Febbuaby 2, 1911. 



Tly^ Wee% Florists^ Review. J 



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THE RETAIL 



FLORIST 



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VALENTINE'S DAY. 



The Stock in Demand. 



St, Valentine's day is one of the 

 times when the plantsman doesn't 

 count. Possibly, as the demand de- 

 velops, the plantsmen will come to 

 share in the extra business for this day, 

 but for the time being it is the cut 

 flower growers' own. Fortunately for 

 all concerned, the flowers most popular 

 for Valentine's uses are those most 

 abundant at this season of the year. 

 First of all comes the violet; nothing 

 else equals it in popularity for this 

 date. Second choice is the sweet pea, 

 with, of course, a certain proportion of 

 the customers using cattleyas instead of 

 the less expensive flowers. "With the 

 violets go gardenias and valley. 



Violets are just coming into the 

 spring crop in the early part of Febru- 

 ary, so that an enormous supply is as- 

 sured. "With many growers the winter- 

 flowering varieties of sweet peas are 

 just coming in, so that these also will 

 be abundant. Cattleyas by the middle 

 of February will not be so' plentiful as 

 they have been through January. Tho 

 crop of Cattleya Trianse is passing off, 

 but it is a misfortune rather than a 

 benefit to have cattleyas too plentiful. 

 A great many flower buyers select 

 orchids merely because they are orchids 

 and are thought to be something ex- 

 clusive and out of the ordinary. When 

 you cheapen the price of the orchid it 

 loses its value in the eyes of a good 

 many people. Gardenias are now in 

 much heavier supply than ihey were a 

 year or two ago, for there are many 

 more growers producing them. With 

 valley there usually is an abundance. 

 Therefore the retail florist can go ahead 

 with his St. Valentine's day prepara- 

 tions with the assurance that there will 

 be good supplies of the most popular 

 flowers and an unlimited supply of 

 bulbous stock to fall back upon should 

 the season's specialties, and the sta- 

 ples, fail to satisfy the demand. 

 Accessories are Essential. 



Practically all the St. Valentine's 

 flowers go out in one of two forms. 

 Either they are sent merely as boxes 

 of loose cut flowers, or they are made 

 up in the form of corsage bouquets. It 

 is as important to have the accessories 

 as it is to have the flowers. Of prime 

 importance is the stock o'f boxes of ap- 

 propriate size and shape, but of almost 

 equal necessity is a stock of such mate- 

 rials as corsage shields of more or less 

 elaborateness, appropriate ribbons and 

 ties, with large, fancy-headed pins or 

 clasps — no use sending out a corsage 

 without some means for the recipient to 

 attach it to her costume. 



Fond du Lac, Wis.— The Fourth 

 Street Greenhouse Co., now under the 

 management of Leon E. Sawicki, has 

 opened a flower stand in the Curio 

 Store. 



GETTING BEADY FOR A RUSH. 



Some Oft-Neglected Details. 



After the holiday rush was fairly on, 

 there were a number of unprepared 

 things that caught your eye — things 

 which you- intended to have ready for 

 some definite use and which slipped 

 from your mind until it was too late. 

 This basket should have been retouched; 

 that handle should have been mended; 

 this plant basket should have had a 

 pan; supplies of one kind or another 

 needed replenishing; a box or drawer 



everything for which a possible use 

 may arise placed near at hand for a 

 holiday rush. 



Preparing for Valentine's Day. 



The next holiday in the florists' red 

 letter list is Valentine's day. It is a 

 day of little, dainty wares, with flow- 

 ers to correspond. Get the tiny baskets 

 ready; clean or gild them. Have small 

 ferns planted in those small porcelain 

 dishes, which move slowly at other 

 times. See that there is a good supply 

 of violet boxes and their size or oil 

 paper. Look up the various sizes in 

 other small boxes. Plan your advertis- 

 ing; get some special valentine cards 

 and tags. Invoice the ribbon stock, es- 

 pecially baby ribbon and violet cord; 

 also the pink, blue and white. Coax 

 along the crop of sweet peas and get 

 hold of the loose ends in general. 



Plan the valentine windows long 

 enough ahead to send for what you 

 cannot obtain at home. 



Pussy Willows and Fruit Blossoms. 



Make timely arrangements for your 



•?'• ' 



Proper Accessories are almost as Essential as the Flowers. 



of ribbon should have been pressed. 

 Odds and ends of pottery had been for- 

 gotten; you intended to fill them a 

 week or two before Christmas, when 

 they would have been salable. 



He is an ideal man who has his box 

 stock ready for instant use, all unsea- 

 sonable things put out of the way, and 



pussy willows and your peach and apple 

 blossoms. What the goldenrod and cat- 

 tails are to fall decorations, the pussy 

 willows and fruit blossoms are to the 

 spring decorations. Their value is not 

 so much in what they will sell for, 

 though that may be considerable, as in 

 the decorative use for windows and the 



