16 



The Weekly Florists^ Review^ 



May 2, 1012. 



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CEMETERY 



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BEDDING 



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GRAVE PLANTING. 



A Seasonable Topic. 



"In tly? spring," says the poet, "a 

 young man's fancy lightly turns to 

 thoughts of love." Perhaps so, but in 

 the spring a florist's fancy must be 

 turned, lightly or otherwise, to many 

 other subjects, including bedding work. 

 With the bedding season just at hand 

 in the middle west, and with the work 

 in various stages of advancement 

 in different parts of this vast country, 

 the theme demands attention. And a 

 large share of this attention must be 

 given to cemetery bedding, since the 

 homes of the dead are even more 

 numerous than those of the living, 

 and the assistance of florists and 

 gardeners is everywhere more or less 

 required in making the lowly resting 

 places beautiful. A few suggestions, 

 therefore, from a specialist in cemetery 

 bedding may be acceptable to many flo- 

 rists, especially to any who are not 

 experienced in that sort of work and 

 whose services may be unexpectedly 

 called for. 



Photographed for The Review. 



The suggestions are here given in the 

 form of pictures of some specimens of 

 the work of John Fruetz, one of the 

 gardeners at Kosehill cemetery, Chicago. 

 The photographs were taken for The 

 Review last summer. Four of the pic- 

 tures are presented. Mr. Fruetz's train- 

 ing in this line began nine years ago, 

 when he secured his position in the 

 cemetery force. Each succeeding year 



his share of responsibility in the design- 

 ing and planting has increased, until 

 last season, when, at the age of only 23 

 years, he had entire charge of the work. 



Effective Use of Foliage Plants. 



It is the carpet bedding, rather than 

 any other style of planting, that has 

 attracted attention at Eosehill, and it is 

 carpet bedding, therefore, that is here 

 illustrated. It is true that some of the 

 dwarf -growing foliage plants which are 

 essential in carpet work are rather ex- 

 pensive — too expensive, perhaps, for a 

 good many pocketbooks. But, on the 

 other hand, these trim and tiny plants 

 are particularly suitable for the small 

 spaces that are generally to be covered 

 in cemetery work, and there are many 

 customers who will gladly pay for all 

 the needed stock when they see what 

 can be accomplished with it. 



The bedding designs at Bosehill are 

 characterized, as artistic and effective 

 designs generally are, by clearness and 

 simplicity rather "than elaborateness. 

 Yet, though not involved and intricate, 

 the bedding includes all such details as 

 will distinctly add to the beauty, com- 

 pleteness or realism of the design. This 

 effective use of minute details is espe- 

 cially well exemplified in the harp de- 

 sign that is here described and illus- 

 trated. 



The Few Favorite Varieties. 



One of the most noticeable features 

 of the Rosehill grave planting is the 

 comparatively small number of varieties 

 of plants that are used. The same few 



familiar sorts appear again and again 

 in the different beds, but in combina- 

 tions so various as to preclude all dan- 

 ger of monotony. Alternantheraa are the 

 main dependence, of course; carpet bed- 

 ding in America without alternantheras 

 would be almost unimaginable. Alter- 

 nantheras are used in three colors, with 

 a greater or less admixture of aantolinu 

 and a conspicuous use of echeVeria, or 

 hen and chickens, especially in the 

 borders. 



In referring to red alternantheras in 

 the following descriptions of the sample 

 beds, the botanical name of the red 

 variety is not mentioned; neither is the 

 exact shade of red indicated. The reds 

 chiefly used at Rosehill are Alter- 

 nanthera paronychioides major and 

 Alternanthera brilliantissima. The so- 

 called yellow alternantheras are Alter- 

 nanthera aurea nana, the color of which, 

 as the reader knows, really shows vary- 

 ing proportions of yellow and green, 

 according to the season of the year and 

 other influences. It is also important 

 to note that Mr. Fruetz, in stating the 

 number of plants needed in the different 

 parts of the beds, refers to good-sized 

 plants, such as he used. He says that 

 if plants of only average size are used, 

 thie number specified by him may not 

 always be sufficient to do a good job. 



A Crescent Design. 



The crescent design shown on this 

 page was about six and one-half feet 

 long in a straight line from point to 

 point and measured about one foot nine 

 inches across at its widest part. It was 

 bordered all around with a single row of 

 the common echeveria — Echeveria se- 

 cunda glauca. The winding design in 

 the center of the bed was edged with 

 santolina and filled solidly with red 

 alternantheras. The two large plants 

 in the loops formed by the santolina 

 were Echeveria metallica. The two ends 

 and the back part of the crescent were 

 filled solidly with yellow alternantheras. 

 The echeveria border contained about 

 fifty plants. The red alternantheras in 

 the central design numbered about fifty, 



A Cretceat Bed at Rosehill Cemetcryt Chicago. 



