34 



The Weekly Rorists' Review. 



MABCH 28, 1912. 



THE EASTEB ILLUSTRATIONS. 



In looking over the illustrations in 

 this issue it wUI be brought to the 

 mind ho^ necessary to the retail florist, 

 especially at such a time as this, is the 

 widp-awake dealer in florists' supplies. 

 In not one instance would the showing 

 have been possible in the days before 

 the T)askets, ribbons, hampers and vases 

 became so diversified and so refined. 



Take, for instance, the Beauties on 

 pagp 27. Would so tasteful an arrange- 

 ment of short-stemmed blooms have 

 beeii possible without the gold basket 

 and the ribbon? Most decidedly not. 

 The, basket has a glass vase inside, so 

 that it has a permanent value to the 

 one who recjsives it as an Easter gift, 

 and it will be filled by the florist time 

 after time. 



Tihere are no plants except primulas 

 and adiantum in the low basket shown 

 on page 28, but the pussy willows help 

 to rtiake it one of the most pleasing ar- 

 rangements of the many excellent ones 

 illustrated in this issue. The basket was 

 the natural color of the willow. 



The picture on page 29 illustrates two 

 extremely eflfec^tive ways of filling the 

 same basket. The one at the left had 

 pink tulips and Adiantum Farleyense, 

 the one at the right white and blue 

 hyacinths and Japanese maple. Each 

 had an appropriate ribbon. These were 



same basket, only of a color to harmon- 

 ize wtth the pink tint of the flowers. 



T teJ B uk et at the left on the illustra- 

 tion T>ii page 30 was a better seller last 

 Easter than was the one at the right. 

 The former was a willow basket stained 

 with a stripe of greenish yellow around 

 the middle, green below and dark green 

 above. Planted full of daflfodils, with 

 the soil covered with moss and a few 

 fine pussy willows added, it was a popu- 

 lar arrangement. The pink heather was 

 ' ' ' in a natural willow basket with pink 

 ribbon and presented an equally pleas- 

 ing color combination, but did not take 

 so well with the buyers. 



Such inexpensive articles as . are 

 shown in the illustration on page 31 

 always are ready sellers in any first- 

 class flower store. They do not appeal 

 to the people who are looking for some- 

 thing showy, but people who have 

 plenty of money, and whose friends 

 also have the means of providing for 

 themselves all the more elaborate things 

 they need, like to exchange iijf^^e un- 

 pretentious arrangements. The recep- 

 tacle has as much influence as tMe plant 

 in effecting the sales. With the stock 

 of the modern supply house to draw 

 upon, an infinite variety of these in- 

 expensive arrangements can be pro- 

 vided. On the left in the illustration 

 is a geranium in a Florentine terra 



' .' .*,;•*■» &iiM- 



The Crimton Bambler Still Holds its Place for Basket Work. 



rather large baskets. In a first-class 

 flowed store, where they were photo- 

 graphed last Easter, they proved ready 

 sellers at $10 each. 



The little picture on page 29 shows a 

 spiraea in a basket of unique shape, like 

 «a inverted Mexican sombrero. This 

 mis Gladstone and the basket was blue. 

 Queen Alexandra was shown in the 



cotta jar. Next is a primula in a white 

 china dish. The erica is in a blue and 

 white receptacle. The fernery in the 

 center is planted with Primula vQria, P. 

 obconica and, sopie small ferns. Tlie 

 begonia is in the same kind of poi as 

 the erica. On the right is a cineraria 

 in the same vase but of a different 

 shape. 



The small illustration pn page 31 is 

 a balloon-shape trained plant of the 

 Dofothy Perkins rose set into a white 

 willow pot cover that had big mouse- 

 ear handles. The ribbon was light 

 pink, in keeping with the color of the 

 flowers of the rose. 



The rose basket shown on JjAge 32 

 is too expensive a plant to seirin any 

 number except in the highest class 

 stores, but one or two such novelties are 

 an<^cellent investment for any store, 

 even if not sold at all, for the advertis- 

 ing value is great. People will go out 

 and tell their friends about it; even 

 advise them to; drop in at the 'store to 

 see it. The variety is Newport Fairy. 

 It is one of the trained plant* flowered 

 in 1911 by the Robert Craig Co., Phila 

 delphia. As it stood, in its basket pot 

 cover, in the retail store in which it 

 was photographed, a thousand miles 

 from the greenhouses, only $15 was 

 asked for it. 



The lily is the typical Easter flower 

 and, however large a business is done 

 in other plants, more people will want 

 lilies than will call for any other one 

 item of stock. Where cheap trade is 

 done it still may do to offer the lily in 

 the pot in which it was forced, but 

 even then most of the retailers find it 

 necessary to cover the pot with crepe 

 paper. In the higher class stores mats 

 and ribbon are used, or the lilies are 

 shifted to some better receptacle, such 

 as those shown in the illustration on 

 page 33. Note that in one case the 

 base of the lily is surrounded by small 

 ferns, while in another there are a num- 

 ber of pussy willows. 



The heather in the single column il- 

 lustration 0*^. page 33 was planted in 

 the pan in the basket and sold without 

 trimming. The basket was natural wil- 

 low, the bottom square but the top 

 round. The soil was covered with green 

 sheet moss, which is a finishing touch 

 many who fill baskets and jardinieres 

 are apt to forget. 



We often are told that the Crimson 

 Eambler has had its day, but in such 

 made up plant baskets as that shown 

 on this page it has a place that nothing 

 else will fill and it still sells well. With 

 it was Pandanus Veitchii, Nephrole- 

 pis superbissima and Asplenium nidus 

 avis. The basket was willow, white 

 enameled, and the ribbon was foliage 

 green. 



Azalea mollis and Bhododendron Pink 

 Pearl are two of the subjects which, if 

 well done, are fine Easter plants. An 

 excellent example of each is shown in 

 the illustration on page 35. Note how 

 effectively the one defect of the azalea, 

 the absence of foliage, is supplied by 

 the use of the superbissima fern. The 

 color of the Eoman pottery harmonizes 

 with the color tone in the flowers. The 

 rhododendron has the simplest possible 

 treatment, but nothing could be more 

 effective, for the pink chiffon mat and 

 the pink ribbon with which it is tied 

 are in perfect harmony with the soft 

 tint of the big flower heads. 



There were nyacinths, candytuft and 

 superbissima ferns in the low basket 

 shown on page 36. The basket may be 

 had finished in any number of colors, 

 and there are just as many ways of 

 filling it effectively. 



The boronia is an Easter plant not 

 uncommon in the eastern markets, but 

 not often seen in the west. The erica 

 also is more largely «-own t^lpng the 

 Atlantic tKfn it is )i>esiae the lakfs and 

 rivers. IPne two plants have mucn sim- 



