■??»* 



Dbcombbb 16, 1900. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review^ 



21 



SEASONABLE MATERIALS. 



The Holiday Touch on Everything. 



Casting about for material with which 

 TO brighten almost every basket, box or 

 ))ackage which leaves the shop at Christ- 

 mas time, we find nearly everywhere red 

 immortelles, holly, poinsettias, natural 

 nnd artificial, and plenty of scarlet rib- 

 bon and chiffon. Besides these, there are 

 reds and crimsons of many shades, all 

 kings in their own realms, but suspicious 

 of each other. Among these reds are the 

 red magnolia and beech leaves, coleus 

 foliage, crimson cyclamen, red Chinese 

 primulas and the coral hue of the 

 Begonia Gloire de Lorraine. Of these 

 different reds the most called for are 

 scarlets, which combine best with 

 lycopodium and laurel wreathing, pine or 

 cedar greens and trees, and fancy potted 

 evergreens. 



Just how to impart the Christmas 

 touch to each of many things, is the 

 question. By this statement we do not 

 mean that all the plants must be deco- 

 rated gaudily, but somewhere in the cov- 

 ering of the pot, in the wrapping or ad- 

 dressing of the package, let there be a 

 suggestion of something Christmas-like. 

 Decorations on a plant itself should be 

 few and modest, for the plant is the 

 main thing and not the decoration. The 

 decoration exists for the plant, not .the 

 plant for the decoration. 



Any decoration which shall add slightly 

 to the appearance of the plant is admissi- 

 ble. As an example, small cones tied 

 on the tips of the araucaria whorls with 

 red baby ribbon form a natural and logi- 

 <'al decoration. Some unfortunate people, 

 with more pocketbook than taste, buy 

 bows of ribbon with plants attached to 

 them, or baskets swathed in satin ribbon 

 and chiffon. Too much is as bad as 

 ' ' dinkiness. ' ' 



Combinations^ Bad and Good. 



Here are a few color recipes which are 

 ioo often seen, but let them be slated 

 ■vith the "Don'ts": Colored cyclamen 

 with Begonia Gloire de Lorraine; colored 

 '•yclamen with holly, poinsettias, or 

 I'limulas, except white; colored prim- 

 roses with Lorraine, poinsettias, or holly ; 

 ' ed magnolia or beech leaves with scarlet 

 ■mmortelles; red roses with holly. 



The wreath arrangements may be 

 '^ aried almost indefinitely. We can have 

 plain lycopodium, or lycopodium with 

 "oUy scattered or in one cluster, with or 

 Without ribbon. We can have lycopodium 

 ^yith scarlet immortelles as an inside out- 

 ''ne, as scattered bunches or as one large 

 ^'luster, or we can display a plain 



lycopodium with a stylish bow of ribbon 

 that will outclass any of the above. In 

 the pine sections of the country neat 

 wreaths may be made of the boughs and 

 trimmed with the cones, with or without 

 ribbon. Pine wreaths with arti^cial poin- 

 settias are showy and inexpensive, or an 

 all poinsettia wreath would serve the 

 same ^burpose. 



Other decorations for a plain lyco- 

 podium wreath: A single strand of rib- 

 bon — scarlet, of course — drawn through 

 and twisted here and there where it is 

 necessary to fasten it, and ending in a 



The Ardisia. 



hanging bow and streamer; knots of 

 baby ribbon scattered at intervals around 

 the wreath, with a spray of mistletoe in 

 each; a cluster of small cones and a 

 spray of holly, all tied to the wreath in 

 one place with a bunch of No. 5 scarlet 

 ribbon; for cemetery or memorial pur- 

 poses, an extra wide lycopodium wreath, 

 with a small, solid cross worked on its 

 surface of scarlet immortelles; for a 

 laurel or green magnolia wreath, a tie of 

 scarlet ribbon with a generous lot of 

 bows shaped like the leaves; for a red 

 magnolia wreath, a formal bow and long 

 streamers of Nile green ribbon, with a 



spray of mistletoe in the bow; an all 

 holly wreath with pcfinsettias ; an im- 

 mense wreath of any of the above kinds, 

 tied with a cluster of small wreaths and 

 a large ribbon tie. 



A Christmaf Tree. 



For a display tree: Trim a Christmas 

 tree with red and green candles, moss 

 baskets of holly or small flowers, poin- 

 settias, cones, clusters of scarlet baby 

 ribbon, and dainty flower boxes with 

 Santa Claus stickers. Bank around the 

 base with ferns and blooming plants. 

 Trim the background with wild smilax 

 and poinsettias. Overhead hang clusters 

 of arbor-vitae bells, ringing wildly. The 

 arbor-vitse bells may be made over an 

 ordinary bell frame and provided with 

 a red immortelle clapper. Bell frames 

 may also be covered with the artificial 

 poinsettias, pine boughs or lycopodium. 



Baskets are recpptacles for plants and 

 flowers and, as such, should be kept in 

 their proper place and not over decora ted. 

 Little or no ribbon, with a neutral color 

 in the basket, is the most tasteful. With 

 a dull colored basket the brilliant flow- 

 ers and foliage will show to a decided 

 advantage. A slightly discolored basket 

 may be covered with holly and filled so as 

 to look fresh and new. Coleus plants and 

 scarlet geraniums are good color helps, 

 along with poinsettias, holly, etc. Fiber 

 ribbons in red and green are useful ties 

 for rustic baskets and pots, while rosettes 

 of baby ribbon and butterflies of scarlet 

 chiffon are highly ornamental for the 

 finer and daintier baskets. 



Suggestions for Baskets. 



We see lots of plant baskets for Christ- 

 mas stock, but for special orders cut 

 flowers may be used in combination with 

 plants for the better class of trade. A 

 cluster of flowers tied on the handle with 

 the card is a good touch to such a basket. 



For instance, how do these sound? A 

 basket of adiantum plants with the 

 handle trimmed with pink roses; a rustic 

 basket with Pteris tremula or similar 

 fern, with a holly-trimmed handle and a 

 scarlet cord to tie on the card, or a fiber 

 ribbon rosette low on each side; an all 

 Begonia Lorraine basket, with a high 

 handle trimmed with a wrapping of Nile 

 green satin ribbon about halfway down 

 on each side, with plain streamers hang- 

 ing and mistletoe drawn into the ends in 

 a tight knot; a basket of crimson cycla- 

 men, the handle decorated with a tie of 

 American Beauty ribbon, enclosing a bud 

 or two of the same rose ; a hamper basket 

 of twig used as a box for a handsome 

 bunch of violets, tied with violet cord 



