30 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



Decembeb 15, 1910. 



last at least as loug as cut flowers 

 would. 



The Lorraine can be made up in in- 

 numerable ways and is the plant se- 

 lected for the most expensive arrange- 

 ments, but it really is best when 

 planted in some simple receptacle that 

 does not come above the foliage to 

 obscure the grace and beauty of the 

 plant. The simple willow basket shown 

 in the illustration was excellent, save 

 that it is too deep a shape; the effect 

 would be much better were the basket 

 not more than half as high. 



UNIQUE PLANT RECEPTACLES. 



The illustrations on this page and 31 

 are an example of what may bo done 

 in the way of adding variety to the 

 Christmas stock. The complaint of 

 sameness of stock from year to year 

 that once was made is not heard in the 

 stores where such unique receptacles 

 are used for the holiday plants. Such 

 articles as the odd shaped pieces of 

 pottery shown in the one illustration, 

 the dish that looks like a loving cup, 

 or the double-barreled basket in the 

 other picture, could not be sold in 

 quantity. If used in numbers they 

 would produce the effect of sameness 

 and eccentricity, where merely novelty 

 and good taste are sought. But the 

 watchful retailer will pick up these odd 

 pieces as opportunity presents, and 

 when the holiday arrives he will have 

 the means of giving his customers a 

 wide range of choice in their gift pur- 

 chases. Many a time an attractive 

 example of the potter's art has been 

 the means of making sales the florist 

 otherwise would have missed. 



Brattleboro, Vt.— G. A. Gibbs' 5 and 

 10-cent store has added a cut flower and 

 plant department. 



Fort Dodge, la.— The North Floral Co. 

 says that business has been excellent 

 this year, exceptionally good during 

 the summer and autumn. 



THE CHRISTMAS TREE. 



As a Store or Window Decoration. 



There arc many little fixings around 

 a flower shop which can be utilized and 

 dis[)layed for sale on a Christmas tree, 

 though hitherto they may have proved 

 to be slow sellers. At the same time, 

 the Christmas tree decorations will be 

 of a higher order than the ten-cent 

 store wares that are ordinarily used 

 for the purpose. Instead of pop-corn 

 and tissue paper garlands, use showers 

 of white and scarlet chiffon butterflies, 

 or thin lycopodium or other fine wreath- 

 ing, dotted with scarlet immortelles, 

 (iild some small pine cones and hang 

 them from the branches here and there, 

 esj>ecially at the tips. 



There ought also to be some tiny 

 tin bells, which, when gilded, make 

 garlands especially in keeping with the 

 sentiments of Christmas. These can be 

 used individually on the tips of the 

 trees or along the branches. Small 

 electric lights, of course, are in place 

 here. Candles are the only things never 

 to be discarded. 



Those small birch bark canoes can be 

 loaded with holly and mistletoe and 

 hung low, so as to show the contents. 

 The small panama hats to be seen now 

 would also make good ornaments for a 

 tree, trimmed with holly and used to 

 hold candy. 



For the top point ornament of the 

 tree, use a dove, from whose beak ex- 

 tend dozens of strands of baby ribbon 

 to various parts of the tree, fastening 

 small baskets and the other articles to 

 their places. If it is quite a large tree, 

 the festoons of ribbon may be looped 

 up at points toward the lower parts of 

 the tree, and held by the smaller doves 

 on the branches here and there. Hide 

 some mistletoe on tlie liereandthere 

 places, too. 



The Tree's Surroundings. 



The finishing around the base of the 

 tree is one part of the decoration often 



neglected. If mounted on a small plat- 

 form above the floor, see that the 

 mounting is covered. A bank of bloom- 

 ing plants of correct color is a brilliant 

 setting for the tree. Extreme finicki- 

 ness in color here is not necessary, but 

 one should not go to the other extreme 

 and set a purple and crimson cyclamen 

 under a tree where the prevailing color 

 in candles and ribbon happens to be 

 scarlet. Use your white cyclamen and 

 small poinsettias together at the base. 



If different varieties of plants are at 

 hand, change the coloring on the tree 

 several times during the period of dis- 

 jday, to harmonize with the plants you 

 wish to use about the base. 



How to use perishable flowers on such 

 a Christmas tree is about the most 

 doubtful problem you will find yourself 

 up against. Do ''not attempt to use 

 them profusely. A few short-stemmed 

 j)oinsettias, full-blown roses or carna- 

 tions will dot the whole with positive 

 color spots. Attach Kift vases to the 

 branches and get the stems into water 

 and they will last reasonably well. 



If your critical color sense is active, 

 you will find a war of greens is apt to 

 appear. The green of the Christmas 

 tree is on the intolerant blue green 

 order and jealous of yellow greens, as 

 seen on Boston ferns or adiantums. 



Gertrude Blair. 



ARAUCARIA'S RENAISSANCE. 



A few years ago the araucaria en- 

 joyed a vogue, and then its popularity 

 declined. It is coming back. As a 

 Christmas subject it is once more sal- 

 able in large quantities. It is suggest- 

 ive of the Christmas spirit, and the 

 green combines splendidly with the 

 holly red ribbon, without which many 

 people think their Christmas purchases 

 are incomplete. 



Some stores tie the branches of their 

 araucarias full of little Christmas bells, 

 but these paper and immortelle bells 

 have now become so common in depart- 

 ment and other stores that the leading 

 retailers are omitting them from their 



Unique Pieces of Pottery add Variety to the Holiday Stock. 



