March 13, 1913, 



The Florists^ Review 



27 



Hyacinths and Adiaotum in Metal Lined Willow Basketi are Excellent Sellers. 



80 good Were the handle either higher 

 or lower. The proportions are excellent. 

 The only improvement would be the 

 addition of ribbon. This basket was 

 filled with Hexe azalea, a Clothilde 

 Soupert rose, a Dorothy Perkins, some 

 Superbissima fern and a Japanese 

 maple. 



The big 'basket on page 29 was an 

 arrangement photographed last Easter 

 in one of the leading Chicago flower 

 stores. It sold for $25, and of course is 

 too large for use in the average retail 

 place, for more plant arrangements will 

 be sold at from $3 to $7.50 than at any 

 higher prices. However, these big show 

 pieces are good advertising, even if they 

 are too expensive to be sold. This bas- 

 ket was filled with hydrangeas and with 

 a white rambler rose trained over the 

 handle. In the front the variegated 

 foliage is a funkia and peeping from 

 the back is a lily. The ribbon was light 

 blue, chosen because of the color of 

 the hydrangea flowers. 



On page 25 is a Tausendschon rose. 

 This has come to the front as possibly 

 the one best-selling variety. The En- 

 glish of the name would be Thousand 

 Beauties and there literally are that 

 many fascinations about a well-grown, 

 well-flowered specimen. The one shown 

 in the illustration, though it is not es- 

 pecially apparent in the cut, had too 

 large a pot cover. It was one of tht3 

 adjustable variety, too hurriedly chosen. 

 A smaller size would have greatly im- 

 proved the appearance of, the plant. 



Tulips in Low Baskets. 



Low, wide baskets of tulips are shown 

 in the illustration on page 26. These 

 are ready sellers. Of course the bas- 

 kets were tin lined, for it is the tin 

 containers that have made such plant 

 arrangements possible; no one would 

 want them if they were leaky or even 

 scattery. The basket at the left was 

 filled with red tulips. Note the way the 

 bareness of the base is relieved by the 



use of adiantum. The basket at the 

 right was filled with Murillo, possibly 

 the commonest Easter tulip. The pussy- 

 willows appeal to some and add variety. 

 The ribbon might be either white or 

 pink. Selaginella was used to fill the 

 void between the edge of the basket 

 and the tulips. 



"What would Easter be without the 

 lily? High-toned stores that cater to 

 the most select trade do not nowadays 

 use so large a proportion of lilies as they 

 did a few years ago; they have cut 

 down on the lilies while adding variety 

 to their stock by using other plants. 

 But no flower store could be without 

 lilies at Easter. There are more kinds 

 of lilies than there are flower stores; 

 almost as many as there are flower buy- 

 ers. Doubtless there will be department 

 stores selling lilies in clay pots, un- 

 washed, at 29 cents per plant, and there 

 will be thousands of good stores selling 

 neatly arranged and carefully handled 

 lily baskets at 25 cents per flower, with 

 an extra charge for the receptacle. The 

 florist supplies what his customers want 

 — quality and price. The illustration on 

 page 31 shows 'wo good lily arrange- 

 ments. At the left is a single plant in 

 a low, green willow basket, with some 

 adiantum and hyacinths planted around 

 the base of the lily. At the right is a 

 large white basket, tin lined, in which 

 three lily plants were made up. Each 

 retailer will elaborate or modify accord- 

 ing to his needs. 



Some Changes in Plant Vogue. 



On page 30 is an illustration which 

 shows two of the new French hydran- 

 geas. At the left is Lorraine, pink, and 

 at the right, Avalanche, white. So good 

 a judge of plants as E. Wienhoeber has 

 been quoted as saying that these new 

 varieties will put the old Otaksa out of 

 business as an Easter plant, and the 

 growers who have tried them endorse 

 the retailer's view. The supply this 



season is much larger than that of last 

 year. 



Azaleas will not this Easter cut as 

 much figure as has been the case in 

 other years — the trade does not seem 

 to be able to handle it so profitably as 

 in times gone by. The supply is not 

 large this season, much lesls than usual, 

 in spite of the early date of Easter, 

 which should be in favor of good and 

 plentiful azaleas. While some impor- 

 tant firms have ceased to handle the 

 plant, the probability is that a reaction 

 will come in a year or two and that 

 then larger quantities than ever will be 

 forced. 



EASTEB CUT FLOWERS. 



A Beaction Is in Progress. 



One of the interesting developments 

 in the trade has been the reaction from 

 plants toward cut flowers. For a num- 

 ber of years it has been the report that 

 ' * this was more than ever a plant 

 Easter," but in the better class of 

 stores there has, for a couple of sea- 

 sons, been a noticeable increase in the 

 sale of cut flower arrangements; the 

 public taste evidently is changing again. 

 Not that plants are any less popular 

 but that cut flowers are sharing more 

 evenly in the increased business. 



Perhaps the increased sale of cut 

 flowers is in some measure due to more 

 reasonable prices, for the tendency now- 

 adays is not to advance holiday values 

 as formerly was done; but the chances 

 are that a good share of the increase 

 is due to the better methods the retail- 

 ers are using in showing and selling 

 cut stock. Until quite recently no re- 

 tailer thought of offering cut flowers 

 otherwise than put up in a box. But 

 now the leading stores show them taste- 

 fully arranged in baskets, and they sell 

 the baskets with the flowers. In a good 

 many cases the person delivering the 

 flowers is competent to arrange them 

 for the recipient. The basket and the 



