•lOKER 28, 1909. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



THE RETAIL 



FLORIST 



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rUMN TABLE DECORATION. 



[lis autumn table decorations Charles 



. Fox makes liberal use of fruits, in 



nrly season combining them with 



is in bright colors and, after the 



is have passed, employing chrysan- 



liins in their stead. Many of the 



itious by Mr. Fox are of the daring 



i(-ter. Not every florist could over- 



the receptacles used on the table 



,•^till produce an effect which would 



atisfactory to his customers, espe- 



> if that customer chanced to be of 



ildcr aristocracy. 



FERNS, DECORATIVELY SPEAKING 



tllr 



Their Neglected Possibilities. 



I the ordinary design, ferns are either 



II a place as constructive material in 

 background or are employed 



in 



Lathering," as it is termed. There is 

 more important place than either of 



tlH'-^f for the fern plant or the cut 

 liomls, and one which is as important as 

 ;iii\ occupied by the specimen flowers. 

 Till V should be just as much a part of 

 till art of a piece as the flowers them- 

 mIvcs. Sometimes they will adorn the 

 jiiiiT decoratively, while the flowers serve 

 ;i< .-. Iiackground for them. The practice 

 111 M-attering ferns promiscuously over a 

 I'l-n. is as crude as that of blindly dot- 

 tiiil; llowers and colors over its surface. 

 I'm as much thought and plan in placing 

 111'' fi'rns as is consumed in properly plac- 

 ii!L' the flowers themselves. 



A Good Color Scheme. 



Because they lack giddy coloring is no 

 reason for their being assigned a minor 

 position in a design. We search for soft, 

 daintily tinted flowers, without half ap- 

 preciating our greens. The coloring of a 

 single adiantum plant is a study in it- 

 self. The darker green of the mature 

 fronds changing to the tints of the young 

 growth, streaked by the dark stems, is 

 seen in viewing the plant from above. 

 Looking upqn it from below, there are 

 the transparent dark and light fronds, 

 embroidered with the velvety spores and 

 supported by the fairy ribs of brown. 

 Good color scheme, eh? Next time you 

 have a chance, work this out in a new 

 decorative scheme. 



Speaking of promiscuously scattering 

 dots of color on ferns through a piece, 

 there might be times when this would 

 be creditable designing, but as a rule it 

 is not intended as a part of the design 

 plan, but goes in hit or miss. On a 

 large, solid pillow or a fabric drapery, 

 knots of flowers or foliage may be set on 

 as the decoration. In a case like this, 

 fern fronds, scattered about either con- 

 ventionally or irregularly, make a pic- 

 turesque design. 



Ferns in Centerpieces. 



No secondary value need be placed 

 upon fern fronds or plants as a feature 

 of the piece. They can be used as the 

 principal decoration or as a part of it. 

 Instead of throwing the fern fronds in 

 anywhere in a centerpiece of flowers, 

 break the outline of the piece somewhere 

 by a patch of fern fronds to represent a 



growing plant, and permit no other ferns 

 in the piece unless it is a very large one. 

 In the latter case repeat the fern patch 

 somewhere else, out of view of the first 

 one. If green is needed witli the flowers, 

 use their own foliage. 



In another centerpiece border the en- 

 tire edge with a fringe of adiantum, 

 pteris or fancy nephrolcpis fronds. In 

 another, where there is a group of flowers 

 distinct from the majority used, empha- 

 size that group and bring it out in relief 

 by surrounding it with a group of such 

 ferns as are best suited to its style, and 

 use them nowhere else in the piece. 



A Mantel Decoration. 



An entire center])ieco of ferns, or a 

 mantel banked, is an acceptable break in 

 a decoration heavy with flowers. Fill the 

 mantel shelf with closely set groups of 

 fronds, to resemble plants. From some 

 point over one end of the mantel sus- 

 pend a fern ball or a group of fern balls, 

 or a nice specimen Boston fern. From 

 below the mantel shelf, at the opposite 

 end, hang a similar fern ball or basket 

 eo that it just comfortably misses the 

 floor, and you have something worth look- 

 ing at and lingering over. At one of my 

 best luncheons I used a centerpiece of 

 A.diantum Farleyense, with fronds of the 

 same. for flavors. No rare flowers would 

 have taken better or been more highly 

 appreciated. 



As a part of the principal decoration 

 of a piece and to emphasize a group or 

 Bpray of flowers, let the fronds be 

 planted as thougli growing from the same 

 spot a.s the flower stalks, and be a part 

 of the imaginary plant. 



As the "whole thing" in the bouquet 

 for a maid of honor or bridesmaid iu a 

 green and wliite wedding, adiantunis do 

 shine. A hatful, a sh()W(>r )i(nii|U('t, an 

 armful or a muff, arc all dainty and 

 graceful. See that they arc not all used 

 too long-stemmed, else they will drop out 

 of place. 



Whole designs can be made from any 

 variety of adiantuin, from the heavy, 

 ricli fronds of the Farleyense to the 

 dainty gracillimuin, either with a cluster 



An Autumn Dinner Decoration, Fruits and Flowers. 



