replied, "In the gardens of the 

 middle classes and the mechanics. The in- 

 crease of their enthusiasm in gardening 

 since my previous visits is marvelous, and 

 the variety of flowers in their gardens as- 

 tonishes me. ' ' Nurserymen and seed mer- 

 chants cater accordingly and it is no un- 

 usual thing for firms to book orders 

 amounting to 100, 200 or 300 pounds 

 sterling at a two days' show, largely 

 made up of orders fronj the classes 

 named. 



Awards by the Rose Society. 



At the National Rose Society's show 

 the championship trophy was awarded to 

 Alex. Dickson & Sons, Newtownards. Tliis 

 class calls for seventy-two blooms in dis- 

 tinct varieties. The second prize was 

 awarded to B. R. Cant & Sons, Col- 

 chester. For group of roses, 250 square 

 feet. Hobbies, Ltd., Dereham, won with a 

 gaily colored and effective arrangement, 

 in which tall standard plants of Dorothy 

 Perkins, Coquina, Tausendschon, Hia- 

 watha, etc., played a leading part. For 

 a group of cut roses, George Mount, of 

 Canterbury, surpassed all rivals with 

 grand pyramidal stands and circular 

 banks of bloom of Richmond, Frau Karl 

 Druschki, Mrs. John Laing, Mme. Mela- 



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