10 



The Weekly Florists^ Review^ 



An.rsT II, JS>io. 



I 



THE RETAIL 



FLORIST 



MURDOCH S STORE. 



It recently \\;.- ic;>ni!r,| in The K'c 

 view tli:it A.' M. .MiiKinrii, tlie I'ittsl.my 

 retailer, lubl ictiici! trom business, 

 leasing liis slurc ;ii a )irii-e wliicli would 

 make him inilciu'ihlcut. :iuil th(> i on) 

 ment was suli.ioincl ilmt Mr. Mui'ilm-li 's 

 store jirt)l);ihly )ir(>u;^iii the hi<;liest 

 rental per square loot of ;niy llower 

 store in the coirntry. 



The aecompaiiviii^ illustration shows 

 the buildinjr in wliidi .Mr. l\rur(loi'h has 

 (lone business, at L'oL' l-'il'th avenu(\ 

 Pittsburjj, for tlie last titteen vears. 

 The buildinii; is only ]."ix:!5 feet.' The 

 rental is over $10. (id') p(>v year, .$12;'), ()()() 

 for the term, and is at the rate of over 

 $20 per square foot per year. Is there 

 any other florist in the eountiy who has 

 done business in a store which Avould 

 command so ^rea*^ :t price? Who won 

 ders that he sluuild retire and live oti 

 bis rent? 



ESSENTIALS OF DESIGN. 



The Stock and Its Arrangement. 



We have been taught to believe thai 

 one-half and one half nu.ke a unit, but 

 as we grow older we are inclined to ob 

 serve that even a mathematical truth 

 may be altered in that a large half and 

 a small half may make a more harmoni- 

 ous unit than if the accepted propor- 

 tions were ecpial. The (piery often 

 arises: Wliat is a good design, or wliat 

 are its essentials, simply stated? 



Bearing in mind that a design means 

 any combination of llowers, from a 

 boutonniere to a wedding decoration, 

 and that the derivation of the word 

 itself hints th.at there is to be a mark- 

 ing out, a sign, an .>xf)ression, there 

 must be some idcLi or thought to be 

 expressed. 



Taking for ;;r.niicd ttiat there must 

 be some (pi.ality to the liowt rs or plants, 

 there is but oik- other essential to any 

 display, and th.at is iirrangement. Thus 

 simplified, our design must cont.ain flow- 

 ers somewliat notalile for beauty or 

 size, and must also show good arrange- 

 ment. Let lis disco\fi wliicli of these 

 two essentials weighs the more in the 

 discussion of the siihieit. 



That the qualitv of tho stock is an 

 important consi<ler.'ition. say in a win- 

 dow decoration or a liride's bouquet, 

 does not reipiire lengthy argument. Ex 

 oellence anywheie is its own recommen- 

 dation. Extra good stock sells itself, 

 other things being e<|ual. Hut other 

 things are not always ecpial. The mar- 

 ket may be oveierowded, the season 

 dull, and something must be added to 

 the excellence of the stock to induce 

 sales. This topic proptMly belongs to 

 the latter jiart of our subject and will 

 be considered later. Neither is it al 

 ways possible to have stock of tiptop 

 quality; average stock is wljat can be 

 sold in everyday trade, and while excel 

 lence of quality is the ambition of ovory 



up to date ;.;ro\\er. ideal -.tock is not 

 met with e\ei\\' day. .-nid we iiiii--t make 

 the best of what we ha\e. ()ii the other 

 hand, we must avoid degiiiding line 

 stock by poor ai'raiigemeiit 



A Difficult Combination. 



l>ut somebody will suggest that while 

 arrangement for display is important, 

 some <-oiisiderat ion must be gi\eii to 

 good storage at the same time, and good 

 storage and good ariangeincnt are on 

 the oil and water oi'der. — they don't 

 mix worth a <'eiit. Floweis, to look 



Storc'of A. M. Murdoch. 



well, must be looselx' and indi\ if|iiall\ 

 arranged, and if i)nlled too far out of 

 deep water they will suffer. 'i'his is 

 all undoubtedly true, but we must ex- 

 pect a certain jier cent of stock to be 

 sacrificed for the sake of dis|ilay and to 

 sell the rest. Fre(|uentlv. also, those 

 flowers used for display, .and whicli 

 show deterioration, can be removeil, 

 placed deep in water over night and 

 brought (Mit agjiin as good as new. or 

 they may come in I'oi- immediate use in 

 formal design--. A few extra steps and 



thoughts \\\\\ make up the larger ly. 

 ot' loss whiidi conies in this way. 



