November 18, 1909 



^t .,r. *»^,*^v 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



Uip.Ui^isix^ i^'^hii*^. 



THE RETAIL 



FLOPIST 





<^:-9<<^:-9^i 



I 



AN AUTO IN FLOWERS. 



Pretty nearly every city of any conse- 

 quence nov? has its annual automobile 

 shovf, and the week of this event the mer- 

 chants in nearly every line make special 

 effort with their automobile windows. 



The accompanying illustration shows 

 how W. J. Palmer & Son, Buffalo, took 

 advantage of automobile week in Buffalo 

 to catch the attention of the people. The 

 photograph was made from the store, 

 looking outward, and the decoration was 

 worthy of special note because it was 

 eqWUy complete, viewed from either side. 

 The automobile was made entirely of 

 natural flowers, just like a funeral de- 

 sign, made up on a wire frame. Galax 

 was used to represient the smooth metal 

 surfaces, and smilax for the pneumatic 

 tires, carnations being used to outline all 

 the edges. W. J. Palmer says the piece 

 attracted as much attention as anything 

 they ever had in their window. 



THE TREND OF PUBLIC TASTE. 



[A paper by Frank J. McKenna, of Montreal. 

 Can., read at the twelfth annual convention of 

 the Canadian Horticultural Association, in To- 

 ronto, November 11, 1909.] 



If we are to judge by the superb speci- 

 mens of blooms which daily pass through 

 our hands, floriculture has reached an 

 almost superlativ^e degree of perfection. 

 For this we are deeply indebted to some 

 clever and enterprising growers all over 

 the country. 



The part of the business in which I am 

 most interested and which, to my way of 

 thinking, is by far the most diflScult to 

 hanuie, is the retail. On account of deal- 

 ing directly with the public, we are daily 

 confronted with difficulties so formidable 

 that it makes the growers' troubles so 

 iisignificant as to fade away into ob- 

 livion. 



Before- beginning to show in what 

 direction the trend of public taste is 

 traveling, I must mention the fact that 

 there is one thing the retail florist has 

 to be thankful for, and that is that peo- 

 ple are, and always will be, of varied 

 tastes and opinions when it is a question 

 of decoration. 



Crazes in Colors. 



In my opinion, yellow for decoration 

 purposes has no equal. Some have a 

 mania for yellow; they want it at all 

 times and seasons, first in mums, then 

 in daffodils, tulips, daisies, roses, Iceland 

 poppies, Spanish iris, coreopsis, golden- 

 rod, marigolds, helianthus, rudbeckia, 

 dahlias, gladioli, etc. Nothing but yel- 

 low appeals to their sense of beauty, and 

 I think that the craze will not be satis- 

 fied until American Beauties in yellow 

 tints have been introduced. Some others 

 want red, the brighter the better; not 

 only at Christmas, when other people 

 want it, but also at any other time when 

 occasion presents itself. But worst of 

 all IS the white flower fiend, who always 

 happens along when we have a rush of 

 design work, with white roses and car- 

 nations at a premium. He wants white 



flowers only, no matter what the occa- 

 sion, regardless of its purpose or color 

 scheme. A basket or bouquet is not per- 

 fect unless it contains some white roses. 

 Why, they even send white flowers to 

 their sick friends, who really need all 

 the bright things possible to brighten 

 them up. These are special color fanat- 

 ics, and it is not on such that we can 

 base our opinions on popular taste. 



The demand for new ideas is growing 

 daily and the florist who caters to up-to- 

 date people must be up-to-date and orig- 

 inal in his floral arrangement. Consider 

 how fast the age is advancing in other 

 channels; then why not in our line? 

 "Well, it is up to the floral artist to be 

 always ready with new creations and 

 avoid exact duplication of designs for 

 the same occasion. 



A Modem Requirement. 



There is one feature, or rather change, 

 in the business that is very noticeable 

 even in my short experience. Not long 

 ago it was the grower of specimen 

 blooms and plants who was the hero of 

 the hour. His productions were'admired 

 by all. A bunch of mammoth chrysan- 

 themums, extra fine roses, or Beauties of 

 excellent quality could be exhibited in 



For wearing, the cabbage-head bunch 

 of douole violets predominates. Only 

 about two years ago we could not sell 

 one bunch of doubles to a hundred 

 singles; now the doubles have a larger 

 sale, showing that it is not the flowers 

 but the arrangement that counts. A 

 little distinction may be added by insert- 

 ing a cattleya, a few sprays of valley or 

 a few small rosebuds. A rich moire taf- 

 feta ribbon of a good violet shade is the ■ 

 favorite tie, although at times we use 

 a great many different kinds of cords, 

 some very costly. Huge corsages of cat- 

 tleyas and valley 6r violets and valley 

 are quite fashionable, as much as 200 

 best valley being worn in one bunch, tied 

 with shaded ribbons. "With the best of 

 these we furnish corsage shields. 



ki to 



Table Decorations. 



A^ to table decorations, there is so 

 much to say, so many different arrange- 

 ments are in vogue, that I have not the 

 time to go into any lengthy descriptions. 



Smilax is seldom used on the table 

 nowadays. Other greens are preferred 

 and its sole purpose is for festooning 

 and draping mantels. 



"We have always on hand a stock of 

 tins of various sizes, to fit almost any 

 shape of basket or fancy receptacle, 

 which we fill with water and in which 

 we arrange the flowers at the shop and 

 deliver all ready to place on the table. 

 This is much simpler than working in 

 someone's pantry or dining room. We 

 carry a great assortment of baskets for 

 this purpose. In these, natural colors 

 and neutral shndes are preferred. Some 

 are of bark, others twig, but willows are 

 the best of all, with or without handles. 



Always arrange flowers as loosely and 

 as naturally as possible. The stems are 



Window Decoration for Automobile Show Week. 



an old bucket or ugly stone vase, and 

 they were the talk of the town. Now 

 it is different. It is floral arrangement, 

 in my opinion, that holds the attention 

 of the people today. A daintily arranged 

 basket, bouquet or wee hamper of or- 

 chids, violets, pansies or valley will 

 attract a hundred per cent more atten- 

 tion than even a dozen specimen mum 

 plants with a hundred blooms on each. 



cut to different lengths for best results. 

 For the debutante there is no set 

 flower, but blush pink rosebuds, Carnots 

 or Bon Silenes meet with the most favor, 

 the tinier the buds the better, and what 

 flowers are pinned to the ribbon are of 

 the same variety. 



^ Wedding Bouquets. 



For bridal bouquets, orchids and yal- 



7^. 



^/' 



