30 



The Florists^ Review 



December 12. 1912. 



flower store really should not make 

 cheapness its selling point; the people 

 who patronize the florist do not want 

 to class the flower store with the curb- 

 stone seller of Christmas greens; they 

 like the idea of buying at a place that 

 has a reputation for quality. The flo- 

 rist should offer a Christmas wreath dis- 

 tinctly better in quality than can be 

 bought at any of the places that -handle 

 decorative material merely as a side 

 line to catch loose money at Christmas. 

 It pays. It is just as easy to sell a good 

 wreath as a cheap one, and the profit 

 on the sale of a good wreath is as great 

 as the profit on several sales of the 

 cheapest wreaths. 



The florist who makes the money is 

 the one who plans his operations well 

 in advance. Do not wait until the Mon 

 day before Christmas before you figure 

 out what you are going to offer in the 



HOLIDAY PLANT ABBANOEMENTS 



Some Good Sellers Illustrated. 



There is no great variety in the 

 Christmas plants — the number of kinds 

 is limited to a comparative few and 

 they are practically the same from 

 year to year, but there is infinite va- 

 riety in the accessories and by their 

 use the capable retailer can provide an 

 assortment of stock rich in variety and 

 in artistic attractiveness. The illustra- 

 tions in this issue are good examples 

 of the class of Christmas plant arrange- 

 ments that sell well in all up-to-date 

 flower stores. 



Possibly the most widely sold Christ- 

 mas plant is the cyclamen. The ways 

 in which it can be offered in combina- 

 tion with other plants in baskets are 

 simply endless, but a well-flowered 



A Novelty in Christinas Greens. 



way of Christmas greens. Make your 

 plans now and arrange for your sup- 

 plies of material. Do not wait until it 

 is too late and you are too busy to 

 figure out a line of decorations a little 

 different and a little better than any 

 of your competitors ever have offered. 



Youngstown, O. — December 4 a heav- 

 ily loaded street car ran away on the 

 Fountain avenue hill, leaving the track 

 at the comer and crashing into John 

 Walker's greenhouses, demolishing the 

 ends of several houses. Mr. Walker 

 was in Cleveland at the time. His loss 

 will amount to several thousands of dol- 

 lars, for which the street railway com- 

 pany is good. 



cyclamen deserves a green toneware 

 receptacle and an opportunity to show 

 its individuality, as is seen in the illus- 

 tration on page 34. This plant carried 

 thirty blooms and the retailer who of- 

 fered it last Christmas found his only 

 difficulty in not having enough of them. 



The Christmas basket on page 37 is 

 simplicity itself. It is filled with Pros- 

 erpine tulips and Boman hyacinths, a 

 touch of Easter amid the snows of win- 

 ter. It was an excellent seller, but 

 hardly fussed up enough to seem at- 

 tractive except to people of educated 

 taste. 



It is not in every store that big 

 mixed baskets of plants can be sold, 

 but every store can do business with 



small baskets filled with a variety of 

 material. The small baskets call for 

 small plants, but a number of them 

 can be used. The illustration on page 

 36 shows a willow basket of the nat- 

 ural color, with a Japanese maple lift- 

 ing its variegated foliage in the cen- 

 ter, surrounded by cyclamens, with 

 Whitmani ferns on one side and a 

 small pandanus on the other. If the 

 baskets are provided with metal liners 

 and the combination is carefully 

 planted the keeping qualities are excel- 

 lent and one sale leads to another. 



The gold basket on page 38 was filled 

 with Proserpine tulips and primulas. 

 It made a handsome table ornament 

 and has sold well in previous seasons. 



No matter how high class the trade 

 handled, there always is a demand for 

 inexpensive plant arrangements, and 

 those got up with a fair degree of 

 taste always prove good sellers. An 

 example of this character is the illus- 

 tration on page 39, which shows a pink 

 primula and an adiantum in a willow 

 handle basket. Another is the illus- 

 tration on page 39 showing white 

 primulas in a willow hamper that had 

 been stained green. In the store where 

 these were shown last Christmas dozens 

 were sold. 



The illustration on page 32 shows two 

 ways of filling the same basket with the 

 best selling Christmas plants, primulas 

 and cyclamens. These are oval baskets 

 of attractive character, but of medium 

 price. They are metal lined and plants 

 in them will remain attractive for 

 many days. Such arrangements sell well 

 and give satisfaction. 



The poinsettia is the special Christ- 

 mas plant and, combined with crotons 

 and Parleyense, as shown in the illus- 

 tration on page 37, it is an extremely 

 good seller. The croton is rapidly gain- 

 ing in popularity, both as a plant and 

 for color effects in table and design 

 work 



The Lorraine begonia has been shown 

 in simply countless different styles of 

 Christmas plant combinations, but it 

 really is entitled to an opportunity to 

 show its individuality, as in the illus- 

 tration on page 35. The plant illus- 

 trated is Begonia Glory of Cincinnati, 

 but the average customer does not know 

 Cincinnati from Lorraine. The differ- 

 ence frequently is apparent, however, 

 in the enduring quality of the plants 

 under the average dwelling conditions. 



It may add something to the interest 

 in the illustration on page 33 to know 

 that the original was sent as a Christ- 

 mas gift last year to the. home of Mrs. 

 Harold F. McCormick, daughter of 

 John D. Rockefeller. Such arrange- 

 ments are too large and expensive to 

 sell readily in the average flower store, 

 but one or two are a good investment 

 merely for advertising purposes, even 

 if not sold. This was a willow basket 

 stained brown. The handle was bent 

 in heart shape. With crotons in the 

 center, surrounded by poinsettias, and 

 with adiantum below the bright bracts, 

 with the addition of the ribbon on the 

 handle, the arrangement was admired 

 by everyone who saw it and finally 

 found a purchaser at an excellent fig- 

 ure. 



The illustration on page 35 shows 

 three attractive ways of offering the 

 ardisia for Christmas. This is a plant 

 which should not be overly embellished. 

 No one would think of offering it in 

 the red pot in which it has made its 

 home for the last few months, but all 



