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AnoDST 10, 1911. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



13 



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S THE RETAIL 



FLORIST.., 



YOU'LL AGEEE. 



You'll agree, says a man who visits 

 retail florists, that competition has al- 

 ways been the mainspring and back- 

 bone of progress in most lines of busi- 

 ness. Not so with the florists— not at 

 all — for the simple reason that florists 

 take great pride in. their well kept sur- 

 roundings, which is an indication of 

 progressiveness. 



It is and always has been a notice- 

 able fact throughout the country that 

 through the present and recent summer 

 months advantage has been taken of 

 the opportunity of renovating and 

 brightening the stores and greenhouses, 

 not only in the cities but in the smaller 

 towns, and in a majority of cases you 

 will find the flower stores the prettiest, 

 not only on the outside but in the in- 

 terior, of all the stores in the town. 



THE WBEATH. 



The wreath on the easel is a popular 

 form of design in the south, and the 

 piece shown in the illustration was 

 made in the store of Hugh Scales, City 

 Hall building, Birmingham, Ala., by 

 H. A. Slawsen, a graduate of retail 

 stores at Utica, N. Y. 



A PEW SUMMER WINDOWS. 



A Column Decked with Ageratums. 



Set together, as one, four columns 

 such as may have been used for the 

 dahlia window described in a previ- 

 ous article on this same subject, or 

 use one large, round column. Such a 

 column may be easily manufactured, 

 with a circular piece of wood for the 

 top and bottom and possibly one for 

 the middle. Around the edges nail 

 laths or strips lengthwise. Cover the 

 skeleton column with several layers 

 of cheesecloth, stretched tight. 



On the top of the column place a 

 round basket of blue ageratums and 

 long, light smilax sprays. From the 

 same point suspend a group of smaller 

 ageratum baskets with hangers of 

 No. 5 or No. 7 ribbon, to match the 

 ■color of the flowers. Let the group 

 be irregularly arranged, some of the 

 baskets hanging low, some high and 

 others at different points between and 

 well around the column, but more 

 toward the top. Set the column in a 

 field of marguerites, either potted 

 plants or cut blooms. 



A Pond Bordered by Gladioli. 



That gladioli seldom receive the ap- 

 preciation which they deserve is dud 

 to the poor .arrangement so often given 

 them. How many times they are to be 

 seen crowded into jars where not even 

 one complete statk can be seen, all 

 colors together, no respect paid to the 

 differences between scarlet and crimson 

 or salmon and violet pink! No wonder 

 these royal beauties refuse to look 

 pleasant. The next insult heaped upon 



them is that of cluttering them with 

 any kind of finely cut toliage, alto- 

 gether at variance with their own 

 sword-like leaves. 



What, then, will be a creditable 

 showing for this queenly flower? 

 Whatever else is done or not done, 

 give it space. One of its ideal settings 

 is water with a few stones. Lay out 

 the window so that gladioli will appear 

 to be growing near the edge of a pond. 

 One extra fine specimen can be seen 

 first, beside a great rock, and after- 

 ward a troop of them, with carefullj^ 

 blended colors, the group broadening 

 as the space will allow. This arrange- 

 ment is one of the ways which can 

 easily be fixed up with a cement under- 

 floor. If the pond can not be provided-, 

 use a mirror instead. Cover the edges 

 with moss and gravel and allow a few 

 stalks of the gladioli to lean over and 

 reflect themselves. This will relieve 

 any stilted look which may have crept 

 in. Have a few cat-tails, rushes or 

 coarse grass blades among the gladioli, 

 on the edge of the pond. 



side of the stump. Over toward a far 

 side of the window make a long panel 

 border of the zinnias in free attitudes. 

 One of those mantel pans suggested 

 some time ago will be just the thing for 

 this panel. For the groundwork lay 

 on a layer of bark of the same kind) 

 as is found in the basket or stump. 



A Hillside of Phlox. 



Your window may be a hillside of 

 phlox for a week or so. According to 

 the size and shape of the window, raise 

 a knoll by packing moss around a large 

 jar of phlox and several other jars soft 

 around conveniently, either to the rear 

 or on the opposite side from the mirror; 

 so that the rise will be reflected. Plant 

 the rise and the space below with 

 similar jars of phlox, having the stalks 

 well separated, and cover the moss with 

 green to look like grass. Introduce 

 some tall grasses here and there. Here, 

 again, occurs the advantage of a double 

 floored window, for all these schemes 

 can be set below the line of the glass 

 and there the pots and jars will be 

 safely out of view. Leave a half con- 

 cealed path through from the rear, so 

 that one may reach any part of thef 

 window without walking over the deco- 

 ration or pulling it out. Quite an as- 

 sortmeint of colors can be introduced, 

 so long as they continue harmonious, 

 but let the colors be carefully graded 

 and unequally proportioned. Break 

 the uniformity of the stretch by a find 

 specimen fern or Sprengeri. 



A Clematis Window. 



If some scattering blooms of Clematis 



A Birmingham W^reath. 



A Yellow Window. 



Sometime, for a yellow window, try 

 zinnias and wild mustard or turnip 

 flowers. Get the clearest yellow you 

 can in the zinnias and work ii^ the mus- 

 tard through the densest part of the 

 group. Try them in a fairly large, 

 broad basket of bark, set on a stump. 

 Sprinkle liberally with the finest yel- 

 low flowers and plant a group at one^ 



Jackmani can be obtained while C. 

 paniculata is in its glory, have a 

 clematis window. Cut a good sized 

 plant of the paniculata, set it deep ix^ 

 water and train it over a tall rattan 

 screen. About the base of a companion 

 screen, set at the opposite side of the 

 window, group a bunch of auratum 

 lilies. Hang a basket of C. Jackmani 

 from the top of the lily screen so that 