Passing on to the second essentia of 

 .1 good design, let us observe that j; qj 

 arrangeiiu'nt will sell stock of excel nt 

 ipiality more quickly and will empha zi 

 the best points of comni.on quality st k 

 Let us see what are the jirincipal po ts 

 in any good, correct arrangement. ]^ 

 the lifetime of a decorator, flower- or 

 plants, to be well placed, must nor le 

 left to one style, often repeated, jf 

 should have the ad\antage of va. ^ 

 schemes. 



To add to the value of excellent sti k 

 to develo]) medium (piality, to ore te 

 \;ilue for jiooi' sto(d\. the following pr n- 

 cipU's of design will be found ne j- 

 sary: First, lines or stems must co:.:e 

 from a common source or series of 

 sources; second, the coloring must -e 

 harmonious; third, there must be a 

 limit to variety of form and col r; 

 fourth, there tnust be j)reseiit some si^ng 

 oi' individuality in th(> tone and expr.^- 

 si(ui of the completed piece. 



Harmony of Outlines. 



h'eturning to the first essential, ti.e 

 starting of all lines, or stems, from a 

 common source or series of sources — in 

 other words, form harmony — let ug illus- 

 trate. In filling a handle basket, gro',;p 

 the stems in, say, two ))laces next anu 

 around the bases of the handle. Set 

 the stems, short and long, close together, 

 as though all were springing from one 

 root, and flare them far apart at the 

 llower ends, so that each group shall 

 resemble a tree top. By the time two 

 such groups are in, the basket will be 

 about filled, with the excef>tioa of s. 

 littl(> ba(d\ground of moss or ferns. Jv.3: 

 for comjiarison, fill the basket as is oriii- 

 narily done, with every stem where 

 tliert> is room for it. and compare tbe 

 results. 



There is no kind of floral desigr. 

 where this principle will not hold tru' 

 Show me a well-arranged bride's be.;- 

 quet, shower or armful effect, and ": 

 will shoAV you where the charm of a', 

 its lines lies, and tliat is in their cor 

 formity to this cardinal principle - :' 

 arr;ingement. They have tlie effect -: '^ 

 all running l)ack to one source if thtv 

 were carried out. It is the same wsy 

 with the easy grace of an armful 6' 

 raiigemeiit; the stems all are directc '. 

 to one jioint. and the tie, if one is use 

 should find its source here also. 



Harmony of Color. 



Ho mu(di--but not too much — h. 

 been said aliout color harmony as a wi^ 

 subject of itself, that it is not with 

 the limits of this discussion to do 

 justice. One sees so many violations i 

 the sim7)lest rules of cfdor. which. 

 seems, ought to be apparent to even tr 

 most c,"is\i;il student, that one is almo- 

 "•ointielled to harp on the subject conti'. 

 ii.ally. .\nybo.ly can learn the rudimen 

 of ccdor and develop their practice to 

 re.isonable extent. But he cannot '- 

 it by ignoring all he has learned ar 

 slaitjiing into his window every old colc 

 that hajipens to be nearest. 



.\frican tnarigolds and Beacon earn' 

 tions !ire the cats and dogs of color, 

 yet three-fourths of self styled "florf 

 .artists" have no conscience about di- 

 idayitig them close together. America' 

 P>eauty, colored phloxes and Chatena. 

 roses jar each other like a discharge O' 

 ilynamite; yet everv other window yo>- 

 se-^ blinks like a jiair of cross eyes wit 

 in-t such attempted combinations!. 



