DECORATIVE USE OF FLOWEES. 



337 



Anemones — all useful in composing various colours, 

 ice, in touquets wherein they can he suitably placed. 

 Most of these hulbous plants are rarely used in this 

 kind of work, but, possessing novelty and distinc- 

 tiveness, they are aU worthy of a place. From the 

 long list of herbaceous plants a few good things may 

 he named which might with advantage he used ; for 

 instance, the improved type of Columbines (^j«i- 

 legia), the Campanulas with slender stems, Cata- 

 nanehe bieolor and C. canika, T\'ith Cornflower like 

 blossoms, the Dianthus of the Alpine section, Francoa 

 ramosa, Gypsophila paniculata, Statice latifoUa, and 

 other species. These could all be turned to a 

 good account in their respective seasons. Several 

 evergreen and deciduous shrubs can be called into 

 requisition ; notably, of the former, the Dahoecias, 

 or Irish Heaths, Fieris Jlorihmda and F. japoniea, 

 Cemiothus of various sorts, JEscalloneas (these, like the 

 CeanotAus, requiring a wall for training against), 

 Choisya ternata (from the same position), and Garry a 

 elliptiea, the catkins of which are an ornament around 

 ii goodly-sized bouquet. From the hardy and half- 

 hardy annuals, considerable aid is imparted from 

 such uncommon things as Gypaophila elegana toA G. 

 rosea, Alomoa Warsceioiczii, Nicotiana affinis, -rith 

 sweetly-perfumed flowers expanding in the evening, 

 the yellow Sweet Sultan, and the small forms of 

 Ornamental Grasses. 



There are not a few subjects from under glass 

 that possess novelty and other features to recom- 

 mend them ; of these we will enumerate some of the 

 most useful. F^om the green-house we have Boronia 

 elaiim; with flowers of a deep rose ; Clethra arbo'-ea, 

 having panicles similar to the Pieris of our shrub- 

 beries; Jasminum grandifiorum, very useful in the 

 winter and deUciously scented ; Lonicera semperfmem 

 minor, a green-house climbing Honej'suckle — very dis- 

 tinct; Pimeleas in variety ; the smaller types of green- 

 house Ehododendrons ; Statice profusa, extremely 

 pretty in a bouquet ; Witsenia corymbosa, with bright 

 blue flowers ; all of the Cape Heaths also are valu- 

 able additions, but most of them will require manipu- 

 lating with wire before they can be used. A few 

 pretty and most useful additions can be had from the 

 stove -house, which are not nearly so much grown 

 as they deserve to be. Among these are Clerodendron 

 froffrans flore-ple)W, very sweet-scented ; Dipladenia 

 bolwiensis, the only variety of the genus adapted for 

 bouquets ; its white flowers with a golden throat are 

 beautiful; Eurycles australasica, a hulbous plant 

 with distinct white flowers; Gardenia eitriodora 

 {Mitriostigma eitriodora), a very good substitute for 

 Orange-blossom when this article is scarce ; Glonera 

 jasminiflora, somewhat resembling a Bouvardia, but 

 with delicate blossoms of the purest white; Hoya 

 bella, a well-known old favourite, hut neglected of 

 46 



late years ; Ixora, Prince of Orange, and other 

 varieties with small trusses; Sogima gratissima, 

 somewhat resembling the Ixoras, but quite distinct ; 

 Rondelttia speciosa major, very useful, with good 

 available length of stem ; Tabernamoiitana coronaria 

 flure-pleno, with beautiful white flowers of sweet 

 perfume; Torenim Foiirnierii, «■ very useful stove 

 annual, both choice and distinct ; Jlrceolina aurea, as 

 pendants around the edges of an arrangement, would 

 be most handsome. There are also Franciscea calycina 

 major and F. Hopeana, with flowers of a purplish 

 shade, the latter variety being deliciously scented. 



What may be called "every-day flowers" will not 

 need any description or enumeration. We have 

 them from among stove and green-house plants and 

 bulbs, from our shrubs and herbaceous borders; 

 many of these are so well known and so frequently 

 used as to have become household words. Those 

 which we have quoted in the foregoing lists will 

 each in their respective seasons be found useful : 

 our object in giving the names of such being to 

 draw attention to them as possessing distinctiveness 

 from that material which is so often used in the 

 composition of bouquets. The best of flowers lose 

 their charm when met with in nearly every arrange- 

 ment that comes across one's notice. Anything, 

 therefore, that can he brought into use that will 

 impart novelty, at the same time being suitable for 

 the purpose under consideration, should he sought 

 after and appropriated as occasion may occur. 



Foliage and Arrangement. — To foliage as 

 a necessarj' accompaniment to the flowers, it is 

 requisite to devote particular attention. As in the 

 decoration of vases for the house, so also in the 

 case of bouquets, we frequently see an undue pre- 

 ponderance of Maiden-hair Fern. We would not 

 for one minute disparage the use of this, the best 

 of aJI Ferns undoubtedly, but it is easy to have 

 too much even of a good thing sometimes. So it is 

 in the case of the Fern imder notice, the result being 

 that the bouquet will lack in a great measure that 

 distinctive feature which it ought to possess when 

 completed. Take for instance a bouquet in which it 

 is intended to use four, five, or more Camellias ; these 

 handsome flowers are often denuded of their beautiful 

 leaves to give place to Fern foliage. This is a mis- 

 take ; one CameUia-leaf at least should accompany 

 each flower. Should the leaves be somewhat large, 

 take a few tips of the green-leaved Euonymus latifolius 

 instead. The Gardenias are another case in point ; 

 the pale green of the young shoots surrounding 

 the expanded flower being its best ornament after 

 some of the larger leaves have been removed. Roses, 

 too, should have a few tips of shoots or their own 

 suitable leaves intermixed with them. In the case 



