10 



The Florists' Review 



Jolt 4, 1012. 



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THE RETAIL 



FLORIST 



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WHAT IS A BOUQUET? 



I should like to know how you would 

 handle an order for, say, a $2 bouquet 

 for a sick person. It seems to be cus- 

 tomary to call almost anything a bou- 

 quet. One firm might bunch the heads 

 pretty evenly together and tie the whole 

 with a string, making a nosegay or posy. 

 Another firm might lay them in a box 

 and leave the arrangement of them to 

 the recipient. What would you do? 

 Suppose an order comes over the phone 

 to send Mrs. Blank a bouquet at a cer- 

 tain price and consisting of roses or 

 otherwise. We have so far had neither 

 complaints nor criticisms to guide us. 

 P. G. 



Webster's definition of the word 

 bouquet is, "a bunch of flowers," and 

 that, you see, is not as definite as it 

 might be. Just what your customer's 

 definition of the much misused word is, 

 you must find out with a little exercise 

 of tact. Some people call anything 

 from a pot of geraniums to a casket 

 cover a bouquet, while florists generally 

 use the word to designate a number of 

 flowers tied into a round bunch, and 

 when the flowers are to be worn the 

 word corsage is usually added. 



First of all, when a customer calls 

 you up over the phone or comes into 

 your store, ascertain for what purpose 

 the flowers desired are to be used. If 

 for a birthday gift or for a sick friend, 

 most likely a round bunch or bouquet of 

 a variety of flowers is wanted. If for 

 a graduate, a bouquet of one variety of 

 flowers and in not more than two colors 

 is perhaps most appropriate. Then 

 there are wedding bouquets, corsage 

 bouquets, and bouquets to be carried in 

 the liand. In some cities round bouquets 

 of white flowers are used at funerals. 

 In fact, if flowers are tied into a round 

 form for any occasion, they may be 

 called a bouquet, and many florists call 

 flat sprays flat bouquets; so you see how 

 indefinite the term is. 



One thing is certain; when flowers are 

 sent loose in a box, much more care must 

 be exercised in their selection than when 

 they are tied up into a bouquet, for 

 in the latter case short-stemmed flow- 

 ers can be worked into the bunch by 

 lengthening the stems with wire, and 

 weak-stemmed flowers can also be nicely 

 used up. To offset this, there is the time 

 required in tying up the flowers, and it 

 is also true that it requires a person of 

 8om€ experience to tie a number of flow- 

 ers into a graceful looking round bunch. 



One little hint here may be of some 

 assistance. When a new hand at the 

 business is called upon to tie flowers 

 into a round bouquet, he usually begins 

 with the stiff-stemmed flowers and a 

 poor looking bunch is the result. By 

 using up some of the weaker-stemmed 

 flowers first and letting them fall as 

 they will, you can then draw the stiff- 

 stemmed ones in between and they are 

 more apt to stay where wanted. Some 

 tie the flowers as they go along, while 



others finish the bouquet before tying. 

 I much prefer the latter way, as it gives 

 one a chance to rearrange a flower if it 

 does not happen to look well. Another 

 thing to bear in mind is that the smaller 

 flowers or buds should project beyond 

 the larger or more open ones. Of 

 course, when a really old-fashioned, 

 formal bouquet is desired, this would 

 not be the case. Hugo Schroeter. 



FACKINa DESIGNS. 



I have read with interest the article 

 in The Eeview of June 27 regarding 

 the packing of funeral designs for ship- 

 ping. When a wooden box is used, why 

 not wire your design in, instead of bor- 

 ing holes through the box and tying 

 the design in? There are many lady 

 florists, and it would take a woman some 

 time to bore enough holes through a 

 wooden box. The simplest way is to 

 pass some wires through the design and 

 wrap the ends around tacks driven in 

 the bottom of the box. After the wire 

 is wrapped around the tacks, hammer 

 the tacks down and the design will be 

 as firmly fastened as though it were 

 tied to the bottom of the box through 

 holes in the wood. Flora Scrim. 



SUMMER SUGK^ESTIONS. 



Why Have a Dull Season? 



"It's the bane of our business, this 

 sudden drop in demand that always oc- 

 curs after the June weddings and grad- 

 uations are over." Did you ever hear 

 a florist make this complaint? Perhaps 

 you've made it yourself. At any rate, 

 we all admit that it is so, and the ques- 

 tion arises, "What can be done about 

 it?" 



Naturally there is little increase to 

 be had in the regular lines of a florist's 

 business; society parties, dinners, etc., 

 are at an end, as also are the weddings, 

 and an occasional funeral is scarcely 

 sufficient to provide bread and butter, 

 much less pay the overhead expenses 



that are always present, regardless of 

 the business done. 



Let's look around a bit — ah, here is 

 a line that seems to offer some encour- 

 agement! Nearly every town, village 

 and city nowadays has a "home- 

 coming week," a carnival, a festival, 

 an automobile parade, or just a com- 

 mon parade with floats, wagons, car- 

 riages, the fire department and — well, 

 you know the rest. Every one of these 

 events requires decorations, in many 

 cases lasting a week or more; and who 

 is better equipped than the florist to do 

 the work? 



Have We Beeu Asleep? 



Have we been asleep? The more we 

 look at it, the more we realize that here 

 is a safe bet that we have overlooked. 

 But it isn't too late to recover some 

 of the lost ground. A few of those in 

 the trade are already making a bid 

 for this business and finding it highly 

 profitable. It is decorative work, pure 

 and simple, and no matter how you look 

 at it, it belongs to the legitimate florist; 

 it is his both by right and by nature 

 of his training, but so far a large pro- 

 portion of this work has been done by 

 traveling decorators, men who were fre- 

 quently sent out by dry goods houses 

 or other concerns that use and deal in 

 artificial flowers. Many of the better 

 class of supply houses have steadfastly 

 refused to enter into competition with 

 the retail florists and it seems high time 

 that the florists should recognize the 

 fact, and use the artificial materials 

 where they best serve the purpose. 



Where a decoration is to stay in place 

 three or four days, or more, it is out 

 of the question to use natural flowers 

 and foliage; the expense of replenish- 

 ing wilted stock is prohibitive. But 

 the work is nevertheless decorative and 

 should be given to the local florist. He 

 can buy artificial stock which will pay 

 for itself the first time it is used, 

 it can be used again and again and 

 every added time is all profit except 

 the labor involved. 



Automobile Decorations. 



Even in automobile decorations many 

 customers will not pay the price for 

 natural flowers and foliage — a sudden 

 rain with a consequent postponement 

 of the parade means a total loss of 

 labor and stock, as it will not keep for 

 future use. But suppose artificial mate- 

 rials are used — it is needless to com- 

 ment; the conclusions are clear. 



There are so many places where every 



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Decorated by the Schack Artificial Flower Co. 



